Crockpot Porridge from the Eat Clean Diet Cookbook

Earlier this month, I resolved to accept the realities of my slowing metabolism, clean up my diet and lose the tummy pooch I gained from my pregnancy with D2. Armed with Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean Diet Cookbook and a copy of Clean Eating Magazine, I’ve been working on changing my family’s diet by weeding out white sugar, white flour and incorporating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables into our meals. Because I love to cook and we’ve always eaten relatively healthily, it hasn’t been as big of a change as I thought. The biggest challenge has been breaking our (my) addiction to carbohydrates and sugar. I’ve been pleasantly surprised that all of the recipes I’ve made thus far have left me feeling satisfied and without the normal carb jones that I get from eating certain meals. Bonus? I’m feeling much more clear-headed and energetic. I truly feel that the food I’m eating now is fueling my body and not just filling it up. Here are a few recipes I’ve tried this week.

This recipe for Crockpot Porridge from Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean Diet Cook book and companion website  is my new favorite breakfast. It’s super fast to make and is very tasty. I eat it with a side of scrambled egg whites and it keeps me feeling full until late morning.

Cook’s notes: Keep an eye on this dish and stir frequently as some crock pots cook faster than others. Also, I couldn’t find rye flakes at my local Whole Foods so I substituted bulgar and also added a dash of cinnamon.  I’ve made this dish now with both milk and almond milk and both versions were very tasty.  You can whip up a batch of this cereal and then refrigerate and store in a tupperware container for up to a week. To reheat, simply add a little milk or water and then heat for 1-2 minutes. Fab!

Crock Pot Porridge

• 1/2 cup / 120 ml cracked wheat
• 1 1/2 cup / 335 ml steel cut oats
• 1/2 cup / 120 ml rye flakes
• 1/2 cup / 120 ml brown rice
• 1/4 cup / 60 ml wheat germ
• 6 1/2 cups / 1.5 L water or any combination of liquids including water, rice milk, soy milk, almond milk, goats milk and/or water to equal 6 1/2 cups
• 1/2 cup / 120 ml raisins
• 1/2 cup / 120 ml chopped dates (or other dried fruit like cranberries or raisins)
• 1 1/2 tbsp / 22 ml best-quality vanilla
• Pinch nutmeg

Preparation

1. Place all ingredients in a 3-quart-or-greater crock-pot. Stir well to combine all ingredients. Cover.
2. Set on lowest cooking temperature and cook overnight. If your crock-pot cooking time is set by length of cooking time, set for the longest cooking time and lowest heat.
3. Spoon into cereal bowls in the morning and serve piping hot!

I also tried out a couple of other recipes from the October issue of Clean Eating Magazine. Below is Garlic-Cilantro Shrimp Rotini, a clean recipe submitted by a reader. Made with whole-wheat pasta and fresh shrimp, this is a lighter, healthier version of a traditional pasta with pesto sauce dish. The combination of garlic, cilantro and olive oil is so fresh tasting, you’ll wonder what took you so long to discover this dish. We loved it!

Garlic-Cilantro Shrimp Rotini

Southwestern Turkey Meatballs

I also tried my hand at the Southwestern Turkey Meatball Skillet Supper from Clean Eating Magazine. The recipe makes four – six servings and I had hoped to get a couple of meals out of this recipe but Dr. D. loved the dish so much he ate nearly the entire thing in one sitting. Next time, I’ll double the recipe. The flavor was fantastic and at only 4 grams of fat per one cup serving, this dish will be on regular rotation at Chez Boss Mom. Have you made any changes to your family’s diet? What worked and what didn’t? Do share!

I’ve just returned from a fantastic weekend in DC where I attended the Blogalicious Weekend 2011 Conference. As this was my first blogging conference, I didn’t really know what to expect. I ended up having a blast. The breakout sessions were great to be sure but even better were all of the fantastic bloggers I met over the weekend. Here are some highlights:

Black and Married with Kids. I was a fan of this duo’s blog before the conference but after meeting Lamar Tyler (who along with his fab wife Ronnie run this site— with four kids!) I became an even bigger fan. Lamar encouraged bloggers to venture out beyond the written word to incorporate video into our blogs. His message of how to effectively get your voice heard in a crowded social media space was both refreshing and encouraging.

Rene Syler AKA Good Enough Mother. Keynote at the Saturday luncheon, Rene had us whooping, hollering and nodding our heads at the trials and travails of being a working mother. I had read her book Good Enough Mother years ago, but it was the first time I had heard her speak. She shared her personal story about surviving breast cancer, being fired from CBS morning news and her personal path of reinvention. Her message about letting go of perfection and being “good enough” resonated deeply with all of the mothers in the room.

I sat down for breakfast with the delightful Tara Pringle Jefferson, creator and founder of The Young Mommy Life . At twenty-five, Tara is wise beyond her years. She spoke the day before at a session on finding your voice and I found her to be authentic, humble and refreshingly honest.

Spanglish Baby. While checking out the Blogalicious Expo I had a chance to meet Roxana Soto, one of the founders of Spanglish Baby which focuses on raising bi-lingual and bi-cultural children. We bonded over stories of our two-year old sons and the importance of raising children who were globally minded. I shared that we are raising D2 bilingually thanks his wonderful nanny, who is from Oaxaca, Mexico. Over the weekend I cruised the site and it is packed with helpful information from the best methods for teaching children a second language  to recommended books and music to ignite your child’s interest in other cultures. This will be a site that I return to over and over.

I was super thrilled to meet the star of Food Network’s “Big Daddy’s House” Chef Aaron Mccargo, who is also a brand ambassador for Aunt Jemima Frozen Foods. Aaron is promoting his new cookbook Simply Done. Well Done. and he demo’d a few recipes as well as shared cooking tips. As someone who loves to cook, chatting with Aaron was a highlight of my weekend. Look for future posts where I will try out some of his recipes as well as attempt to make “clean eating” versions of my favorites.

In addition to these terrific people, I met a whole host of bloggers whom I had gotten to know on Twitter but had never met in person. It was great finally to put a face with a name.

While October has been a very busy month for me professionally and personally, I am so glad I took the time out to attend Blogalicious Weekend. I came away from the weekend inspired and jazzed to take Boss Mom to the next level. And of course, I am already marking my calendar for  Blogalicious Weekend 2012!