Tag: Eat Clean

Breakfast Simplified  

Me and weekday mornings are challenging especially in the chilly winter months. The comforts of my bed and sleep often wins over a healthy homemade breakfast. 

To simplify and speed up my morning routine, I spent ten minutes packing my smoothie ingredients to simplify for the week ahead. This week’s creations included one banana, blueberries, spinach, hemp hearts, coconut oil, cashew butter and vanilla extract. Just grab a smoothie ziploc package from the freezer, add almond milk, blend, enjoy and GO! 

Strawberry Spinach Smoothie

Today’s smoothie creation – one banana, a handful of frozen strawberries and baby spinach, approximately 1 tablespoon almond butter as well as hemp hearts, a teaspoon of coconut oil and unsweetened almond milk. I added a wee bit of cinnamon too. Blend and enjoy! 

Asparagus with Gremolata 

Gremolata is an amazing way to add flavour. Often made with lemon, I made a gremolata mixture with orange zest, juice, garlic and parsley for this asparagus dish. 

Very simple to pull together. Zest the orange peel into a bowl, cut and add the juice of the orange, mince a 1/4 cup of parsley and add a garlic clove or two (or three) and mix. Sprinkle over asparagus. 

Fresh flavours to dress up your vegetable side dishes. 

Back to the Kitchen 

Back to school is upon us and regardless of our age, we should always be learning. If you are a foodie like me, chances are that learning comes in the form of food. 

After a long absence from my kitchen, I decided last autumn that I needed to get serious about cooking again. A friend’s Facebook post led me to discovering the Clean Eating Magazine Clean Eating Academy: Intro to Clean Cooking & Nutrition course with Chef James Smith. While I have been cooking since childhood, my recipes were not always the healthiest and I needed help being inspired again. I had always wanted to take a professional culinary course for fun so this seemed like a perfect place to start. 

From the first lesson, I learned so many new things and all from the comfort of my home. Many Sunday afternoons were spent trying professional culinary techniques including mise en place, julienne, bâtonnet, brunoise and blanching as well as putting my new skills into practice by creating some awesome recipes. From homemade vegetable stock to roasted garlic lemon aioli to mushroom risotto, I graduated with new culinary skills and techniques to make recipes clean. 

There is still so much for me to learn and master and it is definitely an ongoing work in progress. I love that I can return back to the recipes and videos when I need to and the magazine and website is filled with many recipes to try. If you are struggling to be inspired in your kitchen, why not commit to learning something new. Regardless where you live in the world, this course is accessible to all from the comfort of your own kitchen. I highly recommend the Clean Eating Academy: Intro to Clean Cooking & Nutrition course if you are looking to get started to a healthier YOU.

To learn more about Chef James Smith and the Clean Eating Academy: Intro to Clean Cooking & Nutrition course, visit http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/articles/meet-clean-eating-academy-instructor-james-smith/ 

Happy clean cooking and eating!