What I Ate Wednesday, 10/8/14

Hey guys! I’m back for my every other week appearance on the blog. Lately, I have really been failing at balancing all of the things I need/want to do on a daily basis. I have so much going on right now! Mostly it’s very exciting stuff, but I wont get into that now. Maybe I will share more in another post, but right now I am gonna share my food because that’s what you came here for, right?

Breakfast

My breakfast was the most pathetic thing ever. I ran out of almond milk, so not oatmeal this morning. 😦 I guess I could have used water, but that’s not as good. I wasn’t very hungry this morning anyway, so I just toasted one slice of my 7 sprouted grains bread with a little butter and grape jelly. I had some coffee by Caribou Coffee in my adorable Frankenstein mug (again) with organic half and half.

Snack

I forgot to take a picture, but I had a KIND bar in a new flavor. Well, new to me at least. It’s called Caramel Almond and Sea Salt and it is probably my favorite KIND bar now! Another good thing about this flavor is that it is low in sugar compared to a lot of the other ones (only 5 grams). Go try it!

Lunch

I was pretty much starving by the time I was able to eat lunch, which was around 2pm. I decided to pick up a Cobb salad from Chick-fil-A. I know this is the least healthy salad I could have chosen, but I don’t really care, so ha!

Dinner

My dinner was something I have pretty much once a week, and I have probably featured it more than once on previous WIAW’s. I made baked wild-caught sockeye salmon topped with olive oil, a little black pepper, minced garlic, and fresh lemon juice. I also steamed some green beans and made mac and cheese to make the boyfriend fiance 😉 happy. The macaroni is by the brand Annie’s. It’s organic and non-GMO and all that good stuff, but it’s still a packaged food and something I don’t consider very healthy. But, I guess it may be a little better than other brands. I had some water with lots of lemon with my dinner. Isn’t Rose a cute little beggar?

Well, that’s everything. Not very exciting, I know! I’m sorry. I hope you guys have a great rest of the week. Thank you for reading!

Bows and Arrows,

Ashley

What I Ate Wednesday, 9/24/14

What a dreary and chilly second day of fall here in Raleigh! I’m totally fine with the cooler temperatures, but the rain really puts a damper on my mood. 😛 (unintentional pun). It also makes me want to take naps and be a lazy pants. No good. Luckily, I think it is clearing out and tomorrow will be nicer. Yay for sunshine! Anyway, I’m sure you didn’t come here for a weather forecast, so here’s the delicious food I put in my belly today…

Breakfast

I ate my usual oatmeal this morning made with unsweetened almond milk, a tablespoon of local honey, cinnamon, chopped walnuts, and banana slices. I had coffee with organic half and half in my adorable Frankenstein coffee mug that I bought from Carolina Pottery a few weeks ago. This seems like a good opportunity to let you all know that I LOVE Halloween! It’s definitely my favorite holiday (yes, even over Christmas). In fact, I’m seriously considering putting up a Halloween tree this year and just leaving it up through Christmas. I also love pumpkins and pretty much anything else having to do with fall, so be prepared for some fall/Halloween themed posts from me (and Lynda goose too)! Okay, moving on…I also had some water.

Lunch

I did not eat any snacks between breakfast and lunch which is pretty unusual. I normally eat lunch well after noon and am always starving if I don’t have a snack. Today was no different, but I just didn’t remember to bring a snack with me to work. I couldn’t take this picture fast enough….I was so hungry. Oh wait, I did eat some crackers while I was waiting for the sweet potato to cook. So this random lunch consists of: a sweet potato with coconut butter and cinnamon on top, a spring mix salad with cucumbers and some Bolthouse Farms Ranch dressing, some grapes, and some mandarin orange slices. Oh, how I love sweet potatoes!

Dinner

My dinner was baked Salmon, peas, and french fries. To drink I had a lightly sweetened iced tea with lemon. So random, but it was good.  I topped the salmon with 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter, minced garlic, and fresh lemon juice. The fries are by the brand Alexia. I guess you could consider these a little healthier than the average french fries. Definitely better than fast food fries that are made in a fryer, but still a french fry nonetheless. The peas were just frozen peas that I steamed in the microwave and added a tiny bit of salt. I love peas! “Give peas a chance!” If you know where that’s from, you are awesome and had a good childhood and watched lots of Nickelodeon.

Well, that’s everything. I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week. Thanks for reading!

