Food Roundup!

It has been months since I posted a Food Roundup, what I chose to replace my WIAW with. How do I get so behind on this stuff?!

Keep in mind, most of these pictures were taken long before I decided to get rid of gluten and legumes.

In any case, this makes for a fun post to look at... AKA, LOTS of pictures! Lets see how many times I repeat a meal, shall we? ;)

Breakfast:

A return of sweet eggs! AKA Paleo Pancakes 


Banana dipped in almond butter and coated with walnuts.


Almond milk! With cinnamon.


Yikes. More pancakes. With peanut butter. 


Almond milk, with a sweet potato and some ground turkey. 


Avocado, some (slightly undercooked... yikes) boiled eggs, and home made hot sauce.

Lunch:

Hard boiled egg with some steamed spinach and tomato. 


I have a hummus problem. Now that I am legume free (or at least free of legumes that aren't properly prepared), I will miss this. 



I had a sample of some Braggs seasoning, and I used it sauting some veggies. Kind tasted too fishy for veggies. 


Turkey stew with avocado! 


Sweet potato with Stuffed Chicken 

Dinner:

Some grilled chicken breast, sauteed veggies, and sweet potato. 


Can I get enough veggies yet? I just LOVE coating up a big batch of who knows what rainbow of veggies in coconut oil. This was with some leftover chicken, and soome nooch. 


Black Eyed Pea version of Savory Lima Beans. 


Me and my odd food combinations. Sweet potato, with hemp hearts and mustard. 


More veggies!


Turkey stuffed bell peppers. I have a recipe on the way for this! 


Some more leftover Turkey Stew.


Lol! I am so wonderful at remembering to take pictures. I had already started eating and remembered to snap a pic. Grilled turkey legs with... you guessed it, veggies. 


Some leftover Lentil Stew! 

Snack:

Some sprouts like those from Thanksgiving, on top of rye bread with hummus. 


This pic is of random leftovers. Hummus, tomato salad with olive oil dressing, carrots! 


Gimme all the fats.


I like this Yogi tea. They come with cute messages! 


Huge almond butter jar from Costco. No need for this now that I can make my own!

Dessert:

Lol! Just the usual. 

What have you been eating lately?

Natalie 

Monday (Food) Madness

Happy Monday clean eaters!

You may have noticed I did not post a WIAW last week. No, this wasn't because I forgot! It was because I received a post that was WAY more fun, dynamic and interesting than any old WIAW. Check it out here!

Anyways, I continued with my idea of doing food "summaries", rather than showing you what I ate JUST the day before my WIAW post. That way, it is easier for me when I forget (which obviously happens alot) to take a picture before I get noshing!

Complied is some Monday (FOOD) Madness. Enjoy!

Breakfasts:

 A single lettuce wrap filled with veggies, leftover Italian Chicken, avocado, and hummus. With a side of some baby carrots and more hummus! 

 1/2 and apple and peanut butter with a hard boiled egg.
You might have noticed that my portions are smaller than what they have been in the past. Recently I have been practicing more mindful eating habits and really have realized I do not need so much to feel satisfied. 

 Peppermint tea. This wasn't the ONLY thing I had for breakfast! I haven't drank hot tea in a while and figured I would try it again. I drink mine unsweetened. 
Lately my tummy has been giving me issues, so hopefully drinking this more regularly with help. 

1/3 cup oatmeal, mixed with some unsweetened cocoa powder and local honey. Yum! 

Lunches:

 Some leftover veggies, mixed with leftover lentils and quinoa. It looks like mush. It tasted otherwise. ;)

 More CHIPOTLE!! I could live at this place. I think I had it twice in three days last week, which was my birthday week. Chipotle is one of the few places I will happily go out to eat at around here. I love that they are taking a stand against GMOS and their meat is hormone free. Their produce is also local when possible! 

Jason's Deli. Yum. I had a salad with tons of veggies, topped with hummus and balsamic vinegar  I also got a small side of their three bean salad, and their couscous salad. 

Dinners:

 Some more leftover lentils with veggies. Pity me and my boring tactics. 

 Holy cheese!! A squash that is not acorn? What??
Yep. My first spaghetti squash in a LONG TIME. I baked it the correct amount of time (I usually get really impatient after 45 minutes or so in the oven, and get frustrated that it still isn't done) and it was wonderful. I had it with some leftover soup (pictured below!) 

 Crockpot Turkey Soup. Oh yum! Recipe has already been posted on my guest post for Claudia. 

Not a pretty picture. But leftovers, this time sprinkled with some nooch! (Thanks Elise for the idea to use the stuff on every.thing.)

Dessert:

For my birthday, I made healthy brownies. And nope, they don't have beans this time! 
I usually don't eat desserts. So this was awesome! 
Chocolate Peanut Butter Walnut brownies. Recipe will come... but until then, I leave you with only the picture! ;)

What have you been eating?

WIAW #13 Banana Ice Cream?!

Hello and happy Wednesday! Before I even say anything, I have to start with this.

THIS.

Holy cow man. One frozen banana, cut into slices, with peanut butter (mixed with cinnamon!) in between. It is JUST like ice cream! I had this as a snack, and I had to put some back in the fridge for later because it was so rich.

I had heard of this nifty trick before on blogs, and even in a Youtube video from Davey Wavey (one of my favorite health gurus!). I have no idea why it has taken so long for me to get around to trying it!

