Unlike yesterday, today was a pretty routine day.
I was:
Up by 5:30.
More than ready to eat 😀
Craving ooey-gooey chocolatey goodness…
… and sweet snacks…
[Deep Chocolate Vitamuffin. Greek yogurt. Almond butter frosting]
Rockin’ my workout (NROLFW, Stage 2, Workout B).
Stockin’ my kitchen…
[Brown rice tortillas – Steel cut oats]
[Cottage cheese – Blueberry jam – Grape kombucha]
[Salsa – Almond butter – Pumpkin – Sucanat]
[Bananas]
And eating my veggies…
… while picking out the weeds…
[“I don’t know what” and grass. Neither of which I particularly like to eat]
I don’t know about you guys, but my day simply isn’t complete without a huge salad beast in it, and my salad beast isn’t complete without a delicious dressing.
I like my salads to be light and fresh, which is why I tend to steer clear of heavy, oil-based dressings, and opt for lighter, yogurt-based dressings instead. And unlike my [non-existent] attempts at making my own hummus, laziness doesn’t seem to get my way when it comes to salad dressing (probably because it takes all of 10 seconds and doesn’t involve cleaning a food processor), so I always make my own…
. – . – . – .
. simple salad dressing .
Ingredients (serves 1)
- ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt (regular yogurt works too)
- 1 tsp. dijon mustard
- Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb seasoning
Instructions
- Combine ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Mix well and allow to sit for ~10 min before serving.
A cupful of dressing helps the veggies go down 😀
. – . – . – .
And before anyone gets on my case, yes, I’m well aware of the fact that salads and light dressings just scream diet food, butttt… I don’t really care. I’m not on a diet. I’m not trying to lose weight. Does that mean I’m also not allowed to enjoy foods that are eaten by people who are? I like the crunch of a rice cake. The taste of puffed wheat. The flavor of unsweetened almond milk. Not alone, of course, but those things make regular appearances in my daily eats. What’s wrong with that?
I guess I’m kind of fed up with feeling like I’m not supposed to eat typical “diet foods” just because I suffered from an eating disorder in the past. Like it somehow automatically means that I’m reverting back to my old ways. Like I’m supposed to gorge myself on cheesecake and french fries just to prove a point. Gah! Just thinking about it is making my left eye twitch…
*deep breath*
I like salads, and I like light dressings. Never as a meal, but always as a side.
I also like love dessert…
… which I’ll go into more detail about tomorrow 😀
. – . – . – .
What’s your take on typical “diet foods”?
Are there any that you enjoy regularly?
Wow! I COMPLETELY agree.
I don’t understand why people feel the need to lambast others about drinking almond milk vs dairy milk, having nonfat yogurt vs full fat, eating light vs. heavy.
There is certainly a place for calorie-dense foods (Hellooooo nut butter!!), but I see no reason why the same can’t be said for low-calorie foods. Apples are low in calories, but so what? Apples are delicious. Are we really going to not eat apples just because they’re low cal?
The fact that a food is high in calories does not guarantee that it is “bad,” and similarly, the fact that a food is low in calories doesn’t make it “diet food.” Eat food high in calories and people will starting pointing out that America is obese; eat foods that are lower in calories, and people will lament the rise of diets. There is no “right” or “wrong” in food, and “a happy medium” varies from person to person. Because eating is a huge part of who we are, I truly believe that those who try to say or do something to impose themselves need to be mindful that food is incredibly personal.
Everyone is different and has to find what works for them. But really, that’s the beauty of it–because we are all unique, we’re able to tailor our lifestyles to what fits our own individual needs.
Diet foods. Just a label. I like my sugar-free muesli, fiber-rich biscuits and that seaweed salad in the cafeteria which is about 10 kcal/100g. And, of course, those “Calorie Balance” blocks whose name is bugging me but I just like crumbling them in my low-fat yogurt 😀 .
Just found your blog off of Healthy Diva Eats and I do have to say it’s amazing!! So interesting!! I made your dressing for my salad yesterday and really enjoyed it!! Do you have a Facebook page?
Thanks girl 😀 And no, I’m not on Facebook. Just Twitter for now 🙂
i think the word ‘diet’ is left over from the 80’s or something. When people went ‘on diet’ nowadays… nobody should be doing on diet but instead just eating a HEALTHY diet!! also i get really annoyed when people make comments about my healthy food… i’m sorry. do i make comments about the greasy coronary heart disease inducing food you eat?? no i don’t. so please leave me and my food alone. thanks.
I like salads, but not the diet kind!!!! I love oily dressings and croutons and fancy toppings. As for diet food, I love GoLean cereal (which I can no longer eat, sad face) and meringues (fat free cookies) and grilled chicken breast. As long as there’s still dessert, I’m good. 🙂
I eat a salad every day and I’m nowhere near on a diet. They just taste good 🙂
I’m up for eating whatever I love whether it’s diet or not. Kashi has become one of my favorite cereals and I hate when people refer to it as “bird food”. I enjoy what I eat 🙂
I am so making that dressing! I went out and bought some dijon mustard specifically for it. I can’t wait!
