Whoa- its crazy how much of my diet previous to the New Year contained so many of those things! No wonder the holidays were not so nice to me ;)
So anyways, Alex and I decided to do this challenge with my mom, dad, younger sister and her husband. Alex actually talked me into doing it on my birthday (the 31st) and we decided to start the clean eating part of the program right then! We wanted to make sure we could maintain that type of eating after we were finished with the program and no longer on the supplements. I actually think he is only doing it so I will do it and I love him so much more for that-- he knew I would never be able to handle it without him!
We cleaned out the pantry and haven't looked back! Well that is kind of untrue-- Alex hasn't looked back... I may have eaten a few unhealthy things before we actually started the cleanse-- but for the most part I have done great as well!
So we are eating clean! And I actually think that we are eating cleaner than clean if you look at the definition. Our diet consists of hard-boiled eggs, fruit, dry roasted lightly salted nuts, vegetables, chicken and fish. All ingredients have to be scanned to make sure there is no sugar or unhealthy oils in them. And trust me- those ingredients are in EVERYTHING!
But the funny thing is-- I thought it would be much harder than it is. I mean, trust me, handing my children a bowl of cheesy chickadees or cutting up their chicken nuggets or turkey sandwiches or dishing out a snack of popcorn puffs is kind of tough to do without wanting to sneak a bite; but I'm overcoming the urges!
I think the thing that helps the most is putting together flavors that make you think you aren't eating health food. I made a Spicy Thai Peanut Salmon for dinner and I had to keep checking and re-checking all the ingredients to make sure it actually fit all the criteria for the cleanse. And it was DELICIOUS!!
I got the inspiration from a recipe I found on foodgawker.com. It was for a spicy sriracha peanut encrusted salmon. If that sounds good, you can find it here. I changed it up a little, however, because the second ingredient in Sriracha is sugar. I decided to use Thai Red Curry paste in place of the sriracha because it has no sugar but still kind of the same flavor and a little kick. Then I decided to add a bit of natural peanut butter and low-sodium soy because they are delicious. And then because I was worried it wouldn't have quite enough kick, I mixed a little more soy with some chili garlic paste and poured it over the peanut crust topping.
Drooling yet? I made only enough for one meal and I am really kicking myself now! I will definitely be making this again and I hope you try it too!
Spicy Thai Peanut Crusted Salmon
2 servings- but easily doubled (or tripled!)
2 salmon filets (about 5 oz.)
2 tsp thai red curry paste
2 tsp all natural peanut butter
1 1/2 T low-sodium soy sauce, divided
1/2 cup finely chopped peanuts
1 tsp chili-garlic paste (Sambal Oelek)
Lime wedges
Mix curry paste, peanut butter and 2 tsp soy sauce together. Add salmon and massage the marinade into the fish. Refrigerate for a few hours. Preheat oven to 450. I did 430 because it was convection. Line baking sheet with foil and spray with olive oil spray. Pour peanuts on to plate and press salmon filets into the peanuts on just the top side. Place salmon filets on baking sheet, peanut side up. Combine remaining soy sauce with the chili-garlic paste. Drizzle over peanut topping. Bake for 10 minutes and then cover with foil and bake for another 3-5 or until salmon flakes easily with fork. Serve with fresh lime wedges.
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