Welcome to the CMpro’s blog circle for February’s challenge: food photography.

This challenge came with perfect timing for my family and I. One of my goals for 2013 has been to be more intentional in many areas of my life like relationships, reading, and the way I do things in business. Early in February, John (my husband) and I felt prompted to change the way we eat, specifically what we eat. For the most part, we have been responsible in making healthy food choices over the last five years. However, we took it to a new level this month and committed to eating clean. Out with the processed foods, the unnecessary sugar, and anything that should not be in food. We’ve spent countless hours doing research and talking to family and friends who have clean eating habits. We made a commitment and threw out things we now believe to be harmful, mostly foods that we were purchasing out of convenience when we could make perfectly better ones with just a little extra planning. Our biggest challenge would be convincing our son, Micah, to try new foods and part with old ones…or so we thought. He loved candy. He loved sweets. Loved, as in past tense. A day or so after John and I made our decision, we were incorporating Micah’s favorite candies into his math lesson. John explained to him what we have come to know about these candies and then gave him a choice–eat the candies that aren’t very healthy or have a few dark chocolate morsels that are healthier than the candy. My brilliant boy chose the dark chocolate but he didn’t stop there. He said, “Papi, if these candies are not good for us then we should throw them out!” He then proceeded to empty out a container full of candy into the trash can! We were not planning on throwing the candy out. We thought we would just not purchase it again once it ran out. It turned out that we were very wrong. Actually our little lady, Eliora, has given us a harder time but both kids are trying new foods and giving it their best effort. We are not completely where we want to be with what we are consuming but we feel so much better health-wise and my husband has even shed some weight. My energy level is at a new high and I am loving the time I spend in the kitchen. I am learning to eat new things and thoroughly enjoying it. Anyone close to me knows that I’ve never cared for cooking. My husband has been the main cook of the house since we were married ten years ago (March 8th!). If I’m completely honest, I’ve never really cared for food. I think the only time in my life I’ve thoroughly enjoyed food was when I was pregnant. Now John is finding himself doing a dance in the kitchen trying not to run into me because I am in his space that I am beginning to claim as my own.

I tried to grab my camera several times throughout the month so I could share some of the foods we have been savoring. Once you get through my images, don’t forget to visit Christina McGuire’s blog and make your way through the circle.

Looks healthy, right? This was a before clean eating, loaded with unnecessary salt and paired with “pan de agua” that was loaded with preservatives. We will make some adjustments to the recipe next time we want broccoli soup.

You can say we drank the juice   I wish I had discovered sooner how flavorful green veggies and fruits can be when blended together. Maybe I would have included more greens like kale and spinach in my diet. I might not like eating/chewing them too much, but I’ll drink them any day…even a couple times in one day.

The ingredients:
spinach
celery
kiwi
apple
ginger root–this makes a flavorful difference!
flaxseed meal
the juice of half a lemon
ice

I drank every last bit of it!I must absolutely share the recipe for this amazing guacamole salad. We have been making this for months and every single time we have it, we just fall in love with all the bold flavors. John says it’s like fireworks going off in your mouth. It is SO good I could eat it every other day. I had to make some substitutes the day I made this since I was out of yellow peppers and red onion so the red peppers and yellow/white (whichever is the correct color of it) had to do. On this day I served it with a few sprouted black bean chips. Here’s the recipe so you can make it in your home. Lastly, you might get a chuckle at my first loaf of bread. But guess what? I made bread and it was “the best bread ever!” according to Micah. It was free of preservatives, which we didn’t need since it was consumed within a day of baking (one loaf disappeared before cooling), and I know exactly what went into it. I’m learning about gluten and the different types of flours. I’m hopeful that my bread will only improve in taste and looks the more time I invest making it.I hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s post and perhaps you are inspired to add some fresh, clean meals into your diet. If you want to see or try what I’m making at home for my family, go follow me on Pinterest and check out my clean eating board. Do you have a clean recipe that you love? Please share!