Yesterday was a good.freaking.day.
It started in the morning (as most days tend to), when I opened my eyes to discover that I managed to sleep in to the glorious hour of 5:30. Winning. The kitchen was my first second stop, where I brewed up a cup of my favourite tea before sitting down at the computer and getting some blog work done.
Not surprisingly, talking about donuts managed to successfully rev up my appetite, so I grabbed one from my stash and went to town. Okay, that’s a lie — I had oatmeal [with yogurt, almond butter, and honey]…
Gone are the days where I can eat donuts and Poptarts for breakfast and call it good. Oh the joys of growing up and making smarter choices. But I digress. A little while later, I munched on some apples while whipping up a batch of homemade applesauce.
One, two, seven, ten… I don’t know how many slices and spoonfuls I ended up eating, but I do know that I can’t seem to prep anything without doing some serious snacking. Unless we’re talking about kabocha…
… but I’m pretty sure you can’t eat that raw anyways. You can eat it roasted and topped with coconut Greek yogurt and cinnamon, though… even if you do feel a little strange for eating veggies in the morning 😯
The rest of the morning involved talking to J, which is a rare enough occurrence around these parts that it totally justified the fact that I got absolutely no work done in the early part of the day. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Break for lunch!
Despite the fact that we’ve already got snow on the ground, I’m still craving fresh salads. This one had baked chicken, random veggies, olive oil, and salsa, and was shortly followed up by a bowl of cereal with milk…
I know it may seem completely random, but I just wasn’t feeling the whole salad and sandwich thing, so I went with cereal instead and ended up perfectly satisfied. Gotta love it when that happens.
Work, work, work… snack, snack, snack…
Frozen bananas. Aka: the bane of my existence.
Am I the only one that gets super snacky whenever I’m sitting at the computer or studying? It’s funny… being really active kills my appetite, but sit my butt down in a chair for any extended period of time and all I want to do is munch on something. Makes perfect sense 😯
Speaking of exercise, I managed to break away from my desk at some point in the late afternoon to squeeze in a short run. It.was.COLD. I have no idea how this running thing is going to work in the winter, but I’m probably going to have to take it inside. I’m a complete wimp when it comes to the cold (which is ironic since I snowboard), and as much as I prefer running outside, I’m not a big fan of frozen toes, fingers, or muscles.
On that note, it took me a good 30 minutes to defrost once I got back inside, and I was more than ready for dinner at that point. Thank goodness for leftover [beef stir fry and rice] is all I can say.
Actually, I can say more… I love white rice, especially if it’s basmati. I know it tends to get overshadowed by brown rice these days, but I’ll pretty much always go for white if given the option. Not only do I prefer the taste, but my stomach seems to have an easier time digesting it as well. And another thing? I prefer eating out of bowls as opposed to plates. Don’t know why — bowls just seem so much more comforting.
I spent a few more hours working (oh the joys of working from home), before meeting up with a friend and heading out to the mall. By some miracle, I managed to refrain from buying anything… but before you commend me for my willpower, you should probably know that I avoided both Sephora and Lululemon like the plague — one step into either of those and I would have turned into a snivelling ball of goo.
Speaking of goo… Behold the wonder that was my evening snack…
I whipped up a batch of pumpkin chia pudding after seeing it over on Jessie’s blog last week, and while I’m still not completely sold, I can’t say I hated it. All I did was combine…
- 1/2 cup pumpkin
- 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
- 1 Tbsp. chia seeds
- 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- dash of ground nutmeg and cloves
… and let it sit for a while. It must have been the addition of pumpkin, because the texture didn’t skeeve me out like it usually does. Okay, let’s not kid ourselves here — it was all about the chocolate chips…
And that, ladies (and gentlemen?), was a full day of eats — from the moment my head left the pillow in the morning to the moment it hit my pillow again at night. Last week, Meghan shed some light on the fact that bloggers seem to be shying away from posting a full day of eats in favour of putting forth a better image or only sharing highlights from a handful of different days — something I’ve been guilty of as well.
