What I Ate Wednesday - Veggie Love

Hiya guys! I've been really light on my posting over the past two weeks and its because I've had a lot of stuff on my plate! The most recent was a visit from one of my most favourite people....my mom!

She's on her way back home this morning :( and we are back to our regularly scheduled programming ---- not only in our routine but our eats! Oh gosh, our eats have been all over the map. I have been absolutely amazing at sticking to my clean eats goals during the week, but I've been indulging a little more than I'd like to over the weekends.

We have some vacation plans coming up, so that's the motivation I'm using to really stick with my clean eats program and I'm hoping all the veggie love shared at Peas & Crayons this month will help motivate me and give me some creative ideas on how to eat clean while keeping things interesting, and most importantly DELICIOUS!!

 

Even though I've been absent here on the blog, I've still been snapping pics and sharing my eats on Twitter and Instagram....here are some of my fave meals from the past couple of weeks (please forgive the photos - most were taken on my phone and clearly I need to use my Canon with editing to actually have a photograph that is properly centred :) :

 

Bananarama Protein Pancakes are still one of my all-time favourite breakfasts. Lately, I've been adding 1/2 a grapefruit to my first meal of the day.

 

 

 

Over the weekend, I made my mom & I some sweet potato homefries (sweet potato & sweet onion panfried in coconut oil) and baked eggs with mozza, grape tomatoes & fresh basil. I must say it was the best egg concoction I've put together in ages! My mom and I totally swooned over this breakfast.

 

 

 

I've been making a true effort to pack a healthy lunch that includes mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks. Here is one from last week that included Gina`s Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili, plain non-fat Greek yogourt with mixed fruit, whole wheat crackers and roasted garlic hummus, and some of my trail mix.

  

 

 

I've also been eating a ton of kale. Yesterday, I marinated some kale in an olive oil/apple cider vinegar/dijon combo and topped it with some leftover sweet potato homefries, sweet orange pepper, raw pepitas, raw walnut pieces, goat cheese and sundried tomatoes. It was ah-mazing!

 

Dinners have been really good too. I cannot get enough of Angela's Easy BBQ Tofu. It is so good! I usually pair it with some roasted veggies - here I had roasted taters and turnip. Have I mentioned that I used to hate turnip?! I tried roasting it with a bit of coconut oil and sea salt and I have absolutely fallen in love with it. Derek and I easily eat an entire turnip in one meal!

  

 My other fave dinner of late was Lentil Veggie Mac & Cheese by Lindsay. A classic comfort food with an added punch of protein and veggies. I didn't share one bit of this with anyone; not even Derek got a bite!!!

Whew! I'm feeling a little better about my eats now that I see all the goodness I've used to fuel my body. I've had a few moments of weakness where chocolate or and wine have passed my lips, but hey "moderation is key" wouldn't you agree?!

What's the best healthy meal you've eaten this week?

When you try to follow a meal plan do you allow for some indulgence?

Have a great day my friends!

Andrea

xoxo

What I Ate Wednesday

Howdy! How has your week been treating you so far??

I've been extremely busy with a little project over the past few days. Some exciting things have been happening around here and I can't wait to share......next week ;-) !!!!!!

No matter how busy I am, I always have time for a What I Ate Wednesday post. It makes me take time to stop and reflect on my eats for the week and to keep me in check as I work towards my goal of maintaining a healthy, CLEAN diet.

Breakfast

I couldn't resist Julie's Honey Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes any longer! I finally caved and made them. My advice: make a big batch on Sunday and toast up the leftovers for weekday breakies.

Lunch

Just call me the  brown baggin' lady. After going out day after day last week for birthday lunches, I'm committed to making lunches for both Derek and I every day this week. Now, if only I could plan ahead and make them the night before, so I could leave for work on time for once!

Yesterday, I took 2 clementines and an egg white/goat cheese/veggie scramble that I stuffed into a multigrain flatbread.

Dinner

I made this on Sunday and have eaten it twice since. I used to LOVE pad thai, but it's difficult to find a vegetarian version that doesn't contain fish sauce. Mama Pea's Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai is sooooo yummy!! I wasn't sure I'd love the spaghetti squash 'noodles', but they soaked the sauce right up and tasted fabulous! The only thing I need to figure out is what I can substitute for the hoisin sauce because it does have some sugar and I'm trying to avoid 'the white stuff' right now.

Do you have any suggestions???

Snack

I am addicted to Lindsay's Baked Apple Packets. I've been baking up a few pockets at a time, so I have something to satisfy my sweet tooth when it comes a knockin'. Yesterday, I made them with pears instead of apples and they were just as delicious! Topping them with honey-flavoured Greek Yogourt puts them over the edge!!

As you can see, I've still been eating well despite the chaos that is my life. My attitude has really shifted over the past couple of years. I cannot sacrifice quality for convenience anymore and my body thanks me for it :-)

If you'd like to see what other  bloggers have been munching on, head on over to Peas & Crayons and check it out.

Have you ever health-i-fied one of your favourite dishes?

What's the best thing you've eaten in the last 24 hours?

Have a great day,

Andrea

xoxo

What I Ate {on my birthday} Wednesday

Good morning! How are ya?!

Yesterday was my birthday and I had an absolutely great day. Derek and I celebrated over the weekend with a special dinner, some shopping and a movie, so yesterday was pretty much an ordinary day except for the fact that I received so many birthday wishes and lots of love from the people who mean the most to me in this world.

