Lunch Archives - Page 4 of 11 -

Chicken Stir-Fry with Coconut Aminos

Post author:Melanie
Post published:April 5, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Gluten-Free / Health / Lunch / Moose / Workouts
Post comments:5 Comments

It’s Friday! Oh yea, baby! Before we get too excited about this glorious day of the week, let’s take a quick look at Thursday, shall we?

I had a really great day. I actually kept thinking yesterday was Friday. I was super messed up on my days.

I had the day off and I started it off by meeting up my high school friend Ted, for coffee at Caribou. Why on earth have we not gotten together sooner, I don’t know. All I can say is it was so nice to catch up with him. He is such a positive person and I love having positive people in my life! There is no room for negativity in my life.

In the afternoon Dana and I took the pup out for a 3-mile loop around our neighborhood. The weather was absolutely perfect for an outdoor run; about 50°F and sunny. I was even able to wear my capris outside for the first time this year!

Moose is still working on his stamina. He was pretty wiped immediately after the run.

Allergy Update

I seem to have worked whatever food or medication allergy I had out of my system, because I have been feeling back to normal. The only thing I can think of that may have triggered it is the abundant amount of strawberries I had eaten those few days, but I’ve never had a problem with them in the past! Again, another reason I would like to have an intolerance test done.

Lunch

For lunch I threw together a ginormous veggie-packed salad. I loved the volume of this salad. In the mix was mixed spring greens, broccoli, carrots, red pepper, celery, a spritz of olive oil, hummus, and sunflower seeds. Wowza it was GOOD.

There were a few snacks eaten throughout the day to tide me over between meals, all of which went unphotographed.

We made a purchase yesterday to add to our “at-home gym”…..

A PULL-UP BAR!

I wasn’t messing around when I said I am going to conquer at least one unassisted chin-up before May. We put this up in the doorway on our main floor so that I will be more likely to use it often. Like I said previously, I still have a LOOONNNG way to go, but I’ll get there!

Stir-Fry Dinner and Coconut Aminos

Mmm mmm, dinner was tasty last night. Stir-fry has got to be one of the easiest meals to make and it always comes out well.

Last night I pulled out the wok and sautéed up onion, garlic, red bell pepper, broccoli, sugar snap peas and carrots in sesame oil. Once the veggies had cooked through, I added about 1/3 of a cup of bone broth along with 5-6 splashes of coconut aminos (more on that in a sec). I also added a few sprinkles of garlic powder, onion powder, ginger, and salt. I then let the liquids cook out, added some leftover cooked chicken, allowed that to heat through and VOILA!

I served the stir-fry over cooked quinoa (I let the quinoa soak for 24 hours before cooking to help with digestibility) and had myself a deliciously gluten-free and soy-free dinner!

So, about those coconut aminos I mentioned….

Yesterday I stopped in at Whole Foods and oogled over all of the great products. I meandered down the Asian-food aisle and my eyes spied this intriguing sauce:

Coconut Secret’s Raw Coconut Aminos

I had to give it a go after what I read on the label. Here is what I have learned about Coconut Aminos (information taken from their website):

Their product is:

100% Organic
Gluten-free
Soy-free
Dairy-free
Vegan
Contains 17 naturally occurring amino acids which are important for muscle tissue repair and rebuilding, enhance nervous system function, and aid in boosting the immune system
It is made from certified organic raw coconut sap and naturally aged and blended with sun-dried, mineral-rich sea salt
It can be used as a substitute for soy sauce!

Source

The flavor is a bit more bland compared to regular soy sauce, and less salty, but it did add a really nice flavor to this stir-fry dish. For those of you out there who are looking for an alternative to soy-sauce, I would definitely recommend giving this a shot. I will be 100% honest with you though, I still prefer soy sauce.

But it’s still pretty neat, right? What will they think of next?!

I had a fun new treat later in the evening including another Whole Foods find:

These are SO good! And the ingredients are so simple: Organic corn meal, organic evaporated cane juice, organic peanut butter, organic soy oil, sea salt, tocopherols (natural vitamin E), organic tapioca starch. I don’t plan on eating these daily, but they are going to be nice to have around if I want a little treat.

