BLTs. How I love them.
And as a quick aside, I’m kind of embarrassed to admit that I had to Google what a BLT was. I’ve heard the term being tossed around here and there, but I never actually knew what it stood for. Bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches… huh… no kidding? But we’re not talking BLT sandwiches today . We’re talking BLTs as in: bites, licks, and tastes – also known as: what happens every time I walk into my kitchen OR what happens every time I cook/bake/prep a meal.
It’s kind of ridiculous, actually… Half of the time, I end up eating what can probably be considered a pretty decent sized snack before my actual meal. The other half of the time, I’d say that only about a third of my meal actually makes it to a plate and table – the rest gets eaten during the prep stage…
A bite here, a taste there, and suddenly half of my food is gone. Sad face. Blogging has definitely helped mediate my BLT habit though, especially on What I Ate Wednesdays…
Since I can’t exactly show you guys pictures of empty plates, I need to practice some restraint, actually plate my food, and snap a picture before digging in…
Breakfast: Plain Greek yogurt with a sliced banana, homemade applesauce, Kashi Cinnamon Harvest, Puffins, almond butter, and cinnamon.
It can be rough sometimes. But what makes it easier, and what you guys don’t see, is how many BLTs I take while I plate 😉
Another time that BLTs show up? When I’m trying to decide on what to eat. Sometimes I just can’t quite pinpoint my cravings, or I want a little bit of everything, so… I treat myself to plenty of “samples” to see if anything will jump out at me.
A handful or two of Barefruit apple chips.
A spoonful of almond butter.
A small bowl of oats with yogurt and cinnamon.
Nibbling on an uncooked Poptart (does anyone else eat them that way?)
Eating a good apple’s worth of apple slices while making applesauce.
A bite of this, a taste of that… The days I’m home usually have me prowling the kitchen on multiple occasions, constantly in search of something to chew on. Balance that with the days I’m out, which tend to be a little more structured…
Coffee. Baby orange. Cheese strings.
Typical work snacks.
Dinners at my parents’. This past weekend it was parmesan breaded chicken breasts, kasha with mushroom gravy, and some salad. Confession: I was BLTing while Mom was cooking 😉
Some may consider BLTs to be a bad habit, but I don’t actually mind them all that much. To me, it’s what I associate with freedom. Back in the days where I was really struggling with my eating disorder, there’s absolutely no way I would have allowed myself to grab an unscheduled and unknown amount of anything. If I couldn’t weigh it and tally up the calories, I wouldn’t eat it. So the freedom of being able to grab things at random? A beautiful thing.
Still, there are definitely times you just have to sit down to a good snack…
… even if it means that you’re now out of cookies. But I guess that’s all the more reason to do some more baking and BLTing, right? Right. 😉
Happy Wednesday, friends! And happy first day of May! The weather is finally clearing up around here, and I’ve got a 12-hours-out-of-the-house kind of day ahead of me, so I’m off to enjoy that. See you guys tomorrow!
. – . – . – .
Are you a BLTer?
If not, would you like to be? (serious question! I dreamed of it when I was sick…)
If yes, does it bother you?
AND… what’s your favorite kind of sandwich? Almond butter and jelly all the way.
I eat poptarts very often uncooked, sometimes I find them better that way! Also your post has be craving string cheese!
Hi Amanda, I like your blog. I’m’ a few years older than you but have stomach havoc, hormones and metabolism are completely screwed up. Very bad digestion and a history of stress, burnout, anxiety, low mood, no period, and ins and outs of orthorexic eating/OCD re eating/binging (no purging). No exercise because I believe my body just won’t …do it anymore. That makes no sense for the last 4 years maybe, its just it won’t do anything. I do lots of sitting which is not good for the digestion or psyche. Eating “Whatever” I want is hard when I’m trapped in 1) wants vs. shoulds, 2) not knowing what I want, 3) a digestsive system SO screwed up (constipation) that I think I need to go back to point A and be simple with food, 4) continue to binge, 5) not exercising, need to gain, and eating what the heck I want.
And how do you balance reading blogs ? I find them eye openning or inspiring YET the exact same ones bug me because my process is so “wrong” compared to them or I miss that old person like them I used to be. Amanda, I’m lost and would love an email from you when you can. I’m considering starting a blog because I need to write iit out and a journal dosn’t seem to cut it, but I also feel so “messy ” in head that not sure I could put together a blog (or how)!
“To me, it’s what I associate with freedom.” <- Omg, yes!!! You know EXACTLY how I feel so I don't even need to say it…I absolutely LOVE just being able to grab a handful of this, a sip of that, a bite here, a nibble there…total BLT'er over here!
You know my favorite (strangebutgood) sandwich is PB&J BBQ tofu, but lately, I've been COMPLETELY obsessed with egg and cheese toaster sandwiches! I've been mixing it up with mustard, ketchup, OR jam (not all together…I'm not THAT weird) and I just can't seem to get enough!
That dinner plate from your parents looks amazing!! Mmm, mushroom gravy!!
