reading & resources

For me, the only way to really get behind something is to read read read about it! I am that girl that will study product reviews and google everything. And as I get more committed to the clean eating lifestyle, I have been researching away! It is the researching that has affirmed my desire to eat this way. From blogs and books to magazines and websites, many hours have been spent learning all that I can. It is the knowledge that fuels the commitment. 


My go-to resources:

Tone It Up

This is where it all began! I saw Tenley and Michelle {from the Bachelor...} tweeting about ToneItUp workouts and meals. I googled my way into their little piece of the world wide web and have been obsessed ever since! I am a member of their diet plan, I do their YouTube workouts {so convenient!!} and love all of their inspiration and challenges! 

Follow Karena and Katrina on Twitter @ToneItUp

The Eat Clean Diet

This is Tosca Reno's website- I can't remember her full story but she writes for Oxygen Magazine and has completely adopted this lifestyle. She has written tons of books and the website is great for inspiration, facts and recipes. I just picked up one of her books last night- so easy to read/understand and very factual. She will make a believer out of you! 

Follow Tosca & The Eat Clean Diet at @ToscaReno and @EatCleanDiet

Clean Eating Magazine

Yahoo! There is a magazine about this! Clean Eating Mag is a part of the Oxygen/Tosca Reno family {I think...} and is packed with recipes and articles all about eating clean! I have a hard time finding the magazine- but typically see it at Publix. P.S. their website is a great resource for recipes! 

Follow @CleanEatingMag

Clean Eating Chelsey

Now this is a true blog! I like this website simply because it reads like a blog of her life- her stories, her accomplishments, her tips, recipes, etc. She seems like just a regular girl with a typical life- so she is easy to relate to and inspiring! 

Follow Chelsey @CleanEatingChel

FitSugar

FitSugar is a spawn/sister to PopSugar, the celebrity gossip site. So I wrongly assumed that the site would be fluffy and pathetic. Turns out the information is great and very easy to read! It is not all clean eating focused- but the site is very interesting. I love the videos!  Follow @FitSugar

The Gracious Pantry

Great recipes and basic lifestyle info! Plus they recipes on twitter throughout the day- great for "what's for dinner" inspiration!

Follow @GraciousPantry

Joy of Clean Eating

Great recipes, product reviews and tips! Reads like a blog so that makes it more interesting! Follow @JoyCleanEat

Let me know what you think & if you know of any other people/companies that I should follow! 

Happy Monday! 

:) amc

Vegan-Clean-Eating BROWNIES with Spinach!

"oooh brownies!"
"wait, amanda made them???..."
"augh, are they like healthy?"


Yes, they are healthy...ish. 


Vegan-Clean-Eating BROWNIES with Spinach!

{pretend this photo was taken by me}

Any recipe that calls for a blender makes me smile. 

Blend up: 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 2 cups raw spinach 

Try not to guzzle this. I know you want to. ;)

Mix the Nickelodeon gak with your dry ingredients

1/2 cup organic whole-wheat pastry flour, 1/2 cup almond flour, 1 cup organic raw sugar, 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt

Everyone loves chocolate mush. 

Now go ahead and add those dark chocolate semi-sweet chips. I won't even tell you how much 1/4 cup, you be the judge here. Live it up. 

Spread the batter evenly in a pan, bake for 15-25 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Let them cool and dig in! 

So as the story goes, these babies were amazing! Honestly...there was a hint of that "this tastes healthy" thing going on. But really, I will make these tons of times again. 

bake it up! 

:) amc

p.s. I took them to work and there were no leftovers after one day. Clearly someone liked them.....

p.p.s. For the full recipe and a tutorial video check out FitSugar.com 

clean eating burger-like dinner

Turns out there about a bajillion different versions of veggie burgers out there. From fresh to frozen, its a hard world to navigate! But when a trusted #cleaneating twitter "friend" of mine tweeted this little gem, I had to go for it! 


