quick easy clean eating recipes

If you are trying to remove toxins from your home, including in your kitchen, then you are familiar with the term “clean eating.” Basically all clean eating amounts to is eating whole foods, meaning that they are minimally processed, if at all (so nothing enriched, refined, or preserved) and grown in an organic way, free of pesticides, non-GMO, and free of added hormones.

It actually sounds quite simple, until you start trying to find recipes that will work, or go to the grocery store. Then it becomes quite tricky, indeed! I think what is the most frustrating, for me at least, is the amount of time I have to spend on food when I try to eat clean. It feels like I am constantly hunting for recipes, trying to find acceptable ingredients, and then spending tons of time in the kitchen preparing the food.

It’s enough to make me want to quit, and I’ve certainly quit more than a few times after declaring that our family would be eating clean again. Can you relate?

If so, I hope that this list of resources will be very helpful. I put it together because I personally really need easy ways to find delicious and FAST clean eating ideas. I don’t have time to scour Pinterest every day for a new idea, and I definitely don’t have time to spend an hour making dinner every night (not to mention preparing breakfast and lunch!). These 10 cookbooks are just what I have been looking for to help me take care of all aspects of meal planning much faster, and with delicious results.

easy clean eating recipes collage

Clean Eating: 15-Minute Clean eating Recipes: Meals that Improve Your Health, Make You Lean, and Boost Your Metabolism

I love that most of these recipes have 10 ingredients or less and take around 15 minutes to make. Perfect for a busy lifestyle!

2. Clean Eating: The Ultimate Quick Start Guide to Eat Better, Lose Weight,

Geared more toward the person hoping to jump-start some weight loss, this is a fantastic resource with 15 minute recipes, simple ingredients, and delicious flavors.

3. Hungry Girl Clean & Hungry: Easy All-Natural Recipes for Healthy Eating in the Real World

This book goes beyond the 30 minutes or less guideline with some of their recipes, but I love that the book is loaded with color pictures and that the portions are generous and the food is so darn yummy! A great choice for the person who wants to eat better, but not necessarily eat less! 🙂

4. Clean Eating: The 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge: Boost Your Metabolism and Increase Energy With Simple Recipes for Healthy Cooking!

I like that this book is written by a personal trainer and wellness coach, someone who knows a lot about what “good fuel” for our bodies really looks like!

5. Clean Eating for Busy Families

Getting yourself on the clean eating train is one thing, but getting children on board is quite another! I own this cookbook and absolutely love it. It has helped me find foods that my kids enjoy, and most recipes take 30 minutes or less. Perfect!

6. Clean Eating on a Budget

This is the go-to pick if you are worried about how eating clean will impact your grocery budget. It’s a simple cookbook (not as many pictures as I would like) but it gets the job done and will help you save money. Also? It’s just 99 cents!

7. The Family Friendly Clean-Eating Cookbook

Here’s another great pick for busy families with picky little eaters! It includes -12 breakfast recipes, 14 lunch ideas, 15 dinner recipes, 6 desserts and 5 super quick and easy recipe for the busiest of days.

8. Fast and Easy Clean Eating Cookbook

The title says it all! Another great pick.

9. Clean Eating: Quick 15 Day Clean Eating Recipe Cookbook

This is a great choice if you are new to clean eating and have no idea where to start. You can follow these recipes for 2 full weeks and get a sense for your favorite flavors and cooking styles.

10. Clean Eating Kids

I know all too well that it doesn’t matter if a recipe only took you 15 minutes to make if your kids refuse to eat it. Better to help kids with the transition to a less processed diet by presenting more options that they might enjoy, especially at the start! Love this resource for that reason.

I hope these picks help you get on the path to a healthier lifestyle and help you save time because I know you’ve got better things to do than to worry about food all day!

A few days ago several readers and I had a great discussion on Facebook about make-ahead breakfast ideas. As I was mulling over all the great options you suggested (and thank you for those!) I remembered that there was a gem of a recipe (details later in the post!) in my new favorite cookbook: Clean Eating for Busy Families, by Michelle Dudash, R.D.

You have likely heard of “clean eating” or the “clean food” movement, but if not, the basic idea is that you attempt to eat food as close to its original source as possible, avoiding GMOs, artificial ingredients, preservatives, and high-fructose corn srup. I’ve been intrigued by the idea for a long while, but honestly, the thought of switching my entire approach to eating (and letting go of many convenience food options that are loaded with all that bad stuff) was pretty overwhelming.

My family actually was on the Paleo diet for about a month, and that was a great way to force a restart in our systems and get our bodies used to not inhaling sugar and additives constantly. We have since that time migrated over to a more whole foods, clean eating approach, and this cookbook has been instrumental in that process.

Why do I love it so much? Because it is REALISTIC. Michelle wrote this book with families just like mine in mind. We want to serve wholesome, delicious food. We also have a million things on our “to do” lists such that cooking complicated dishes from scratch constantly isn’t feasible. And we have real budgets, meaning that we can’t spend hundreds of dollars every week at places like Whole Foods. Michelle’s recipe ideas are the perfect balance between price, time and health consciousness!

Michelle even includes weekly grocery list ideas and practical tips to help encourage healthy eating habits in your home. And most of the recipes are ready in 30 minutes or less! Heck yes!!! Michelle is an outstanding resource for finding practical ways to clean up the food in your house. I actually had the chance to be part of a conference call with her a while back and I learned some fantastic tips for encouraging healthy habits for kids. Definitely give that a read if you haven’t yet!

Ok, so about that recipe I found for a make-ahead (and totally freezable) breakfast idea. Check it out!

Are you shocked to see a breakfast recipe with the term “cookies” in it? Especially in a “clean eating” cookbook? I think this gives you an idea about just how practical Michelle’s approach really is! Her recipes are delicious AND appealing to the entire family, including kids. When I told Darah were were having “breakfast cookies” she almost couldn’t contain her excitement. She inhaled these (and to be honest, so did Tim and I!). I am actually going to make another batch today to tuck away in the freezer for the weeks ahead. They come together fast, and they go so well with a cup of coffee! 🙂

I’ve been wearing out the pages, lately, and I plan to continue doing so over the summer and beyond! Need a few more ideas for simple clean eating recipes? Check out my easy clean eating version of a Lunchable, as well as some picks for frozen foods that are clean (or close to it!).

I received a complimentary book for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. This post contains affiliate links.

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