Clean eating?simply

The biggest obstacle to clean eating is taking the time to do it. While eating healthfully may take a little extra planning, we often make it more complicated than necessary [however, we probably don?t have time each night to make amazing dishes ala this Foodbuzz fall salad of 24^3].

I always keep a few staples on hand such as plenty of fresh produce, hummus (or ingredients to make hummus), and whole wheat tortillas. These supplies can be used to create a quick snack or dinner if I?m in a rush?and they prevent me from eating quick-fix meals with little nutritional value.

You can designate a day of the week as ?prep day.? Chop vegetables and fruit and clean lettuce for the rest of the week. Prep recipes like snobby joes or kale soup and make morning glory muffins for quick snacks.

For all of you college students who eat in the dining hall and have limited choices, this may be more difficult depending on the type of food served. My school had a particularly horrible dining system with very few healthful options. We were lucky if fruit was served on any given day.

{flashback to my cafeteria days of sharing with the football players?the Chicago Bears also trained at my university!}

One thing I like to do in a cafeteria setting is to build my plate around vegetables. I make half my plate veggies and add at least one serving of a starch, fruit, and protein. Part of clean eating is consuming a balanced diet.

If you are going to incorporate some processed products (which is absolutely fine), use those without a lot of added sugar, sodium, and preservatives. Recently, Meagan from Lucini Italia contacted me about reviewing some of their products.

I don?t review products that I wouldn?t use myself, and so far I really like the simple ingredient lists. Lucini Italia uses the term ?100% natural? on its packaging, which is pretty loosely regulated by the FDA. To clarify, Meagan says, We are comfortable stating ?100% Natural? because all of the ingredients used in all of our products are unadulterated and unprocessed. I?ll be reviewing several of the products over the next few posts, and there will be a giveaway, so stay tuned!

I?ve passed this little vegetable stand so many times and finally stopped the other day for a spaghetti squash!

Enter the fastest dinner ever. Simply cook the squash via microwave or oven (learn how to cook spaghetti squash here), heat the pasta sauce, and you?re done! Note: while the bag is heatable, I?m pretty wary of heating anything in plastic.

I love that Lucini?s Rustic Tomato Basil Sauce has no added sugar or anything artificial. The ingredients: Vine-Ripened Plum Tomatoes, Tomato Puree, Lucini® Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Carrots, Onions, Basil, Sea Salt, Citric Acid (naturally derived).

Lucini Italia also uses fresh herbs and cooks its sauces in small batches to a ensure high quality product. Tastewise, it was excellent!

What are you fave quick & healthful weeknight meals?