Alright, now that we caught up on Thursday we can officially celebrate Friday. I hope you all have a FANTASTIC day! Keep on smilin’ my friends.

Question of the day: Have you ever used liquid aminos before? What are your thoughts?

A Rainy Run and Spring Cleaning

Post author:Melanie
Post published:March 30, 2013
Post category:Breakfast / Dinners / Gluten-Free / Home Life / Lunch / Moose / Training / Workouts
Post comments:2 Comments

Happppppppy Saturday! I don’t have a ton of fun photos for you today, but I do have a couple of food photos to share from yesterday.

Once again, I used the NutriBullet to whip up a smoothie. I’ve made this one before. In the mix was: banana, kale, almond milk, chocolate egg white protein powder, peanut butter, and aloe vera juice.

Lunch: Quinoa, cheese, and peas. This was actually really good despite it being so simple. Sometimes simple is best. It was cooked quinoa, salt, pepper, shredded cheddar cheese, and peas.

Dinner: My favorite salmon!

*****************

I keep forgetting to mention that Dana and I have registered for a 10K race coming up at the end of April! My runs have become few and far between, and I’m going to blame that mostly on the weather. I know, lame excuse. Every time I am out for a run I feel fantastic, and every time I am done I always say I have GOT to do this more often. I wish I could bottle up these good endorphins and release them under my nose when I’m not feeling up to a run.

Now that I have a race to look forward to, I will be hitting the pavement more often again and am really looking forward to it.

Furthermore, the weather is really turning around here which makes it that much more enticing to run outside. Yesterday it was in the 50’s and today it is in the 40’s. The snow is melting super fast and I am loving it. Spring is officially here.

Can you spot the cardinal?!

Dana, Moose, and I headed out for a rainy run this morning. We tried a new loop in our neighborhood and covered 4.7 miles. Despite it being wet, rainy, and a little chilly, it was still a GREAT run! My endurance and stamina felt wonderful and I am confident I will be just fine for the 10K in April.

Since it is rainy, we have decided that today is SPRING CLEANING DAY! I was reading about these cleaning techniques from Carpet Cleaning Knoxville tn‘s website and I am off to dust, windex, vacuum, and mop! Oh, and for those asking where I got my vacuum from, I’d ask them to visit this page, for this page has some of the best electronics I’ve come across. Fun, fun, fun. Kidding, but it will feel really good to do a deep clean on the house.

My hands are struggling to type right now because they are still pretty chilled but my body is so happy. 🙂

Moose hung on through the whole run but he isn’t quite used to runs longer than 3 miles after the winter months. His back paws got a little scraped up and he was bleeding at the end of the run. It’s time to build up those paws again! We covered his wounds with socks and he is now fast asleep on the carpet. Poor guy!

I hope you all have a FANTASTIC Saturday! xoxo

Go Green Tropical Smoothie

Post author:Melanie
Post published:March 28, 2013
Post category:Beauty/Fashion / Giveaway / Lunch / Misc. / Workouts
Post comments:3 Comments

HAAAPPPY GOOD FRIDAY! This week really flew by for me and I’m not complaining about it one bit.

We are going to have one VERY relaxing Easter weekend! We already celebrated Easter with Dana’s family last weekend, so this weekend we will be celebrating with my family on Sunday. Tonight we have zero plans, and tomorrow we are going to do some spring cleaning! Yes, I’m excited about it. I’m hoping it’ll be nice enough that we can open the windows and let the “winter air” out of the house.

I’ve been loving my new NutriBullet. I whipped up another smoothie and have been having fun mixing in different veggies and finding combinations that keep my taste buds intrigued Yesterday’s was a tropical-ish smoothie.

Go Green Tropical Smoothie

1 cup pineapple
1 small-medium ripe banana
2 small celery sticks
1 big handful of kale
almond milk**—as much or as little as you would like to reach desired consistency
aloe vera juice (optional)

**Coconut milk would be a GREAT substitute.

A little lunch action…mixed greens with tomato, guacamole, and an over-easy egg alongside a leftover almond biscuit and a juicy apple. Perfectly satisfying.