I can see why frozen bananas so easily make for fantastic, healthy ice cream when blended. I may want to try some different flavor combinations and see what I can come up with... I think vanilla extract would make it super yummy too.

Anywho... on to the eats!

Breakfast:

A non dairy yogurt and a hard boiled egg (not pictured)

I used to have an addiction to Chobani. Like, seriously, I would go through a large container of their Vanilla greek yogurt in a matter of days. However, back when I ate yogurt regularly (over a year ago), I was having some stomach issues in which I couldn't detect the source.

It's embarrassing, but I constantly felt bloated and queasy. For months I had an INTENSE, sharp pain in my abdomen, and nothing the doctor suggested helped. (Actually, they had just prescribed me a medication called Nexium to reduce acid reflux. I was NOT about to take that- the side effects are awful, plus it goes against the holistic approach I support- so I knew it was time to get serious in finding out what was causing my issues.)

Eventually, I made the connection to my stomach problems and the yogurt. Yep. Just like my grandmother, turns out I am lactose intolerant! So bye bye yogurt for me and with it, all my dreams.

UNTIL... BOOM. Enter So Delicious. They make non dairy milks, yogurts (I have yet to locate their Greek kind!), and even ice cream! I've been anticipating trying this for quite a while now, but their products are a bit pricey so I've had to wait until now. I got the plain flavor, but it still tasted AMAZINGLY sweet (like coconuts, duh). And no tummy troubles!

Lunch:

Leftover sauteed veggies. 

Oh, poor boring old me. Bringing my mess of a thing to lunch for everyone to ponder "What on earth is that child consuming?" Ah, I'm used to it.

Maybe it doesn't look so appealing, but really it was quite tasty... just a melody of some farmers market as well as store produce. At school my boyfriend insisted the squash looked like bananas, but never mind him! ;)

Snack:

The delicious invention mentioned above. Please disregard my horrifying nails.

Dinner:

Bell peppers stuffed with leftover lentils and a bit of chicken meat.

Getting creative with leftovers! Woot woot.

So... what have you been eating?

Any favorite allergy-friendly brands that you adore?

Natalie

WIAW #12

Hey there guys! It's that time of the week again.

This post features a few new items, with a few common items creating a bit of a deja vu sensation... lot's of peanut butter deja vu. Ha!

Breakfast:

I've seen this beforeee... Paleo pancakes! Or, okay, scratch that. Same recipe as the pancakes, except I just said FORGET THIS to the whole "lets try to make these look like pretty pancakes" idea. I threw the mix in the pan with some coconut oil and basically they turned out like sweet banana egg things.

How do I have friends? Oh well, at least everything is good in peanut butter!

With a side of baby carrots, and some homemade hummus. 

Lunch:

Leftovers from this baby I roasted Sunday night at my grandmas! It was a huge 6lb thing. Plenty of leftovers.

Dinner:

Basil Lemon Salmon (recipe to come) with sauteed vegetables and a sweet potato. Yum!

What have you guys been eating?

Natalie

Recipe!! Quinoa-Lentils and Squash- Vegetarian Friendly!

Hey there guys! 

So for two past WIAW, I had some yummilicious Lentil-Quinoa stuff. I couldn't decide on a name, but I decided on "Quinoa-Lentil" as one word, not two. Clever name or not, this stuff is AWESOME. 

Don't let the longer list of ingredients frighten you either. It really is not that much, and if you don't have the variety of squashes I had, just replace it with what you do have! 

As you know, I ADORE quinoa. I really love how the lentils and the quinoa create a nice, thick consistency. You would think this would end up runny (which it can, if you use too much liquid), but usually the two absorb the water and it turns out wonderful.

Similar to a recipe from quiet a while ago... though this time it doesn't have meat, and includes quinoa and a different method of preparation! 

Quinoa-Lentils and Squash 
Serves 4 

1 cup lentils, dry
1/4 cup quinoa, dry
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms, diced
1/2 cup bell pepper, diced
1/2 large onion, diced
2 pattypan squash
2 small zucchinis
1 medium yellow squash
1 large tomato, diced
handful leafy greens (spinach or kale work best)
2 bay leaves
2-3 springs fresh rosemary, optional
1/2 small can of unsalted tomato paste
1 TBSP garlic powder
1 TBSP Chile powder
1 TBSP cumin powder
Sea salt to taste
Dash of cayenne, optional
5 cups water or unsalted stock, plus more as needed
1-2 TBSP coconut or olive oil

1) Chop up your celery, onion, carrot, and mushrooms.

2) Heat your oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Toss in the veggies, and saute for about 5-6 minutes.

3) Add your dry quinoa and let it toast for 3-5 minutes, stirring often.

4) Add your 5 cups of liquid and your lentils. Mix in the spices, bay leaves, and rosemary. Bring to a low boil and cover.

5) In the meantime, chop up the rest of your veggies (aka the squash and tomatoes!)

6) After the lentil mix has been simmering for around 20 minutes, add your other veggies. Most of the liquid should be absorbed but not all of it. Add more liquid if needed.

7) Cover for another 15 minutes. Add more liquid at this point, usually around a cup. Stir in the tomato paste and again cover until the squash is tender.

8) Turn heat on low and add the greens to wilt.

Pretty easy if I do say so myself. And tasty... oh so tasty.

What have you been eating?
What ways to you use lentils, or quinoa?

Natalie