Learning to Walk

Eating a clean, healthy diet rich in nutrients and full of well-balanced meals every single day is not easy. Anyone that tells you it's effortless is lying or wealthy enough to afford a personal shopper and chef.  But I will promise you this, it's well worth it and it does get easier. It's kind of like learning to walk. At first, you're a mess. You fall all over the place, you can't stop getting in your own way, you trip over your own feet. Similar to finding your balance as a child and learning to walk, eating healthy is eventually both liberating and rewarding. You just have to get past the part where you feel like a drunk who's stumbled out of his bar stool and been thrust out onto Wall Street at lunch time.

Constantly exploring new recipes and cuisines has really helped me "learn to walk." Expanding my repertoire makes it far easier to "stay on the wagon" for longer periods of time. I believe variety and a little adventure ensure modified diets don't feel like deprivation. You have to have fun, love what you're eating and feel truly satisfied after ever meal.

There has been a lot of trial and error (and many an epic failure) involved in building my personal book of crave-worthy recipes. replacing bad habits with good and developing new eating habits is difficult enough. Allow me to spare you the traumatizing moments with nutritional yeast by sharing some of my successes. This one is crave, drool and certainly leftover worthy!



Clean Program-Inspired Almond Crusted Chicken 

1 egg plus 2 tablespoons almond milk (unsweetened)

1 cup almond meal (pulse whole, dry-roasted, unsalted almonds in a food processer until you achieve texture in photo above)

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

few dashes of paprika

1 large or 2 small boneless chicken breasts (1/2 - 3/4 pound)

Olive Oil

1. Preheat your oven to 425 and cover a baking sheet with foil. Spray the surface with olive oil mister (or other cooking spray)
2. Filet the chicken breasts
3. Beat egg with a fork in a medium bowl; add almond milk (use a bowl large enough to dip chicken filets in)
4. Combine the almond meal, sea salt and garlic powder in a large bowl 
5. Dip chicken in the egg/milk mixture and then in the almond mixture, until well coated
6. Place the filets on the baking sheet and drizzle lightly with olive oil
7. Bake for 6 minutes, rotate tray and bake for 6 more minutes
8. Cut into one of the filets to ensure it's fully cooked, (the thick almond coating can make it difficult to feel for doneness.)
9. Serve over a salad of mixed greens + 1/4 avocado with oil and vinegar or with sautéed swiss chard!