In the afternoon I snacked on some walnuts and raisins to give me a quick energy boost.

Afternoon Workout

I pulled up YouTube on our Apple TV and flipped through some workouts and found the ToneItUp girls arm workout. I completed their arm workout and then went right into Insanity’s cardio abs routine. After that I headed down to the treadmill and cranked out a half hour walk. I felt a little guilty that I didn’t take the pup out for a walk outside, but it is SO muddy and I just didn’t feel like dealing with that yesterday. Sorry Mooser. Maybe next time.

Dinner

I roasted a large handful of Brussels Sprouts in the oven with olive oil, salt and pepper. While those roasted, I cooked a couple of mini turkey patties on the stove, along with sauteed onions and mushrooms. Once everything was done cooking, I plated up the sprouts, then the turkey patties, onions, and mushrooms, and I finished the dish off with some shredded cheddar and monterey jack cheese.

I ate a couple spoonfuls of cooked quinoa while I waited for this to come together.

Talk about taking a trip to flavor town! The only seasonings I used in this whole dish were salt, pepper, and olive oil, but the foods all took on their natural flavors and it tasted absolutely delicious.

I spent the evening ~~sobbing over~~ watching Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I read these books a long long time ago, and watched the movies, but it has been so long. Oh how I love a good chick flick! For an evening snack I had a handful of dates with pb; definitely my biggest weakness lately.

Okey dokey, I’m off for the day! I hope you all have a fantastic Good Friday!

Do you celebrate Easter? Do you have any fun plans this weekend?

Getting Back into Outdoor Running

Post author:Melanie
Post published:February 24, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Home Life / Lunch / SCD / Workouts
Post comments:10 Comments

Well, I did something yesterday that I haven’t done in a while…went for an outdoor run. The weather around here has been pretty nasty the last few weeks with cold temps followed by snow, so I have been taking my runs (albeit few runs) inside on the treadmill lately.

Yesterday morning I was planning on just that; running on the treadmill. I told Dana my plan and he said okay, but just so you know I am running outside today. Usually the only way I will run on snowy, icy, streets in the winter is if I’m running with someone else, that way if I were to fall, I’d have someone there to help me out. I made the decision to run with Dana and Moose outside.

I got all geared up and wore the same outfit as I did at our January 1st Polar Dash 10K run (photo from the polar dash), except no neck warmer:

It was 19°F when we were out. The first mile was really cold on my face, but not too long after that I was warming up real well.

The sidewalks in our neighborhood were kinda wishy-washy as far as being clear of snow and ice. Inevitably, the uphill sidewalks were the ones covered in snow so I felt like I was running in sand, uphill. Those hills made me feel pretty out of shape.

At mile two, my legs were feeling like a light load of bricks. The cold was getting to them but they kept moving. We completed our three-mile loop and I am happy to say I finally got an outdoor run in again.

I have less than one month until our 7K run and as long as I start running outside a little more often, I should be just fine. Who knows anyway, the weather could be pretty nice mid-March. Last year it was unseasonably warm. You just never know! You have to be prepared for anything.

From here on out, I’m hoping the weather will only improve and get warmer so I can really start to enjoy outdoor runs again! I’m ready for it.

When we got home I did some stretching, core exercises, and my plank-a-day. Then we got busy packing for our trip and working on some more food preparation!

I wanted to bring some dried fruit on our trip to snack on, so I placed apricots, peaches, pineapples, and bananas into the food dehydrator, covered it, and left it on for a long time; about nine hours.

*I used canned fruit (in its own juice) for this and rinsed them thoroughly and dried them in the sink

For lunch I ate a grilled salmon fillet with zucchini. I ended up adding some honey dijon mustard to my plate because I’m not into plain salmon yet.

I finished lunch with a microwaved apple…

Later in the afternoon before we left to run errands I snacked on a banana with peanut butter…

Dinner was a grilled turkey burger with avocado, SCD ketchup, and mustard, and cooked carrots. Why do grill burgers taste SO much better?! It was delicious.

