The Semi Clean Pantry: 5 Must Have Foods

The Semi Clean Pantry: 5 Must Have Foods: Here's a great list of 5 foods you should always keep on hand. Not only are these great snack foods, but they're also very benefic...

5 Must Have Foods

Here's a great list of 5 foods you should always keep on hand.

Not only are these great snack foods, but they're also very beneficial and can really help curb that urge to grab something not so great for you.

Check out the slideshow from MindBodyGreen here

The Semi Clean Pantry: Salad Dressing Dangers?

The Semi Clean Pantry: Salad Dressing Dangers?: Ever read the back of your salad dressing bottle? Yeah, me neither. Not until I read this post! There can really be some down right nast...

Salad Dressing Dangers?

Ever read the back of your salad dressing bottle?

Yeah, me neither. Not until I read this post!

There can really be some down right nasty ingredients in our salad dressings! Talk about feeling duped...here we are thinking we're eating something really great for us and we're on a healthy roll, only to find out the dressing we put on that green bundle of goodness may be super nasty.

Don't worry, I'm on a mission to find tasty, healthy, homemade recipes for us all now!

Here's the article from Mommypotamus

The Semi Clean Pantry: Guiltless Get Togethers

The Semi Clean Pantry: Guiltless Get Togethers: Many of us will be celebrating Easter this weekend with our families. For a lot of us, that will include an Easter dinner, baskets, candy, a...

Guiltless Get Togethers

Many of us will be celebrating Easter this weekend with our families. For a lot of us, that will include an Easter dinner, baskets, candy, appetizers, dessert, candy, maybe wine, and candy. And you might have access to a lot of candy.

I'm not going to sugar coat this..ha...as bad as that all sounds, and is, let's be real: we all look forward to this!

It's great getting together with everyone and snacking on yummy appetizers and over filling on homemade dishes, dinner rolls, and dessert. Not to mention the leftovers for the next few days!

But it doesn't all have to be that bad. There are so many tweaks that you can make that people may not even notice, and will help to cut back sugar, fat, and calories.

~Try the deviled eggs; use 100 Days' Of Real Food's mayo free recipe, or try it with greek yogurt or avocado instead.

~Make sure you're using cage free, organic eggs too, or some from your local supplier.

~Make whole wheat dinner rolls as an option, or in place of regular rolls all together.

~Make sure to have a large salad available for everyone.

~Try to include veggies as your side options instead of all starches. (Mashed cauliflower just so happens to be pretty amazing in place of mashed taters!)

~Have fresh veggies available as an appetizer option, along with a greek yogurt (plain greek yogurt with ranch dressing dry mix) or homemade dip

~Homemade salsas or guacamole also make a great appetizer since you can use all fresh, organic ingredients and make them fresh on the spot!

~Use nature's candy aka fruit! Baskets don't have to all be loaded with candy and chocolate bunnies. Try using bags of Annie's fruit snacks or make your own fruit leather or dehydrated snacks. You can also use fresh fruit in your baskets, or make super cute bunnies from Babybel cheese and carrot sticks! Fruit kabobs would be adorable as well!

~Desserts don't have to be huge and fancy and as sweet as possible. Make something a little lighter, like an angel food cake recipe or muffins or cupcakes they can take home if they're too full to eat right now.

~Most importantly, make sure you only use food grade dye if you plan to eat the eggs you are coloring! Many coloring kits are not food safe, and you do not want to eat those eggs! There are also quite a few natural coloring options as well.

Just remember to keep things simple, and healthy, and to enjoy the time with your family and loved ones, and most importantly, remember why we're celebrating.

Happy Easter!!

Katie

The Semi Clean Pantry: Make It or Buy It?

The Semi Clean Pantry: Make It or Buy It?: This is a great, awesome, fabulous post from 100 Days of Real Food. She basically breaks down a few basic food items and tells you which one...

Make It or Buy It?

This is a great, awesome, fabulous post from 100 Days of Real Food. She basically breaks down a few basic food items and tells you which ones you should focus on making at home, and which ones actually offer ok varieties to buy from a store.

It can be overwhelming at times to feel like you have to hand make everything in order to trust eating it or feeding it to your family, and you can even start to feel guilty for cutting corners and just buying it. Now you don't need to worry so much about that, but there are still a few things you should make at home.

Here's a great, quick breakdown:

100 Days of Real Food: Make vs Buy

The Semi Clean Pantry: Confessional: DIY Fail

The Semi Clean Pantry: Confessional: DIY Fail: Alright, so a few weeks back I had shared some homemade DIY recipes with you for making things like dishwasher tabs, all purpose orange clea...

Confessional: DIY Fail

Alright, so a few weeks back I had shared some homemade DIY recipes with you for making things like dishwasher tabs, all purpose orange cleaner, and wool dryer balls.

