WIAW – My Weekly Eats

Happy Wednesday all! As usual, I’m participating in What I Ate Wednesday. Thanks to Jen at Peas and Crayons for hosting!

This week I’m featuring some of my meals from the last week. I work at a college, so summer is filled with registering new freshmen and sophomore students. There are days where I don’t eat anything all day and that wouldn’t make for an interesting post!

 
Sweet potato and nut butter. I’ve seen this on a couple different blogs and thought I would try it out. Honestly, I didn’t love it. The flavors were ok, but I think my next sweet potato will have a little butter and goat cheese on it instead!

I made a broccoli slaw salad for lunch this week. I added 1/2 of an apple to the slaw mix and then drizzled a soy sauce and lime juice dressing over it. It ended up being quite tasty!

Mmmm. My wraps have been awesome lately! This wrap has pastrami, goat cheese, tomato, arugula and an avocado spread, on top of a whole wheat tortilla. Filling, tasty, and quick to make.

A typical breakfast for me. Vanilla greek yogurt with strawberries, bananas and chia seeds and a side of whole wheat toast topped with peanut butter. Super filling and I like the mix of flavors (nutty PB and fresh fruit).

Here is my Tropical Smoothie (recipe here!). I’ve been drinking it a lot lately – since the weather is warming up and fruit is much more available, it’s a perfect breakfast or snack!

Saturday night I splurged and had Trader Joe’s Quattro Formaggi pizza. OH. EM. GEE. It was incredibly tasty and worth the mini splurge. Pizza is definitely one of my weaknesses and this one definitely held up with the best of them!

Mmmm! This weekend I made banana ice cream again! In case you missed it last time, I blend 1.5 frozen bananas in a blender until it’s an ice cream consistency. This time I added some PB2 for some peanut butter flavor without all the calories. Of course, I topped it with chocolate chips.

Finally, I’ve been on a strawberry quick. In yogurt, smoothies, as a snack…I’m really eating strawberries as often as possible! Makes it feel like summer is really here!

That’s all for today! Hope you all have a fantastic week!

Your Turn!

• Have you ever tried putting peanut butter (or any nut butter) on a sweet potato? What did you think?
  

What’s Best for Me (aka shopping at Trader Joe’s)

Happy Thursday!

First, I want to say THANK YOU to everyone’s kind words yesterday in regards to my struggles with the Self Magazine Drop 10 program. I appreciate your comments, emails, and support! I really have taken what you said to heart – if this is not working for me, then I should not continue. I should focus on what’s best for me and what type of eating and exercise “plan” fits best with my lifestyle.

Sometimes conceding defeat is not failure; rather it’s just recognizing that what works for someone doesn’t work for everyone. And that’s ok!

So after work, I drove over to Trader Joe’s (which wasn’t too hard, since it’s a 30 second drive!) and stocked up on food for the next week or so. I’m pretty proud to say that I bought almost all fresh food and am ready to get back on an eating schedule that works for me.

Mmmm. Arugula, broccoli slaw, butternut squash and tomatoes. I’m definitely going to make my goat cheese and butternut squash recipe again. I’m thinking of using the broccoli slaw on sandwiches. Then there’s the arugula. Full disclosure, I’ve never actually cooked with/included arugula in recipes before. Any suggestions?

Next up, sweet potatoes and avocado in bulk. It was a much better deal, and I could eat both of these every day. Will definitely be throwing some goat cheese on my sweet potato again!

FRUIT! Strawberries and apples. I also bought bananas, but forgot to take a picture of them. Whoops. The apples will definitely be paired with PB or almond butter. Not sure about the strawberries yet…in yogurt or oatmeal, eat by themselves…

 
Frozen fruit. YESSS. I didn’t realize frozen fruit was so affordable at TJ’s. I’m definitely making some tropical smoothies. Might try making some tropical ice cream as well.

Goat cheese. Obviously. If you are a regular reader, you know I’m just a *tad* obsessed. I also picked up a Cilantro and Chive Yogurt dip. I’m really looking forward to trying it! I bought it in place of hummus this week. We’ll see if it’s as good as it sounds!

Bought some pastrami for sammies this week! I’m planning on whole wheat bread, broccoli slaw, avocado, and pastrami. Maybe goat cheese. Full disclosure – I’ve never had pastrami before. I’m hoping it’s as good as I hear it is!

    
Vanilla Greek Yogurt. Has anyone mixed PB2 in vanilla greek yogurt? I assume it will taste fine…

Finally bought almonds to make my own almond butter. WAY TOO EXCITED FOR THIS! Any recipe suggestions? I’ve mostly been told to throw the almonds in my Vitamix and blend. Have you made almond butter?

Pita chips. A must at TJ’s. And they’re only $1.99!

Bought sushi for dinner. I hid it pretty well, but I definitely dug into this for dinner before taking this picture. It was delicious – spicy, fresh, and very filling!

Bought this as a treat, because I love pizza. Apparently it’s made in Italy and imported here. I hope it’s as tasty as it sounds!

Trying these for the first time – dried strawberry fruit strip and an apple strawberry fruit roll up. For around 50 calories a piece, I thought I’d give them a try.

CHOCOLATE! I always buy the 100 calorie milk chocolate bars – it’s a great snack and helps provide me with some portion control. Though I will say, sometimes I have two for a 200 calorie snack. Oh well – you only live once! I also love these small bags of dark chocolate almond toffee – it’s like a little bag of heaven!

And on unrelated note…

I got my first Bulu Box in the mail today. I’m excited to try the goodies I received – I’ll tell you more about it next week after I’ve sampled everything!

You know I NEVER pass up a chance to share a picture of Charlie! We spent all of last night sitting outside, and he looked like such a cutie in the sun, with his Care Bear nearby (he is currently obsessed with Wish Bear and this is the first stuffie he has destroyed!).

Your Turn!

• Have you ever tried a new food or exercise plan and it didn’t work? What didn’t work for you? What changes did you make?
  
• Are you a Trader Joe’s junkie like me? What are your favorite foods to buy there?