The Remedy Diner and Smoothies

I'm sorry! It's been over a year, I'm terrible! But time to keep on going. A new year and I hope people will learn more and still continue to follow me.

A cool place to check out if you haven't already, The Remedy Diner. Remedy is a delicious, healthy and cool place to eat downtown. On the corner of Hargett and Blount, Remedy is close to a lot in the downtown area. Remedy's menu offers both "Alternative" vegan/vegetarian options and "Mainstream" omnivore options. Their fresh, local and organic ingredients help them make their food from scratch daily. Remedy offers seasonal menus for different options, to provide their customers with the best fresh and local ingredients based on the season. Check them out!



If you're just looking for a quick snack that you can whip up at home, try a smoothie! (Everyone's doing it. Ha!) You can mix a lot of different beneficial foods into a delicious smoothie. A fast growing smoothie idea today are 'green smoothies'. Most of these smoothies contain some kind of leafy green, such as kale or spinach, to give it a green color. It may not sound that appetizing but you can add a fruit, maybe blueberries or peaches (depending on the season) to sweeten up the veggie flavor. You can even add extra protein in by using almonds or even a nut butter if you want! The best thing about smoothies is that it is an experiment. You can add whatever you want into a smoothie and most of the time always make it taste better if you don't like it on the first sip. But good rule of thumb, if you want to play it safe, if you normally like the combination of foods and you put it in your smoothie, you'll probably like the smoothie.

Another way to ease the smoothie making process is to freeze your ingredients. I stumbled upon this idea on pintrest, tried it, and fell in love. It's a great way to save in-season fruits and veggies to use later. When you freeze your fruits though, you want to make sure that you freeze them all individually. (a cookie sheet works well) If you put them all in a baggie then into the freezer, you're going to have one big frozen fruit blob making it hard on your blender. After that, then mix your ingredients into the same bag to put into the freezer. I also like to put yogurt into my smoothies, another good source of protein, and you can freeze that too! Freezing the yogurt makes one less step when it comes to making your smoothie and it's really easy. Pull out your ice trays, you know the ones you had to use before automatic ice dispensers built in freezers, and fill each hole with 1 tbsp of yogurt. You can use any kind of yogurt you'd like, or even mix it up. When you're trying to take out the yogurt cubes, don't run it under hot water or else you'll melt them. (...duh?) I had to use a knife to cut around the sides of each cubes and then it will pop out. Then you can put them in the baggie with the fruit and freeze until you are ready to make a smoothie!

Let me know how it goes. Get creative and enjoy!

ingredients

When you're trying to eat healthier or more naturally, it's not always easy.  I've found that reading the ingredients helps.  More importantly, look at the first 5 ingredients of what you are about to eat.  (Of course anything with no food label is the best since it is completely natural.)

When you look at the ingredients of what you're eating, you want to make sure that hydrogenated oils/trans fats, MSG, and artificial sweeteners aren't the first five on the list.

Artificial sweeteners should not be used in the place of real sugar.  Your body needs natural sugar and real sugar for that matter.  Your body craves what it needs.  If you are dehydrated, you will crave salt to help retain water.  If your body craves sugar and you give it artificial sugar, the craving won't be met.  It might feel like you've satisfied yourself for the time being but once your body realizes it's not real sugar, you will still feel as though you need more "sugar".  Never mind the funky after taste of artificial sweeteners.

Trans fats are when fatty acids get hydrogenated. Trans fats allow the food to preserve itself and have a long shelf life.  It's also what's in substances such as french fries to allow them to be fried while maintaining structure and taste.  Trans fats can also be found in shortenings, margarines, cookies, crackers, and other snack and shelf foods. Fat is not always a bad word but in trans fat's case, it's the worst fat around.  It only raises cholesterol levels and makes you more prone to heart attacks and diseases.  There are such things as good fats.  Something completely natural with amazing good fat is avocados. With amazing flavor, all the vitamins and minerals, avocados can be a great staple in your diet.   You can use avocados in place of something such as cheese for a better fat alternative on a sandwich also giving a creamy, rich flavor.

Try eliminating artificial sweeteners and trans fats from your diet. Think about limiting MSG in your diet as well. Try and use avocados in your diet more too.  Here's a Guacamole recipe to get you started.