Birthday flowers:

I feel extremely blessed to have so many amazing people ~ friends & family ~ in my life!!

We went out to eat several times over the weekend, so all I wanted yesterday was some good, CLEAN homecookin'. You know that I started my 'clean eating' journey on Monday and I really wanted to stick to it! My plan is for clean eats to become my lifestyle, it's not just some temporary diet that I'm going to follow. I need to figure out how to maintain my clean eating habits over holidays and special occasions, so I decided that my birthday was a great way to challenge myself to make a healthy, clean and delicious birthday dinner.

Here's a recap of my meals from the big day!

  Birthday Breakfast   I made one of my faves: Pumpkin Pie Slow Cooked Steel Cut Oats   

   It's a decadent way to start any morning!   In order to clean the recipe up, I submitted honey for the brown sugar. The flavour was just as delish!     Lunch   Being the good girl that I am ;-), I brown bagged it and spent my lunch break walking around the downtown with my good friend, Lisa. Afterwards, I ate my lunch at the office.   Roasted Sweet Potato Salad Clementines Pumpkin Amazeballs  

    Birthday Dinner   Plant Power Pumpkin Alfredo with brown rice pasta and a Greek salad  

  Dessert: An Edible Arrangement that my parents had delivered to me at work!  

{oy, please excuse my very messy office!}

   Thank you, as always, to Miss Jenn for continuing to host our weekly Wednesday party.  

Do you like to go out or eat in on your birthday?

 

Enjoy your day!

 

Andrea

xoxo

 

 

   

Favourite Fall Recipe Round Up

Happy FRIDAY!!!

I know that the internet has been exploding with all things related to Fall and I've caught the bug just like everyone else. Comfort foods, fall decor, changing leaves, cool nights.....I just love it all.

Because everyone seems to have "Fall"-fever, I thought it would be fun to kick off the weekend with some of my favourite Fall recipes.

Gluten Free Banana Pancakes with Fried Apples

~ because it's the perfect time of year to pick apples & every day's a good day for pancakes ~

Zucchini Bread Slow Cooked Steel Cut Oatmeal

~ because oatmeal is the epitome of comfort food for breakfast and zucchinis have been

plentiful around these parts this summer ~

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

~ mmmm, I love Shepherd's Pie in the cooler months & this is a

great vegetarian version of a traditional favourite ~

Roasted Sweet Potato & Kale Soup

~ creamy, rich and packed full of healthy Fall veggies ~

Vegetable Stew with Whole Wheat Biscuits

~ STEW = COMFORT FOOD .... this is one of my very first recipes ~

Butternut Squash Fries

~ this is sure to become your favourite Fall side ~  

Winter Vegetable Casserole

~ packed full of Fall veggies! It will warm you from head to toe ~  

Stuffed & Baked Apples

~ a heavenly Fall combination of apples and granola ~

Okay, now I'm drooling :-) Apparently comfort food is my 'thang' because there were a lot of Fall recipes that I could have posted here, but these are some of my tried & true favourites! I've also created a Healthy Fall Recipes board and Fall Decor board on Pinterest, so feel free to check those out and follow me there for many more Fall ideas that are brewing around in this head of mine.

Do you have a favourite Fall meal? If you have a recipe, leave me the link so I can check it out and 'Pin It' to share with others.

Have a wonderful Friday and enjoy your weekend!

Andrea

xoxo

What I Ate Wednesday ~ Back on the healthy train

Happy Wednesday! Oh how I've missed you over the past couple of weeks :)

There was only one thing that I really, really wish I'd snapped a picture of last week. Gigi's Cupcakes!!! Have you heard of them? Tried them? Do you love????? {SIGH} I <3 them with a passion. My faves were Merry Margarita and Southern Comfort. Hands down my fave cupcakes ever but perhaps not the most responsible of snack choices when we're supposed to be focussing on healthy and responsible snacks --- all in moderation my friends, all in moderation ;-)

...so, ahem....let's stop talking about all my indiscretions and focus on all the good stuff I've been munching on since I got home from Nashville. I promise that I've redeemed myself with some healthy yumminess.

 

Breakfast

Egg white scramble with veggies, cheddar and a pinch of cajum seasoning to spice things up. With coffee, of course!

Snacks

Pre-workout, I've been really lovng a plain brown rice cake with natural PB & J --- tastes like my childhood!

Fresh fruit is also another current fave. Fresh local strawberries are pure heaven!!!

Lunch

Salads and more salads....unfortunately, I've been more interested in catching up on my fave blogs during my lunch breaks and I've munched my salads down without so much as a picture. I've been sticking to my fave combo of  sundried tomatoes, goat cheese and dijon -- always a winner in my book!

Dinner

Spicy & Mexican. Yummmmmm......brown rice topped with black beans, corn and veggies followed by white cheddar con queso, jalapenos, black olives, tomatoes, guac and plain Greek yogourt. Holy deliciousness. This was last night's dinner. HEAVENLY good.

So, there are some of my eats....what have you been munching on this week? If you're looking for more snacking and meal inspiration, head on over and visit Jenn at Peas & Crayons and check out her weekly WIAW party. You'll find tons and tons of foodie ideas over there!

What is your fave cupcake flavour?

Do your eating habits tend to change depending on the season?

Have a great day and check back tomorrow for a refreshing bevie recreation!

Andrea

xo