If you follow me on Facebook, you’ll notice that I’ve posted lots of pictures of my yummy salads that I’ve been eating for lunch everyday.
Like this one:
I am so fortunate to have a great breakfast/lunch place on the first level of the building I work in. It has literally been life-changing for me because for awhile there, I had been eating Kashi frozen lunches pretty much every single day. They are delicious, but I really wanted to start eating fresh food and getting more veggies into my diet.
I pay about $5.80 for my lunch everyday, which adds up to just under $30 a week. The way I think about it, a Kashi lunch is about $3.50, so it’s really not that much less and it’s not as fresh or as healthy as a salad. I get a garden salad with tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, onions a home made (not from a bottle) vinaigrette dressing with chicken or tuna on top. Sometimes I get the salad without protein and get a small cup of soup instead, but only on the days they serve the soup I like (a light chicken tortilla).
I still keep a drawer full of snacks at my desk but my main lunch is usually purchased at work. Snacks I love to keep in my desk include:
Speaking of food, I recently attended a bridal shower where the host hired hired a chef to come and cook for us/teach us how to cook a meal. It was SO fun! It was just a small group of 10 girls and it was such a nice treat. I seriously want to host a similar event in my home.
We made a delicious cheese-stuffed chicken and potatoes and brocollini. I forget the exact name of the recipe but it was delish and I will report back here when I re-create it (especially the potatoes…they were to die for!)
Have you ever hosted a dinner party? I remember as a teen I always felt like hosting a dinner party meant you were an adult, because that’s what everyone on TV did. We have had friends over but I’ve never cooked a full-on dinner for a group or even a couple of people and it’s something I still really would like to do. Maybe that will motivate me to cook more often (here’s to hoping!)
I find that I enjoy cooking most when my H and I cook together right after work. The moment I get on the couch, it’s hard to peel myself away from what I’m doing and I end up not wanting to cook. I’m trying to get into the habit of doing some tasks around the house as soon as I get home instead of heading straight for the couch.
Anyway, this post was kind of random and a total mish-mash of updates, but I thought I’d share because I get a lot of requests for eating-related posts.
Wishing everyone a great week!
xoxo,
Veronika.
- Plain almonds
- Luna Bars (iced oatmeal raisin is my fave, I buy them in bulk)
- Rice cakes
- Skinny Cow Heavenly Crisp bars (for sweet cravings…so pretty much everyday)
- Chiobani Greek Yogurt in the fridge (I love the 0% raspberry)
- A banana or apple
- Cheddar Crackers (I think the brand is nature’s own…they are in the health food section)
- Red grapes (in the fridge)
- Honeydew melon (in the fridge)
- Ezikiel english muffins (cinnamon raisin)
- Peanut butter (I eat this on my Ezikiel muffins—YUM!)
I am also still drinking green tea in the morning and after every meal, for anyone wondering (except for after dinner, when I have no-caffeine peppermint tea).
Now that I’m eating healthy greens for lunch and also incorporating more veggies into dinner (tonight we had chicken terryaki with yellow and red bell peppers and zucchini), I’m really wanting to do that more and more (I guess it becomes addictive!)
Olga says
I love that you snack throughout the day! I don't know how some people live without snacks, haha. I like eating fruit like apples after a meal, because they really fill you up. I've been hearing a lot about the Ezikiel bread, I think I'll have to try some!! BTW love Chobani! Have you had Fage yogurt? It's very similar and just as good!
Marion says
Oh my gosh – that salad looks amazing! YUM!
And I keep many of the same items at work for snacks…almonds are my favorite (I just have to limit how many I reach for since they can be addicting).
I love you diet/health posts! Keep them com in' 🙂
XO – Marion
And yes…the end of "thin mint season" is a good thing!
Chas says
When you have that party with the chef, I better be invited!
Jen says
It's great that you are trying to eat healthier! It definitely is addicting. About a year ago I started to make a move toward eating healthier. I didn't need to lose weight, and I live an active lifestyle but my eating habits needed some tweaking. I started out slow, trading in Yoplait Lights for the fruity greek yogurts, etc. Now, a year later, my eating habits are absolutely different. I try to eat as little prepackaged/processed food as possible and eat "in" far more then I ever eat out. I now LOVE plain greek yogurt with some fresh fruit stirred in…or a big salad full of fresh veggies with fresh herbs and balsamic vinegar…I love to mix tuna with an avocado rather than mayo for "tuna salad"…etc. Over the last year I have dropped about 10 lbs even though I wasn't doing it for weight loss. I look a lot more "defined" in a good way! I feel fantastic, my skin and hair looks way better than it did before, and my running/workouts have improved a lot. Taking small steps toward adding more fresh food is a great thing. I find now that I can't even stand the taste of a lot of the pre-packaged stuff that I absolutely loved a year ago. Keep it up!
