Eating clean: Let us help!

Eating clean makes you feel AWESOME but cooking for it...kinda sucks. So let us help you out! The clean eating lifestyle is something that we have been focused on since we opened almost 30 years ago, long before stars like Gwyneth Paltrow and Miranda Kerr have hopped on the band wagon. With so many famous bloggers and #instafamous stars that focus more on what their food look likes than explaining what clean eating is, it's easy to feel lost. So we're going to break down what clean eating is and how to use our products to make it easier to keep your body and your kitchen clean.

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First of all, not all clean eating is created equal. A few good rules is to ignore any sites that tell you you'll lose a crazy amount of weight in a short period of time OR to cut out entire food groups. There are lots of people online that advertise cutting out dairy, gluten and sugars completely; something we do not endorse. For us eating clean means eating food that is local, organic and as untouched by nature as possible. This means no additives, no processed sugars and really just no extra crap put in there.

We do not advocate cutting out important food groups like dairy completely, which can deteriorate your bone health. We suggest just sticking to organic, full-fat milk. Though it might be a bit of a calorie splurge, if you're eating clean the calories don't count as much (Amazing, right?!) If you aren't in to whole milk try almond or soy milk instead!

As far as protein goes, our farm-fresh eggs and hormone free, raised in Texas chicken are perfect for clean eating. Or throw a piece of salmon or grilled shrimp on any of our salads and sandwiches (check out http://www.seafoodwatch.org to see what fish is in season). And remember, you can swap out scrambled tofu at breakfast and grilled tofu with any of our lunch entrees.

For produce, it's really all fair game for us. Try subbing fruit in any of our sandwiches or trying berries with our house-made granola.

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Okay, whew, that was kind of exhausting. Clean eating is definitely much harder and frustrating than the pics on Insta make it seem. Let us take out the hassle by offering options straight from our menu!

Breakfast:

Start your morning off right with a cup our house house-made honey nut granola. We only use clean oats, pecans, pumpkin seeds and honey in ours and we leave the added refined sugar to the grocery store chains. Buy a bag of it from us and top it off with any fruit (we love with with strawberries and bananas) and either: whole organic milk, almond milk or our vanilla yogurt (if you're feeling splurgy). Add to that a couple of scrambled eggs (I'd skip the whites, most of the nutrients are in the yolk people!) and our famous veggie sausage. Pair with a cup of green tea or our famous Dream blend coffee.

Lunch:

After a filling breakfast, you'll start feeling hungry again around lunch time but want to opt for something that will let you stay energized through the day without the 3 p.m. crash. We suggest grabbing a square meal: with seasonal veggies, organic black beans, brown rice and a protein of your choice. Whether its tofu, chicken, salmon or shrimp, you can get your protein in guilt-free knowing you're eating clean and local products.

Dinner:

The Quadrangle and our Addison locations do not serve dinner, but to keep clean and Dream eating all day long you can head over to our Lakewood Location. For dinner try our famous Sonoma Squash. Local roasted acorn squash stuffed with brown rice, pecans, currants, shallots and goat cheese (feel free to take that out if you're cutting out cheese, but ours is local and free of all that gross processed stuff). It's served with a garden salad that you can throw olive oil and vinegar on. And with our $3 wells during happy hour you might as well grab a drink too, because all this clean eating is hard and you deserve a splurge.

*disclaimer: though we are health enthusiasts, we are by no means doctors or nutritionists. Always consult with your physician before you change your diet.