WELL SAID!!! I enjoy unsweetened soya milk (for the taste *gasp*) and I love vegetables, salads, rice cakes, All-Bran…and so what? If I was 90 pounds and dying, I might think that was wrong..but I’m healthy and love those things, so why the heck not?
Do you shop in a French grocery store? I’m sure that’s French underneath the ‘steel cut oats’ sign…
Hehe it is indeed French, but not from a French store. Canada is a bilingual country… English and French… so we have both on all of our food labels.
Goodness Gracious I know what you mean!
I don’t eat fruits and veggies because I am on a diet I do it because I LOVE them and make me feel good. Being a teen there is SO much judgement from my friends. Like, if I eat a piece of lets say dark chocolate honeycomb they’re like “You can eat that on your diet?!” And I just want to scream “IT IS NOT A DIET”. The funny thing is I probably consume twice as many calories as them (right fully too because i am an athlete) but because mine are healthy apparently I am on a diet. Seriously, society is dumb. Because we eat a healthy diet and exercise does NOT mean we want to lose weight! Urgh, some people just bug me!
Gahh once again I can resonate with this post so so much. However, the eating disorder side of myself is still very much a part of me, so I will admit I tend to stick to “diet” foods because they make me feel safer. But they are also amazingly tasty! Like I love a salad beast too- it is so refreshing, tons of different textures, and just wonderful. I don’t really know where I am going with this, but I think what you are doing is completely fine, as you are balancing your eats so well.
p.s. I am trying that dressing on my salad TODAY 🙂
It all depends on the reason why you are eating diet foods. If you are eating them because you genuinely enjoy the taste, then that’s fine. If you are eating them because it’s lower in calories and you are trying to reduce the amount of calories you are consuming, then it becomes a major problem. I’ve noticed that some bloggers tend to eat more voluminous meals that are lower in calories just so they can satisfy their hunger but consume as little calories as possible which is really irratating. Why is everyone always trying to consume as little calories as possible, especially since they do not even need to loose weight, yet always trying to get in as much exercise as possible? What’s wrong with looking at food as food and not numbers?! People think this is so healthy but is anything but healthy!
This isn’t exactly related to your post (which was brilliant as usual) but I just wanted to recommend Quaker Oats Corn Bran Squares cereal!! I know you love puffins, but these are like the exact same thing for like half the price. And they have extremely similar nutritional stats. Go check them out! http://www.quakeroats.ca/en/products/cereals/corn-bran-squares.aspx
I used to eat those all the time, and yesss they’re delicious 😀
I agree with you! Like me personally, I love the taste of pure balsamic withOUT the oil added. It has nothing to do with fear of oil I just like the taste! I’ve gotten accused of “clinging” to my eating disorder for something as a silly as a taste preference. Like you said, I don’t need to stuff my face full of cheesecake just to prove a point.
I eat enough, I’m fine. 🙂
i am in the process of recovering from an ED but I still feel the same way. I think because we use to eat like that it hurts to see others do it, but there are definitely some “diet” foods that I just flat out ENJOY.
I use kamut puffs in my mix of cereal, but its a mix and its typically not my only meal. i love them. they taste good. salads: I LOVE SALADS. i always have always will. and i make sure my salads are filled with veggies and a protein. people also said i became a vegetarian/vegan to “lose weight” no. i chose this lifestyle because industry farmed animals are treated SO inhumanely that it sickens me. The world is so judging, but whoa is life? I’m a firm believer that I will live my life the way I want to and you are free to live yours the way you chose. Who am I to judge 😀
it does worry me when i see people post with sandwich thins, tofu noodles, 100 calorie peanut butter (whaaaa? are the peanuts even real?), low calorie this, reduced calorie that and call it a meal. those foods are typically full of fillers and won’t satisfy you, which in the end makes you eat MORE. why not eat a complete, real food meal and be left satisfied the first time around?
meh. eat what you want when you want.
hope you have a great day doll ♥
It bugs me when I see someone who ONLY eats that kind of stuff, too. I mean, I can understand liking sandwich thins because they’re thin and crunchy, and then topping them with loads of goodies (that’s why I use a tortilla in place of pizza dough). But a sandwich thin topped with sugar free jam and reduced calorie nut butter? Erm. Then I start to wonder…
and sites and cookbooks like hungrygirl where her main focus is processed low calorie food, make it soooo easy for people to cut calories and eat so little real foods. but as said before, i was that person too, and in the world today it is hard not to feel the thin pressure. finally being on the other side you really realize the influence all those things can have on a person.
-le-sigh- endless topic right?
I saw your post yesterday and I immediately ran to the kitchen to make the salad dressing because I was craving a huge green salad. It was super delicious! I made it with soy yogurt, so I think that made it a little runnier. Maybe I’ll try using a little less next time, but it was the best! I’m not a fan of oil-based dressing either. A creamy yogurt one is much more like me :] I couldn’t agree more on the diet foods issue. I like the taste of unsweetened almond milk that’s why I buy it. Not because I’m on a diet. Same thing with puffed kamut or that protein cereal I’ve been liking. When I’m eating with my family especially, I get get those “That’s too many veggies on you plate” type of comments. I enjoy the taste of veggies, that’s why I eat them. Of course they won’t be the only thing I’d have, but a big green salad is always something I enjoy. I don’t see why I should be denying my cravings just because I’m supposed to prove a point. I think that would be the worse option of the two.
