While getting ready to put the finishing touches on my breakfast this morning, I was met with quite a sad sight indeed…
My beloved jar of almond butter only had a few meager scraps left in the bottom. Le boo. Many would see this as a cause for celebration – a chance to whip up a batch of the ever popular OIAJ (oats in a jar), but not this girl. Nuh uh. This girl simply saw it as a cause to crack open a new jar…
… so that she could enjoy her oats the way she loves them – in a bowl…
…. with all of her favorite toppings spread out nicely…
I admit that I’ve never actually tried OIAJ, and I most likely never will. I should probably give them a shot before writing them off completely but, to be honest, they just doesn’t sound all that appealing. The thought of having to dig into a deep jar with a tiny opening to get at my food seems too much like work, and I’m not big on my toppings being mixed into my oats either. I like them sitting, well, on top so that the flavors don’t get lost, and so that I can have a spoonful of almond butter oats, a spoonful of chocolate oats, or a spoonful of almond butter and chocolate oats, depending on what I’m in the mood for.
I know that there are tonnes of people out there in blogland who can’t wait to reach the bottom of a nut butter jar so that they can enjoy their beloved OIAJ, but I’m afraid I’m just not one of them. That’s one food blog trend that I’m not too fond of.
Another is the whole “green monster” thing. Yes, I understand that they’re incredibly nutritious, and no, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with eating (drinking?) them, but they’re just not my cup of tea. I prefer to take in my greens like this…
And my smoothies like this…
This is about as green as I’m willing to go with smoothies…
Anything greener and I’m reminded of some of the sludge that I forced myself to drink choke down during the worst days of my eating disorder. Blech. It’s giving me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it. But there are those that love ’em, and that’s perfectly fine. Different strokes for different folks.
Chia seeds are another blogland favorite that I have mixed feelings about.
I got all excited after hearing so many people rave about them, bought a baggie of my very own, and I’ve been trying to use it up for over a year now. I can’t stand them on their own (they get stuck in my teeth), don’t enjoy them in oats, prefer my pudding like this….
… and although I’ve been able to tolerate them in smoothies, I think they’re giving me some stomach problems. One more strike and you’re out in the garbage, chias.
And speaking of stomach problems, stevia is another trend that I’m kind of iffy about. You know that whole saying about how when something seems like it’s too good to be true, it probably is? Yeaaaaahhh. That’s exactly what I think of when it comes to stevia. And yes, I know it’s been used for thousands of years with supposedly no side effects, but I also know that whenever I use it, my stomach is not happy with me, so I’ll be stickin’ to my real sugars, thank you very much.
That being said, there are a lot of great trends out there that I do love. The blog world has introduced me to so many of my favorite foods, that I honestly have no idea what I’d be eating these days if I wasn’t getting my inspiration from blogs. Definitely not…
Greek yogurt…
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Greek yogurt messes…
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Eggy oats…
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Almond butter…
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… on everything…
. – . – . – .
Kombucha…
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Hummus…
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Beans…
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Pumpkin…
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Sweet potato fries…
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Cookie dough balls…
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Nutritional yeast…
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Baked oatmeal…
..
Dates…
. – . – . – .
… just to name a few. And I’d probably be nowhere near as creative with my meal choices…
. – . – . – .
And while the food is good, the people are better, and the knowledge of what it means to truly treat my body right been priceless. So thank you blog world. Not for OIAJ, green monsters, and chia seeds, but for all that other stuff 😀
. – . – . – .
What are some blog trends that you were never able to get into?
How about some that you love?
Oh gosh. I think I just got famished by your post. Love almond butter on EVERYTHING also. Your banana looks a little xrated there!! 🙂
You are by far the BEST blog out there! I look forward to your posts everyday!!
All of the food/snacks you make look so good! I want to try using cottage cheese more as a good source of protein!
Awwwr gush. Thank you Carly 🙂 And in answer to your question from waaaay up there ^^, the protein powder I use is Proteins+ by Genuine Health http://www.genuinehealth.com/
I’m not big on ordering stuff online, and it’s one of the only natural ones I can find around here, and it tastes delicious 🙂
So I have a little bag of Maca that I’ve pretty much been doing the same dance with; like you and your chia bag. I know people swear by Maca…but something just ain’t right about it. Bleh.
The trends you do love are my faves as well. I’ve fallen off the green monster bandwagon for a bit and def cannot do avo pudding! i’d rather have guac and a salad! =) with ya!
I’ve never had OIAJ either. I prefer a lot of nut butter with my oatmeal…
SunWarrior is the bomb.
I’ve tried vegan protein powders and I just cannot get into them. They always taste too chalky to me! I also am not a fan of the flavored nut butters. I mean I enjoy them but not all the time. I like to keep it simple and original.
I love that you’ve always been a big supporter of almond butter, because I just cannot get into the PB trend, especially PB&Co peanut butter. No thanks, I’d rather have my almond butter! And if I wanted different flavors, I’d make it myself. I don’t know what it is, but I just prefer AB to PB. I would love to try peanut flour though to see what all the hype is about!
Great post !
What is in your quinoa dinner bowl ? Its seems delicious 🙂
I’ve never really liked green monsters, either! I swear, I can taste the spinach… it just ruins a perfectly good smoothie or shake, in my opinion. I’d rather have a salad on the side, please and thank you. But I love OIAJ! My favorite oatmeal topping is nut butter, so its kinda perfect for me. I also like to eat smoothies out of our big 24 oz value-size jars when they get almost empty! I can’t imagine just throwing an almost empty jar out… that’s like… a crime in my household, haha.
There’s really not many blog trends I’ve tried that I haven’t liked, lol… sometimes, I try and think about what I ate before my ED and learning about the blog world… I basically eat nothing I did back then! Except lately I’ve been on a cereal kick (breakfast options = severely limited with no dairy.) Even though now my bowls are full of fruit and almond milk–which are things I NEVER would have added pre-blogworld!
So many yummy things on your list. I’m also not a huge oiaj fan – I think they’re kind of gross, and pouring hot oats into a plastic jar is noooot a good idea. I’ll make them if I have a glass pb jar but that’s it. I do like green monsters though, but I keep ’em simple with spinach, banana, pb and milk. And I do like chia seeds in yogurt…