Cooking it Up!

I wouldn't say that I love to cook. I don't mind cooking when I have time. I usually make the time to cook primarily when I entertain, which I DO LOVE! I love when my guests' taste buds are happy because of something I made.

These days I am trying make more time to cook more just for me. I know that cooking my own food is key to living a true Eat Clean lifestyle. With the frequent cooking I do for others, you would think that I have many fancy tools to help prepare meals. Naw. My cooking tools are pretty simple. This was fine when I was not cooking regularly, but I need to step it up if I am going to making cooking a regular habit and try new clean eating recipes.

So, to start I bought an apple slicer and peeler, a new can opener, and my good friend bought me a fancy salad spinner. I also have a slow cooker that a friend gave me a couple years ago that I finally pulled out of the cabinet.

Just with these few new items, I have made some tasty clean eating dishes. My favorite: Apple "Pie". I cut and peeled apples, put them in a pan with butter cooking spray, chopped walnuts, lots of cinnamon, and two individual packs of Splenda. I then covered the apples and let them simmer. When they were nice and tender, I put the apples in a dish, sprinkled old fashioned oats and baked. YUMMY! Apple "Pie" with NO GUILT and good fat burning ingredients! Next time I may going to nix the Splenda (which I only have for guests; cinnamon usually does the trick for me).

As I type, I have Chicken Marrakesh in the slow cooker. The recipe is on page 92 of the February 2010 Oxygen. It has Chicken, chickpeas, and sweet potatoes and various spices. I can't wait to taste it.

Speaking of spices: I have also discovered a Metro Atlanta institution. The Dekalb Farmer's Market. I often wouldn't try clean eating recipes because the spices were sometimes so foreign to me and not easily found in the grocery store. I have no more excuses. The Farmer's Market seems to have every spice know to man AND CHEAP!

My goal is to try one new clean eating recipe a week. I'll keep you posted!