Happy Monday and Happy Eclipse Day! I hope you have an awesome weekend. Welcome back.

The last few months of our lives have been full of constant travel. Don't get me wrong, traveling is so fun but traveling creates a crazy life. Travel for us means eating out, drinking cocktails, little to no sleep and just busy busy busy. We are gearing up for one more summer wedding and then we are done traveling for a while.

To get our lives and bodies back on track, we're doing a mini cleanse/strict clean eating starting today. I don't call it a diet because I'm eating, and eating a lot. I am just being very choosy about what I am eating.

 Please know I am not a doctor. I cannot tell you what the best thing for you is. But this works for me. It's a great re-start after eating like crap for months. I usually incorporate certain rules when I start super clean eating. Keep in mind, if you're doing hard workouts or extra long days you may need to modify this. You don't want to starve your body. Clean eating doesn't mean no eating. 

My top 7 rules for clean eating: 

1. Choose Fresh Foods over Refined Foods. You'll see in these recipes that everything is fresh. 
2. Stock Up on Protein. This is where you'll get your energy. I usually stay away from red meat and stick to fish and chicken. 
3. Stop eating sugar. 
4. Feed yourself. 5 small meals during the day rather then one large dinner or breakfast. 
5. Don't Drink Your Calories. I'm talking to me here. No booze, no pop, no coffee, just stick to water. I usually give up coffee when I first start and drink green tea but usually get back to black coffee later. 
6. Listen to your body. You may find yourself a little hungry since you are regulating meals, but if you go on a 10 mile run and are starving, you gotta eat. Just keep it clean.
7. Cook with a friend/spouse. The key to success with this is prepping your meals and snacks. Life is so busy during the week, don't make it harder by not being prepared. Also, if you've prepared everything, it makes it easier to stick to your meal plan.

DAY ONE: 
Breakfast
• 1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt or for dairy free, So Delicious coconut milk yogurt
• 1/4 cup muesli
• 1/4 cup blueberries

A.M. Snack 
• 2 clementines

Lunch 
Avocado-Egg Toast with a Garden Salad
• 1/2 medium avocado,
• 2-3 large eggs, cooked in 1/4 tsp. olive oil 
Season egg with a pinch each of salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 cups mixed greens
• 2 Tbsp. grated carrot
• 1/2 cup cucumber slices
Top salad with 1/2 Tbsp. each balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Dinner 
• 4 oz. cooked chicken breast, cooked in 1 tsp. olive oil and seasoned with a pinch each of salt and pepper
• 4 zucchini, sliced into quarters; Zest of 1 lemon; ½ tsp. dried oregano; ¼ tsp. garlic powder; Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Combine all zucchini ingredients and grill for 2-3 minutes

DAY TWO:
Breakfast 
Avocado-Egg Toast
• 1/2 medium avocado
• 2 tomato slices
• 2-3 large eggs, cooked in 1/4 tsp. olive oil 
Season egg with a pinch each of salt and pepper

A.M. Snack 
• A handful of Kale chips


Lunch 
• Grab a can of tuna and an avocado with some salad greens, oil, and vinegar, and mix it all up.

P.M. Snack 
• 1 cup blueberries with 20 raw, unsalted pistachios

Dinner 
• 1 serving chicken soup (great for leftovers)

DAY THREE:
Breakfast 
• 1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt or for dairy free, So Delicious coconut milk yogurt
• 1/4 cup muesli
• 1/4 cup blueberries

A.M. Snack 
• Frozen berries with a drizzle of coconut milk and honey 

Lunch 
Veggie Sandwich
• 2 slices sprouted-grain bread
• 1/4 medium avocado, mashed
• 1 Tbsp. hummus
Add veggies of your choice (try cucumber, tomato, carrots and greens).

P.M. Snack 
• 1 plum
• 5 walnut halves

Dinner:
• 2 chicken tacos 



DAY FOUR:
Breakfast:
• Breakfast scrambler. Store in an air tight container and use it for leftover lunch/dinner or breakfast.

A.M. Snack 
• 8 dried apricots

Lunch 
Veggie Sandwich
• 2 slices sprouted-grain bread
• 1/4 medium avocado, mashed
• 1 Tbsp. hummus
Add veggies of your choice (try cucumber, tomato, carrots and greens).

P.M. Snack 
• hard-boiled egg

Dinner:
• 1 serving of baked mushroom chicken


DAY FIVE:
Breakfast:
• Breakfast scrambler. Store in an air tight container and use it for leftover lunch/dinner or breakfast.