Sweet Potato Quinoa Burgers

Recipe courtesy of The Joy of Clean Eating blog 

Find her on Twitter at @joycleaneat 

I have to tell you, mine didn't exactly stay in that burger form...but they were amazingly delicious! They have tex-mex flare to them.

Begin by cooking one cup of quinoa and 2 sweet potatoes. 

{Whole Foods calls those white potatoes up there Sweet Potatoes...I have my doubts} 

I opted for roasted Sweet Potatoes {touch of evoo and Mrs Dash} due to my insane obsession for roasting any and every vegetable possible. However...my patties were more like hashbrowns than patties because of this poor awesome decision.

{I had to practically wrestle Josh out of the kitchen- he couldn't stop eating these when they came out of the oven!}

Next, mix together all of the ingredients:

1 steam bag of whole kernal corn

1/2 diced red onion

1 can black beans, drained

lots of minced garlic

cooked cup of quinoa

sweet potatoes

dashes of sea salt, cumin, oregeno, black pepper, cayenne and hot sauce {siracha!}

Now do you very best to form them into patties. My batch made 12 patties!!! 2 per person makes for a satisfying serving. Then bake them at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. 

{this picture freaks me out...looks like my burgers are going into the tanning bed}

Top with more hot sauce {if you're crazy} or organic ketchup

Enjoy! 

They also make amazing leftovers

:) amc

endorphins make you happy

It's Monday. It's rainy. And...It's Monday. 


Combat that Monday moodiness with some endorphins!!!

"Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy."

And if that too-cute blonde and her little puppy don't do it for ya...

Take it from Minka Kelly. 

A good 30 minute sweat can be the ticket to a clear mind! 

And a better day! :) 

Next Monday- wake up 30 minutes earlier and have a little cardio/toning session- it helps!

Better yet, do it every day this week! Yeeehaw! 

Have a wonderful Monday! 

And when the goin gets tough- think "exercise gives you endorphins!"

{and happy people just don't shoot their ___fill in the blank____!}

 :) amc

clean cooking

What have you cooked for me lately? ooooh oooooooh ooooh yeah! 
I had a long weekend and I feel like all I have done is cook, eat and run {all to the sounds of Ms Janet Jackson! hence my first sentence}. 


What have I cooked lately? Well, if you remember I am on this clean eating kick lifestyle, so my diet is basically tons of fresh produce and lots of protein. Like....

Protein Pancakes! Practically one each day- they are awesome after a great cardio session! 

{recipe from the Tone It Up girls}

Pan Roasted Grape Tomatoes make the perfect M4! {Fourth meal/afternoon snack} Little bit of evoo and a hot pan- don't be scared, they make strange noises when they roast, and it is okay if the skin pops or chars. That's when you know its going to be yummy! 

Quick & Easy Vegan Chili 

It's been a rainy weekend and chili is always hits the spot on those nights. This is also a Tone It Up recipe- but of course, I improvised a bit 

I love the colors! 

Onion, minced garlic, black beans, roasted red pepper, diced tomatoes, spinach and chili seasoning

I let all of the ingredients get friendly over medium low heat for about 20 minutes {err until I was absolutely starving and couldn't wait another second}. The colors were still beautiful but the chili was so dang hot, that it kept steaming up my super nice camera iphone camera. #picturefail 

Yummy #cleaneating chili! Served in a coffee mug is always the way to go

{why can't I stop talking in hashtags?! I am the new version of an annoying 13 year old w/ her LOL's and BFF's....augh}

Sorry for the long post, but I just finished up a yummy yummy homemade pizza- and I have to share! 

Tons of Toppings Veggie Pizza {clean eating style!}

I made my own dough, which was a huge undertaking since I have never ever baked something successfully! {except for those cookies stuffed w oreos...ooooh man....go away bad thoughts} Above is the cast of characters, the packet at the bottom is active dry yeast.

