A Few Foodie Updates

This post is completely dedicated to the eats as of late. I haven't been sharing them as much in my past few posts, so I have a ton of pictures to show, plus a few points of advice about healthy snacking--which I am a big fan of :)

B'FAST (aka-my favorite meal of the day) 

 The classic oatmeal-steal cut oats cooked over the stove with flax seed, chia seed, agave for sweetness, banana and cinnamon!  

Frittata and fruit salad! This was a brunch made with my good friend, Esme. We've become real masters of the egg+veggie frittata. 

Then it started to warm up a bit in B'More and was beginning to feel like spring! So I broke out the blender and started making green smoothies for breakfast instead of my normal hot oatmeal. 

Lately my smoothies have consisted of frozen mango, banana, and strawberries, kale, almond milk, and vanilla protein powder. I promise you can't taste the kale at all!

Changing things up a bit---Greek yogurt+fruit salad and a Vans GF waffle+Crofters jam 

 Unfortunately the warm weather was just a tease and the temp quickly dropped back down to freezing-my-butt-off degrees Fahrenheit.  Great...

And so the oatmeal returned as myAM staple. This one was packed to go because I had a big exam to get to! I've said it before and I'll say it again, oatmeal is the perfect breakfast to have before an exam!

LUNCH

A strange concoction of things I had laying around---carrots+hummus, berries, leftover quinoa, and a couple rice cakes with peanut butter.

Mediterranean salad from one of the cafés on campus--spinach, carrots, dates, chickpeas, almonds, red onions and a honey balsamic dressing. Usually I'm not a huge fan of pre-packaged salads, but this one was actually really good and had a lot of flavor.

DINNER

Valentine's Day sushi date with Joey! We were really craving fresh fish so when it came time to choosing our date night spot, Chiu's Sushi was an obvious choice. If you are in the Baltimore area and like sushi, I HIGHLY recommend this place. It's reasonably priced with really quality sushi rolls. Also, the staff is super friendly! They had red heart balloons tied on every chair for V'day and also gave us a free sushi appetizer shaped like a heart! So cute. 

A nice home-cooked meal consisting of sautéd faux chicken strips with broccolini, a cup of spicy black-bean soup and an apple+almond butter on ze side.

I realize this doesn't look very appetizing, but it's probs one of my favorite dinners to make. Quinoa with sautéd peppers, onions and mushrooms. Then avocado and goat cheese sprinkled on top. SO delicious, I could probably eat 5 bowls of this in one night. 

Another bowl concoction! Faux chicken strips, quinoa, peppers, spinach, and avocado. 

MISCELLANEOUS 

Kombucha! I usually stick to GT's Synergy brand of kombucha beverages, but I tried this one because it's sold at the school market. It was actually really delicious! The Granny Smith and the Peach flavors are both so good and perfectly refreshing.

Groceries! I've been going to Trader Joe's for most of my recent shopping trips. I feel like I get really quality food there, while not blowing my budget. It's honestly crazy how much less expensive it is at TJ's than, say, Whole Foods--which I still go to, just only once a month or so. 

SNACKS

I am a big fan snacks. I always try to have a bag of almonds, bar, or apple in my bag at all times. You never know when those hunger pangs are going to hit, so better to be prepared with something that won't break your diet, rather than be forced to buy something bad for you out of desperation. Here are some of the snacks I love! 

I mention Siggi's icelandic yogurt in most every post, but it seriously is perfect. It's very low in sugar, 110 calories, and has 16g of protein so it will keep you full until your next meal. Also, if you get hungry late and night and need a little snack before bed, this is by far your best option. 

Mmmmm almonds. Salty, crunchy, roasty, high in protein...enough said

Apple+almond butter or peanut butter! Again, the fruit alone may not keep you totally full for a while, but adding on the almond butter or peanut butter definitely will. Just make sure it's a brand of nut butter that doesn't have hydrogenated oils or excess sugar in its list of ingredients. 

KIND bar! They recently came out with Kind bars that have only 4g of sugar, which is way way less than their other ones and there's no reduction in flavor. 

Let me know what your snacks you like to have! I would love to hear ideas from you guys!! 

That's all I have for now though! I'll leave you with this adorable picture of Moses Jones the Cat in his adorable deep slumber...

Zzzzzzzz

Have a fantastic Sunday!!