But in Jenn’s own words:
It’s not about presenting an image of perfection or editing around eats to only show one recipe or a few pretty, carefully chosen photos — its about celebrating food, reflecting on what we love about our meals and sometimes what we hope to change, and inviting others into a day in your life! It’s about inspiration and mindfulness and welcoming the uniqueness of what we choose to stuff our faces with. No gimmicks, no restriction, just food!
So that’s what I’m going to start doing, and I’m hoping that others will join me as well. Its not about being perfect — it’s about being real. Happy What I Ate Wednesday, friends!
. – . – . – .
How do you feel about posting a full day of regular old eats?
White or brown rice?
Bowls or plates?
Do you still eat salads in the colder weather? Ever pair them with weird things?
Do you like chia pudding?
Lots of questions… I feel chatty 😀
I like white rice too. And meals in bowls…they are the best! Can I ask where you found your big bowls from? Great post, as usual!!
Hi Beth! I got them from Homesense, which is like TJ Maxx in the States. I know that IKEA sells some that are pretty similar though!
Ok, I know our opinion of chia seeds and chia seed puddings are around the same lines so I might just have to give the pumpkin version a try…maybe. I really like the turnaround with WIAW lately. I’ll admit that I don’t do a full days of eats as much as I used to in the past, but I’m hoping to get back to it soon. Regardless, I still think I’m leaps and bounds over those nasty people who don’t even post a thing about food, but use Jenn as a blog pimp of sorts to get their numbers up…smh.
Love the kabocha and coconut yogurt combo! I’ve been all over that lately…actually I’ve really just been all over kabocha lately…hence my winter “glow”! Lol
I’ve tried posting a full day of eats but I always forget to take pictures and when I do, they’re not as pretty as yours!! I never feel like they’re worth of posting.
I love both brown AND white rice. Basmati is amazing. I am soooo with you on bowls > plates. Things just look nicer in bowls!
i love the photos they make me so hungry! specially the stir fry beef with rice. Your diet is so healthy! brown or white rice? white. I barley eat salats:O i don’t even know why i just never had a thing for salats…great blog btw!
I snack all the time when I am at a computer/after school!
I am thrilled you had a good freaking day. What a great opening sentence. It immediately made me happy. The only thing better than that is you promulgating our movement and by ‘our,’ I mean the WIAW gang. It truly was amazing to see you, Arman and Lauren all grab the concept and run with it. #noshameinourgames.
Your eats look delicious and divine as always, especially dinner. I love the color of the stir fry (and brown is hard to photograph, yet you captured it perfectly) alongside the white rice. To answer your question, I will take rice any which way I can get it: white, brown, wild or cooked in coconut milk. Try that the next time you go white. It’s heavenly. I also prefer to eat from a bowl and I highly recommend you get a bowl with a handle. It’s perfect for curling up on the couch while you eat…not that I ever eat on the couch (cough, cough). Now there’s a WIAW idea: not what you ate, but where you ate it. Hmmm.
I hope today is as freaking good as your last day. 🙂
How do you feel about posting a full day of regular old eats? I never post a full day of eats. Photographing everything I put in my mouth still feels disordered (to me) so I just eat. Plus I grab way too many small things throughout the day to even manage to snap a picture. Pieces of chocolate, fruit, etc. I’m such a snacker.
White or brown rice? I’m with you on white! Brown rice has it’s time and place, but for the most part I’m all about the sticky white stuff (ew. ew ew ew.)
Bowls or plates? BOWLS! Easier to hold, easier to mound food in.
Do you still eat salads in the colder weather? Ever pair them with weird things? I crave salads MORE in the winter. So weird. If I don’t have a salad with a sandwich or something else that is considered “normal” I always have a snack with it. Similar to what you did!
Do you like chia pudding? I don’t like chia anything!
😆 I definitely feel you on the chia hate 😉 And there’s NO way I’d be able to take pictures of everything I eat every day, but I can sacrifice one day a week.