A.M. Snack 
• Half an avocado sprinkled with sea salt and balsamic vinegar

Lunch 
• Salad with roast chicken, dried cranberries, pecans, apple slices, and vinaigrette

P.M. Snack 
•  2 Tbsp. hummus
• 1 cup sliced cucumber

Happy Monday lovies! I hope your weekend was wonderful and full of relaxation. Mine was great because we didn't do much. I did get to meet my girlfriends new baby! She's only 9 days old and so perfect. I saw Bridget Jones Baby, which, if you love the others, you will love this! I laughed and cried, it was so great! Now that I look back, there was a lot of baby stuff this weekend. Hm.

Great dinners followed by great cocktails made for a struggling Monday. But here we are. Only 5 days until the weekend AND it's finally fall this week. That just means I'm more than justified in putting up my fall decor all while sipping something pumpkin flavored.

This recipe is inspired by my love for making food I can eat for days after. Bringing left overs for lunch is so much more enjoyable than eating a larabar. I found the original recipe from Eating Bird Food. Brittany is AMAZING and blogs some incredible recipes. She doesn't cook exclusively paleo, but her recipes are always leaning towards the healthy side and DELICIOUS. Her recipe for the chicken salad is here.



Below you'll see I switched it up a little for our taste preferences and to follow paleo.

Before we start can we talk about shredding chicken. It's in this recipe (spoiler alert) and as much as I love eating it. I hate it. I hate it so much that when I make bets with Adam on sports and random crap, I tell him that if I win, he has to shred the chicken.

And, the thing that really bugs me, is in recipes it's hidden in the instructions. Do this that this that shred chicken. No-one accounts for the 25 minutes it takes to shred 3 chicken breasts with 2 forks. My hands cramp, I start to sweat and I lose all interest.

Rant over, I made Adam shred the chicken last night.

The best part about this recipe is there is NO mayo! Hallelujah! We don't really do mayo in our house unless I can hide it in something so Adam doesn't know it's there. I found this great paleo mayo at Target and its delish so if I have to, I use that. Just please don't tell Adam I sneak mayo in some things!

Let's get to the recipe!


Ingredients:

• 4 cups shredded chicken (this is about two large breasts) 
• 6 tablespoons almond butter
• 4 tablespoons olive oil 
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 2 cups celery, chopped
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup onion, diced (use red if you can, but yellow is good too!) 
• Butter lettuce, bread or wraps to eat it with. Or a fork. Let's be real, it's that's good.

How to Make: 

1. Shred the dang chicken. Get this part out of the way. (To make shredded chicken, place chicken in a saute pan. Cover the chicken with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce and let simmer. Takes about 25 minutes. Flip the chicken half way through.)
2. Make the dressing. Mix the almond butter, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, mustard and salt. Taste it. Last night, ours tasted too much like almond butter, so I added a little more apple cider vinegar and a titch of salt. This is up to your taste buds! 
3. In a large bowl, mix the chicken, celery, cranberries, almonds and onion. Don't be afraid to add other things. I used some seeds last night. I even thought about adding red cabbage. 
4. Wait to toss the salad with the dressing until ready to eat. Toss, serve, enjoy! 

I don't know about you but I cannot wait for summer. Hot summer days, cold brews and delicious salads. Even though its currently 55 degrees and raining outside, I attempted to recreate summer inside with this cold broccoli salad. I've never really cooked with curry powder and now I can't stop. I paired this salad with my favorite Baked Mustard-Glazed Chicken. Let's just say it was a huge hit in our household! I found this recipe via My Sweet Savannah. Go check her out!


Ingredients:
Dressing: 

• 3/4 cup roasted, salted cashews
• 5 1/2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 4 teaspoons yellow curry powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons honey (she used light agave)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• pinch of pepper

Salad: 

• 4 cups broccoli, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup red onion, diced
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• 2 pieces cooked bacon, chopped
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped
• 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
• 2 tablespoons roasted cashews, chopped

How to Make: 

1. Place the cashews in a  medium bowl and cover with water. Refridgerate for 8 hours. (I just left them on my counter). 
2. Drain the cashews and place in a food processor
3. Add in the remaining dressing ingredients and blend until creamy. About 3 minutes. 
4. In a large bowl, combine the broccoli, red onion, cilantro, bacon and cranberries. Add in the dressing and combine. Refrigerate for an hour. 
5. Just before serving, mix in the sunflower seeds and cashews. 
6. Enjoy!