Tag Archives: breakfast

What I Ate Wednesday #43

Posted on February 1, 2012 | 3 Comments

Hello hello. Welcome to another What I Ate Wednesday! As always, thanks to Jenn over at Peas & Crayons for hosting the link party.

Tuesday flew by. Do you ever have a day (or who are we kidding, a week) where the second your inbox is empty, five (or fifteen) emails magically appear and oh sh!t—don’t you have a meeting in three minutes? Yeah…At least I had some good food to keep me going. Thank god for coffee, cooling eye gel, and morning endorphin boosts.

Breakfast: Steel-cut oats w/ chia seeds, plum, pumpkin, spices, and peanut butter

Lunch: Veggie burger with eggplant and Trader Joe’s lentil masala dip; side salad 

Snack: Plain yogurt w/ cocoa powder, 1/2 a banana, cereal

Dinner: Spaghetti squash w/ kale, broccoli, cauliflower, homemade marinara, Tofurkey sausage and parm

Snack: Frozen waffle topped w/ peanut butter & blueberries

What foods do you reach for when you need to keep your energy up? 

To see more WIAW from other bloggers, visit Peas & Crayons.

→ 3 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Officially Addicted

Posted on January 31, 2012 | 4 Comments

coffee: an important part of this complete breakfast

I’m officially addicted to caffeine. Getting a coffee maker was one of the best worst decisions I’ve ever made, since I’m saving a lot of money—and paper cups—but now I find myself unable to start my morning without at least a cup of black coffee. Green tea (which has a lower caffeine content) used to be enough. Ah well.

To quote Mr. Bob Dylan, “I never asked for your crutch, now don’t ask for mine…”

Besides, coffee has some health benefits! I’ll take the potential reduced risk in diabetes, heart disease and some cancers any day! However, a recent study showed that coffee may affect women’s estrogen levels in various ways depending on race, so that could be worth taking into consideration.

For now, though, I’m just fine relying on those few cups a day to keep me going. I can totally stop whenever I want to. Yeah, right…

Are you hooked on caffeine? How do you take your coffee? 

→ 4 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , ,

Eating the Rainbow

Posted on January 29, 2012 | Leave a comment

This has been a busy Sunday. Even though I was feeling a little faded (though not enough to regret that second drink)‚ I hit the ground running for a head-clearing workout and more apartment hunting. I’m not looking to actually move to another place for a couple months, but since I have the time now, I’ve been taking advantage of it.

Dorky as it sounds, I do try to practice what I preach when I tell people to “eat the rainbow”—fruits and vegetables, though, not Skittles. For breakfast I made steel-cut oats with chia seeds, pumpkin, apple and pumpkin pie spices (topped with peanut butter for protein and healthy fats). Why don’t I made steel cut more often? Yes, they take longer, but they’re so worth it. It’s also easy to just make a big batch and separate it into single servings to reheat later in the week.

For a late lunch, I enjoyed a 21-vegetable soup and a gorgeous nicoise salad with tuna. Winter produce can be a little sad, but there was so much going on here that it all added up to a very satisfying—and colorful—meal.

Do you try to “eat the rainbow?” What are some of your favorite ways to add color to your plate?

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Scenes from the weekend

Posted on January 23, 2012 | 5 Comments

This weekend has been a really nice one. I got to see a lot of favorite faces and also had a chance to unwind a little.

Some highlights included homemade stir-fry in Brooklyn…

Don't worry mom—still not a smoker!

Leisurely breakfasts…

Birthday celebrations…

Anders: "It's my birthday weekend, and I'm gonnga gnaw on this!"

Wine tasting…

…and a little reminder, courtesy of Dove chocolate…

What did you do this weekend? 

→ 5 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Snow Day Breakfast?

Posted on January 21, 2012 | 4 Comments

Oats w/ chia seeds, banana, blueberries & cottage cheese

For whatever reason, there’s something extra awesome about enjoying a leisurely breakfast on a snowy morning, even if it’s a Saturday and you have the day off anyway.

Creature of habit I am, I almost always want oatmeal (usually a variation on this recipe) when it’s snowy out, but maybe for you it’s pancakes or eggs or, like, a turkey wrap—whatever.

What’s your favorite snow day breakfast? Or, if you live in a warmer place, what would it be? 

→ 4 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , ,

Have you tried the new Peanut Butter Cheerios?

Posted on January 20, 2012 | 3 Comments

I don’t know what it is this week, but I’ve had cereal on the brain—cereal monogamy, to be specific. For someone who writes about food so much, sometimes my own living-under-a-rock-ness astounds me. For example, I had no idea there were so many varieties of Cheerios out there. Chocolate? Dulche de Leche? Peanut Butter?  I’m intrigued.

