What I Ate Wednesday - Amping Up The Veg Factor

Welcome to the last edition of What I Ate Wednesday - Love Your Veggies!!!

I, for one, have been loving these veggie-themed posts! 

If you've been loving them as well, head on over to Peas & Crayons for lots of other veggie inspiration.

This week I want to show you just how easy it is to add more veggies to your daily eats. Did you know that it only takes 21 days to change a habit? Why don't you challenge yourself to increase the amount of veggies you have with each meal for the entire month of March and see how you feel at the end. I promise that you are going to notice some positive differences in the way that you feel (ie - I am less tired, full of energy and have a much better complexion) and if you love the differences, your new habits are well on their way to becoming part of your regular old routine.

Breakfast

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that my husband had a terrible sinus cold a couple of weeks ago and now is battling the worst cold/flu I have ever seen! I really, really do not want to get his germies, so I have been chowing down on tons of fresh produce to help strengthen my immune system.

Green smoothies are a common breakfast in this house and I've been making an effort to have one every single day. Check out all the produce in just one smoothie: a cup of baby spinach, a large banana, one pear, the juice of one small lemon and  a cup of natural spring water. Now that is ALOT of servings of fruits & veggies in one drink!

Lunch

Most days I pack a salad for lunch. My salad always starts with some baby spinach and grape tomatoes and then I fill 'er up with whatever I have on hand. This one has baby carrots, goat feta cheese, raw sunflower seeds, alfalfa sprouts and peppers. As a dressing, I used a splash of EVOO and apple cider vinegar and dijon mustard. Squirting lots of dijon on a salad sounds a little strange I know, but please be open-minded and give it a try. If you love dijon you will LOVE this!!!! I got this 'dressing' idea from Kris at iheartwellness. If I wasn't surrounded by co-workers at lunch, I would lick my bowl clean ;)

Oh yea baby, I love me some dijon!!!

If you're looking to add a little protein, you could definitely add a hard-boiled egg, a handful of chickpeas or some sliced turkey.

Derek's been loving his salad with 2 hard-boiled eggs, some smoked turkey and Ranch dressing. He's a big guy with a big appetite and he loves to get this salad in his lunch!

Snackage

On Monday, I made an extra special treat that I have been loving as my snack. Black bean brownies topped with some sugar-free raspberry preserves. This is a flourless, gluten-free recipe. They are fudgy, packed full of protein and taste amazing with the fruit. I am in love with this recipe which I found on Pattycake.

Dinner

Instead of bread, pasta or some other type of grain, I've been trying to add a great big serving of veggies as a side  to my dinners. Usually I like a big plate of veggies roasted with a little coconut oil and sea salt or with some oil, dijon and sea salt. I was craving sweet potato fries recently, so I gave in and had a few from a bag I'd bought at the Superstore. They were so good and definitely satisfied my craving!  As my main meal, I finally remembered to buy wonton wrappers and I made Jen's spinach feta wonton cups.

Oh my goodness, her wonton recipes rock the house!!! I made these ones on Monday and I've already made my own 'veggie omlet' version. These wontons are definitely going to make a weekly appearance on our dinner table.

So as you can see, I can make delicious and filling meals that are filled to the brim with healthy vegetables and fruit. If I can do it, so can you.....and you are going to feel amazing!

What are you going to do so that you can eat more veggies?

Do you have a rotation of meals that you eat every week or do you like to experiment with new recipes and mix it up all the time?

I hope you have the best Wednesday ever!

Andrea

xo

What I Ate Wednesday

Happy Hump Day!! Oh yeah kids, it's that time again already; Time for What I Ate Wednesday! Isn't nice to have a holiday Monday to help the rest of the work week fly by?!






I've found myself craving lots of fruits and veggies the past few days now that the temperatures have gotten a little warmer and the sun has started to show it's gorgeous face. Today, is all about good eats to satisfy my cravings and keep me fueled  from morning to night. It's also about being a conscious eater so I can drop these 10 pesky pounds I seem to have inherited!

Early mornings + Circuit Workout at 6:15 a.m. = Breakie on the Go. This morning I took a green smoothie to go in my all-time fave travel cup. This smoothie had frozen banana, frozen strawberries, baby spinach, water and Vega Vanilla Almondilla smoothie powder. It was really good!!