I must say that I LOVE the dryer balls and can notice that they really do cut down on drying time.

Same with the orange cleaner, love that stuff too!

The dishwasher tabs however, not so much. Ugh. It all seemed like a great idea, and they were super easy to make. I had good intentions, alright? But man did I miss my sparkling, perfectly clean dishes! The homemade tabs lasted all of two or three weeks and then I caved and bought the old faithfuls.

The homemade tabs just left this horrible white residue all over everything! I couldn't handle it. We do have hard water, but I tried everything every blog every suggested without success. I tried adding a few drops of Dawn to the tab, I tried putting a cup of vinegar on the top shelf as a rinse aid, I tried it all. Not matter what my dishes just looked awful. Yes, I'm being over dramatic but I'm one that just loves pulling out that glass, holding it up to the light, and seeing clear, sparkly perfection. Ahh. Ok maybe not that extreme, but close.

I was seriously annoyed. The plates had a residue on the back, the silverware handles looked like crap, the glasses were cloudy, and even the Tupperware felt chalky. Some of the stuff I even had to hand wash in order to get it all off and looking normal again.

Once I switched back to my regular tabs, everything was coming out perfect again. Sure, it's probably full of nasty chemicals and I'm definitely going to keep my eye open for a better version now.

But I feel there are some things you just can't give up. Me, I cannot give up clean dishes. Nope. For you it might be your laundry not having that amazing smell from your detergent or not getting the same effects from a cleaning product. You don't have to give them up all together. Just look for a better version, or cut back or change how you're using it.

Long story short, I know my homemade dishwasher tabs were probably 500 times safer than what I'm addicted to, but it's just not worth the compromise to me right now. But like I said, I'm definitely going to shop for other options now and it won't keep me from trying other recipes either.

So don't beat yourself up, you tried, you ARE trying, and you're taking other steps to improve your house, health, and living left and right. Did I just make that into a pep talk for myself? Wow, I feel so much better now. Dang, I'm good!

That's it for now,
Katie

The Semi Clean Pantry: Extreme Makeover: Grocery Cart Edition

The Semi Clean Pantry: Extreme Makeover: Grocery Cart Edition: Two years ago you could find me in the grocery store loading up on hamburger helper, pre-made hamburger patties, sweet cereal, soda, and I w...

Extreme Makeover: Grocery Cart Edition

Two years ago you could find me in the grocery store loading up on hamburger helper, pre-made hamburger patties, sweet cereal, soda, and I won't even mention what else. As for produce, there were usually bananas. And that was it.

My, oh my, has my grocery list changed! Nowadays, the majority of my time is spent in the produce section picking out fresh fruits and veggies for my daily smoothies, healthy snacks, and as part of our weekly meal plan. Most of my entire grocery trip now involves the outer horseshoe shaped pattern of the store, and rarely ventures down a center aisle. Have you ever noticed that? That most of your fresh stuff is on the outside walls of the store? Ever notice how all of the boxed, processed, dead food is mainly in the middle?

Now, now, don't get me wrong, I DO go down those aisles sometimes and I am by no means some perfectly healthy eater, and I definitely don't judge anyone that does buy those items! I think we all know about my obsession with peanut M&M's and I'm a sucker for cookies & milk just like the next girl. Dang, I just had to bring that up right around lunch time, didn't I?

My point, is that I didn't arrive to my new method of grocery shopping over night. It has taken me a while to get here, and I did it one step at a time.

For starters, take a look at your normal staples. What kind of bread are you getting? How about pasta or rice? Do you usually buy pre-made box mixes for meals? How many servings of fruits & veggies are you currently getting, and how would it best suit you to add them?

First and foremost, start buying more fresh produce. Fresh, ripe, delicious fruits and veggies are the absolute best thing for you in the world. You just can't buy too much of this natural goodness. Start thinking of ways to incorporate more fresh produce into your daily diet. Get some bananas for a morning snack, carrots and celery for the afternoon, grapes, peas, apples, all of which are perfect snacks that you can prep ahead of time and grab on the go or to keep on hand at work. Also think about ways to incorporate veggies into your dinners. Try steamed veggies, mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes (yummm!!), grilled veggies, or a small salad before each dinner. Try new meatless recipes, and even try going meatless on Mondays.

Let's now try buying whole grain bread instead of white. Now, don't be fooled, some brands advertise that they're "wheat", but a quick look at the ingredients may tell you otherwise. You want WHOLE wheat flour, not just wheat flour. Flour is derived from wheat, so this is how they get away with saying "wheat flour", even when it's just plain white flour. You want to make sure it says whole wheat.

