What the heck is a macro?

I have decided to a.) start adding to this blog again and to b.) start to include the details you need about my recipes to track your macros. This will lead to one blaring questions however, what the heck is a macro?

As many of you know I am not a nutritionist, medical professional, or anything of the like, I am just a gal who likes to cook. I was first introduced to macros when I started working out at Focal Point with Jen and Chris Morakis. I witnessed numerous success stories under their guidance. If you are looking for a personal trainer or diet/health coach they are your people, but back to this macro stuff. Since I am no expert and am still learning this form of eating myself, I am going to leave the explanation to the professionals.

The best source I have found on macro explanations (aside from seeking out a professional to coach you one on one) is this blog post. Basically macros break down to balancing your protein, carbohydrates (yep you get to eat carbs), and fats to hit your target. You can eat basically what you want so long as it fits into your macros for the day. However, if you are going to hit your targets you need to eat the most nutrient dense foods you can at all times. If you choose to eat crap, well...

Need more help? Try visiting If It Fits Your Macros for calculators and articles. You will also find links to tracking apps for your phone.

To answer your next question, no you don't need to track your macros to follow me here. Basically this blog is still all about clean, lean recipes to help you stay on track to your health and fitness goals, just now at the bottom of the recipe you will find the calories, protein, fat and carbohydrates listed for a serving of the recipe.

Now that you understand the changes to The Clean Lean Collection I hope you will enjoy my posts and will share them with others.

Enjoy.

Peanut Butter Banana "Ice Cream"

Peanut Butter Banana "Ice Cream"

3 peeled frozen bananas

2 T peanut butter

splash or two of preferred milk (I used organic 1% but non-dairy milk works just as well)

If you are anything like me you have a collection of frozen bananas in your freezer at all times. Mostly for quick smoothies, but this recipe will hopefully inspire you to ensure they are in there all the time.

Toss the three bananas, PB and milk into the food processor. Turn it on and watch the magic happen. Give it a minute to a minute and a half, if the ingredients have not started to turn to the consistency of ice cream add a splash more milk. Keep doing this until you get a creamy frozen concoction of deliciousness that will satisfy your strongest ice cream craving without the guilty. In fact, I don't even dirty a bowl for this one. It is straight to the couch with the food processor bowl and a spoon for me.

Vegetarian Gluten Free Lasagna

Lasagna Recipe:

1 jar prepared pasta sauce
(As much as I love to cook, I have never been able to make sauce better than Our Lady of Mount Carmel jarred sauce. Sometimes you just have to admit defeat and go with the jarred stuff. However, if you are a sauce aficionado feel free to use homemade!)
1 box tinkyada brown rice lasagna noodles
1 C spinach basil pesto (see recipe below)
1 (15-ounce) container part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 bag baby spinach
1 jar roasted red peppers
1 1/2 C part skim mozzarella cheese, grated

Pesto:

1/2 bag baby spinach

1 1/2 C fresh basil

1 handful pine nuts

1/4 C extra virgin olive oil

1/4 C flax oil

1 handful grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat over at 350 degrees. Start pot of water to boil according to directions on noodle package. In a food processor combine spinach, basil, pine nuts, and cheese. Add about half of the extra virgin olive oil and start processor. As ingredients begin to combine alternate slowly adding flax oil and olive oil until the pesto reaches desired consistency. Set aside the finished pesto. By this time your water should be boiling and you can add the noodles to cook.

In a medium size bowl combine ricotta cheese and pesto.(oops, meant to take a picture of this and forgot. I was so excited for this dinner!) Remove roasted red peppers from the jar and slice them into bit size pieces. Once noodles are finished cooking strain and rinse with cool water (this will save you from burning your fingers as you work with the noodles).

Put a small amount of sauce in the bottle of a 9X13 pan. Add your first layer of noodles, smear ricotta and pesto combination onto the noodles. Add a handful or two of baby spinach, sprinkle with roasted red peppers, and top with a layer of mozzarella cheeses. Top each layer with a small amount of sauce. Repeat layers until you've run out of ingredients. The spinach is fluffy, so you're going to have to squish it down to make it all fit.
Cook uncovered 30 minutes or until the cheese on top has just started to brown. The edges will start to pull away from the pan and look crispy.

Verdict:

OK...not to toot my own horn but this was AMAZING! The cheese was stringy, the pesto add a depth in flavor you don't typically get from traditional lasagna, and the brown rice noodles were the perfect texture. While this might not be a meal you want to add into a weekly rotation if you are counting calories, it is one you can make to satisfy a craving or for a special occasion and not blow you whole diet!

Busy Night Mexi Chicken

I am calling thus Busy Night Mexi Chicken because it only takes 15 minutes to prepare and cooks for half an hour in the oven (thus is when you shower after your workout, do kids homework, or mop the floor). Here is what you need:

1 lb. Boneless skinless chicken breast
Half a large onion, sliced
Half a green pepper, sliced
Half a red pepper, sliced
One 16 oz. undrained can organic diced tomatoes, no salt added
Half cup chicken broth, low sodium
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp thyme leaves
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper, adjust for desired heat

Place chicken, peppers, onion, tomatoes in casserole dish. Pour chicken broth over everything. Sprinkle spices over all ingredients and carefully mix. Cover and place in preheated oven at 350°. Cook for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove cover and cook for an additional 10 - 15 minutes. Serve over prepared brown rice.
Enjoy!

"22" Ingredient Chili and Corn Muffins

So the roomie requested a meal of something "stew-like but not beef stew but that is warm and wonderful". Since he rarely requests food I said "ummm....ok!"