I have to say I must have been living under a rock or something but this whole WIAW thing is pretty new to me. I am uber impressed how healthy your diet is, and that you are so disciplined to take photos of it all. I am totally the kind of gal that will eat kabocha squash mid-morning because i am cooking it.
I agree that a lot of these types of posts are simply highlights of what bloggers prefer readers to see, but I can also understand those that do it because they don’t want comparisons happening. I personally just haven’t for the life of me been able to remember to photograph more than a few eats in a day, hence my completely random WIAW posts haha.
For about 5 months I posted my full day of eats and it was always exactly what I ate on Wednesday. (Because posting a different day of eats doesn’t suit my type a tendency personality). Lately though I’ve mixed it up with some posts of lots of dinners or breakfasts not just a day of eats but I know I will go back to doing those too.
I like both brown and white rice. I usually only eat white rice when I have sushi, which is really quite a lot 😉
Hmm I think I am a bowl kind of person. In saying that I make greek yoghurt dessert bowls in a china tea cup, just cause I can.
Yes to salad in cold weather. Can’t think of a strange thing I’ve paired it with – nothing like cereal but I love this idea. And yes to Chia pudding!
Loving all of your eats today they look very delicious. Especially that donut still….omnomnom.
So I went out and got a donut pan on my way home tonight. Best. Decision. Ever. I also get SO snacky when I’m studying or at my computer. When I’m going from classes to the lab to pure barre I’m not as hungry, (like you said, being active kills my appetite), but when it’s time to study, even if I’ve just had dinner, I start thinking about food! Most of the time I realize it’s that I’m very dehydrated, so I drink water and if I’m still hungry later, I have a snack. Yay recovery 😉
You did?! Did you make any donuts yet?
I did! I made vegan chocolate donuts and vegan chocolate almond butter donuts! The almond butter recipe needs some tweaking though, but otherwise so good 🙂 Thanks for the inspiration!
I never do WIAW posts (mainly because I never, ever remember to take pictures of my meals) but I do enjoy reading most of them. It’s just frustrating when they become a comparison game which you always manage to avoid- thank you. (:
I’m actually a big fan of white rice too. Actually, I love almost any rice…or grain…or bread…or CARB. They’re my weakness. No shame. And I can’t believe I have yet to try kabocha. Serious shame.
How do you feel about posting a full day of regular old eats? It’s easier for those days that I’m home, but either way, I’m quite happy to – it helps kill those ‘diet’ deamons.
White or brown rice? Both – I like white rice in asian dishes, but prefer brown with persian dishes.. 🙂
Bowls or plates? Plates – I like to pick at my food – eat different bits at different times in the meal.
Do you still eat salads in the colder weather? Ever pair them with weird things? No, very rarely – but I do still have cold smoothies
Do you like chia pudding? I have yet to try one. I’m getting very tempted by Meg’s parfait recipes so it won’t be long.
I am seeing lots of mushrooms in these pictures which I love! Mushrooms are such a great addition to so many things, especially salads. I ran outside all through the winter last year and it was cold, but it has some good memories to it? And it made me appreciate the summer running so much more. I just hate signing up for a year gym membership when I only want it for the snowing, freezing days! And monthly memberships are so much more expensive than year long memories.
LOVE your last paragraph. I rather read real blogs!
&I’m so with you on the sitting around thing, if I’m not busy or moving I feel like I get so hungry. Wicked annoying!
Oooh, I am intrigued by the pumpkin chia seed pudding… I will have to try it! It wasn’t slimy or anything?!
Nope not really! It was kind of similar to rice or tapioca pudding. And if you don’t like the goopiness, you can always try running it through the blender to make it smoother.
I do like chia pudding, well mostly just chocolate chia pudding. I like chocolate.
Actually I normally prefer to use mila- ground up, chia seed meal- have you tried it? It’s like all the chia goodness, minus some of whacky texture, and no seeds all up in your grill . Winning :).
What I really really like though, is your pumpkin oatmeal cookies. I made them yesterday and Hhnnng, they.are.good. Very.