Finally at about 9:30 pm, the fruit was done dehydrating. We laid them out on the counter to cool down.

And then bagged them up for the trip!

We do plan on visiting a local farm/farmer’s market to pick up fresh produce while we are in Turks and Caicos, but it’s nice to have other options too.

When we were in the Boundary Waters last May with my brother Scott and his girlfriend Nicole, Nicole had made a huge batch of dried fruit and I loved it so much that I went and bought a food dehydrator for myself. Dried fruit is one of my favorite treats, but I don’t like all of the sugar and additives that is often added to the store-bought kind (dried fruit has enough sugar on its own), so I try to make it myself the majority of the time. No additives here!

I have lots to do today so I better get to it. Have a great day!

Strawberry Chicken Salad with the Girls

Post author:Melanie
Post published:February 17, 2013
Post category:Breakfast / Dinners / Friends / Gluten-Free / Home Life / Lunch / Moose
Post comments:6 Comments

Happy Sunday!

I have some coupon cutting and horoscopes reading to do, so I’m going to keep this short and sweet.

Saturday Recap

Breakfast: Kefir with chia seeds which I let soak for 10 minutes to soften the chia. I then added agave nectar to sweeten it up (because kefir is pretty tangy) and added a banana on top!

After breakfast I hit the living room for a leg workout and glute which felt GREAT!

For lunch I had a date with one of my girlie girls, Heidi. She was in town so she stopped by for lunch and to catch up. I made us a strawberry chicken salad with blueberries, almonds, avocado, and feta cheese. It was light an perfect.

After we ate lunch we called Kate on FaceTime (Kate is living in Georgia–I went and visited her on my birthday last year). It was like the three of us were truly having a girly chat together right in the same room. It made me miss her even more but I feel so lucky to have the option of calling her and talking to her “face to face.”

In the afternoon Dana and I had a couple of errands to run. We stopped at TJMaxx and I found another new swimsuit (the one on the bottom right is the newest addition)! I usually don’t have good luck at TJMaxx with swimsuits because the tops and bottoms are sold together as a set, so you aren’t able to mix and match sizes, but this one actually fit me like a glove! Plus, it was only $12.99. Bargain!

We will be spending the majority of time in our bathing suits, so I need to be sure and bring enough plus I like to have options. 😉

For dinner I whipped up a random mix of black beans, onion, garlic, salsa, and cabbage with cheese on top. I wasn’t sure how it would all come together, but it was surprisingly good! I think what made it good was the Parkers Farm Roasted Garlic Salsa. It was so flavorful.

We finished off the night watching Glee from last week. Man oh man it was a juicy one. Lots of unexpected events unfolded!

Moose was unimpressed as usual.

I hope you are all having a relaxing weekend. I have a super fun double date tonight that I am so looking forward to!

Catch up with you all later! xoxo

A Test of My Willpower

Post author:Melanie
Post published:February 13, 2013
Post category:Health / Lunch / Misc. / Sweet Treats / Workouts
Post comments:1 Comment

Happy hump day! I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I’m kind of already ready for this week to be over. Total downer over here, but each day that goes by is one day closer to our vacation, so I am a bit antsy. Not that I usually wish time to go by fast, but in this situation, I sort of do. Wouldn’t you if this was awaiting your arrival?

I think so.

I don’t have much to show for my day yesterday as far as pictures go but I still have a little sharing and confessing to do.

First, I started my day off with a banana with peanut butter, cinnamon and a light drizzle of honey along with another cup of green kombucha tea. I absolutely WILL not eat this breakfast again for breakfast today. I am challenging myself to something more creative today. Plus, we’re getting low on the pb.

Once I was fueled and did a couple of things around the house, I changed quickly into my workout clothes and completed this arm pyramid workout:

Followed by a couple other arm exercises combined with squats and other glute action. I really only had about 25 minutes for a workout this morning so I was happy I at least got something in.

