What I Ate Wednesday

Hi! Happy Wednesday! Have you been working on creating good habits as we  cruise through September? As long as my garden keeps producing lots of veggies, eating healthy meals is pretty easy to do; I mean I have oodles of produce at my fingertips!

Breakfast

I made a new bread on Monday night (link is posted below) and somehow I've managed to sneak a wedge into many of the meals that I've eaten since. That's why I don't make bread very often --- I can't keep out of it!! Usually I eat 80% of a homemade loaf and Derek's lucky if he gets a slice or two. Sometimes, he doesn't even know a loaf was made =)

Anywho, I've been enjoying egg white scrambles with sundried tomatoes and goat cheese with a side of hearty oat bread on the side. Easy and oh so good.

Snackage

I don't know if it's the Halloween candy that's starting to show up EVERYWHERE or what, but I have been craving sweets like nobody's business. Thankfully, we don't have much to tempt me in the house, so I've been eating boatloads of watermelon. Chilled watermelon really is a great snack alternative to help control a sweet tooth like mine. 

I've been too lazy to chop the watermelon up, so I've been helping myself to scoops instead of chunks.

Or....when I'm at home, I eat it like this.

Better than eating a bowlful of chips, right?!

Lunch

...was a veggie quesadilla. This is one of my "Go To" meals. It's quick and easy and I just love a cheesy quesadilla loaded with veggies, don't you?!

Dinner

For dinner, I had some homemade veggie noodle soup and homemade hearty oat bread. This exact meal was posted on Courtney's blog on Monday morning and even though I didn't have plans for that to be our dinner, it just kinda happened. I'm always up for some fresh, homemade bread and I was able to tweak the soup recipe to use up all the veggies that were lurking around in the fridge. I'm not usually a soup gal, but this meal was really, REALLY good....and it left me with lots of leftovers for lunches, which is always a WIN with me! 

Mmmmm.....healthy, hearty food! It does my body good.

My goals for September aren't just related to food. I've also made a promise to myself, and my friend, Deb, that I will run a 5K with her in late-October. When I found out that we got to wear costumes during the run, I couldn't turn it down, but I need to work hard to get in shape to run it because right now I can only do about 3.5K. Eeek!!

I went for my second training run yesterday and felt pretty great at the end! I was really happy to have minimal knee pain, which is a great improvement to when I tried to start training in the Spring!!

If I can do it, so can YOU!!

Thank you to Jenn for challenging us all to make goals and for encouraging us to keep eating well and loading up on our veggies!  Make sure that you check out Jenn's What I Ate Wednesday page if you'd like to be inspired by other bloggers who are making goals and eating healthy this month.

What goals have you made for yourself this month?

What healthy treat do you turn to when you have a craving for sweets?

Enjoy your day!

Andrea

xoxo

PS - If you missed my post on Monday, please check out the new Tabs that I've created on the blog. You'll see that there is  now a Faves, Bucket List and Contact Tab. I've also made it easier for you to connect with me on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter - now there are easy-to-find buttons on the right sidebar!

What I Ate Wednesday

Can you believe it's Wednesday again already?! I've said it before, but I'll say it again...I just LOVE short work weeks :-)





I've gotten back on track and "Operation Kill the Cream Egg Calories" is going quite well :-)

Check out my good eats.

Of couse, as usual I start with my warm lemon water with cayenne.

And then my plan is to have one of these every morning.

I just love green smoothies, especially now that the weather is starting to warm up. This smoothie has frozen banana, 1 scoop of Vega Vanilla Almondilla, frozen fruit (strawberries, peaches and pineapple), spinach and distilled water. It was awesome!

For lunches this week, I'm sticking to my leftover Southwestern Veggie Soup. I think this soup is getting better with age; the flavour just keeps getting better and better! This is the perfect lunch for a week that calls for rain and storms every day.

If I get the munchies in the afternoon, I've been trying to make wiser snack choices. Lately I've been loving raw veggies with some form of dip. Here I have a light Ranch, but I've been eating massive amounts of hummus  and roasted red pepper dip too! It's amazing how a little dip can jazz up your snacks!

 

For dinner, I had 20 Minute Roasted Tomato Pasta from Jessica at How Sweet It Is. I used brown rice spaghetti and sprinkled it with nutritional yeast in place of the cheese. Instead of having a huge plate of pasta, which is usually how I roll, I also roasted some butternut squash. One of my all-time favourite vegetable sides - it was sticky and sweet and oh so amazing!

This meal got a great big "thumbs up" from Derek!

Is your mouth watering with all of my delicious meal ideas? All of these are super easy, can be whipped up in a snap and are absolutely delish!!  Did you notice that I used clean, whole foods and that my meals lately have been completely vegan (except the ranch dip of course!). I'm feeling awesome and healthy and proud for getting myself back on track after a few days of indulgence.

For more amazing meal and snack ideas, check out Jenn's website for some inspiration.

What was you favourite meal today?

Happy Hump Day!!