[email protected] says
this is so inspiring! it's all about making small changes and substitutions 🙂 thanks for sharing this motivation!
Patty [PRETTYGROUNDED] says
I absolutely LOVE this idea of doing a professional chef cooking lesson in-house. Totally doing this sometime. I think couples would have fun with it too. A lesson would be awesome in your nice kitchen too!
Patty from PrettyGROUNDED.com
Vidhya says
Another great post.. I really should start snacking through the day
And one idea to get off the couch and get some cooking done is to walk into the house and immediately put some pasta or rice to boil. That way you know you have to check up on it anyway, so till it gets cooked , ready the other vegetables. Works for a glued to the couch person like me 🙂
Amy Drinkie says
I host dinner parties quite frequently – 2-3 times a month or more. It's fun; I love to cool. And eat.
Erin @ The Grass Skirt says
Delicious looking salad! You have some great snack ideas too. Have you ever tried Larabars? They are amazing and totally raw and unprocessed. I also love KIND bars. Also, if you're ever looking for a different way to track your meals, I suggest Livestrong.com. I use it pretty much every day, and it is SO helpful! You can even see a breakdown of your carb/fat/protein ratio.
Nicole says
I also keep lots of healthy snacks in my office. One thing I noticed recently is that I have SIX jars of nut butters! I love nut butters and like to try new ones, but SIX?! 🙂 Guess I don't have to worry about running out anytime soon!
Anonymous says
LOVE dinner parties. It is so fun to get a small group together in your home and enjoy and evening of food and cocktails. My one tip is to make sure that most things are can be premade. You don't want to be working the entire time your guests are in your home. You have a nice open kitchen, so that will help a lot to have everyone around. Good Luck!
Lindsey says
Your salad looks so delicious! I would give anything to have something like that in my building. We have a Subway, which I guess I could work with but I don't think their salad would compare!
Andi says
Yum, love the cooking party, looks like a lot of fun. Eating fresh totally becomes an addiction! And what a great one to have 🙂 It's so sad that the modernized food industry modifies or removes the actual nutrients so much that the food becomes unrecognizable, not to mention toxic as hell. Since being diagnosed with Celiac in January, good nutrition has really become a passion for me. The modern day food industry is such BS and our bodies have the capability to heal ourselves if we just give it the nutrients it was designed to process.
Andrea Clare says
YUM, that tuna looks delicious!!
Anonymous says
Oh please please please post the recipes for the chicken/potatoes/broccolini that you made at the dinner party! It sounds wonderful!!! You inspire me to eat healthier!
Anonymous says
I forgot to mention that eating healthier makes getting pregnant much easier and healthier for mom and baby! Your body should be primed and taken care of *before* it starts growing a new little body! 😉
Michélle says
I'd love to see a screen shot of your spread sheet 🙂 Sounds smart! I usually stress so much I don't pay attention to when, what, where or how much I eat these days… and HELLO weight gain! I need to start using a spread sheet too! Thanks for the reminder 😉
Lori Supek says
Luna bars have too much sugar!! Try LARA bars~! so much better and they taste great! my favorites are the Cashew cookie, apple pie and Cherry.
fitfashlife.blogspot.com
[email protected] says
i don't love lara bars…i've tried many of them and the texture is a turnoff to me…they are basically the same amount of calories and the luna bars keep me satisfied so I stick with them because i enjoy them whereas i kind of have to force the lara bars on myself
Anonymous says
Your diet has significantly improved since the last time u posted about food! Keep up the good work. One thing though, I know that peppermint helps digestion but do u ever notice tea irritating ur IBS or esophogus..my doctor recently told me to reduce my tea intake because if the irritation.
[email protected] says
green tea and peppermint actually improves my IBS, it doesn't worsen it. I haven't had symptoms since I cut out fake sugars.
Anonymous says
You should try the apple cinnamon chiobani, it's amazing! By far my favorite!
Claire says
I swear, I'm useless at eating healthy / sticking to a diet, so I'm just dropping by to say that hiring a chef to teach everyone how to cook a nice meal has got to be one of the best bridal shower ideas ever. It sounds so tasteful (ba dum).