So, off to work I go. I had a lot of meetings yesterday and given that is so close to Valentine’s Day, there were LOTS of treats.

I did a pretty good job with the self-control at lunch. I plated myself up a few of the gluten-free options along with a big cup of homemade chicken chili.

When the desserts were passed around I passed up the cupcakes and the brownies, and had only two chocolate covered strawberries.

Not too bad all things considered. That was willpower test number one.

Fast-forward to our evening meeting. I had packed a bag of carrots to munch on and tide me over until I got home, but that clearly wasn’t enough (I know better than that) because when the nummy snacks started coming out, my hunger began to takeover my willpower.

I brought homemade gluten-free brownies to share with everyone, so I plated myself up one of those, a bunch of Angie’s White Cheddar popcorn, pistachios, a piece of dark chocolate, a few gummy hearts, and a Take 5 mini candy bar. I enjoyed every single treat on my plate without hesitation. Sugars: 1, Willpower: 0.

I have been really limiting my added sugars and having maybe one piece of dark chocolate about every other day or so, and my body has become accustomed to not a lot of added sugars. So last night was a bit of a shock to my body. I didn’t feel good after I did it either. My body was not very happy with this surprise. But, I refuse to dwell on it. It was one day. Today is a new day and I can tell you this much, the sweets don’t stand a chance today.

That’s all I have for now. I just needed to “confess,” and I feel a lot better now.

I’m off to take on my day. I hope you have a positive Wednesday!

Do you have any treats that truly test your willpower?

Back to the Gym & A Happy Cup of Tea

Post author:Melanie
Post published:February 12, 2013
Post category:Breakfast / Dinners / Lunch / Snacks / Workouts
Post comments:1 Comment

Okay, good morning! How did everyone sleep last night? I slept really well except for some crazy dreams this morning. Our brains are so incredible. They take our thoughts and wishes and fears and turn them into some very interesting dreams. Some seem so vivid and real like the one I had last night, and some are so completely out there you wonder how your brain even came up with them. Or how about when you randomly see someone in your dream who you haven’t heard of or seen in ages?! That always blows my mind too.

But anyway…let’s get back to reality.

Monday

I’m starting to lose my creativity again and falling back into the pb banana breakfast again. I have still been trying to incorporate more smoothies in though. It’s a work in progress. We’ll leave it at that.

I was out all morning running errands and hitting up the gym. Oh yea, I seriously went to the gym. It had been a long time since I had been there because I was sick last week and because I have been doing a lot of my workouts in the comfort of my own warm home. I’m still debating putting my membership on hold, but something keeps holding me back from doing it.

At the gym I planted myself on a treadmill directly in front of a TV showing The Price is Right. I began with a light jog, then decided to make this run a HIIT kind of run. I ran for 3-4 minutes at an intense speed, followed by 1-2 minutes of recovery walking, then amped up the speed this time higher than the sprint before, ran for 3-4 minutes, recovered for 1-2, and so on. I did this sprint/walk drill for 3 miles. I was dripping sweat by the time I was done with it.

Next, I moved over to the mats and worked on strengthening my abs. I feel like ever since the January 30-Day-Abs Challenge, I have learned so many great workouts for my abs that really target all areas. This abs workout was the 2nd session of my February Fitness Challenge.

I packed a large bag of carrots to munch on while I was out and about. By the time I got home around noon, I was more than ready for lunch.

I snacked on a few dates with peanut butter while I got lunch ready.

I roasted broccoli, brussels sprouts, and butternut squash in the oven with coconut oil, salt, and pepper. I really wasn’t feeling the sprouts yesterday but ate a few of them anyway.

I finished lunch off with a small snack bowl of mixed nuts and raisins.

In the afternoon I had a cup of green tea kombucha and fell in love with the inspirational words on the tea tag.

“Happiness comes when you overcome the most impossible challenge.” We all have challenges and obstacles in our lives, but we must remember that we will get through them as we always do. Also, we always need to remember to enjoy life each day and show love to the people in our lives each day. That will bring us happiness. At least that’s what I took from it. I’m sure everyone has their own interpretation. I felt happy even before I drank my tea just by reading those words.