Now for rice & pasta. Try substituting with whole wheat pasta, and brown rice. Honestly, there's hardly a difference at all, don't be a wimp. And if you're feeling adventurous, try using quinoa instead of rice for an even healthier substitute. Here again, check your label and make sure the pasta is truly whole wheat.

Next, and my favorite, instead of buying things like hamburger helper or meal starters, make your own! I know it sounds a little intimidating, but you'd be amazed at just how easy it is to throw together your own seasonings and make your own variations of hamburger meals. My favorite is the cheeseburger hamburger helper DIY version, but you can also make a skillet lasagna, a taco version, stroganoff, and more. What's even better, is you can use wheat pasta instead, plus you're avoiding all those nasty additives. You can even toss in some fresh onion or pepper, or fresh herbs. Yum. You can't get that kind of flavor from a box mix! Another mind blowing fact about doing this, it takes the same amount of time as the box mix. I know, it's hard to believe, but you're still cooking your meat, still dumping in the pasta, water, milk and seasonings, and bringing to a boil then letting simmer, and the best part of all....you're still only using one pot for all of this! Woohoo!

After that, switch your dairy to organic milk, full fat butter, sour cream, cream cheese, etc. Those low fat versions may seem healthier on the outside, but ever think of what they put in there to replace the fat? Yick. One of the biggest things I changed, and struggled with a little, was changing my yogurt. I'm a spaz about textures, so for years I only ever at the whipped yogurt. Hello, have you ever looked at the sugar in those buggers? Wow. I started by switching to Oikos, which has a little more sugar in it than other greek yogurts. I've now completely converted to Chobani which is almost all fat free, and lower in sugar. Also, Chobani yogurts do not contain carrageenan, a nasty little carcinogen used in a lot of dairy. Watch out for that stuff too.

Recently, I've also switched from buying shredded cheese, to buying blocks and shredding it myself. I thought it was crazy at first too, but it's so much easier than you think it would be. I invested in a good grater from Tupperware, that actually traps the cheese you're grating and allows you to even measure it. Why do this, you ask? Because store bought shredded cheese usually contains some form of wood pulp or cellulose to keep all those shreds from sticking into one big glob again. I realized most of my recipes do not call for wood shavings, nor do I really wish to eat them, so I stopped adding them and switched to the real shredded deal instead.

Naturally, I don't expect you to try all of these at once nor would I expect that you never slip up and buy an old faithful. I just ask that you give it a whirl. Start switching out items in the cart here and there for healthier options, and see what happens. I bet you won't even notice the changes in bread, pasta or rice, and as for everything else, it just tastes better! You may notice a difference in how you feel though. Especially if you begin to add more fruits & veggies and start eliminating more processed foods from your diet, you're going to notice that you have more energy, feel lighter, and you may even shed some pounds!

Again, I can't tell you enough how important it is to start these changes one at a time, so you don't get overwhelmed, discouraged, or give up. Also, if you have a pretty hard core meat n potatoes kinda man like I do, then you have no choice but to gradually ease into these things. He fights me tooth and nail on some things, but little does he know how many things I've changed without him even noticing it. I'm still working on getting him to eat mashed cauliflower, though I did mix it with potatoes 50/50 once and he had no idea (cue evil laugh while tapping fingers together). I know, I'm such a rebel.

That's all for now,

Katie

The Semi Clean Pantry: Your New Morning Smoothie

The Semi Clean Pantry: Your New Morning Smoothie: Here's a great new smoothie recipe from MindBodyGreen with a little caffeine for a healthy morning boost. Your usual morning jo or fro...

Your New Morning Smoothie

Here's a great new smoothie recipe from MindBodyGreen with a little caffeine for a healthy morning boost.

Your usual morning jo or frozen whatchyamacallit from Starbucks not only costs you hundreds of dollars per year, but it's also loaded with sugar, caramel coloring, artificial flavors, and GMO's. And did you know that most coffee is treated with pesticides, unless it's organic?

Now I know some of you MUST. Have. Coffee. On a daily basis. Hey, I'm not saying to quit cold turkey, just entertain the idea of switching to organic coffee and save yourself from unnecessary pesticide or chemical exposure.

Or, you could start enjoying a yummy, healthy, good for you, energizing smoothie each morning instead! Not only do they boost your energy and get your day started right, they're also extremely healthy and give you a jump start on your daily fruit & veggie intake.

Here's a fantastic looking recipe for a ginger mango chai smoothie...yes, it has chai tea with caffeine! See, all is not lost ;)

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-13204/youll-love-this-energizing-ginger-mango-chai-smoothie.html

Ginger Mango Chai Smoothie (vegan)

1 cup frozen mango
1/2 cup freshly brewed chai tea
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1/2 frozen banana
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 tsp cinnamon

Blend and enjoy!