I confess that I didn’t know what a BLT was until last year lol. I’m a snacker/BLTer too. Can’t help it!
i ONLY eat poptarts cold…poptarts are a weird thing i think is gross 80% of the time but randomly will crave!
Uncooked poptarts are where it’s at!! I like them frozen, too. 😛
Uncooked poptarts are the only way to eat poptarts.. in my opinion. I am also a taster…and I don’t mind it at all. I would never be able to be a professional chef because I always lick the spoon or take samples. Sorry if you come eat at my house… that usually doesn’t happen when I cook for other people, but sometimes I forget and take a nibble. But, I’ll usually have two spoons at that point. I’m gross.
My favorite sandwiches are: grilled cheese with tomatoes, pitas with hummus, cucumbers, and tomatoes, or just plain peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Haha! I really have to watch myself when other people come over too. I’ll usually try to keep a bowl or bag of snacks near by so I don’t forget myself.
Ohhh man does all this look yummy! I’ve had a love/hate relationship with BLTing forever. I used to do it all the time, then went through a similar phase of never ever letting myself do it. Now, I can do it without feeling too guilty, but usually only do it if I’m too hungry to wait for the food to cook (or get from the container to my plate!).
Thanks for sharing!
Guilty, guilty, guilty…
I mainly BLT when I can’t decide what I want to eat. I’ll try a taste of this and a bite of that until I figure out what sounds good. Practical? Probably not. Oh well!
And I alwaaays eat my poptarts un-toasted! I like them so much better that way. I used to take a package of them to school for breakfast growing up and everyone thought I was so weird…
I’m definitely a BLTer – it’s the worst when I’m prepping dinner. By the time I’m done snacking, I’m not hungry for the actual meal! I don’t mind being this way, except when I’m at work. I buy healthy snacks for home, but its always crap at work that leaves me feeling sick afterwards. Favorite sandwich has to be grilled cheese with bacon and tomato! Though, the other day, I made baked jerk chicken and sandwiched it up with jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, and it was amazing.
Yum I love apple chips and with peanut butter, great idea! I am really good at not eating while preparing 🙂 I like to see the final product and then enjoy! Sending you lots of yummy eats this week! Olive + Shine Courtstar
I never used to do the whole bites licks tastes things until I started prepping more meals to go, but now I do it all the time and it helps to keep my hunger beast at bay before I actually get a chance to eat said meal!
I’ve always been a huge fan of BLT’s—in both sandwich form and *bite lick taste* form. 🙂 I never go a day without dipping my spoon in the peanut butter jar, grabbing a handful of almonds, taking a few bites of ice cream…it’s a habit that allows me to satisfy cravings, but also helps me determine exactly what I want to sit down to. Even in the depths of my eating disorder, I’d do this, however the difference between now and then is that I used to count every single bite. Can you imagine? Four calories for a mushroom, 30 for a bite of ice cream, 20 for two almonds…Gah! I have numbers spinning in my head 24/7. Now I’m able to BLT freely, which is much more enjoyable. I’ve actually made a recent effort to cut back on the BLT’s, though, mainly because I realized I was frequently filling up on not-so-great things (although the antioxidants in a chocolate bar certainly pack a nutritious punch, right? 😉 ) and then miss out on good meals. I think I’ve found a much better balance now…I’m usually pretty full from my meals, so the urge to dabble in and out of snacks has decreased quite a bit. But the freedom to do so is certainly there, so I feel like it’s kind of the best of both worlds. 🙂
Total BLTer over here, especially when I’m cooking. Hey, gotta make sure the food is edible right? 😉 But really, I used to flip out over taking little bites and tastes here and there, but now I love what you said about it being more freeing than sticking with scheduled meals and snacks. I do the BLT thing a lot when deciding what to have for a snack, and most of the time my snacks are more like random snack plates with a little bit of each thing, because I’m indecisive and I like a lot of different flavors at once. So I feel a lot better about my BLT habit, especially seeing how many other people do it too!
I’m such a BLT-er haha!! I love this. How do you like that Maisie Jane’s almond butter? I’m assuming you love it since it’s always on here- thinking about switching brands 🙂
Adore it! Actually, it’s pretty much the only brand of almond butter that I’ll eat – none of the others even come close. Definitely give it a try!
Glad to know I am not the only one who does this! haha Sometimes I get so frustrated with myself, but I guess looking at it as a positive thing is what I need to do! I feel like whenever I am looking at blogs I am always like wtf how do they not randomly snack throughout the day haha maybe they do and just don’t mention it…who knows! all i can say is i definitely am a big time picker/snacker 🙂
I’m pretty sure that everyone does it, and I know for a fact that a lot of bloggers do – they simply don’t mention it because there’s no pics to go along with it… It would get kind of annoying to constantly be taking photographs of handfuls of cereal 😉
I’m a Blt-er by instinct- I think it’s a natural thing to pick-I am sure in the wild it was a good habit to find out what was tasty what wasn’t ( although hopefully we avoided actually BLTing poisons) go wild with the freedom of BLTing! food often tastes the best when slyly inhaled! Ooh loaded question on the sandwhich front- so so hard- it changes all the time but at this very moment- my nonnas cold chicken schnitzel with avocado lettuce tomato sometimes an egg on a fresh baguette or a beautiful provolone and green olives and lettuce on ciabatta xo Sophia
Mashed avocado & cucumber with lots of salt & pepper is prob my fav (savoury) sandwich. I love a good AB&J, too!!