What I decided on was chili. It is November and all! I made this recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking some time back and while it was good, I wanted to lean it up a bit. Plus, I am not a huge fan of chicken in chili, I think chili should be beef (or something of the sorts). I also hold a firm belief that you cannot have chili without corn muffins. So...since this is "clean" we won't be using one of those box mixes that most people turn to these days.
Here is how it looks:

Chili:

1 pound lean natural ground beef

1 pound lean natural ground turkey

1 onion, diced

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed (you can use kidney bean here but I have a deep hatred for kidney bean so I use black beans. I recommend them highly but if you love kidney beans in your chili, go right ahead)

1 (15-ounce) can white northern beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15-ounce) bag frozen corn

1 (15-ounce) can organic fire roasted tomatoes (whole can)

1 (15-ounce) can organic diced tomatoes (whole can)

1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and grated

1/2 cup spicy brown mustard

2 tablespoons soy sauce (watch sodium and wheat content on these!)

2 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon dried onion flakes

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon white pepper (this will add a little heat so go easy if you are sensitive)

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cloves

2 cups chicken broth - homemade or organic

Corn Muffins:

1 - 1/4 C whole wheat flour

3/4 C corn meal

1/4 C sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 C rice milk

1/4 canola oil

2 egg whites (I recommend organic brown eggs, you'll be amazed how much better they taste!)

Directions:

Brown ground beef and turkey in a large stock pot with a little EVOO. When meat is browned, add onion and shredded sweet potato, combined cook for 2 - 3 minutes and allow onion and potato to soften. Add chicken broth, soy sauce, brown mustard and corn first. Then add spices and honey. This will allow all the ingredients to blend without caking together. Stir together throughly, reduce heat to a simmer and allow to cook for 45 - 60 minutes. Low and slow is the key to great chili!

While the chili is cooking, preheat over to 400 degrees. Mix together dry ingredients. Stir in mixture of milk, egg whites and oil slowly just until the dry mixers is wet and easily stirred. Line a muffin pan with  liners and scope about 1/4 C of corn mixture into each cup. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes depending on your oven. Mine took about 13 minutes.

Verdict:

This chili is excellent! The cinnamon and spicy mustard add this interesting and complex flavor unlike other chilis I have had in the past. The roomie was more than satisfied and had no complaints when I told him Sunday was going to be a leftover night. I also taught him the art of crumbling your corn muffin directly into the chili. Definitely the way to go! I will say however that it could use more heat for me. I have been on the hunt for chipotle chili powder and am having trouble finding it locally. I think using that in place of, or in addition to, the regular chili powder will really kick it up.

Final thought...next time I am going to experiment with using coconut oil and honey versus canola oil and sugar for the corn muffins. I will let you know how it goes :)

Enjoy!

Vegan Cream of Asperagus Soup

This recipe is adapted from an original recipe found on SkinnyTaste.

Mondays are Vegan Mondays in my little world. A few months ago I made to conscience choice to reduce my meat intake, both for health and moral reasons. As a part of that, I now observe Vegan Mondays and Meatless Thursdays. These are not my only meatless meals but it gives me 6 conscience meatless meals a week to plan.

Here is what you will need:

2 lbs Asparagus (about two store bought bunches)
2 tsp Good Earth soy-less butter spread
       (Why soy-less? Read here)
1 medium onion, chopped
6 C organic or homemade vegetable stock (watch the sodium on store bought)
2T plain almond milk yogurt*
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

*I just started buying almond milk yogurt and it is pretty good. It has a greek yogurt texture to it but without the bitterness of greek yogurt. For general eating, I like the vanilla or honey flavors but I find the plain is handy for cooking. I also enjoy the plain with a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder and a few drops of liquid vanilla stevia as a night time treat. It's sweet and creamy like pudding.

Directions:
In a large pot,  melt the "butter" at low heat. Add onion and sauté on low for about 2-3 minutes.

Snap the tough ends off the asparagus and discard  Chop the asparagus into 2 inch pieces. Add to the pot with the onions. Add vegetable broth, sea salt and pepper. Cover and cook about 20-25 minutes or until asparagus is very tender. Remove from heat, add almond milk yogurt. Now you have two options, if you have a submersible blender you can use it here. If not, carefully transfer and  puree the soup in small batches in a regular blender. Be careful, it will be very hot! With either method, purée until smooth. Enjoy!

Verdict:
I love this soup! It is full of flavor and has a great thick creamy texture. With only 2 T of  "cream" I was worried it wouldn't develop that "cream of" flavor I was looking to get. You really have to blend the heck out of it to get all the pieces smooth but it is well worth it. 
A great stand alone soup or paired with a delicious salad, I don't think you can go wrong. Even my carnivore roommate loved this one. 

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog, The Clean Lean Collection. This blog will be dedicated to clean and lean recipes that I have found on other sites or have created on my own. I may venture into the world of fitness on occasion, or just about anything relating to my journey to a better me.
A word on clean lean eating...
There is no hard and fast rule on what makes a clean lean recipe. On here you will find recipes that have the excess fat, salt and calories trimmed out, and that are made with REAL food. We may use butter, we will eat carbs, and there will even be dessert recipes. Some of the things that will commonly be trimmed are wheat, dairy and refined sugar. It's not that these foods are completely bad but they tend to cause the body to slow digestion and in most cases are loaded with the bad stuff. We can use other products such as coconut and almond milks, brown rice flour, and honey to replace these ingredients. Things that will not be in added are artificial sweeteners (gross!), processed foods of any kind, and ingredients loaded with fat and calories that can easily be substituted (ie. heavy cream, refined sugar, starchy carbs).
Well that is what you will find on The Clean Lean Collection. I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to leave feedback or requests for recipes that are cleaned and leaned up. Thanks for reading!