By the time I finished my workout and got to work, the growly hunger monster was starting to rear its ugly head, so I whipped myself up a banana with all natural peanut butter for a snack. I have been LOVING this snack lately!! Sometimes I get strange looks from my co-workers as I cut up my banana and smear it full of PB ~ I just smile and take a great big bite because I know they're all just wishing I'd make them a snack too :-)

Yes, I might have had a couple of nibbles before snapping this pic :-)

For lunch I had two lefover eggplant parmesan medallions (check back tomorrow for eggplant parm recipe)!Usually this goes with pasta, but I didn't want to overload myself on carbs and have a sleepy afternoon. Instead I served the eggplant parms on wilted spinach and marinara sauce. Delicious and satisfying! I also had a V8 Juice on the rocks :-)

I sipped on water all day and during the afternoon lull I had a divine piece of dark chocolate to perk me up. Ok, ok maybe I had 2 pieces ;-)

What is with that cup?! It just keeps popping up everywhere!!

I've been super busy at night trying to get the house in order, our yard looking half-way presentable and myself packed for my weekend away with the fam. I've been opting for quickie meals and tonight was about as quick as you can get. I had a 6" Veggie Delite Sub on whole wheat bread from Subway. I load my veggie subs with swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, cukes, green peppers, lots & lots of olives and honey mustard; d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!! I actually bought a footlong, so the other half will be my lunch for tomorrow. I can't wait!

This pic doesn't thrill me. The sub was much more fabulous than it looks here!

So there you have it. Another week, another post with lots of great and easy eats.

Check out Jenn's site at Peas & Crayons to see many other amazing meal ideas by some of the most amazing food bloggies on the Net.

As usual, I want to hear about your fave meal over the past week. You readers inspire me as much as my bloggie friends!

Have a happy day,

Andrea

Around the World on What I Ate Wednesday

Have we arrived at Wednesday again?! You know what that means....you get yet another peek into my good eats!! I can't tell you how much I love sharing some quick and easy meal ideas with you! This WIAW craze has inspired me to step out of my comfort zone and try some new things too! As I planned out this post, I realized that I've been eating all types of different foods. Today, I was in Greece for breakie, India for lunch and Mexico for dinner ...  if only I could give a wiggle of my nose and actually be in those places ....  ah, a girl can dream can't she??

I hate to brag, but I've had some really great eats this week....and my focus on easy meals has helped me to get out of the kitchen at a decent hour. No more washing dishes at 9 p.m. my friends!

Check out my eats.

This morning I didn't get up in time to eat before my workout. I didn't even get in a warm lemon water <insert wrist slap>  I hate when that happens because my body feels like lead and it takes me forever to feel awake! 

I'm trying to cut back on my coffee-a-day habit, but I decided that my level of exhaustion entitled me to just one. Gotta love a large Timmies coffee with one milk. 

Breakfast

First up we have strawberry-flavoured Chobani Greek Yogourt with strawberries and chocolate coconut granola. I've been loving this breakie after an early morning workout. I find that it usually satisfies me until it's time for lunch.

Dear Chobani,

I know we just met, but I think I love you.

Please come to Canada ASAP.

Love, A

xoxo

This yogourt is really, really good. It's so creamy; I absolutely loved it! I only had a strawberry and a blueberry, but I've seen many different and amazing flavours in the blogging world that I'm dying to try. Good thing I'm heading to Kentucky at the end of this month to visit my parents. My plan is to bring my biggest suitcase, so I can fit in lots of groceries to bring back home with me. Will Delta accept a large-sized cooler in checked luggage??

For lunch, I had some leftover Indian-inspired veggies. This was an awesome lunch! I think a bunch of my co-workers will be trying out this recipe because I had tons of compliments on how good my meal smelled. It was just as good today as when I made it fresh!

I forgot to take a picture before I dug in, so you're getting my original photo.

I wanted to keep my calories low, so I skipped the tofu this time.

For dinner, I whipped up Jenn's fiesta quinoa, with a side of guacamole and baked nachos.

Scrumptious! This was an amazing and easy dinner!

These meals were so satisfying that I really didn't have an urge to snack. I did treat myself to 2 squares of dark chocolate after dinner to satisfy my sweet tooth and keep my nighttime cravings in check....they were my last 2 squares and I don't know what happened ~ they were in my mouth and on their way to my belly before the camera had time to click a pic! Oops! Good thing you all know what a good piece of chocolate looks like :-)

Hopefully one of these amazing meals has tickled your taste buds and inspired you to try something new. If you're looking for more ideas, make sure you drop by Jenn's blog, Peas and Crayons, for lots more inspiration!

What flavour of Chobani yogourt is your all-time fave?

What was your best meal today?

Have a happy Hump Day y'all!!

Andrea