What I Ate Wednesday

Welcome to What I Ate Wednesday! This is a new series Lynda and I will be taking turns doing. Every Wednesday one of us will post everything we ate on that particular Wednesday. I have really enjoyed reading other blogs that do WIAW, so I thought it would be fun for us to do it too. I think it’s pretty interesting to see how other people eat and the kinds of foods they eat regularly.  Lynda and I usually make a conscious effort to eat healthily the majority of the time. I’m not saying we eat perfectly because that is far from the truth, but usually our meals and food choices are well thought out and somewhat nutritious. But, if I happen to eat Bojangles one of these Wednesdays please don’t crucify me! I sorry, I love the BoJ okay! Well, let’s jump right into it.

Breakfast

Oatmeal! This is usually my breakfast everyday. It’s just regular Quaker Oats (the quick cooking kind) made with organic 2% milk, sliced banana, chopped walnuts, and cinnamon sprinkled on top. Sometimes I drizzle a little honey on top too! Yum! And then I just had some coffee, of course. This is just regular coffee with a little half and half.

Lunch

For lunch I just ate some leftover chicken noodle soup I made for dinner the night before. This was my first attempt at making chicken noodle soup and I was quite proud of myself because it turned out pretty yummy. I followed a recipe from a Southern Living recipe book I have. The original recipe was for chicken and dumplings, but I decided to tweak it a little and make it as a noodle soup instead. I also had water to drink…yes, in a Hello Kitty thermos bottle. Don’t judge. I love this little bottle. For some reason I tend to drink a lot more water throughout the day if it’s in a bottle with a straw type thing.

Here is the recipe I followed for my soup:

Ingredients

1 (32 oz) chicken broth

3 cups shredded cooked chicken (I bought a rotisserie chicken)

1 (10.75 oz) can reduced-fat cream of chicken soup

1 tsp. poultry seasoning

3 celery ribs, diced

2 carrots, diced

Egg noodles

Salt and Pepper

Directions

1. Boil water for noodles. Cook noodles, drain.

2. Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high; return to a low boil.

3. Add celery and carrots. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Combine with noodles.

Dinner

For dinner I made one of mine and my boyfriend’s favorite comfort foods – meatloaf. Not the healthiest dinner,  but SO good. For sides we had homemade mashed potatoes and a simple 50/50 (spring mix and spinach) salad with a bit of that salad toppers stuff on top and this awesome Ranch dressing by the brand Bolthouse Farms that is a yogurt base and is only 45 calories and 3 grams of fat.  The best part is, this dressing tastes really good and the ingredients list is not a mile long either! I also had some water in a big girl glass this time.  I got this meatloaf recipe from my mom and I have no idea where she got it, but I have yet to try to make it any other way because this way is so delicious. The mashed potato recipe was a first for me and I got it from the same Southern Living book I got the soup recipe from. These were probably the best I’ve ever made.

Meatloaf recipe

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 egg

1 onion diced

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

3/4 cup milk

For topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup ketchup

1 1/2 tsp. mustard

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together first 5 ingredients. Shape into mini loaves (usually makes around 6) and place in a baking dish.

2. Mix together brown sugar, ketchup, and mustard and cover each mini loaf with the mixture.

3. Bake for 45 mins- 1 hour.

Mashed Potato Recipe (this makes 6 cups, I cut it in half when I made it) 

Ingredients

3 lb. Yukon gold potatoes

2 tsp. salt, divided

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup half and half

4 oz. cream cheese

3/4 tsp ground pepper

Directions

1. Peel potatoes, and cut into 1-inch pieces. Bring potatoes, 1 tsp. salt, and cold water to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 16 to 20 minutes or until fork-tender, drain.

2. In a saucepan, heat butter, and next 3 ingredients, and remaining salt until butter melts and the mixture boils.

3. Remove from heat and combine with potatoes. Beat with a handheld mixer for 30 seconds to 1 minute or to desired degree of smoothness.

Well, that’s everything. I can’t believe I didn’t eat any snacks today. That’s not typical. I’m actually contemplating making a cup of hot chocolate right now as I’m typing this. Maybe I will 🙂 I hope you guys enjoyed seeing what I ate today. Be sure to check back for next week’s WIAW. Have a good night and thanks for reading!

Bows and Arrows,

Ashley