What I Ate Wednesday, 9/10/14

Hey guys! I’m going to try my best to be entertaining in this post, but my head is hurting and I’m a grumpy/sleepy pants, so bear with me. 😛 Also, I didn’t plan any meals for this week and didn’t go grocery shopping either so, as you can imagine, there will be some unhealthy and unimpressive food showcased in this WIAW. I promise to do better next time, okay!

Breakfast

I made my coffee and drank it in between putting on my makeup and getting ready. This particular coffee is by Caribou Coffee and it is some sort of light roast, but I forget what it’s called. I made it with some organic half and half like usual.

I didn’t have much time to make breakfast, so I decided to fry up two eggs. These are my beautiful eggs from the farmers market. I quickly ate my eggs and filled up a water bottle to take with me to work.

Snack

I had to run an errand for work and therefore had a good excuse to get coffee…you know, because I was already out and there’s a Starbucks on practically every corner. So yeah, this is me drinking a “tall” Americano with cream. I looked so thrilled. I also managed to capture some artwork in the background.

Lunch

A beautiful bowl of goodness! Also known as a Chipotle burrito bowl. I think I eat here too much, but oh well. My burrito bowl contains: chicken, black beans, brown rice, pico de gallo, their hot sauce, guacamole, and lettuce.

Dinner

Yes, this is Cookout food and no, I’m not sorry about it. Well, maybe I am a little. This is what happens when I don’t meal plan guys! Everything just falls apart and I end up eating a bucket of grease. yummmay! To be honest, I wasn’t even that hungry considering I had a pretty big lunch, but I ate some of this anyway. This is the barbecue plate, which as you can see, comes with slaw, french fries and hush puppies.  The cornerstone of every nutritious dinner.  Just so you know, I drank a gazillion ounces of water today like always.

Well, that’s all my food for today. I am now going to get back to watching Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey on Netflix because I like to have my mind blown a little before bed. What am I even talking about anymore? I shouldn’t be allowed to write a blog post when I’m this tired and also have a headache. I’m sure watching tv isn’t going to help my head situation. But, anyway I highly recommend that you watch Cosmos….even if you’re not a science/space person (which I’m clearly not) because it’s good stuff. Was that convincing? Goodnight guys! Thanks for reading.

Bows and Arrows,

Ashley

 

 

 

 

 

Recipe: Lynda’s Chicken Bowl

Ashley previously mentioned making a burrito bowl that mimicked what she gets from Chipotle.  A few weeks ago, I actually did something similar, except similar to what I get from Moe’s Southwest Grill, minus the tortilla.  As you can recall from my May favorites post, I had a guacamole kick, which lead me to Moe’s a few times last month during my lunch breaks at work.  This inspired me to make something similar to what I order from Moe’s for dinner one night.

Why not drink a glass of Lambic beer too!

 Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

1 cup of Long grain wild rice (approximately)

1 can of Black beans

1 Roma tomato

3 leaves of romaine (or more depending on how much you want)

2 tablespoons non-fat cheddar cheese

Coarse ground pepper, just a pinch

Garlic powder, just a pinch

Celery salt, just a pinch

Ranch dressing

Lemon juice, about 2 tbsp

Directions:

Step One: I sprinkled garlic powder, celery salt, and ground pepper on both sides of my raw chicken breasts and brushed both sides with lemon juice.  Then I set them aside to ‘marinate’ for about 20 minutes while I prepared everything else.

Step Two:  I then warmed up my black beans and cooked my rice.  I added a tiny bit of lemon juice to my rice as well after it was cooked.

Step Three:  While my rice and beans were cooking, I chopped up the romaine leaves and Roma tomato into tiny pieces.

Step Four:  I cooked my chicken on the stove, making sure to cook all the way through (this varies with thickness, so check your packaging for cook times).  After my chicken was finished cooking, I cut it up into small cubes.

I served my chicken bowl as a “pick your own” toppings, but of course I used everything that I made, and just mixed the amounts of each item together that I wanted.  I then topped my chicken bowl with a small amount of ranch dressing.  I did have guacamole, but I decided to not top my bowl with it, but rather eat it as a side with my chips.

I will say, that when I was inspired to make this recipe, I just used what I had in my kitchen at the time.  If I could tweak this recipe, I would add salsa, cilantro, and a spicy ranch dressing instead of basic ranch (even though I don’t like spicy stuff, I can handle some chipotle ranch)!  Try it out, and let me know what you think!

Bows and Arrows,

Lynda

What I Ate Wednesday, 6/4/14

Better late than never, right? I’m sorry if you guys are sick of me! I totally failed at posting this yesterday. I got really sleepy last night and went to bed pretty early. Then I worked all day today, so I’m just now getting around to doing this.

My day started at around 6:30 am yesterday. I rolled out of bed (after hitting the snooze button one too many times), let Rose out to potty, and started making my usual breakfast.

