WIAW Post #2: Green Foods Month

I thoroughly enjoyed my first "What I Ate Wednesday" post last week and am happy to be a part of this fun foodie program!  This month's WIAW theme is "Going Green" which has come just in time for my addition of baby bok choy for snacking.  This smaller version has a sweeter flavor and provides a satisfying and healthy crunch which I love.  I like to eat it like you would celery and spread natural peanut butter on it for a real treat.  I have more "green" foods in the works that I'll share next week.

Simple to pull apart and wash for a very healthy quick prep snack.

This week's menu of meals I cooked on Sunday are mostly different than what I usually cook.  I made a tasty quinoa pilaf with broccoli, cauliflower, and tomatoes for Kelley and me to have on Meatless Monday, and for Tuesday, I took the sweet potatoes we have every week and made a Coconut Sweet Potato and Black Bean Casserole.  I also made a sweet potato tuna casserole and a white bean with tomato and tons of veggies slow-cooker soup for the rest of the work week.  I think next week will be less thrilling in order to exchange time in the kitchen for time with the wife, Kelley!

Breakfast - Some leftover sweet potato and black bean casserole with baby bok choy and sliced turnips as finger foods.  French press coffee with fresh ground nutmeg, cinnamon, and dash of vanilla extract.  I finished up with a cup of Arrowhead Mills Corn Puffs mixed with Kashi GoLean Crunch cereal.  I'm not the biggest fan of the Kashi cereal since there's more ingredients than I consider necessary, but it's a nice change from the ordinary.



Leftover nutmeg after the "grind"....



I got Kelley hooked on the Puffed Corn, it's awesome....just "puffed corn" for ingredients!



Another great WIAW Green Week item!

Snack - Not much here; just 2 bags of green tea mixed with two bags of vanilla rooibos tea and 5 drops of liquid stevia.  I had a small handful of dry roasted and unsalted soy nuts too; that left me ravenous for lunch!

Lunch - Kelley and I are fortunate enough to work in the same office together, and we always go for a walk outside before returning to heat up our homemade (with love from me) lunch for the day.  It really bugs Kelley when she asks what's for lunch while on our walk, and I refuse to tell.  I like surprises, no matter how small, so it's fun to keep her guessing....I don't think she feels the same though.  Sorry, Kelley!

White beans and veggies before the immersion blender...it's good either way!

Anyway, today's lunch was the slow-cooker white bean tomato and veggie stew/soup that I ran an immersion blender in really quick just to make it a little creamy.  I'm a fan of finger foods, and had okra and green beans that I dehydrated for a crunchy after lunch snack. 

Getting ready to dehydrate; these things get about a quarter of their "hydrated" size.  I forgot to take a pic after dehydrating...

I love the okra; have you ever tried dehydrated (not fried!) okra?  I suggest you try it soon if not.  I had another mix of green and red tea I brewed to accompany my lunch as well.  I do have a box of Annie's Homegrown Chocolate Bunny Grahams, but I've been uncontrollable after opening the box, so I left it untouched today.  But tomorrow, those bunnies are toast; well, more of a sweet cracker, really.

Kinda Snack - Just another mug of green tea mixed with a peppermint herbal tea was my afternoon snack.  I've mentioned before, on my first WIAW post, that I eat most of my food when at home and comfortable.  So, it's not unusual for the low amount of food until dinner.

Dinner and Snacks - This part of the day lasts about 3 hours as I tend to eat slow and try to enjoy/appreciate my food.  I started with a big salad mixed with watercress, arugula, steamed veggies, left over qunioa pilaf, and salsa with balsamic for dressing.

Forgot the picture, so I used this as a reference salad pic; looks good to me!

After the salad, I had two different cups of pureed squash, carrots, a little frozen fruit, protein powder, NuNaturals Stevia, and unsweetened almond milk in the freezer.  After finishing the second cup, I refilled with frozen chopped carrots and apples, roasted pistachios, cinnamon, NuNaturals Liquid Stevia, Chobani Plain Non-fat Greek yogurt, and unsweetened almond milk.  I always have a few homemade baked goods to pair with these cups, and today was no different.

Sugar-free PB Thumbprint cookies....apples added to hide background which didn't work too well...

I meant for the cracks to be there.....

I sampled a few NuNaturals products that the company was so generous to provide (review and giveaway contest to come soon) and am very pleased with the results.  The baked goods for today were Peanut Butter Oatmeal Thumbprint cookies and a very, very dense Pumpkin Banana Protein Bread.  I'll post these recipes soon, but if you just can't wait, e-mail me and I'll send them to you.

I wasn't lying when I said this bread is Dense...with a capital "D"

Ahhhh, another tasty day has come to an end; but don't fret, there's always tomorrow for more good food! We received the punching bag yesterday, and expect the stand to hang the bag to arrive today.  I can't wait to try it out!

Is there any fun fitness equipment that you currently or want to own?  I say get it; whatever you enjoy doing, you're more apt to stay consistent, and exercise should be a high priority for good health.