Dinner was salmon again! Once a week is still salmon week and let me tell you, I am really starting to like this healthy fish. We made it the same way as we did last week with a little butter, almonds, capers, and sesame oil mixture drizzled over the top of grilled salmon with green beans and asparagus.

I can’t get over how much more I prefer salmon when it is grilled on an outside grill versus inside. It takes any potential fishy taste out of it and gives it a very subtle smoky flavor. I am happy to say the salmon is growing on me!

The rest of the evening was spent in our cozy home watching the Bachelor and celebrating when someone on there FINALLY got sent home (I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t watched it yet). The second person he sent home though however I wasn’t too happy about. BUT, it’s down to the last four now which means home-town dates, and it looks like it’s going to be drama-filled! Again, this show sucks me in every season.

I made myself a snack of blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries with a dollop of FAGE Greek yogurt and honey.

It was the perfect sweet snack to end the night.

Don’t forget to enter my Intelligent Nutrients Organic Shampoo and Conditioner Giveaway! You have until Wednesday to enter. 🙂

Have a great Tuesday!

A Weekend of Cozy Restaurants

Post author:Melanie
Post published:February 10, 2013
Post category:Breakfast / Dinners / Family / Lunch / Restaurants
Post comments:2 Comments

Well hello there my friends! I am having quite the fabulous weekend. How about you? This post is a quick little recap from the weekend so far. ENJOY!

Saturday

On Saturday morning Dana and I met up with my parents and my grandpa at the Copper Dome in St. Paul. Copper Dome is one of my favorite places to go to breakfast with my grandpa. Growing up I would always order from their lengthy pancake menu, and enjoy a cozy ambiance with my family.

Fun fact: President Obama ate at Copper Dome one time when he was visiting Minnesota! Kind of neat. 🙂 Who knows, maybe he sat right where we sat?

I hadn’t been there in years, and this time around I decided to go a different route for breakfast instead of the usual pancakes. I chose a platter with two eggs cooked however you like, hash browns, and turkey bacon. It was definitely a protein-packed breakfast that held me over for a long time!

I had a lot of fun being back there with my family!

Across the street I couldn’t help but notice a second-hand store called Elite Repeat and watched many ladies walking out of there with very cute dresses in their hands. I had to go take a peak for myself. I was looking for a new swimsuit cover up for vacation after all.

What do you know?! I just happened to find one that I loved. It had never been worn and was $16. I’d call that a deal. Plus it’s animal print. So cute. Win.

Alright, a little less talk and more photos…

Dinner was a veggie-packed salad.

Fast-forward to Sunday Lunch…

We met up with Dana’s parents at a restaurant called Porter Creek Hardwood Grill. They have a huge wood burning stove that they use for flatbread pizzas, and they also specialize in rotisserie chicken. Num.

I had a seriously hard time deciding what I wanted. It was between the chicken chowder soup with a side caesar salad, or the Toasted Quinoa Chicken Salad. I went with the quinoa salad.

Unfortunately my cold decided to act up right around lunchtime, and I wasn’t able to taste any of my lunch. I’m pretty sure it was amazing though. 😉 I saved half of it to bring home so I could enjoy it once my senses came back around.

I really enjoyed this place not only for the food but for the ambiance. The snow was flying down outside, and we were inside this warm and toasty restaurant, with a fire going in the fireplace, the smell of the wood burning stove which smelled like a campfire, italian inspired motif, and we were in a super comfortable booth. It really made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

It was a great weekend full of family and food. Now, that is all for now. I am going to enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Be on the lookout for a super amazing giveaway tomorrow!!!

How was your weekend? Do anything fun? Have a relaxing weekend in?

A Typical Day of Meals & Snacks From My Childhood

Post author:Melanie
Post published:February 7, 2013
Post category:Breakfast / Dinners / Family / Lunch / Misc. / Sweet Treats
Post comments:4 Comments

Happy Thursday to you all. I hope everyone is having a good week. I’m still fighting to feel well today. I got nearly 9 hours of sleep last night so that will hopefully help me heal faster. Sleep is so powerful.

