Day 2 of The Clean Eating Challenge

Today I woke up ready to prep my meals and try breakfast.  Last night we prepped an Overnight Oats with Blueberries and chia seeds, the recipe can be found here.  My husband was sure to mention that the bag of chia seeds can grow, just like chia pets.  Fascinating!  I also want to note that he ate all of the leftover dinner from last night that was meant for lunch today so I had plenty of prepping to do this morning to keep us on track.  I am just so glad that he enjoyed the so very clean meal.

Without further delay, here is the picture of what day two breakfast looks like on this clean eating challenge.  I always think of eating oatmeal warm and as I hesitated to eat it cold straight from the fridge,  I doubled check that warming was not necessary.  I took a few more pictures and cleaned up the kitchen finally sitting on the couch officially began day two.

Ease of preparation: 1, so very easy.  Place all ingredients into a container overnight and that's it!
Cost of ingredients:  Inexpensive.
Satiety:  oatmeal for breakfast does wonders for the body.
Serving Size: I doubled the recipe because I am feeding five-six people.
Flavor:  This recipe tasted mostly of plain greek yogurt so as long as you don't mind unsweetened greek yogurt, you won't mind this recipe.  Others in my family are not fans of Greek Yogurt so they didn't enjoy this start to the day.

Lunch on day 2 was Kale, Chickpea, Fennel salad with orange vinaigrette.  I accidentally added roasted chicken, sometimes I read the recipes right and sometimes not.  Day two I took to the road. We went to visit a friend who is also on winter break and I am so glad that I packed food because she enjoyed lunch with me. I had a huge plate of this salad and I also added in my snack, a beefsteak tomato, feta cheese and balsamic vinegar for lunch.  No sense in skipping something when you aren't sure if time will permit a snack that afternoon.  Today I did include a picture of my snack, because it's one of my all-time loves.

Now to rate my day two lunch:
Ease of preparation: 3, we ate all of the kale from the previous day so I had to make a new batch. Doing that is more than easy.  Here is the direct link to this recipe, or instructions because it's really not hard.  I had no idea how to cut fennel.  I wasn't sure which part of the root I was supposed to eat so I used this guide as help.  It reminds of me of how a heart would look.

Cost of ingredients:  Approximately $5.  The fennel was about $3 per bulb.
Satiety:  Eating this, with chicken, and my tomato snack I was sustained for at least three hours.
Serving Size: I had enough for at least three servings with the recipe I quantity I made.  I made four times what you see on the serving plate.
Flavor:   I enjoyed this meal for lunch and so did my lunch partner. I am on the lookout for a really fresh vinaigrette.   I don't mind the recipes provided in challenge but they just do it for me.  I want something that is really going to pop on your palette without the overwhelming flavor of citrus.  Things to note are:  Cut your kale into just larger than bite sized pieces if you are not buying the already pre-cut stuff.  Also, I hope to describe the taste of raw fennel, as I mentioned it was new to me.  I would totally recommend using the fennel.  I will probably use it more often. It has a very crunchy role in a salad, reminding me slightly of celery.  As celery has a slightly peppery taste, to me, fennel as a slightly anise or licorice taste.  What this means is that you will experience a crunch with a watery and light black licorice taste.  It is a very tolerable taste because it is so faint.

Next up is day two dinner!  Served was napa cabbage wraps with chicken, tomatoes, mango and avocado.

Here is my recipe rating:
Ease of preparation: I prepared this meal exactly as the recipe ordered.  You cut everything in cubes, then mix all together just before you eat it.  I had to use a guide to cut a mango.  I didn't do it as well as they did in the link.
Cost of ingredients:  Approximately $5.  
Satiety:  Two leaves should fill you up at least two hours which is fine because its just before bedtime.
Serving Size: I was able to manage the serving size better and I pretty much had an idea that I would be the only one enjoying this for dinner.
Flavor:  As I use this opportunity, I am going to be a critic of this recipe.  While all of the ingredients are clean and healthy, I think they together have potential.  My mango wasn't as ripe as it should have been, use this guide before buying your mango, and I really could have preferred a more sweet taste from it. Try to remember that you should be able to squeeze the mango near the stem on top and the mango will show your indentation.  You also want to smell it. It will smell ripe. Once a mango is ripe, place it in the refrigerator until ready to use.  The ripe avocados become a bit messy once you stir them so stir very gingerly.  I had to use dried basil in place of an actual leaf because the grocery store didn't sell the plant itself.  Here, I would consider using cilantro.  My preference next time will be to saute the mango to sweeten the taste.  I like it raw but love it slightly cooked.  The cabbage leaves were unnecessary to me. I enjoyed using them to eat with my hands but would have also enjoyed them shredded and as a salad base.  The middle of the larger cabbage pieces were flavorless so shredding it, may have give the cabbage less of a bitter taste because you can eliminate the middle section altogether.

Tomorrow is day three and we have beautiful recipes to try!  If you'd like the direct link to what series I am following, here it is.  Stay with me into day three!