Because I’m kind of a nerd, I wanted to check these out online before adding them to my shopping list. I’m glad I did. While I’m all for whole grain cereal, and the nutrition stats and ingredient lists are not completely terrifying, sugar is still one of the first four ingredients  for most of these flavors (corn syrup, brown rice syrup, and other sweeteners are also on the list). The artificial coloring is kind of a drag too.

I’m sure I’m not the first to say it seems like there’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing thing going on, with sugary cereals basking in the “healthy glow” shoppers associate with Cheerios. Okay, that’s a little melodramatic, but you know what I mean. It’s only cereal, I know, but it still bugs me to see artificial stuff on the list. Continue reading →

→ 3 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , ,

What I Ate Wednesday #41: Cereal Monogamist

Posted on January 18, 2012 | 6 Comments

Happy What I Ate Wednesday. How’s your week going? Mine’s been a little busy and kooky, but no complaints here.

A big part of eating well, I believe, is keeping healthy foods on hand so that’s what you have to reach for when it’s time to eat. Yes, this requires some planning ahead, especially if you’re trying to get into a new routine, but after awhile it becomes second nature and you start to fall into a groove.  Mixing up those familiar, healthy options over the course of your week is one way to keep from feeling like that groove has become a rut.

One area in which I fail at mixing it up is cereal. I’ll get on a jag with a particular variety and just buy that one kind of months at a time. My excuse is that if I bought too many kinds at once, they’d all go stale before I could finish them. That’s valid, right? Case in point: after months of topping my yogurt with Puffins, I got a taste for something from the shredded wheat camp and picked up a box of Kashi’s Autmn Harvest last time I went to Trader Joe’s. About damn time. It’s healthy to remind oneself that there are other whole grain cereals out there!

I’m also pretty loyal to oatmeal, which is technically a cereal, but that’s not changing anytime soon. Since there are so many different kinds of ways to enjoy oatmeal, its’ hard to get sick of. When it comes to certain things, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Continue reading →

→ 6 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

Small Pleasures

Posted on January 14, 2012 | 6 Comments

Good morning! I don’t know about you, but I’m so happy the weekend is here. For better or worse, I’m a morning person—always have been, always will be (oh, genetics). In the past, this has proved somewhat crazy-making for people I’ve dated, so I’ve added “not worrying about waking up a sleeping boy/man/friend-thing” to the list of why being single is awesome.

oats w/ chia seeds, pear, cottage cheese & Trader Joe's fig butter

One of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday morning is to exercise (today included the elliptical machine and some arms & abs work) and then make a nice breakfast. Reading the paper over oatmeal and coffee never gets old for me, especially if Car Talk happens to be on the radio.  I don’t even have a car, but I love this show! I know, I know, but hey, we all have our little quirks…

What are you up to this weekend? Any favorite morning rituals? 

→ 6 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , ,

Finally

Posted on January 10, 2012 | Leave a comment

After a week, the cooking gas was finally turned back on in my building yesterday. While I’m mostly just glad they found out where the leak was coming from and were able to fix it, it was really nice to finally make breakfast on the stove instead of the microwave this morning. It’s the little things, people!

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , ,

What I Ate Wednesday #36

Posted on December 14, 2011 | 6 Comments

Cheers to another What I Ate Wednesday post featuring Tuesday’s food. Being that this time of year kicks my ass and eats my schedule, this made much more sense.

Not that Tuesday wasn’t weird. It started at 3 a.m. when I couldn’t get back to sleep. Despite my best efforts—tea, melatonin, multiple episodes of How I Met Your Mother—I eventually decided to stop tossing and turning at 6 and hit the gym instead, deciding I would do through my usual morning routine in hopes of feeling ready for a nap after breakfast. Luckily, it worked, and I snoozed from 8:30-10:30. Hey, it’s better to franken together an almost-decent night of sleep than to go with none. In my book, 6 hours will always be better than 3.

I had a busy afternoon of work and errands and a flu shot, but I got a lot done. I may have face-planted for a half-hour when I got home and attempted to study more for my biochem final, but let’s keep that little puddle of drool between us, shall we?

This time next week, I’ll be a free woman—I am looking forward to two school-free months before my internship starts in February. I guess I shouldn’t get ahead of myself though.

Here’s what I kept myself fueled with yesterday:

Breakfast: Apple spice oats in a near-empty sun butter jar

Lunch: Spinach salad with tomato, cucumber, roasted red pepper, mushrooms, chickpeas, parmesan, and oil & vinegar

Snack: Yogurt with half a banana, cereal and fig butter

Dinner: 7-or-8 vegetable soup; sandwich with hummus, goat cheese, roasted pepper and eggplant and baby spinach

Snacks: (unpictured) glass of red wine at writing group; a chopped and microwaved apple with Biscoff

When you don’t get enough sleep, do you rely on naps or do you power on through the day? 

To see more WIAW posts from other bloggers visit Jenn’s blog Peas & Crayons.

→ 6 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , ,