What I Ate Wednesday, 11/19/14

Hello friends! It’s Ashley…returning from my bloggity hiatus! I missed the blog quite a bit, but I’m so happy that Lynda was able to fully take over while I was gone. A lot has happened in the last month…some of it wonderful and some of it, well, not so wonderful. Things are finally settling down now and I am feeling more like my old Ashley Pants self. I will explain more in an upcoming post, I promise! For now though I will just tell you all about the yummy foods I ate today.

Breakfast

I made a packet of instant oatmeal because I didn’t have time to cook my usual oatmeal. The brand is Nature’s Path and it’s called Blueberry Cinnamon Flax. It’s pretty good for something quick in the morning. I made mine with unsweetened vanilla almond milk. I also fried one egg to go with it. I also had coffee, of course, but I failed to get it in the picture.

 

 

 

 

Snack

My snack while at work was this KIND bar in the Vanilla Blueberry flavor. I’ve mentioned these before I think. So good! I also drank lots of H2O because I need it to keep doing the living.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch

My Lunch wasn’t all that exciting. I had a turkey sandwich with pepper jack cheese and mustard on some Ezekiel bread. I toasted it in the toaster oven. I also made a smoothie, which actually turned out to be more of a slushy. The “smoothie” consists of about 1 cup of frozen blueberries, 1/2 cup frozen pineapple, a handful of baby spinach, and a cup or so of coconut water. It was very good! A little thick, but that can be easily fixed by adding more water, I just didn’t care that much. The pineapple makes it naturally perfectly sweet. And look how pretty it is!

 

 

 

Dinner

My dinner was Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken…a recipe I found on Pinterest. I’m not sure what to call this, but it ended up being a burrito bowl of some sort. The recipe is really simple. It’s pretty much chicken breasts, corn, black beans, tomatoes, and spices all thrown in the crock pot and cooked for several hours. It’s really good over rice and/or with chips. I added some salsa and some Trader Joe’s spicy guacamole on top. The recipe can be found here. I also ate some Trader Joe’s Quinoa and Black Bean infused Tortilla chips with it! I drank more H2O…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now we are all caught up to right now. I’m not eating anything, but I have to say I wouldn’t hate it if that ice cream in the freezer somehow magically ended up in a bowl and then in my belly. I’m not gonna do it though! I hope you guys have a wonderful night. I’m looking forward to posting on here more regularly again. Thanks for reading! xoxo

Bows and Arrows,

Ashley

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, 8/27/14

The weather was just beautiful here today. The cool mornings we’ve had the last couple of days are tricking me into thinking Fall is near. In reality, we’ve got a lot more hot and humid days ahead here in North Carolina. It doesn’t help that Starbucks has already busted out their Pumpkin drinks! Too soon!! Anyway, now that you’ve gotten a weather update, on to what I ate today…

Breakfast

My breakfast was…wait for it….oatmeal!! You would have never guessed, I know. I had to kind of eat and put on my makeup at the same time because I was running a little behind this morning. The oatmeal is made with unsweetened almond milk, cinnamon, chopped walnuts, a teaspoon of local honey, and blueberries. The coffee is the same as last week, Larry’s Beans Bolivia roast, with organic half and half.

Snack

A typical snack for me at work, a Larabar! This is the coconut cream pie flavor which is probably my favorite one that I’ve tried. I also drank lots of H2O like always.

Lunch

I made a salad for lunch and I also had some crackers with pepper jack cheese and salami slices. The salad is a spring mix with cucumbers, raw sunflower seeds, feta cheese, dried cranberries, bacon bits, and topped with balsamic vinaigrette. The crackers are gluten-free by this brand called Crunchmaster. They’re really pretty good for something gluten-free. The salami is by the brand Applegate Farms. I really like this brand for deli meats.

Snack

They got me again! Stupid Starbucks, why must you be on every corner?! This is a soy iced chai latte. I don’t usually drink soy milk, but I actually prefer the way it tastes with chai lattes.

Dinner

I made a new recipe tonight that I found on Pinterest. It came from a blog called Honey, Ghee, and Me. This seems to be a pretty popular site, so maybe you have heard of it. The recipe is Spicy Sesame Honey Chicken and it was quite delicious in my opinion. So, thank you Natalie (from Honey, Ghee, and Me) for this recipe!! This is a crockpot recipe, so it is really easy and perfect for busy days when you don’t feel like cooking. The recipe is also gluten free, if that matters to you at all. [click here for the recipe]

Here’s a picture of some of the ingredients. I actually didn’t end up using the jalapeno because it wasn’t very fresh and had been sitting in my fridge for far too many days. I used some red pepper flakes instead.

 

It doesn’t look as pretty as hers because I didn’t have green onion or sesame seeds…and it was dark out and the lighting sucks. 😦 But it was tasty, so that’s what matters most to me! I put it over brown rice and it was perfect and had just the right amount of spicy and sweet flavor.

That’s all I ate today. Now, I’m just drinking water and about to watch a few episodes of Friends and then calling it a night! Hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week. It’s a long weekend coming up for most of us!! If you work on Labor Day, I’m sorry! Thanks for reading.

Bows and Arrows,

Ashley

 

 

 

 

What I Ate Wednesday, 7/30/14

Is anyone else wondering how in the world it is already almost August!? Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like this year is flying by. Anyway, today was a pretty good day for me. I went to work, walked my dog, and even managed to workout and cook dinner when I really didn’t feel like it. Go me for not being a lazy pants! So, this is what I ate today…

Breakfast

I drank coffee while I put on my makeup this morning. Don’t mind the messy background. This coffee is SO delicious. It’s from a local coffee roaster called Larry’s Beans. The specific blend is called Woodstock.

I didn’t have time to cook my typical oatmeal, so I settled for 2 scrambled eggs and a slice of 9 sprouted grains toast with grape jelly.

Snack

 Not really a snack, but I had a tall Americano from Starbucks while at work. I also drank tons of water all day. I swear I pee pretty much every hour. Yay for hydration!

Lunch

My lunch was inspired by Lynda’s most recent post of her simple summer salad. My salad is made with spinach and baby spring mix, blueberries, chopped granny smith apple, sunflower seeds, feta cheese, shredded chicken (that I made in the slow cooker yesterday), and balsamic vinaigrette dressing. So yummy!

Snacks

I ate a banana! Then after my workout I drank a protein shake. It’s just one scoop of Optimum Nutrition 100% natural whey protein in the flavor vanilla mixed with 8 ounces of unsweetened almond milk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner

For dinner I made Zuppa Toscana soup which I’m sure I have mentioned before on a WIAW. It’s probably my boyfriend’s favorite thing that I cook, so obviously I make it for him pretty frequently to make up for all the not-so-great things I cook for him. 😛 I drank some simply apple juice with my dinner and now I’m drinking more water.

I’m going to get ready for bed now because I’m an old lady. Hope you guys have a fabulous rest of the week. Thanks for reading!

Bows and Arrows,

Ashley

 

 

 

What I Ate Wednesday, 7/16/14

When I woke up this morning it was very dark and gloomy out, but the sun eventually came out and it ended up being a really nice day. Rose was happy about that of course because that meant we got to go on the walkies! I definitely need to make a trip to the grocery store soon because my choices for food were pretty limited today. Here is what I ate though with what few things I happened to have here to make…

Breakfast

I didn’t make oatmeal like usual because I didn’t have any fruit to put in it. I don’t know, oatmeal is just not the same without some kind of fruit in it! Instead, I made myself a turkey sausage and egg sandwich on a whole wheat english muffin. I drank a cup of coffee with some organic half and half and also had lots of water.

Lunch

For lunch I made myself a very boring salad because again I didn’t have much to put in it. This is romaine lettuce with a little of that salad toppers stuff on top, shredded chicken, and Bolthouse Farms Caesar salad dressing. Lately I have been cooking 2-4 chicken breasts in the crock pot at the beginning of each week so that I can shred the chicken and use it for various things throughout the week. I have mostly been using it to add to my salads for some extra protein. So convenient and yummy. For my lunch I also toasted a slice of Ezekiel 7 Sprouted Grains bread with a little butter on it. The butter was totally unnecessary, but whatever.

Snack

After my pretty  intense leg workout I definitely needed some protein, so I made myself this protein shake. It’s just one scoop of  natural 100% Whey protein in the vanilla flavor mixed with 8 ounces of almond milk. I like this protein powder because it does not contain any artificial sweeteners and has only 3 grams of natural sugar. The taste is really nice too. It doesn’t have that strong (gross) protein-y taste.

Dinner

My dinner was not very healthy, but it’s one of my boyfriend’s favorites, so I make it occasionally. I have mentioned this spaghetti in a previous WIAW. I got the recipe from my boyfriend’s mom. Check out this post for the recipe. I also drank more water with my dinner.

Well, that’s everything I ate today! I hope you guys have a great rest of the week. The weekend will be here before you know it! Thanks for reading.

Bows and Arrows,

Ashley

Bruschetta Burgers

Making burgers at home is definitely something that gains interest during the summer months because people can actually grill outside in the nice [sometimes sweltering] weather.  But making plain burgers or cheeseburgers gets old, so with my love of Italian food, I put a twist on my burgers.  These burgers allow you to spare all the condiments that you’d normally load onto a burger, making these a more healthy option to a not so healthy all-American favorite.

Typically, I make my own burgers from scratch using a leaner ground beef and mixing in herbs and spices, but for the sake of my stomach (I was so incredibly hungry when I made these), I used Bubba Angus burger patties.

Time it takes to make: 20 minutes (if using pre-made patties)

Serves: 2

Here’s What You’ll Need:

½ tomato

2 tbsp balsamic vinaigrette

2 garlic cloves, chopped

Dried basil (I didn’t measure, sorry!)

2 slices provolone cheese

2 Bubba Angus burger patties

2 Cracked wheat Kaiser buns

Before I cooked my burgers, I made the topping, because that takes the longest, which isn’t actually very long at all.

Directions (very wordy ones for something quite simple, sorry ‘bout it):

1. Dice up ½ of a tomato into small pieces and place into a bowl.  Chop garlic cloves into pieces as small as you can get them…remember, you will be eating these raw (which are delicious, but you just might not want a huge chunk of one in your mouth) and add to bowl.  Pour your balsamic vinaigrette on top and add basil.  Mix.
2. Cook Bubba Angus burgers as instructed on package.  Once they are finished cooking, remove from heat and lay provolone cheese on top of them while they are still in the skillet, so it can start to melt.
3. Place your Kaiser rolls in a toaster oven to get them just toasted enough that they keep their shape, but aren’t crunchy.  I do this so the bun doesn’t fall apart while I’m eating it and also so the balsamic vinaigrette and juices from the burger don’t make my bread all soggy.  Yuck.  No one likes soggy bread.
4. Build your burger!  Just simply top your actual burger patty with the bruschetta mixture from the bowl and top with the bun.
5. Enjoy!

If you wish to make your own patties, here’s what you’ll need and how.

1 pound of Ground beef (or turkey) of your choice

1 tsp Rosemary

1 tsp Oregano

1 tsp Garlic powder

Break apart ground beef and mix with rosemary, oregano, and garlic powder.  You can add more or less of the herbs and spices as you wish…my measurements are just a guess, as I always eyeball my recipes…I’ll get better with measuring for you guys in the future.  I promise!

Once mixed, separate ground beef into 4 patties and grill accordingly.  If you don’t have a grill, you can use a skillet on the stove as well.

So there ya go!  A simple and healthier alternative to a regular burger!  I ate mine with blue corn chips and a creamy spinach dip.  Try it out, and let me know what you think!

Bows and Arrows,

Lynda

What I Ate Wednesday, 7/2/14

Hey guys! Happy Wednesday! I hope your week is going well and hopefully this is a short week for most of you guys thanks to Independence Day. Keeping my fingers crossed that this tropical storm threatening to hit the east coast doesn’t ruin all of the fourth of July festivities for us! I had a pretty busy day today between work and running errands, so I actually didn’t eat very much. Here is what I did manage to eat today…

Breakfast

Are you shocked!? It’s not oatmeal. I made some muffins on Monday night and I had a couple left, so I figured I better eat them. These are peanut butter banana muffins, which I made on Monday spur of the moment and just happened to have all of the ingredients on hand. They turned out pretty good. They are not overly sweet, so they’re perfect for breakfast. The recipe I used can be found here. I also had one scrambled egg and some strawberries and delicious blueberries from the farmers market. I had some coffee with organic half and half in my adorable coffee mug from Marshals. If you can’t see it, it says “luv my cup of joe”.

Lunch

I didn’t really eat lunch. I just munched on a bunch of raw mixed nuts. These came from Target. I tend to buy a big huge container of them so there’s always something quick to munch on if I am busy but going into starvation meltdown mode.

Snack

After work I picked up an Americano…just because. Do I need a reason? :-p

Dinner

We picked up food from Jasmin Mediterranean Restaurant for dinner. This is a chicken zaki with a side salad. Oh, how I love Greek and Mediterranean Food! I would eat it everyday if I could afford it. I also had water with this and some throughout the day, although I didn’t drink nearly as much water as I usually do.

I think I will make myself a big glass of water now and call it a night! Thanks for reading.

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

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