Yesterday I went into work, fought through the morning but then felt so miserable that I ended up going home in the afternoon. I planted myself on the couch and that is where I stayed all afternoon and evening minus getting up to get food and drink.

I hesitate to even share my eats yesterday because they are not the most appealing or exciting, but I’ll do it anyway.

Breakfast was an old favorite of Parkers Farm peanut butter, banana, cinnamon, and a light drizzle of honey.

Lunch was seasoned bone broth with chicken and carrots, applesauce, and raw carrots.

Snacks: Cashews, raisins, and almonds…

And dates with peanut butter which is my latest obsession…

I spent the afternoon trying to nap which was turned out to be an unsuccessful attempt (why is it so hard for me to nap?!), watching Food Network, reading, and catching up on blogs. Pretty much I sat on my rear all afternoon and rested.

When dinner rolled around I was very hungry, but had no clue what I wanted. Eventually, with the help of Dana, he made up a plate of roasted broccoli with parmesan with a piece of cooked turkey deli meat with an egg on top. It was very random but it ended up being a nummy combo.

I spent the rest of the evening watching an episode of Glee that I had recorded, Whitney, and Modern Family. I love those shows oh so much.

**************

Switching gears now…

After reading a post from the blog A Dash of Meg, who wrote a post about what a typical day of meals and snacks looked like for her growing up, I thought it would be fun to walk down memory lane as well. Shall we?

A Typical Day of Meals & Snacks From My Childhood

Breakfast

In the morning I would stumble down to the kitchen and pour myself a bowl of cereal with milk or make a warm bowl of Cream of Wheat. Mom always had the cupboard stocked full of good cereals, but some of my favorites were Cinnamon Life and Honey Nut Cheerios. Num! Many times I would sit next to my mom while she read the paper and crunch away at my bowl.

A bowl of cereal now with no additional protein on the side (besides the small amount of milk on the cereal) definitely wouldn’t tide me over very long any more these days, but cereal does make a great snack or you could pair a bowl of cereal and banana slices with a protein rich egg on the side and call it a more well-rounded meal.

I don’t recall snacking very often between breakfast and lunch, so when lunch time rolled around, I was always very hungry. Sometimes I would buy a juice from the soda machine, but not too often.

Lunch

Most of the time I preferred to bring a bagged lunch aside from those random days when I chose to have the taco salad bar or italian dunkers. It’s funny how I always seemed to have a tummy ache after eating the white bread and cheese loaded italian dunkers. I have learned so much about my body and health since then!

Mom made my lunch for the longest time which I am so thankful for, and my usual comfy tummy lunch was peanut butter and jelly on whole grain bread, baby carrots, an apple or a banana, and then usually one little treat like a cookie or fruit snacks or pudding.

Snacks

After school I was always ready for a snack. Often I would go over to my aunt’s house (Betsy’s mom and dad) and hang out there for a while. Betsy and I would practice our dance steps, and then we would have a snack. My favorite afternoon snacks at her house were freshly popped popcorn and graham crackers with peanut butter and mini chocolate chips!

At home, my favorite snacks were probably another mini bowl of cereal or pretzels. I was quite the carb loader back then. 🙂

Dinner

Later in the evening I would either go to dance and then come home and eat dinner, or eat dinner and then go to dance. As I got older I had more and more classes. Mom did a great job of having dinner ready for all of us, even though we were all going out the door here and there to practices, classes, study groups, etc. If someone wasn’t home for dinner, mom or dad would always plate up a serving and put it in the fridge for when they got home.

Some of my favorites were taco night, spaghetti, fajitas, and lasagna.

But truly, I loved everything my mom made. I was never a picky eater and still am not to this day!

In the evening on special occasions, mom would whip us up a batch of orange julius which I believe was made with orange juice concentrate, milk, vanilla, and ice. I’m pretty sure that was it but don’t quote me on that.

It was such a tasty treat and I always got so excited about them. I may need to try to recreate that bad boy.

