Expert Tips, Tricks And Recipes For Clean Eating In The New Year by Patty McGee, RN, BSN Integrative Nutrition Health Coach Story and photos by Patty McGee
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he new year is all about resolutions and new beginnings. The year 2020 is an exciting time here in the Capital Region: Everywhere you look, people are making healthier choices and eating cleaner. And that is not an accident: Research shows that eating a clean, healthy diet prevents chronic and autoimmune diseases, saves money and decreases stress and inflammation. Clean eating has also been proven to help people safely lose weight and keep it off forever. Eating clean is about changing your lifestyle from the Standard American Diet (SAD) to eating real, whole foods. Changing how you eat and feed your family can be overwhelming, so I’m offering some of the best tips and tricks to enjoy a healthy new year, along with some delicious, clean recipes to help you get started and make your New Year’s resolution a sustainable reality. Cook Your Own Food: Home cooking, meal planning and meal prep‐
ping are great ways to get started with your 2020 New Year’s resolutions to eat clean and healthy. Kitchen Cleanout: Throw out foods that have expired and don’t have clean ingredients. Donate cans, jars and boxes of processed food, if they havn’t expired or been opened. Organize And Declutter: Overstocked and disorganized refrigera‐ tors, pantries, drawers, cabinets and countertops make preparing meals overwhelming. Being organized helps you prepare meals quicker and makes them more fun. Pull Out Appliances: A food processor makes meal prep quick and easy. Use it to slice, chop or grate foods to make delicious, healthy stir fries, salads and soups. A good blender will help you produce satisfying smoothies, sauces, nut butters and bowls. The list of options is endless. Plan Ahead: Plan meals for the week, make a shopping list, buy
Vegetarian and Gluten-Free: Winter Wellness Bowls Ingredients ½ cup of uncooked brown rice 1 cup of spinach 1 cup of arugula ½ cup of chickpeas ½ cup of finely chopped red cabbage ½ cup of finely chopped raw carrots ½ cup of finely chopped raw beets ½ cup of finely chopped chives 2 Tbsp of your favorite roasted nuts, chopped 3 cups of vegetable broth
Instructions • Place the uncooked rice in a medium pot with one cup of water (or vegetable broth for more flavor). • Cover and bring water/broth to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer for 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. • While the rice is cooking prepare chopped vegetables using the grater blade on your food processor. • In a separate large mixing bowl, add spinach, arugula, chickpeas, red cabbage, carrots, beets and chives. Mix everything together. • Now, build your bowl: In two separate medium bowls divide the rice and use it as your base. • Add mixed vegetables and sprinkle toasted nuts on top. • Heat the remaining 2 cups of vegetable broth and divide into each bowl. Serves 2
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