Recipe:
2 avocados
1/2 red onion
1/2 tsp coarse salt (sea salt works well)
2 tbs cilantro
1 tbs lemon/lime juice
dash black pepper
hot sauce to taste ( you can always use peppers)
1/2 ripe tomato, chopped

Scoop avocados into bowl and mash with fork.  Add onion, cilantro, lemon/lime juice, salt, pepper and mash.  Add hot sauce or peppers.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Add tomatoes before serving.


Enjoy!

workout 1

Tired of the same old workouts? Give these exercises a try and see how they work for you.

Arms: Stand with a 16-24 ounce water bottle (or 2-3lb weights if you have them) in each hand.  Bend your arms upwards to make the shape of a 'W'.  Flip your hands and arms downward to put your hands on your hips to make a teapot stance.  One downward flip is one rep.  Complete 3 separate sets of 10 reps.

Abs: Sit on the floor with your legs bent and raised off the floor and extended your arms by your side.  Twist your waist so that your left arm moves towards your right knee and your left leg is extended.  Repeat to twist the opposite way.  Make sure you use your abs to hold yourself up and keep your back straight as you twist.  Do this for one minute.

Thighs: Lie on your side with your legs bent and one on top of another. (You can use your arm to prop your upper body up.)  Raise your top leg so it is parallel to the ground while keeping your leg bent and hold for 3-5 seconds.  Once you place your leg back down, that completes one rep. Complete 3 separate sets of 10 reps, then switch sides.

pizza!

Everyone loves pizza.  Here's my homemade recipe that won't be full of grease and topped with all your favorites! 

Homemade Pizza Dough
1 pack of yeast                                  1/4 cup of milk
3/4 tsp. sugar                                     1/4 stick of butter/margarine
1/2 cup of water                                 2 cups of flour*


1. Mix yeast and sugar in large bowl.
2. Combine water and milk in small saucepan.  Add butter.  Temperature should be just warm enough to melt the butter.
3. Melt butter and add mixture to sugar and yeast.  Let it sit for 20-25 minutes.
4. After 20-25 minutes, when it starts to look bubbly, add flour.  Mix into a ball.
5. Dab with oil.  Let the dough rise for 15-20 minutes.
6. Beat dough into shape on pan.
7. Cook crust only 15-18 minutes @ 350.
8. Add ingredients, cook 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted.


  Pizza dough out of the oven with homemade sauce.


*Try whole wheat flour.  It gives a slightly different texture but it is delicious.  (And good for you!)


Ingredients are up to you.  Pizzas are great opportunities to throw a lot of different things you like onto one thing.  Remember if you're using meat or even veggies, you don't have to cook them as long since they will continue to cook when you put them on your pizza. (But you do have to cook meats a little before you put them directly on the pizza.)  My favorites to put on pizza are chicken, artichoke hearts, black olives, red onions, and parmesan. You can always mix it up and have a pesto sauce or my favorite, puree tomatoes with a basil and a dash of oregano.  




  Ingredients (ground turkey, fresh mozzarella, spinach, and tomatoes)

  End result!

Enjoy!

benefits of 'clean eating'

What is clean eating?  There are a few different definitions but it all comes down to the same thing.  Eliminating foods in your diet that are processed, sticking with foods that are as close to their natural form as possible is typically what i consider clean eating.  Now, milk, dairy, meat and other animal products are your own personal choice since some people don't consume them.  

The benefits of eating this way are astonishing.  I'm not talking about how you will lose so much weight or how easy it is to eliminate processed foods from your diet, (because it's not).  Just the way you feel after eating this way is what makes the biggest difference. It's surprising how simple it actually is. Go to the farmers market, start your own garden, little things like that will help to keep this up while realizing how good things taste in their natural form.

Welcome!

Welcome to Em's Clean Living!


My name is Emily.  I'm starting this website to give you new ideas about eating healthy, workout ideas, and cool new things to try.  I swam for a year-round club team for 10 years, in and out of gyms during that time, and have always been active. I have great ideas about being physically fit and eating healthy and just want to share them!  I want to get my ideas out there for others to see and try for themselves.  Feel free to ask me questions or comment on something if you've tried it!


Look around, hope you enjoy it!