Andrea

Southwestern Veggie Soup with Crispy Corn Tortilla Strips

Howdy! So are you ready to get back into a normal routine after our fabulous 4 day weekend...or 3 day weekend if the case may be?? I love long weekends and wish they could last forever, but unfortunately I'm back to work and back to reality starting today. Even though yesterday was still part of the long weekend for me, Derek was back to work and our family dinners were done and over with, so I decided no more indulging and no more eating desserts!!

Yesterday was the start of "Operation: Kill the Cream Egg Calories"! Even though I had the day off, I still dragged my booty out of bed at 5:45 a.m. and went to an early morning spin class. I was so glad I went because it totally kicked my butt! I went the furthest (15.7 km) and burned the most calories (over 400!!!) than ever before. I had jelly legs for quite a while afterwards.

When I got home, I had tons of energy and motivation and I decided that a veggie soup would be the perfect meal for lunches this week, but I wanted to do something a little different than the usual soup filled with veggie broth and veggies. Since we love Mexican food, I decided to kick my veggie soup up a notch by adding some chili powder and cumin. In addition to all the fresh veggies, I also added some corn and black beans. It turned out great and is an absolutely perfect soup for a week that is calling for rain every. single. day.  Boo!

Southwestern Veggie Soup with Crispy Corn Tortilla Strips

Makes a large pot

This soup is filled with lots of veggies, as well as black beans and a can of corn. It's got the perfect kick with some chili powder and cumin thrown in and will warm you up on these rainy ol' days from your head to your toes.

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, chopped

4 - 5 c chopped  veggies (I used carrots, celery, brocolli, cauliflower & green beans)

3 tbsp cubanello pepper, finely diced (optional - you could use any type of hot pepper)

2 cloves garlic, minced

19 oz can black beans

12 oz can corn (fresh or frozen corn would also work)

19 oz can diced tomatoes

4 c vegetable broth

2 c water

4 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

black pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the rest of the veggies and cook for 5 minutes or until softened.

Add the rest of the soup ingredients and mix well. Increase heat to high. Bring your soup to a boil and then reduce heat again to medium.

Be careful of the steam! This is about the point when I burned my wrist when I took the lid off my pot.

Let your soup simmer for 20 - 30 minutes.

Remove the soup from your stove and ladle into bowls.

I topped mine with crispy corn tortilla strips. All you do is follow my baked nachos recipe, but instead of cutting the corn tortillas into wedges, you cut them into strips.

This soup would also be amazing topped with sour cream, green onions and cheddar cheese. That will definitely be Derek's version!!

I think this soup is just perfect for my mission. I have a shopping trip with the girls in two weeks, so I need to be in tip top shape, so I can get some new clothes for the warmer weather that I'm sure is just around the corner. No more chocolate, no more cream eggs and no more SUGAR!! I'm going to be fueling up on lots of savoury dishes filled with veggies, beans and whole grains and my mornings are going to be filled with lots and lots of green smoothies!!

Did you over-indulge in cream eggs and all things sweet this weekend? What is your plan for getting back on track?

What is your favourite meal on gray rainy days?

I hope you are rested and relaxed and all revved up to get this short week started. Have a great day!

Andrea

Hearty Vegetable Soup

I am a very lucky girl because I still have all of my grandparents to celebrate life with. In fact, all four of my grandparents were able to accompany us on a trip to Mexico to renew our vows this past November. I am so very grateful  for their good health and vitality and for all the times we get to spend together.

It has become a weekly tradition that I have dinner with Grandma & Grandpa L. They have been very accepting of my decision to become vegetarian and my grandma has been experimenting with all types of new and 'out of her comfort zone' recipes to ensure I get a good, hearty and healthy meal. Tonight was no exception. When I came through the door to their house, I was engulfed with the smells of fresh veggies and hearty tomatoes. On the menu, Hearty Bean and Barley Soup ~ and I must say it was a perfect meal for yet another cold and blustery night. This is a recipe that would be so easy to whip up and I especially love it because most of us already have the ingredients on hand. Check out that bowl of wholesome goodness.....trust me it was scrumptious ;-)

Hearty Bean & Barley Soup
~ inspired by Campbells (or so I believe)

1 tbsp olive oil
2 large carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 large onion, chopped
1 box (900mL) of vegetable broth
1 19 oz can of red kidney beans
2 c diced tomatoes
1/4 c uncooked pearl barley
2 c firmly packed fresh baby spinach
ground black pepper

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium high heat. Add carrots, celery and onion and cook until tender.

Stir in broth, beans, tomatoes and barley. Heat to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 30 minutes or until barley is tender.

Stir in spinach and season to taste with black pepper. Cook until spinach is wilted.

Spoon into bowls and enjoy. I love really thick hearty soups that are full of veggies. This soup was perfect....it was almost more like a stew than a soup.  It warmed me from head to toe which made me very happy :-) And how lucky am I???? There was just enough leftovers for grandma to send me home with a bowl for lunch tomorrow ~ I am so spoiled (& I love it).

Obviously I got my passion for cooking from the grandmothers in my life. I have lots of old family recipes I am planning to share in the months to come.

Stay tuned.....
Andrea