I had everything all planned to make them, and then some chocolate frosted donuts threw a spanner in the works though…I didn’t know what to make! I was like ‘ That Amanda IS a nuisance. A delicious nuisance’. The donuts will happen once iv gotten over this initial infatuation with the cookies. Thank you lovely for the recipes.
Xxx
😆 I’m sorry for being a nuisance. I keep meaning to post a savoury recipe, buuuuut I just prefer the sweet stuff. And I’ve never tried ground up chias, but I might try tossing my pudding in the blender next time to see if I can make it smoother.
I just want to answer the first question really and, I totally love that both you and Meghan have decided to do this. I am going through some issues coming up with food ideas by myself and seeing your guy’s food is inspiring. I really love that you are doing this as well; its due in large parts to your posts that I have broken some of my food rules. Thank you for that; even if you don’t take it as motivation to keep doing it. I just wanted to say Thank you from the bottom of my soul. Seeing real people making these choices back to back is helping to flush out different ideas I had/have an, that challenge to my rules is so welcomed. So thank you
I remember it being extremely helpful in my own healing journey as well, so I’m more than happy to return the favour… especially with motivating comments like yours 🙂
Sorry not to answer your questions, but I so love the idea of squash for breakfast it’s all I can think about. You still get a sweet fix, but so much better than a donut.
I don’t think posting a full day of my meals is right for me, but I can’t lie, I do like to see other people’s full day of eats. I’ve tried a lot of new ingredients and recipes from WIAW posts, yours included 🙂
I can eat both white and brown rice, though it took me a while to get used to the nutty flavor of brown. When I’m eating savory dishes like stir fry, I’m going to want brown rice, but by itself, I think white rice tastes better.
I usually eat on a plate, except when I’m eating something like noodles or stew- then I’m a bowl girl. But bowls do photograph prettier, or so I’ve found.
Pssh, I eat a side salad every day for dinner, cold weather or no cold weather. I usually just cut up half of a Roma tomato and mix it in with whole wheat croutons. Simple, but it does the job. I do like to switch up my types of greens though. For a while I was strictly spinach, then I got tired of the one note texture, and now I’m on Romaine. Who knows what I’ll be one next? lol
Never had chia pudding. Is it like rice pudding? Because if it is, then I doubt I would like it much. Rice pudding and I don’t really get along…
<3
Hmm… yes, I suppose you could compare the texture or chia pudding to rice pudding… or tapioca pudding. If you’re not a fan, I’ve heard that blending it up in a blender actually improves the texture a lot, so I’m planning on giving it a shot.
I really like seeing bloggers’ full day of eats, but when it comes to me, I just have such a hard time remembering to take pictures of everything I eat in a day. Not to mention it’s annoying to whip out the camera every time I grab a handful of dates or a piece of chocolate. Maybe one of these days I’ll get around to it though. 😛
I was never actually a big fan of white rice – I always found it so boring. My love for rice actually developed once I discovered brown rice. And I’m so with you on the bowl thing. Meals just taste better in bowls!
Your meals always look so amazing!!!!! I totally need to make those chocolate donuts. They sound divine!
Never tried chia anything.
One thing I can’t get enough of right now is almond jello!!! :D:D
I like chia seeds in oatmeal or breads but not so much in pudding. Really the only kind of pudding that I like is the instant packs or the pudding cups. Not the real stuff or anything healthy. Man I haven’t had one in awhile. If I came across a good solid homemade pudding recipe though I would certainly try to make it! I think the pumpkin pudding sounds great and the addition of pumpkin to the chia gel probably did great job with the texture.
White rice. Even that is tough on my stomach but brown rice is an absolute nightmare. I’ve actually read recently where white rice may actually be just as good if not better for you! My favorite white rise is Jasmine. Gosh I could just eat that by the bowful. PLAIN.
