Welcome to another What I Ate Wednesday. God, I can’t believe I’ve been doing this for 23 weeks now…To see more What I Ate Wednesday posts from other bloggers, visit Peas & Crayons.
Today was pretty productive—by the time I left for class, I’d taken care of all my work assignments for the day and even had time to run some errands like picking up this library book (I have a shameless addiction to music nonfiction). With two out-of-town weddings coming up this weekend, I’m trying to get as much done as possible before Friday.
In other unimportant news, this week, I rediscovered peanut butter. For the past couple years, I’ve been eating mostly almond butter, but I’ve noticed that sometimes my throat feels funny (a cross between itchy and burning) after I do. Ditto raw and whole nuts. I waited a long time to get it checked out because I thought maybe it was all in my head and didn’t want to seem like a hypochondriac.
However, I finally went to the allergist this summer and learned that while I don’t have any allergies to nuts, I’m allergic to a pollen that often effects certain varieties, especially raw nuts. That means that when I eat those kinds of nuts, my body thinks it’s eating pollen and says, “WTF?” The reaction is only in the mouth and while I was told it’s not life-threatening, it’s still unpleasant. Being afraid to eat one of your favorite foods really puts a damper on things.
I don’t know what made me pick up the peanut butter jar again other than the fact that I saw it sitting there in the fridge and thought, “Gee, I haven’t had peanut butter in awhile.” Go figure, I put it on top of some oats and felt totally fine after eating. I tried it again the next day and the next—I was so relieved not to be struggling to take a deep breath all morning. So who knows if that’s really what’s up, but I think I’ll be sticking to peanut butter for the time being. It’s got very similar nutrition stats to almond butter, tastes great, and is a lot cheaper. What’s not to like?
Thanks to some shopping and cooking earlier in the week, putting together today’s meals was a cinch. I love when it works out that way.
Breakfast: oats with chia seeds, pear, spices, and peanut butter
Lunch: Omelette-fail of egg whites (w/ turmeric and other spices), onion, pepper, spinach topped with avocado and served with toast
Pre-class snack: Yogurt w/ flax, a peach, blueberries, and a spoonful of granola
Dinner: Kale salad in miso-tahini dressing w/ homemade falafel, roasted pepper & cauliflower, olives and feta; hummus and whole wheat pita
no idea why this picture is upside down but I can't fix it—if this is a metaphor I don't understand yet, it had better be a good one
Dessert: Macintosh apple slices with (yes, more) PB
Hope you had a great Wednesday!
Do you have any allergies or annoying reactions to certain foods?
Ugh, sorry about your pollen reaction! I used to be allergic to mango when I was little, but I just kept eating it anyway and it seems to have gone away. I have developed a bit of a lactose intolerance, though (unless it was always there) so I try not to eat dairy as much.
That’s so funny about your mango allergy! My sister is supposedly milady allergic to a bunch of stuff that she eats all the time too. I’d love to learn more about how allergies develop/diminish—I think it’s so fascinating.
I just found your blog and am totally drooling over your meals from the day! That pollen reaction really stinks, but at least you found out the cause of the discomfort and can tailor the eats appropriately. Me and dairy are really not friends, especially as I started reducing the amount I wanted to eat. Now on the rare occasion that I have some ice cream of cheese, my stomach gets really unhappy!
Lactose intolerance is no fun. Luckily, there are a lot of delicious dairy-free ice creams and other products cropping up. Not that this is anything new, but have you ever tried dark chocolate sorbet? Some ice cream places serve it, and it’s so good!
I used to think I was allergic to all nuts and sesame and I didn’t eat nut butters or hummus etc. It was so sad. When I finally got tested, it turned out that I was only allergic to hazelnuts and pistachios! I love nut butters now and am making up for lost time, haha.
I don’t mind my allergies, I don’t like nutella (too sweet!) so it doesn’t matter much unless I’m eating gourmet food which I don’t often do