Making the dough....saying my prayers to the Baking Gods {jk}

There she is, a little ball of Hope {and dreams}

Now for 10 minutes of constant worries and wishing. 

"Please do whatever it is you are supposed to do. Please."

The easy part- toppings! I used roasted red peppers, red onions, mushrooms, baby tomatoes and artichoke hearts

No pictures because I was much too excited.... but the dough did whatever it was supposed to do! I spread it out on the pan, baked it for 15 minutes and then...

Topped it! 

Bake for 25ish minutes on 350 degrees then enjoy! 

Who needs Pizza Hut? Papa Who? :) 

Now- this #cleaneating pizza is great!!! I will totally make it again! But I have to say...I am missing my fatty delivery pizza from time to time. 

Let me know if you try out any of these recipes or have any Clean Eating suggestions! I have to tell you- I can totally see/feel a difference since starting this. 

Try it out! 

:) amc

secrets & snapshots of clean eating

Still going strong with my Clean Eating 2012 resolution! 


It isn't as strict as you may think- this video covers the basics of the lifestyle

Healthiest Ways to Grocery Shop

5 SECRETS TO HEALTHY GROCERY SHOPPING

{via fitsugar}

See! Not so difficult! And..No Dad, it isn't that organic mumbo jumbo. :) 

So, what have I been eating lately?

 Lot's of salmon! 

And lots of sauteed and roasted greens!

I seriously underestimated the wiltering power of the baby spinach...

Good none the less! I first sauteed some minced garlic with evoo then added in the baby spinach- this process is super quick!

 Sweet & Spicy Citrus Salmon {say that 9 times fast}

Baked salmon topped with Mrs Dash chipotle seasoning, evoo, juice of 1/2 a lemon and juice of 1/2 an orange

Bake and devour! 

And for a satisfying salty snack.... Sweet Potato Fries!

Homemade with love

This process is much more intense than I had anticipated! 

I followed this recipe from Natural Noshing.

But the results sure are tasty!

 I packed the leftovers for my M4 today- hoping they stand up well as a second-day meal!

Note: the majority of my meals aren't this orange....that was strange. It is my favorite color!

Cheers to clean eating! 

:) amc

mobs & macaroons

Quick happy things:

Market is just about over!

    And check out what the events team pulled off...

{click the pic to play or follow this link}

2. I had my first macaroon this market & I am obsessing! 

While they do not qualify as Clean Eating... I still really want to try and make them! 

{Macaroon How-To}

And......... now I can focus on planning our wedding!!!

It's dress time :)

Will share some market pics with you soon- I saw some FANTASTIC new products!

:) amc

happy distractions & motivations

It's beginning to look a lot like Market! So it is time for a happy and distracting blog post:

This week the above applies to me in the form of running & customer service at Market

We can always do a bit better! :)

It has recently occurred to me that I finally get to stock up on some amazing monogrammed accessories and home decor!!! YAYYY!!! Everything is sweeter with a letter on it! 

Still on my lean & clean lifestyle "diet"! I imagine it will very difficult to eat this way during market with all of the hustle and bustle- so {time permitting} I hope to make and pack some good snacks!

{The Gracious Pantry & Clean Eating Chelsey have tons of great clean eating recipes} 

If this Kate Spade beauty doesn't scream AMANDA MACY, then I don't know what does! Brown + Camel, thick stripes, shoulder tote...I mean seriously... Who would like to gift this to me? :) 

I've also decided that I need a cute gym bag. How cute is this one! My friend, Sallie, has one and I am uber jealous

Andddd here are two more things that I am uber jealous of. 

"Amanda: Run! Run! Run! Weights! Weights! Weighs!"

+ I LOOOOVE their bathing suits! Motivation makes me happy! :) 

{Victoria's Secret...duh}

Can it please be Spring so that it is acceptable to dress like this again? So very cute. Love you J. Crew. Love ya lots. 

Cheers to Market & a super rando blog post

:) amc