30 Eat Clean Dinners by Clean Cuisine Review

One of the best things about blogging is that I get to hear about some great products. This ebook, 30 Eat Clean Dinners by Clean Cuisine is one of them.  The book was written by Ivy Larson.  She was led down the path to clean eating after her diagnosis with multiple sclerosis (MS) at age 22.  Once she started eating clean, her health began to improve.  Together with her husband, Dr. Andy Larson, they began to teach nutrition classes to show people that this way of living and eating can be obtained by anyone.  I had the pleasure of interviewing Ivy and here is what she had to say.

1.    How has clean eating changed your life?

Clean eating not only changed my life, it gave me my life back! I radically changed my diet 15 years ago at the age of twenty-two when I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). At that time I was wearing a catheter and barely able to go up the stairs. My neurologist suggested a change in diet could help slow the progression of my disease and so I decided to give it a try. My husband was a medical student at the University of Pennsylvania at the time I was diagnosed and he had never heard of treating a disease like MS with diet, but after doing the research he realized that an anti-inflammatory “clean eating” diet could absolutely help—and it certainly couldn’t hurt! We soon realized that the common thread between MS and so many seemingly unrelated diseases (fibromyalgia, asthma, endometriosis, heart disease etc.) was inflammation—and an anti-inflammatory “clean eating” diet can improve the symptoms of just about any inflammatory disease…and with no negative side effects!

After learning about the benefits of an anti-inflammatory clean eating diet my husband, who is now a surgeon, and I both changed our diets together; my husband promptly lost the extra 15 pounds he had gained in medical school and I saw my symptoms slowly start to improve. By the time our son, Blake, was born in 2001 I was in complete remission and we decided to raise our son on the same clean eating diet we were on. And I have to say, I am certain it is because of his diet that our son is so incredibly healthy; Blake has only been on antibiotics once in his life, he has never had an ear infection, he doesn’t have asthma or allergies, he is rarely sick, he doesn’t have ADD or ADHD and he certainly isn’t obese.
After having such great results in our immediate family we slowly started taking our anti-inflammatory program to the public, starting with an 8-week “Health and Body Makeover Program” at the Red Bank Atlantic Club in NJ. The results from that one program were so incredible that we got a book deal and in 2005 we published our first book, The Gold Coast Cure—it was a bestseller on Amazon after we appeared on CNN and the Montel Show (Montel also has MS and he is very into clean eating/ clean living for the management of his disease, so he really helped promote the book.) We have since written three additional books, including our most recently released Clean Cuisine: An 8-Week Anti-Inflammatory Nutrition Program that Will Change the Way You Age, Look & Feel (Penguin, 2013), which is a spin-off of our website, CleanCuisineandMore.com
It is crazy to think that changing my diet fifteen years ago totally changed the trajectory of my life, but it did. I would never be an author—I would never have even thought of writing a book—if it weren’t for changing my diet and seeing the phenomenal impact it has had on my health and well being. Our entire website, the healthy living product line we developed, the classes we teach and everything I am doing within my professional life would not exist if it weren’t for changing my diet 15 years ago. And I am 100% certain I would not be enjoying incredible health today —especially considering I am not on any medications—if I hadn’t changed my diet back in 1998.

2. I sometimes feel it’s hard to be social eating a clean diet since the standard American diet is so poor. What do you do in social situations or when eating out?

Oh my gosh, it is so funny you mention this because this really did used to be an issue for me too, mostly because I worried about being “rude” and not eating the food everybody else is eating, but the older I have gotten (I am 37 now), the more I don’t worry about those things. Everyone we know knows my story, so they don’t even think anything of it if I turn down a fried something or other at a party.

The only part that can sometimes be tricky is going to a party and then not having enough to eat! I really can’t stand being hungry. I can always find something healthy at pretty much any restaurant—even if I have to “piece meal” the menu! But, going to a house party can be trickier since you sort of have to eat what is served. What helps me is just making sure I have a big snack before I go—I usually make one of my “No Milk Shakes” or a “SuperGreen Smoothie” and have that beforehand.