Bows and Arrows,

Ashley

What I Ate Wednesday, 6/18/14

It seems like it’s been so long since my last post, but I guess it hasn’t really. I ate some things today AND I also had the pleasure of finally seeing Lynda Lou after what seems like forever. We are busy ladies lately. I think we keep up with each other now mostly through the blog, which is a little sad considering we live only a couple miles away from each other. Our schedules just haven’t been matching up lately, but today they finally did! yay!

This is what I ate on this extremely HOT Wednesday…

Breakfast

Man, my picture taking skills really suck. I apologize. And yes, this is another awkward window sill picture aka my attempt at getting some natural light. My breakfast is pretty much the usual: gluten free oatmeal made with unsweetened vanilla almond milk, blueberries, banana, cinnamon, raw chopped walnuts, and a little bit of honey. I also had coffee (this kind from Caribou Coffee) with organic half and half. As you can see I am drinking coffee again, thank God! I have also added dairy back, but I think I am going to continue to limit my dairy intake for various reasons that I will talk about (if/when I ever post about my Elimination diet experience).

Lunch

For lunch I picked up the least healthy salad Chick fil A has, the Cobb salad. 😛 Oh yeah, I also had it with Ranch dressing. I know it’s bad (I hate referring to food as good/bad), but I obsessed over my food for a good 25 days, so you know what, I deserve this stupid “unhealthy” salad! I also ate a granny smith apple in between breakfast and lunch, but I did not get a picture of that. oops!

Snack

This is some delicious Turtle Cheesecake ice cream from Ben and Jerry’s! I told Lynda that when I finished with the Elimination diet and started to add dairy back, we HAD to go to Ben and Jerry’s. It was really her idea, because she was so shocked by the fact that I had never been before. So, today was my first ever trip to Ben and Jerry’s and it was very yummy. I swear I don’t live under a rock, although that might be kind of nice. 🙂

Dinner

Again, please excuse the terrible picture quality and poor lighting. This dinner was not really planned out ahead of time. Meal planning for this week has been kind of a fail. Anyway, this is baked Salmon (my go-to last minute dinner idea). I was craving something pasta-y so a quick google search lead me to this broccoli pasta side dish to go with the salmon. I thought it turned out really good. I used brown rice pasta instead of regular pasta, which by the way tastes exactly like whole wheat pasta to me. Not bad for a spur of the moment dinner.

As I’m typing this I am having a glass of lightly sweetened black iced tea. I usually crave something sweet after dinner, but I think maybe the ice cream from earlier has satisfied my sweet tooth for today at least. Or perhaps the tiny bit of sugar in my tea is enough? Who knows!

Thank you for reading! Hope you have a fantastic rest of your week!

Bows and Arrows,

Ashley

Meal Plan Monday

My meal planning and grocery shopping was pretty easy for this week because luckily I bought more than enough food on my last grocery trip. Also, almost every week there is one day that I have planned a meal that I don’t end up making. This is usually because I’m either too lazy to cook or I’m just not in the mood for that particular food. That’s the only problem I run into with meal planning. You can’t really predict what you’ll be craving or in the mood for ahead of time. I usually move that food into next weeks meal plan if I don’t end up making it. I did that this week with the Pan Roasted Chicken with Mushrooms and Rosemary which I ended up cooking tonight instead of last Wednesday.

I am still following the elimination diet although I have to admit that I am really over it! I also have to admit that I drank coffee today (which is not allowed) and it was DELICIOUS! And now I want more. I’m not disappointed in myself to be honest. I stuck with it pretty religiously for 23 days with only one or two minor slip ups. I’m still going to add things back gradually to see how I react, but I’m pretty positive I’m drinking coffee tomorrow too….and the next day and the day after that and everyday until I die (or get pregnant or want to torture myself with another elimination diet). As for now though, my meal plans are suitable for someone on an elimination diet (minus the coffee).

Click here for this weeks meal plan.

Spa salad from Roly Poly. A healthy, fast lunch idea for when meal planning is a fail.

Recipes

Italian Turkey, Bean, and Spinach Soup

I really enjoyed this recipe. It tasted like some kind of delicious Italian pasta dish, but without the pasta and in soup form. It had tons of flavor! I, sadly, left the parmesan cheese out in an effort to stick with my diet, but I’m sure that would have made it even better. I found this recipe from Pinterest from this really great blog. Click the link above to check it out. Her pictures will make you want to make this soup ASAP!

Chicken and White Bean Chili

This recipe is from my It’s All Good cookbook, but I’m sure you can find similar recipes online if you search. I haven’t made this before, but hopefully it will be yummy.

Caesar Salad with Gluten free pasta and chicken with Paleo Caesar dressing

This is pretty self-explanatory, but it is basically this recipe with a few adjustments to suit my “diet”.

Then for the dressing I am going to TRY to make my own using this recipe. We’ll see how it turns out. I’m a little nervous/grossed out by the anchovy aspect.

Crock pot Balsamic Chicken

I have made this once before and I really liked it, but I just forgot about it. It’s another one I found while searching Pinterest. It’s made in the crock pot, so the chicken turns out SO tender and delicious. For another option, Lynda has her own Balsamic chicken recipe that you guys should check out.

One of my go-to meals for when I don’t feel like cooking. Wild caught salmon and steamed green beans.

Well, that’s my meal plan for this week. I hope you got some foodspiration or at least found some new blogs to check out from this! I am thinking about doing a healthy meal plan for men for next week. I am going to TRY to make a meal plan for my (very picky, meat and potatoes loving) boyfriend that is healthy, but still satisfying to him. Would you guys be interested in something like that? It’s going to be a challenge! Anyway, 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, 1/29/14

It snowed today in North Carolina! We don’t see a lot of snow here, so when we get even the tiniest bit of snow I’ll admit, I get pretty excited. Lucky for me I didn’t even have to work today, so I was free to be lazy and enjoy the snow day! Thank goodness I didn’t have to worry about driving in this weather because let’s be honest, us North Carolinians know nothing about driving in the snow and ice.

So, this is what I ate today on this wonderful snowy Wednesday!

Breakfast

I wasn’t very hungry when I first woke up, so I just made myself some coffee with organic half and half and about a teaspoon of sugar. I used a flavored coffee from work called Toasted Southern Pecan. I prefer to add a little sugar to flavored coffees. This is one of my favorites! I drank my coffee and looked on Pinterest for a while before making my breakfast. Don’t you just love my hello kitty pjs and coffee mug! 🙂

 My breakfast was the usual oatmeal made with organic 2% milk, sliced banana, chopped walnuts, a tiny bit of honey, and lots of cinnamon. I also drank some water.

Lunch

My lunch was leftover soup I made the night before. I make this soup a couple times a month because my boyfriend really likes it and so do I. It also seemed like a cozy meal with all the snow happening outside. The soup is called Zuppa Toscana and I do not know where the original recipe came from, but I first heard about it from my boyfriend’s sister a few years ago. Apparently it is a copycat recipe for a soup served at Olive Garden. I have never had said soup, but this one is delicious. It’s not the healthiest in the world, but it is hearty and filling and just SO yummy. Link to recipe here. I had more water also.

Dinner

Dinner was honey mustard salmon, brown rice, and a boring salad! The salmon was, of course, a recipe I found on Pinterest because you guys should know by now I’m not a natural cook and can’t “throw” a recipe together to save my life. Even though this recipe is called honey mustard salmon it really didn’t taste strongly of mustard. The recipe also had some brown sugar and soy sauce in it, so those flavors sort of toned down the mustard. I was happy with the way it turned out. Salmon is not my absolute favorite, but I do like it and this was a good/different way to prepare it. The salad is just organic romaine lettuce with some carrots, broccoli florets, a yogurt based Ranch dressing, and that salad toppers stuff. I know it’s boring, but I’ve got to eat my vegetables one way or another and this is the easiest way for me. One day I will come up with all these wonderful vegetable side dishes to prepare. That day has not come yet. The rice is just minute brown rice. It was so boring and bland. I added like a tiny bit of salt, but that’s it. My drink is not pictured, but it was just water again. I later made myself a chai tea latte using Tazo chai tea concentrate and milk. I just mixed equal parts of both and heated it in the microwave. If you order Chai tea latte’s at Starbucks frequently, then save your money and buy this concentrate instead. They use the same stuff, but they water it down. Boo!  I also ate two shortbread cookies, but I failed to take a picture of either of these things.

That’s everything I ate today! Hope you all had a wonderful day filled with lots of yummy food…and maybe even some snow cream. 🙂

Happy snow day!

Bows and Arrows,

Ashley