That dressing looks so good, i need to experiment with making more dressings (and eating more salads!) 🙂
I try not to pay attention when people label food as “diet food”. If I eat that kind of food is because I like it and usually it is healthy. However when people see me eating a lot of veggies or salad, they sometimes give me some grief for it because they think I am “dieting”. So not true. I wish people would forget the whole “diet” mentality and live life. Eat food that they want and try to live healthy lives for themselves not for an image presented to them.
Eating beans, greens and the in betweens doesn’t define me as a dieter. I am Deborah. And I chose to eat yummy healthy food. The “Deborah eats diet food” subject is one that I get harassed about often. It frustrates me.
Rant over. About your dressing: I think I will try it on my salad tonight 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
I so agree with you on this – for goodness sake we should be able to eat what the hell we like without being judged cause its classed as ‘diet’ food as if that’s actually any kind of way to classify food. I may not be on a diet but I love salads, and I actually will have them as a main meal, because I love them! I do make sure I add more than just veggies in the form of dressings full of healthy fats, beans, tofu or nuts. I’m the same with rice cakes, and I’ve just bought some corn wraps that are pretty low cal in themselves but I actually got them for the taste and great healthy ingredients list! I think we all should just be able to eat what tastes good to us in a balanced way 🙂
I don’t like salads with loads of dressing on them…actually, I kind of like salads that have salsa instead of dressing. So I totally understand where you are coming from here! As for foods marketed as diet foods, I don’t go near them and haven’t in a long time. They just don’t work for me! But light foods? They work for me just fine.
That dressing sounds awesome! I may have to try it :). I understand your frustration about “diet food”. Although, I wouldn’t consider what you eat to be diet foods really. They are healthy and yummy. When I think of diet foods I think of slim fast and 100-calorie packs. I always enjoy salads and “lighter” foods, but I eat enough for a cow and people see that so they don’t usually question me haha.
I don’t consider salads a diet food because I feel like it’s something we need daily. It’s more of an essential food 😉 I mean some salads out there are over a thousand calories per serving so those are definitely not a diet food. But when it comes to diet foods, I’ll eat it if I like it and not if I don’t. Its just sad when some people look at you eating a salad and think…”oh shes on a diet”.
Btw, I’m loving your simple salad dressing! I don’t like ranch dressing, so it’s like a better version of ranch! Can’t wait to try it out 🙂
YES!!! salad is an essential food!!there is no excuse for not eating your veggies and it should have nothing to do with being on a diet.. (which is ridiculous if you ask me). If you are a human being ( which I am assuming most of us are)- you should feed your body what it needs!!
I don’t like diet foods like 100-calorie snack packs that are filled with chemicals. And I especially hate fat-free flavoured yogurt that contains fake sweeteners! But I do prefer to buy SOME light products, like coconut milk, skim milk, and cream cheese. I mean, Health Canada recommends sticking to low-fat dairy products, so I’m really just following the food guide recommendations. It’s NOT because of my history with an ED! 😛
I’m with you on the 100-calorie snack packs and those fake sweetener yogurts. That kind of “diet food” I avoid like the plague.
I love fruit, raw veggies probiotic yogurt, whole grains etc. But my family has always liked typical “healthy” stuff. That dressing is so simple yet sounds amazing!
Well said! Although I do have a bad habit of drinking diet swiss miss hot cocoa…oops. But for ‘healthy’ foods like yogurt, veggies, ect- it’s more of a healthy lifestyle, not a diet
Gah, I totally feel you on this. Sometimes on my blog I get anxious to post what people would call ‘diet’ food like 0% Greek yogurt and light coconut milk just because people know I’m in recovery but then I think hey, I eat how I want to eat and that’s what I like because I know that I can balance it out with ‘non-diet’ stuff too to stay healthy. It’s all about balance and people who criticise just little parts of your diet need to see the reality that being healthy means having some healthy mixed with the more indulgent and I think you definitely do that. I had this one commenter who was REALLY bugging me, picking up on little bits of my diet saying I should be having full fat everything and I just had to send them an email and tell them to quit it because they were the one stuck in their ED ways, whilst I am recovering and actually allowing myself to eat plenty of fats and dessert type stuff aswell as fat free stuff. I think people who pick up on it are the ones with their own problems that they need to sort out…
Ugh I feel you on that one. I’ve had people nit pick the silliest little things. It’s like they ask why I eat 0% yogurt and ignore the fact that I drown a lot of my meals in almond butter. I just don’t get it…
I totally get you on this. whenever I take a salad in to work people always comment “thats not enough to sustain you” even though the salad has just the same nutritional content as their BLT sandwich they are about to eat. I think as long as you get a diet of everything you need you should eat what you want. I just don’t like the texture of oil based things and its not cause of the fat side of it I eat plenty of nuts and seed based products I just don’t like oil based dressings.