What I Ate Wednesday

Happy Wednesday! We are officially at the halfway point of yet another week....and in the last full week of April. Can you believe it?! Have you been keeping up with Jenn's veggie challenge this month? I've been finding it pretty easy to do and I love all the fresh and delicious eats that I've been fueling up on lately.



Breakfast
I have to leave early for work everyday this week, so I've been taking my breakie to go. I've been loving these Vita Top Cran Bran muffins with some fruit on the side. The weather's been really cold, so we've been amping up our Vitamin C by eating lots of oranges!

Lunch
I made enough Cheesy Vegetable Soup so that I would have lots of leftovers to take with me to work for lunch. Our office has been freezing cold, so I've been really grateful for my hot steamy bowls of soup. As a side, I had a toasted multigrain thin bun with a little butter. YUM!

Dinner
I am in love with this Beer BBQ Tofu. It is so freakin' delish and an awesome addition to a big ol' plate of honey dijon roasted veggies. Comfort food at its finest my friends!!! A glass of red wine capped this meal off perfectly!

I've been bringing snacks with me everyday to work, but I've been too dang busy to stop and grab them! When I do have the munchies, I've been trying to stick to raw veggies with roasted garlic hummus. Cutting your veggies up on the weekend makes for an easy grab n go snack all week. This is such an easy way to add a serving of veggies to your daily eats!

For those of you who've checked out my meal plan, notice how I'm stickin' to it like glue! I've been rockin' out this week!

If you need to change up your eats and want to find lots of veg-spiration, check out Jen's What I Ate Wednesday party for ideas from so many other awesome bloggers!

What have you been munching on today?

Have a great day!
Andrea
xoxo

"Empty the Fridge" Veggie Frittata

Happy Thursday! I've had this recipe up my sleeve since last week's WIAW. I started to put my post together, but then I got sidetracked getting ready for my weekend away and it just never came together!

Before we went away I made a fantastic frittata, so that I could clean up all the veggies that were in my fridge. I just can't stand the thoughts of all my veggies going bad while I'm away. I was inspired by Leanne's recent post for her Everything Awesome Frittata and I basically stuck to her directions, but modified the ingredients to suit what was lurking around in my crisper.

"Empty the Fridge" Veggie Frittata
Serves 4

This is an amazingly delicious and light dinner! You can modify it to include any veggies you want to use up and for all the meat eaters out there, you could easily add in some diced ham or chicken. I had the recipe analyzed and I was so happy to see that it only had 193 calories per serving! Now that's my kinda dinner!

6 eggs
1/2 c unsweetened almond milk (or milk of your choice)
1/2 c diced sweet onion
1 lg portobello cap, diced
2 tbsp black olives, pitted and diced
1/4 c shredded zucchini
1/4 c. shredded feta cheese
3 dashes Frank's Red Hot (we put that sh*t on everything! --- hehe sorry I just couldn't help myself ;-)
minced fresh herbs - I used basil and rosemary
sea salt & pepper to taste

Grease an oven safe skillet and heat to medium heat on the stovetop.

While warming the skillet, break your eggs into a large mixing bowl. Add the almond milk and whisk until well mixed.

Add in all the other ingredients and stir to combine.

I've gotta warn you that this really is "XTRA HOT!"

Pour the egg mixture into your prepared and warmed skillet. Cook for 7 - 8 minutes.

While cooking on the stovetop, turn your oven to Broil.

Once 7 - 8 minutes has passed, place the frittata under the broiler for 5 - 6 minutes. Make sure you keep an eye on it because you want the top to be golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes.

Slice and serve.

So tasty! This is a perfect dinner for a summer evening. It would be great paired with a lettuce salad or some fresh local fruit.

I only like to eat my eggs when they're scrambled. What's your favourite way to eat eggs?
How do you clean out the fridge before going away on vacation?
Have a great night!!

Andrea

Veg-tastic White Bean Salad

I am constantly craving cool, fresh fruit and veggies during the hot, humid months. This year has been no exception especially during the heat wave we've been experiencing this week. Earlier in the week I made a salad filled with chickpeas and fresh veggies and today I've whipped up a white bean salad with lots of veggies for my lunch. I love to add beans or lentils to my salads to up the protein factor, so that I stay full and satisfied all afternoon. There's nothing worse than coming home from work on an empty belly ~ that's a recipe for disaster because I immediately start searching for something to munch on, which often is some sort of unhealthy snack food like Derek's half eaten bag of chips! The protein also gives me a much needed boost of energy, so that I can avoid that 3 p.m. lull.

Tina posted a white bean salad on her blog recently and I knew I was going to have to make my own similar version. This salad is super easy to make and can very easily be customized to your tastes and to the ingredients you have on hand. I  like to make this at the end of the week when I need to use up produce that is about to go bad ~ I hate throwing good food out!

Veg-tastic White Bean Salad

Serves 2

Feel free to add any veggies, herbs and spices that you like to this salad - it can be easily customized to suit your tastes! A great salad to make a day or so ahead and take to work for lunch. It's filling, delicious and full of lots of healthy goodness.

1 19oz can of white beans
1 heaping c of your fave veggies, diced (I used asparagus, yellow beans, yellow pepper & zucchini)
1.5 tbsp of your fave fresh herbs (I used fresh parsley, rosemary and chives from my herb garden - dried would also work but don't use as much)
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Drain and rinse your beans and place them in a medium-sized mixing bowl.

Add your chopped veggies, fresh herbs, olive oil and vinegar. Mix well.

Check out those gorgeous herbs ~ grown with love by moi :-)

YUMMY!

Add salt and pepper to suit your tastes.

Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Enjoy!

Now how easy is that? This salad can be made in just a few short minutes and it's fabulously delicious to boot!

What type of beans to you prefer to add to your salads?
Do you have a favourite summertime salad?

Have a happy Friday ~ the weekend is almost upon us!

Andrea

Healthy Brown Rice Salad

On Friday night I made a stirfry with brown rice. For some reason, I always seem to make way too much rice and pasta. This time I had 3 cups of rice left, so I decided that I would use up the leftovers by making a rice salad. The only time I've ever had a rice salad is when my cousin, Linda, brings it to our family reunions. She & I are the only vegetarians in our family, so we always take care of each other with tasty meatless dishes.

Her rice salad is super delicious, but I didn't have all of the ingredients on hand, so I did a Google search and found inspiration to create my own version.

Healthy Brown Rice Salad
Inspired from recipe by Caroline Mili Artiss

3 c. cooked long grain brown rice
4 green onions, chopped
1 orange pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 c. raw pumpkin (pepita) seeds
1/2 c. raw sunflower seeds
1/4 c. dried cranberries

Dressing:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, minced
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 c reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tbsp honey
pinch black pepper

Combine the rice, veggies and dried cranberries in a large bowl.

Don't add your seeds until you are ready to serve the salad.

In a smaller bowl, prepare the dressing by adding all of the ingredients and whisking until well blended.
Pour the dressing over the rice mixture.

Refrigerate overnight.

Mix in your seeds when you are ready to serve and enjoy!

This salad is soooo delicious! I brought it for my lunch today and my stomach growled all morning in anticipation. I'm so happy that I have another bowl at home for tomorrow! I love the ginger in the dressing and the seeds give it the perfect amount of crunchiness.

DELICIOUS!!

What are you favourite make-ahead lunches?

I hope you're having a fabulous Monday,

Andrea