I had apple sauce + greek yogurt today – inspired by YOU, of course! Love, love LOVE
I cant believe you didnt know what a BLT was!? You are so silly. When I was little I would leave out the tomato and just eat bacon and lettuce, ha. I love love love almond butter sandwiches all the way! whats that cocoa loco chewy bar?
It’s just a little chocolate snack bar. Not high protein or anything, but it’s tasty and caters to my allergies, so I like em 🙂
Ah, I’m such a BLT-er. I’m honestly not a fan of it though, I really prefer to actually sit down to my meals. And 99% of the time I’m not even hungry – I just reach for things out of habit and then mid-reach I’m like “wait, wtf? why am I doing this?”. Oh well.
Yum 🙂 I’m not a huge BLT-er (though I do looovvvee BLT sandwiches). I’m the kind of weirdo who usually has some other kind of snack, completely separate from what I’m making, as I cook.
Oh I am a total BLT’er! I nibble on carrots for some reason but also less angelic things like chocolate, yoghurt straight from the fridge and slices of cheese. Oh and my fave thing is licking the bowl clean when I bake – I see that as a cooks right!
Ohhh my goodness. Your post is certainly drool-triggering. 🙂 And no, you are not the only one who eats her Poptarts uncooked!
I am a TLTA-er (tempeh, lettuce, tomato, avocado). I totally suggest it! My favorite sandwich is PB&J!
Yes for uncooked poptarts! I cannot say I remember eating cooked ones ever! And totally a “BLT’er”, I cannot physically put together a meal without snacking, is that even possible?!?
I’m going to go with no… no it’s not 😀
BLT’s are my appetizer for dinner. It’s a must. I think that’s why i enjoy cooking. haha. But the poptart, ya,, i love me some unbaked poptarts. I just found a GF brand. My heart skipped a beat with JOY!
If you didn’t know what BLT stood for that must mean you have never HAD a BLT! I must admit even thought I no longer eat meat..they are SO good. I like your version of BLT though..I BLT my way through every meal..it’s bad I snack too much haha. I really just have no patience.
Lol you’re supposed to cook poptarts? haha this reminds me of when a girl once said she dosnt like “raw” marshmallows 😛 as if roasting them is the only way 🙂 Well, it’s certainly the best way!
I’m going to have to agree with her on that one – I’m not really attracted to marshmallows unless they’re perfectly browned and crispy on the outside and completely gooey on the inside. Oh man. S’mores craving, big time…
You know what’s funny? I’ve never really thought about the habit of BLTs until you wrote about it and I realized I kind of do the same! I will say however that I was majorly into BLTs when I was really sick — kind of the opposite of you I guess. I would be afraid to eat a whole cookie or a whole serving of cereal, but if I just nibbled a piece or had just a small handful, it’d be ok, right? That didn’t happen very often though because usually when I got into BLTs, it would just kick start a binge and that was of course terrifying then. But sure, now, I’m constantly having a taste of this and that when I’m in the kitchen and not particularly hungry, just because I *want* to try some food and have a good taste in my mouth 🙂
I am BLTer too… I just love grabbing a handful or something and munching. I get drop a bit of weight when I am super consious of what i eat reather than snacking mindlessly.
I am a total BLT-er! And who actually toasts pop tarts? They’re so much better cold. Oh how I miss those…
Well I -used- to toast Poptarts before they started causing me too many burnt tongue injuries 😛 And I went through a looooong period of not eating them as well, and while I definitely wouldn’t eat them for breakfast every morning like I used to, I find they make a great occasional snack 🙂
For me it goes both ways… being totally TOTALLY unable to do any BLTing means trouble… but I can also be WAY to liberal with the BLTing and that as well means trouble, as my eating sways from severe restriction to compulsive over eating.
I want to get to a happy medium where the BLTing happens, but when it does it’s not problematic.
I suppose I’m sort of a BLT-er but most times I don’t really mind waiting to eat until I’m done plating or re-heating. Except when it comes to heating up a piece of the honey beer bread I made last week. I totally eat half of another piece while the first piece is in the toaster 🙂 Gah, I haven’t had a poptart in too long. We weren’t allowed to buy the frosted ones when I was a kid (dumb rule, Mom!) so I was never that attached to them. I don’t discriminate when it comes to sandwiches. I love them all!
I am most definitely a BLT’er. 😉 And now I need to make cookies……
I love raw PopTarts. I prefer them not baked versus put into the toaster oven! Also, I eat the edges first and then the gooey middle 🙂 Always save the best for last. lol!
I love Buddy Fruits!!!!
Haha! I eat my Poptarts that way too when I’m patient enough. Sometimes I’ll even try to separate the two halves after eating off all the edges.