Clean Eating for Beginners Resource Guide

Clean Eating for Beginners Resource Guide

Taking the leap into clean eating takes some practice, patience, and resources.  These are some of my favorite clean eating resources for beginners. Just so I am completely transparent, I am NOT affiliated with any of these resources, I just honestly love them.

One of my most favorite places to go in the beginning was Lisa Leake with 100 Days of Real Food.  She put things so they were easy for me to understand. Her recipes were pretty easy to follow and tasted decent.  I loved her book and outlook on feeding her family better. Check out her website. It is packed full of information! https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/start-here/

Another website that I use quite often is The Gracious Pantry.  This is a great place to get staple recipes like ranch powder, taco seasoning mix, cream of whatever substitute. She is also a mom so her recipes are pretty kid friendly.  Sometimes the ingredients are hard for me to find, so I either substitute or leave it out. She has so many recipes!! I also like that she will take a food and explain how she cleaned it up.  That is helpful for me to apply to other recipes that my family loves. https://www.thegraciouspantry.com

Honestly, my “go to” is now Pinterest.  I have taken the time to arrange my boards so that I can actually find the recipes that I am hunting for.  Don’t just make a board that says “Clean Eating”.  Take the time to break them into usable categories that work for you.  You can do “How to, tips and tricks”, “Clean Breakfasts”, “Snacks for the kiddos”, etc. The point of Pinterest is to make your boards useable and easy for YOU to find what YOU need.  Otherwise, you might as well not even pin. Another tip, if you try something and don’t like it, go unpin it so you don’t make it again. 🙂

One of the kitchen gadgets that I bought was a food processor.  It also has a blade that shreds and one that slices. I love this thing! It has made this so much easier.  It is less than $30.00 and so worth every penny.

My new favorite obsession is a spiralizer.  I am all about some zoodles (noodles made from zucchini).  I make hash browns, zucchini chips, squash spirals, sweet potato fries, and any other reason I can come up with to use my spiralizer.  My kids love to help make things with it too. I am actually starting to prefer the zucchini noodles over the real thing.  I never thought that would be the case, especially since I am a carb lover! There are many variations of these. You can buy some that are handheld for about 5.00 and they go all the way to about 50.00.  I have this one and it was about 25.00 on Amazon.

Speaking of Amazon, this is also an amazing resource for clean eating.  They have items that our grocery stores just don’t carry. For example, almond flour, coconut flour, ghee, etc.  They are also more cost-effective for many items.  I am notorious for scanning an item in a box store to compare prices on Amazon. They offer a discount if you participate in the Prime Pantry program.  I currently do not do the Pantry, I am just a prime member so I can have express shipping.

In the past few months, I have discovered Thrive Market.  I am so hooked. I love their products so far and they are usually priced below Amazon.  There is a membership fee and I do not like having to wait for my box (spoiled, I know) BUT the savings and quality of products outweigh the downsides by a huge margin.  Our family is in the process of cleaning up our beauty products, cleaners, and laundry items. Thrive has made a huge difference in agonizing about what to choose. This is my “invite” link.  If you sign up from this link, you get 25% off your first order. http://thrv.me/KmNq8N (I do get Thrive cash if you sign up, but you save $$ too!).  I buy snacks, cooking staples, beauty products, cleaning supplies, and laundry supplies from here.  

Another great resource has been Fixate.  This is a cooking show done by a beach body trainer (Autumn Calabrese) and her chef brother.  These recipes are clean, usually pretty fast, and easier than you would think. The videos are through Beachbody on Demand, but they also have a Fixate Cookbook you can buy online and most of the recipes are posted on Pinterest if you are not a Beachbody member.  Being able to watch them cook has upped my game and abilities in the kitchen. My kids have watched some of them with me and I let them decide which one they want to try next. Last night we had stuffed shells that were very delicious!

These are some of my most favorite and most used resources.  These have all helped guide me on my clean eating journey and I hope they will help you too! Different seasons of a clean lifestyle can need different tools.  Hopefully, this list will serve you well and keep you from having to dig all over the internet. If you have any you would like to add, drop them in the comments below.  Please don’t forget to come say “Hi” in the Facebook group and subscribe below!