Breakfast

Do I even need to say what it is? Okay, I will…Gluten Free Oatmeal made with almond milk, blueberries, walnuts, cinnamon, and a tiny bit of raw agave. I also had a cup of chai green tea. Really missing my coffee lately! It will be back in my life soon.

 

Snack

Several hours later, while at work, I ate a Coconut Pie Larabar. I have been obsessed with Larabar’s lately. They are delicious and most of them only have 3-5 ingredients and no added sugar. My favorite flavors are the coconut, cherry, and key lime.

Lunch

I don’t have a picture of my lunch, but it was leftovers from my dinner the night before which was a taco bowl type thingy. Check my last post for that recipe. It was my attempt at making a copycat burrito bowl from Chipotle. Very tasty!

Snack

After my workout yesterday I decided to make a smoothie. My smoothie was made with frozen blueberries, frozen peaches, spinach, coconut water, and a little 100% apple juice. Yum!

Also, if you guys are looking for a pretty inexpensive blender that works great, this basic Ninja Blender is awesome. It also came with a larger container. Lynda recently got the bigger version, that she talked about in her favorites post. This smaller version works great too though. It has chopped up everything I’ve ever put in it. I even used it to grind up some coffee beans one time.

Dinner

For dinner I made chicken and rice soup. The recipe can be found in my last post. It turned out great and I had plenty leftover for lunch today. Such a comforting and filling meal.

Some of the ingredients

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, that’s what I ate yesterday! Hope you guys are having a good week. Who’s ready for the weekend?! 🙂 Thanks for reading.

Bows and Arrows,

Ashley

Recipes of the Week

Hello again! I’m back to share the recipes for the meal plan I shared with you guys yesterday. If you haven’t read that post yet, you should go check that out first. Most of these recipes are just ones I found online, but I often get recipes from a few cookbooks that I have. I wont be sharing the recipes from the cookbooks because well, they aren’t mine to share. I feel more comfortable sharing the ones I find online because they are already out there for anyone to view for free. Does that make sense?  My newest, and current favorite cookbooks are Clean Eats by Alejandro Junger, MD and It’s All Good by Gwyneth Paltrow. If you are wanting to clean up your diet these are great resources for easy and delicious recipes.

 

Recipes

Baked wild caught Salmon

I’ve tried many salmon recipes, but I like to keep things simple most of the time by only using a little olive oil and some lemon pepper (McCormick lemon pepper grinder). I always buy frozen wild caught salmon. Yes, the wild caught is more expensive, but fish farming practices are scary and I prefer to limit the amount of toxins I’m putting in my body.

Ground Turkey “Burrito Bowl”

I eat Chipotle a lot, so I decided I would make my own Chipotle burrito bowl at home. I made this for dinner last night and I loved it.

Ingredients:

• Ground turkey
• 1 Tbsp. each of chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and crushed red pepper (meat seasoning)
• black beans (or whatever beans you like)
• this rice recipe 
• guacamole
• lettuce
• any other toppings

Brown the ground turkey, add the seasoning and about 3/4 cup of water. Heat up the beans (if using canned), cook the rice, and layer in a bowl. Delicious!

Chicken and Rice Soup

I eat soup all year long, even if it’s 100 degrees outside. It’s so easy and filling and a great way to include a lot of vegetables in a meal. Plus, there’s usually always leftovers for lunch the next day.

Pan-Roasted Chicken with Mushrooms and Rosemary

I featured this recipe in my last WIAW post. This is one of my new favorites. So good!

Italian Turkey, Bean, and Spinach Soup

Another recipe found on Pinterest! I haven’t made this one yet, so I don’t know how it will be. It certainly looks good.

Well, that’s all the recipes I have to share for this week. Stick around if you want to see how my chicken and rice soup turns out tonight. It’s cooking right now! Yum! Thanks for reading.

Bows and Arrows,

Ashley

 

What I Ate Wednesday, 5/7/14

Today is another example of what happens when I don’t plan out my meals ahead of time. The day consisted of quite a bit of eating and drinking in the car while on the way to work and while running errands. I really hate eating in the car, but sometimes it is necessary when you fail at planning and time management like the Ashley pants.

Breakfast

I started my morning off by talking to Lynda online while drinking a big cup of Trader Joe’s breakfast blend coffee with organic half and half.

My breakfast wasn’t anything special. It was one fried egg with a little salt and pepper, a slice of whole wheat toast with peanut butter and cinnamon on top, and an organic granny smith apple. I also drank water out of my boyfriend’s Redskins Tervis tumbler that I commandeered because he never uses it. 😛

Lunch

As usual I took my sweet time getting ready this morning and didn’t allow enough time to prepare lunch for myself before leaving for work around 12:30. I didn’t want to be late for work, but I knew I would not last all day with no food. So what did I do? Well, I swung by Bojangles of course. ughh shame shame! What a terrible “nutritionist” I am (and I use that word very lightly). The struggle is real. Isn’t that what the kids are saying these days??

