#teamhealthy
If you follow me on Facebook you may have seen my post referencing food lies we have been fed (pun not intended but it works!) & it was extra disgusting. I was shocked back to reality. Trying to cut processed foods completely out, no meat, no sugar and it started last night. Taco night for the family, chicken for them and veggie for me!
One of my issues in maintaining healthy eating habits is that I love to snack. Its funny because I actually hate the word snack, my kids use it often, after they eat they want a snack, like immediately after any meal they are asking for a snack as if its a reward for finishing their food.
I guess that idea of a reward is why snacking is my vice. I mean think about it, snacks are marketed in the most fun ways, the brightest, most lively, most entertaining situations we see when it comes to food marketing involve snacks.
I had to keep my snack options but make more healthy choices with variety. I cant snack on veggies and fruit only, wheres the crunch? I now make it a point to look for snacks geared towards vegans as much as I can. Here are a few things ive picked up (the oatmeal is not really a snack but was a great find because steel cut oatmeal takes a while to cook), which I am happy to report that although the taste profile may take some getting used to, they are rather tasty.
Last night I decided to try a dish that I've had in my head for a few weeks.
I visited Whole Foods one day and had the "garlicky pasta" from the hot bar. Bad breath be damned it was so good. Just plain spaghetti noodles with roasted garlic tossed in olive oil. Simply delicious.
I wanted to recreate it at home but figured it would be interesting to try it with spaghetti squash instead. I also wanted more of a tomato sauce so I added a bit more veggies to the mix: roma tomatoes, white onion, white mushrooms and tomatillos.
For those that are unfamiliar, spaghetti squash looks just like your garden variety (pun intended) squash. The difference is when you cook it up the flesh scoops out in strands that look just like spaghetti noodles.
As for tomatillo its a vegetable of the nightshade variety that is often used in mexican cuisine. It has a light citrus taste.
It was fairly easy to prepare the ingredients, I simply roasted the squash and garlic in the oven after brushing with Wegmans basting oil. I sauteed the other veggies in a pan with olive oil. I seasoned with Trader Joes lemon pepper seasoning.
I actually liked how it turned out. I also gave some to Sam the girl (my daughter) and she ate it with no problem, she actually loves vegetables though.
I sampled the leftovers this morning and it actually tastes even better so I think this recipe is a keeper. I would say total prep and cooking time is an hour, cause it took me a while to get the dern squash open. I think I need to ask "Santa" for some ginsu knives or something. I went through a good five knives! It takes 30-45 minutes to roast the veggies in the oven.
Here are pics of the adventure!
That when your body is trying to talk to you, but you ignore it, often times your body will punish you.
Remember the other day I posted a pic of my nice healthy lunch of a side salad? Well I followed that with foolery. My vice is snacking so I may go the whole day and not eat but as soon as I get a breather I chow down on whatever snack is handy...no good when you have two kids under the age of 10 cause at any given time any crazy snack may be in here.
Yesterday I had a busy schedule, an FX client and a beauty client followed by a family event. Felt perfectly fine Friday and hung out with the fam at Wegmans (dont laugh, if you have a Wegmans in your area you know how awesome it is). I even picked up a variety of veggies to make some vegetarian dishes this coming week.
All was well until the live music led me to the aroma of the hot bar...i kinda knew no good could come of it, especially when making my son's plate he had fried rice, fried chicken, dumplings...that little boy can eat! I could feel my upper lip begin to dampen with sweat at the impending temptation as you see, I have a problem in that I dont like to tell myself no. I feel like life is too short for deprivation, the problem with that theory is you can land yourself in some compromising situations...
I started off good at the hot bar - butternut squash with cranberries, kale and carrots, asparagus - but then I just had to have the singapore noodles with shrimp, and the bread pudding...*smh* and yes I had them all together in one container.
The asparagus ended up not being that good but everything else was delicious. I went to bed full and satisfied (and therein lies another issue, going to bed FULL after eating a bunch of randomness after 7p).
Around 5:30a Saturday morning I awoke with a jolt. No there was no intruder in our home but there WAS one in my stomach wreaking havoc. I spent the greater part of Saturday in the bathroom, or bent over with my face in the grass trying to rid my body of whatever toxin was invading. All bodily functions were engaged in a full out battle...it certainly was not pretty. And yes I STILL went to my FX client at 8a because there are no sick days as a freelancer but yes I did get sick while there...three times. *sigh*
I ended up having to cancel my 2nd client so as not to risk any more embarassment (sorry Kesh bookie) and passed out in my bed. I was able to gather a bit of energy to spend time with my extended fam but I didnt eat anything. I sipped on unsweetened iced green tea.
I will be more diligent from this point forward in practicing healthy eating habits and hope to share my journey here. I will try to eat raw as much as possible (i picked up some raw, vegan snacks that I will share later) and of course vegetarian. Every once in a while I will have seafood but that will be very rare. No more dairy will be consumed, replacing milk with almond milk, as much gluten free as I can do, and cutting back on granulated sugar and sweetening agents.
I leave you with pics of todays breakfast and of my fam from yesterday.
