Clean Cooking with Pinterest

I love to enjoy the holidays – good times with good friends and GREAT food and I am not ashamed of it. Now, that doesn’t mean that I skip my workouts or let my normal schedule fly out of the window, but my calorie intake does increase a little and recovery time is a bit more substantial.  So, to counter this holiday indulgence I kick start my diet and exercise every January (like many) holding myself VERY strict to a complete nutrition and exercise regime for 90 days. This will be my third year going really strict on myself and so far it is going great! However, I remember the first time I tried to cut back on foods (like cheese, bread and sweets) I was NOT a happy camper and was finding myself extremely bored with the weekly meal plan I had set for myself. Then one day, a friend introduced Pinterest to me and I can honestly say I have never spent more time on a website in one day!

----what’s that? You don’t know what Pinterest is!? Pinterest is a social-media Web site on which users compile collections of pictures they find on the Internet or just browse the collections of others. The site’s name combines the words “interest” and “pin,” in reference to “pin boards,” which are also known in various creative professions as inspiration boards or mood boards…Pin…interest…get it? J Ok back to why it is so awesome…

I suddenly found myself searching ravenously for more and more healthy “skinny” recipes to quench my thirst for new and exciting foods. Now, my idea of eating clean is EXTREEMLY strict which is why I only do this once a year (for 90 days) and then continue on to a maintenance diet and exercise routine. So, when I started looking around online I found tons of recipes that I could easily swap out ingredients for my healthier options.

I love to make things ahead of time, especially for early mornings or when needing healthy snacks on the go, so naturally I am always looking for “mini” things. Not sure what I mean by swapping out ingredients in already seemingly healthy recipes? Here is a mini quiche recipe I found when typing in “healthy recipes” into pinterest:

Muffin Tin Quiches

• Yields 24 muffins or 48 mini muffins
• 4 cups frozen shredded hash browns 
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 green pepper
• 6 slices bacon
• 1 cup cheddar cheese
• 10 eggs
• 1 tsp pepper (optional)

1. Preheat over to 375*. Grease muffins tins using cooking spray. 

2. Defrost 4 cups hash browns in microwave.  Pour 2 tbsp melted butter over hash browns. Stir. 

3. Spoon hash browns into muffin tins.  Press hash browns into muffin tins creating a hash brown cup.  Bake at 375* for 15 minutes.  

4. While the hash browns are baking, cook the bacon in a frying pan.  Dice the bacon and green pepper. 

5. Whisk the eggs, and optional pepper, together and set aside.

6. When the hash browns are lightly browned around the edges, pull out of the oven.  Fill each hash town cup with a small amount of bacon, green pepper and cheese.  

7. Pour eggs on top of hash brown cups and filling.  Fill 3/4 of the way full.  

8. Bake at 375* for 15-20 minutes.  A toothpick should come out clean when they are fully cooked.  

Now, seemingly healthy if you can eat one MINI quiche or a half of 1 muffin, but for most of us that are trying to really cut back, this is simply not a healthy choice off the bat. However, using the same basic instructions and swapping out a few ingredients you get the same idea, with less than half the calories! So you can take 2 or 3 of these bad boys with you and not break the calorie budget.

My version:

Muffin Tin Quiches - Yields 24 muffins or 48 mini muffins

• 4 cups shredded sweet potatoes (or baby reds – require less cooking time)
• ½ tbsp. spray butter
• 1 green pepper
• 6 slices turkey bacon
• ½ cup low fat cheese
• ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
• 15 egg whites
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp cinnamon and red pepper flakes

Prepare the same way, minimizing the oils and cheese and voilà! A substantially healthier, on-the-go part of your breakfast or afternoon snack.

It may seem like a bit much, but when your brain is fried from the daily grind and you don’t feel like coming up with a  complete recipe, and fast food is NOT an option, sometimes it is just easier to swap out healthy ingredients for an already existing recipe and go from there. Here are some tips to get you started:

1. Cut the cheese in half or LEAVE IT OUT! We need to realize what cheese does for dishes. It adds creaminess, salt and savory-ness. So get creative with spices instead, add hummus as a spread rather than cheese on a sandwich etc… cheese has long been our crutch in making meals tasty. Step out of your comfort zone and explore the wonderful seasoning and spreads that are available with just a little extra effort.

2. Eliminate butter and margarine completely and minimalize oils. There are so many spray butters, oils and alternatives (like coconut and hemp oil) that are much better for baking and sautéing anyway. Cut the trans fats from the traditional oils and go for heart healthy options full of omega 3’s instead. Most of the time the recipe really does not require the full amount of oil as indicated by the recipe. Start small and add along the way if you decide that your dish really needs that extra Tbsp. of olive oil.

3. Mind the serving sizes. Most recipes tell you how many they serve, but some don’t. So keep in mind for the average woman – single palm is your protein serving, cupped palm is your grains, size of your thumb is fats, and a fist size of veggies. (double it for most men)

4. Drop the extra carb. Breaded fish, chicken and eggplant is not entirely necessary to create that recipe is it? Every now and again it is OK, but if you do – choose the Panko plain breadcrumbs – not the seasoned Italian crusted herb blend. Minimalize seasoning blends in general as these tend to have extremely high levels of sodium  which will leave you bloated, dehydrated and fill in unnecessary calories you could otherwise use in your meal.

5. Swap grains and proteins. If a baked chicken dish calls for Swiss chard over rice pilaf feel free to swap out your veggie and protein for something healthier but still in the same serving size/calorie realm. Like using kale or spinach rather than Swiss chard and whole grain brown rice or quinoa rather than rice pilaf, then serve with fresh cod or lean extra firm tofu (for my veggie friends) rather than chicken.

Using a simple “healthy recipe” from pinterest as your starting point can open up your world to a whole new realm of possibilities. Just remember what your specific goals are and what it is going to take for you to reach them. You may not want to be as strict on yourself as others, but substituting out ingredients for healthier options is a great place to start!

Want instant inspiration? Check out our Pinterest boards with Pura Cycling Studio. We update weekly with inspiration from the web and from our members!

“Moderation in all things, especially moderation.” 
― Ralph Waldo Emerson