Bowls bowls all the way! Or large mugs. They’re just more fun 😀
I’ve been hearing a lot more praise for white rice lately as well, especially because of the whole phytic acid issue with brown rice. Just another example of health trend proving to be inaccurate 🙄
Wow, haha crazy- we really did the same thing and inspired by the same person! Hi 5!
Definitely no gentleman who read this blog. Just ladies and goats.
You actually have alot of variety in your day- surprised though that brinner wasn’t there 😉 I grew up eating basmati rice and it really is so much more fluffy that long grain or jasmine- ironically, they claim it to be just as good as brown rice here because of its lower GI. I’m not too fussed with bowls or plates, I guess it depends on what I’m eating..oatmeal out of a plate might be abit hard.
I tried chia pudding once. Never again. I thought it reminded me of silly putty I played with as a kid…
I seriously lol’d when I saw your post this morning — but it’s a good movement and I hope we can get others on board. And you’re not fussed with bowls or plates because your heart lies with Tupperware 😛
I’m in love with your mug! =)
I love the regular ole’ eats- so much more fun!
I definitely prefer to eat out of bowls rather than plates – it’s definitely more comforting!
I am the SAME way with my appetite..when I am super active I am not as hungry as when I am sitting doing nothing!?!?! WHAAAT!? I am a brown rice sucker..I cannot stand white rice..or bread. Your donuts just kill me…they are unreal and legit one of the most gorgeous sights I have ever seen.
I love this movement! No tricks no gimmicks- just real people eating real food in real amounts. Rock on and white rice (and white pasta) is all I eat and low and behold just like the majority of Japanese people I am very very healthy (white bread also gives me less stomach problems- tip for anyone who thinks it might be bread causing them to have a wonky stomach :))
Computer + snacking is probably the death of me. Not to mention my office at the moment has lots of snacks, so I start to think I’m hungry when I really just want to run around 🙂
Snow already!?! That’s crazy talk! We don’t get snow here but it still just seems to early to hear snow talk! I’m with you on frozen bananas. Especially topped with Sunbutter. So good!
Actually this is pretty normal for us — sometimes we even get hit with snow in mid-October 🙄
I get snacky while working on the computer too! (AKA the majority of my day! lol) Awesome pictures of Jessie’s chia pudding. I like chia puddings- I’ll have to try hers!
I wish I did WIAW… I guess I could, I just feel self-conscious photographing everything I eat – or I’m so hungry I don’t want to take the time to! Guess I need to get over that ASAP!
I have also made chia pudding with a mushy banana – also very good!!
I get super snacky when I’m working at the computer or studying too! I think I am just looking for anything to focus on BESIDES what I should be doing but want to do haha
I’m definitely a brown rice girl, but will eat white race with take out sometimes.
I love eating out of bowls, it’s like a comfort think. Kind of like putting your hands around your hot coffee mug on a cold day….comfort. Weird I know!
I eat salads year round, just usually change the ingredients to be more seasonal!
I tried to come up with something creative to rival “hug in a mug,” but I can’t think of anything good that rhymes with bowl… 😥
I always laugh at myself whenever I eat veggie for breakfast (think sweet potato topped with nut butter), but then I think…it could be A LOT worse! 😉 I am glad that I crave veggies!
I could eat kabocha ANY time of day!!! If only I could get my hands on some. All the stores around me have stopped carrying it 🙁
I eat out of bowls for most of my meals. I love mixing up lots of different flavors and textures in large bowls and calling it a meal (or dessert in some cases). There’s just something so comforting about eating out of bowls.
I definitely prefer brown rice, in fact I’m eating some right now as I look at everyone’s food blogs! I have to have food in front of me to read WIAW posts. Brown rice is a total comfort food to me.
And I’d totally rather eat out of bowls! I don’t know why either, but I’ve now switched over completely to bowls for everything.
Gorgeous photos as usual – I’m making it a goal to try making some chia pudding this week.
I love white and brown rice, i usually switch it up when I go to chipotle because I love them both! I love salads all year round, and Ive only made chia pudding once and I did really like it but I trhink next time I will add some more goodies into it 🙂 GREAT eats, like always!