So, there you have it! I was definitely a carb queen. I needed a lot of energy and brain fuel to get me through the activities of the day, and still do of course, I just get it in different forms now.

I remember many “tummy aches” growing up. I wonder if they can be attributed to dairy products and gluten? It is quite possible I guess. I remember having to plug my nose in order to finish my milk. My mom spent a lot of time researching gastrointestinal problems and we tried many different approaches to get me to feel better. At 12 years old I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis.

It’s all very interesting to me. I am learning more and more about myself every day and I continue to be amazed by the human body. It’s a good thing I decided to become a dietitian! Now my mom (who went to school for nutrition as well) and I really have good nutrition conversations.

Alright, time to go get ready for the day. I hope you had as much fun strolling down memory lane as I did.

What did you eat growing up?

Banana Almond Bread (Gluten-Free)

Post author:Melanie
Post published:January 30, 2013
Post category:Breakfast / Dinners / Lunch / Recipes / Workouts
Post comments:6 Comments

Howdy howdy howdy haaa…HAPPY WEDNESDAY! We are halfway through the standard work week! I hope everyone is having a good week so far.

In an effort to amp up my breakfast creativity, I have called on a little challenge with myself to limit my usual banana with peanut butter breakfast to every other day or less often. I love my pb and banana so much but am eating it so frequently in the morning that even I am getting bored of it. I am always up for a good challenge—so there you have it.

I switched it up yesterday and made myself a smoothie.

This is a kefir (first time trying kefir btw), egg white protein powder, strawberry, banana, and kale smoothie. The verdict on kefir? It made for a slightly tart yet sweet smoothie and I really liked it. I’m on the kefir train.

I ate my smoothie in a bowl with a spoon like soup. It makes the moment last longer than drinking it through a straw, and since I truly enjoy the eating experience, it’s a good way to prolong the enjoyment. If I’m in a hurry or running out the door though, it goes straight into a cup with a straw.

Who says you can’t have a cold smoothie in the dead of winter?

For lunch I ate a bunch of sugar snap peas and carrots, followed by leftover chicken salad from the night before with peas…

An apple with a tablespoon of peanut butter…

And I finished lunch with a small handful of cashews and a bite of applesauce. Very random and very satisfying.

After work I headed to the gym and snacked on two clementines. I am lovin’ those little cuties these days. I wasn’t feel super great at the gym which made for a quick trip. I fought my way through 20 minutes on the elliptical and then called it quits. Besides not feeling good, the gym was PACKED, and I just wasn’t feeling the ambiance at all.

At home I completed the rest of my workout which was the 30 Day Abs Challenge circuit.

Next up…dinner. I made a veggie scramble made of red onion, black beans, kale, one egg, cheese, cilantro, salsa, and avocado. It rocked my socks.

For “dessert” I had two dates and a small handful of raisins.

************

Banana Almond Bread–back tracking

Back on Friday, I threw together a mean gluten-free, SCD-friendly banana almond bread. I’ve been meaning to share it with you since I first mentioned it, but kept having other things I needed to share! Well now’s the time.

I realize now that I didn’t do a very good job of snapping a photo of the finished banana bread product. All I really have to show for it is this…

It didn’t get the photo recognition that it deserves because it did turn out great! Here is that recipe for you finally.

Banana Almond Bread

Gluten-free; SCD

Ingredients

2 cups almond flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 TBSP coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup apple sauce
2 cups ripe bananas (about 3 small bananas)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spritz a standard bread loaf pan with oil. Set aside.
In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir to combine.
In a medium bowl combine remaining ingredients and beat until thoroughly combined.
Slowly add in dry ingredients into wet, and mix until completely combined.
Pour into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into center of bread comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool before slicing. It will continue to set after it is removed from oven.

I enjoyed the bread plain, or with a little smear of peanut butter, almond butter, or with a little bit of butter. It’s best to store it in the refrigerator and lasts for about one week.

I hope you have time to get fun in the kitchen! Have a HAPPY day.

Question of the day: What is your favorite homemade bread?

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