I got the kids chicken supreme meal with rice. I ate it on the way to work because I am not about to broadcast my poor food choices to everyone in the wellness center I work at. Even though I’m broadcasting it on here…shhh! Oh well, just keeping it real.

Snack

I was craving a smoothie several hours later, so I decided I would find a smoothie from somewhere while running an errand for work. I went to Panera Bread remembering that I had seen smoothies on their menu before. They had two choices: strawberry or mango. I chose strawberry. It was pretty good! One complaint though…why are their straws so fat? I got instant brain freeze! Again this was consumed in the car

Dinner

Well, I had planned to cook some sort of Mexican food like tacos or taco salad, but then I didn’t get out of work until almost 8pm. All motivation for cooking was lost! So I settled for the next best thing, Chipotle.

This is a chicken burrito bowl and I think it has been featured on one of my WIAW’s not too long ago. I eat Chipotle at least once a week now because I work nearby one, so it is hard to resist. I also drank more water with my dinner. I didn’t mention this, but I drink water constantly all day long while at work, but I never take pictures of that, because that’s kind of silly. “Here’s my water at 11 and then again at 11:30. And here’s me holding my water at 12” 😛

Now I am sitting here cuddling with Rose about to watch an old episode of Doctor Who before bed. I hope you guys are having a great week! Thanks for reading!

Bows and Arrows,

Ashley

 

 

 

What I Ate Wednesday, 3/26/14

Hey guys! Long time no see blog? I’m sorry I have been so absent from the blog lately, a lot has been happening! Luckily, Lynda Lou was blogging away about her fun adventures in Florida, so hopefully my absence wasn’t too noticeable. My Wednesday was a bit different than usual because I am still getting used to my new work schedule. I got a job! Well, I already had a job at the coffee shop, of course, but now I am working a second job 3 or 4 days a week. The exciting part is that this new job is a step towards getting into a career in holistic health and wellness that will utilize my degree in nutrition. For now, I am doing front desk work, but there are so many opportunities to learn and grow, so I’m pretty stoked. Hey, you’ve gotta start somewhere, right! Anyway, my point in telling you all of that is to explain why my WIAW this week is pretty lame. It’s because this is my first full week of working my new job and I have been getting home around 7:30 and I guess I was not prepared for how tired sitting at a desk all day could make a person! Okay, I’m done rambling….here’s my food!

Breakfast

I started my morning around 7:30 with a large cup of Vanilla Bean coffee from World Market with some organic half and half. About an hour later I made my usual oatmeal because I haven’t gone grocery shopping and there wasn’t really any other options…not that I would have chosen another option anyway. I made it slightly different this time by using a little brown sugar, but still used cinnamon, banana slices, and walnuts. I also drank water out of my little kids Hello Kitty cup that I love so much. I swear Lynda and I are adults, we just like kid things, okay!

Lunch

Lunch was boring, again because I have no food in the house right now. I do, however, always seem to have cans of tuna and oatmeal, and luckily I still had some apples left from my last grocery store trip. I made myself tuna salad with Sundried Tomato Wheat Thins. I also sliced up a granny smith apple and drank more water. To see how I make my tuna salad check out my WIAW post from a while back.

After eating this I headed to work. On Wednesdays I work at my new job from 1-7pm. This was my first Wednesday working there, so I didn’t think about the fact that I would have to go around 6 hours without food. Next week I will definitely bring a snack because I was ravenous by the time I got off!

Dinner

Because I was starving to death and there is a Chipotle very close to where I work, that seemed like the best idea for dinner. I ordered a burrito bowl with chicken, brown rice, black beans, the hot sauce (whatever that is), pico de gallo, and lettuce. I drove home and somehow managed to snap a picture of this deliciousness before I completely devoured it. I then laid on the couch in a food coma and watched a couple episodes of Bates Motel with Preston.

Dessert

Even though I really wasn’t hungry after all the food I ate for dinner, I ate some ice cream anyway. This is why you shouldn’t starve yourself throughout the day! Because you will just eat and eat like a little piggy, like me. 🙂 This is not just any ice cream though, guys! This is girl scout cookie ice cream in the Samoas flavor, which happens to be my favorite girl scout cookie! YUM!! I promise I didn’t eat the whole container, but I just didn’t get a picture of the ice cream in my bowl. It will be a bittersweet moment when this ice cream is finally gone.

Well, that is everything I ate this Wednesday. I don’t think my food choices were too bad considering my lack of groceries in the house and my late work day.  I really try to limit eating out during the week, so I failed in that regard, but at least it wasn’t Bojangles and it also contained at least two vegetables! Great success! hehe I’ll be sure to plan my meals out for next week and I’ll be heading to the grocery store soon.

Have a good rest of the week!

Bows and Arrows,

Ashley