3. Can you give me an example of what you eat in a day?

Breakfast:
· “Georgia Peach Pie No Milk Shake” (see recipe below)
· Slice of toasted sprouted whole grain bread with almond butter
· Green Tea (Sencha Shot by ItoEn)
Lunch:
· Large arugula salad with a drizzle of flax oil (such as Barlean’s), lime juice and 2-3 tablespoons of “Clean Cuisine’s Curry Walnut Salad Booster” (see recipe below)
· Oil Free Edamame Hummus-Stuffed Pitas
o Puree ½ cup thawed frozen organic edamame with ½ of an avocado, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 crushed garlic clove, a pinch of cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Spread in a split warmed whole-wheat pita (such as Food for Life brand) and fill with shaved fennel and red bell pepper strips.
· Sparkling mineral water (I especially like San Pellegrino)
Snack:
· “Blueberry Banana Smoothie with Kale”
Dinner:
· “Thai Veggie Curry Stir Fry”
· Steamed black rice
· Glass of wine
· Chopped mango with a small scoop of dairy-free chocolate coconut-based ice cream (such as Coconut Bliss)

4. What is your favorite recipe out of the ebook, and is there one you recommend trying first?

Hmmm….the Chopped Thai Salad is really good and just might be one of my favorites; it is super easy to make and the flavor is just incredible. I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t like it!

5. Since you raise your son eating the same clean diet, how do you handle all the junk food that is offered at school these days?

I definitely do not want to be one of those “food police” moms who freak out if their kid has a bite of candy, mostly because I think that sort of behavior by parents can lead to disordered eating with kids (I grew up in the 90’s and eating disorders were a big deal back then and I believe a lot of the issues stemmed from the parents, so I am careful not to appear overly obsessive about what my son eats.) What I have found over the years though is that our son, really just doesn’t like junk food; kids tend to like the foods they were raised on and Blake is no different. At 12 years old he is actually a bit of a “foodie” and is not particularly fond of the cheap quality of packaged foods. I pack his lunch every day for school and he eats it and that’s that. I will say though, the earlier you get your kids eating clean the better—it is much harder to change the eating habits of a 12 year old as opposed to raising them on a healthy clean eating diet to begin with!

6. I am always hearing people say it is expensive to eat clean. Can you give me your best budget tips?

I hear the same thing, but I totally disagree! In the long run it is a lot pricier to get sick. In the short term, foods like beans, potatoes, frozen fruits, frozen vegetables, brown rice, quinoa, nuts, seeds, etc. are truly not expensive. And cooking at home is the biggest money saver that exists! Invest in a few good cookbooks and you will save thousands of dollars each year.

7. I feel a lot of people are just overwhelmed with all the information out there. Can you give advice for those who are just starting out?

I agree, it is very confusing, and I think this is mostly because the media gives conflicting messages. Here’s the deal, the more basic you can get your diet the better. You want to choose foods in their most natural and unrefined state; eat corn instead of corn flakes, eat apples instead of applesauce, eat old fashioned rolled oats instead of a granola bar that is “made with oats”—and also tons of sugar! Also, the more fruits and vegetables you can eat the better. You can get creative and make SuperGreen smoothies (made with fruits and greens), No-Milk Shakes (made with fruits and nut milks), vegetable soups, salads, veggie sandwich stuffers, etc. But every meal should include a large serving of fruits or vegetables (or both!) Also, the more plant foods and the less animal foods the better—try to get most of your protein from unrefined plant foods like beans, nuts, seeds, “whole” soy (tempeh, tofu, edamame beans, etc.). Keep in mind, the higher up on the food chain you go, the more toxins accumulate—so beans will always be a cleaner source of protein than beef.

I can tell you that I have tried two recipes out of this book and both were big winners in our house.  In fact, I loved the falafel burgers so much, that we made a second batch the next day.  This ebook included everything to get you started on a road to eating clean.  Ivy makes it easy with meal plans and shopping lists.  These recipes are very much like my own, easy to prepare.  I would highly recommend this book.  Click here to purchase.