What I Ate Wednesday: Smoothies, Cookies and Glow Bowls

It’s about time for another What I Ate Wednesday post!

Been wayyyy too long.

If you’ve been reading TGF for a while, then you know I eat a plant based vegan diet and have been for two years now. I stick to whole foods and avoid processed foods as much as possible. I also minimize oils (at least when I’m cooking at home) while being mindful about my fat intake; I do LOVE avocados though and have about 2 per week, as avocados are a whole food fat source rather than a extracted oil (such as olive oil). I don’t keep track of specifics and definitely don’t count calories… I would rather not stress about the numbers and prefer to listen to my body instead.

Eating this way works best for me but you may prefer to monitor your food intake a different way – there’s no wrong way to do it; we’re all trying to find our own path, right? The less restrictive and less stressful, the better. Not saying that it’s acceptable to eat vegan cupcakes all day long (!!) but it’s supposed to be a sustainable lifestyle for the long-term, so getting caught up in specifics isn’t worth the time or worry, at least for me. If you are new to the vegan lifestyle, I always recommend getting the Cronometer app – super helpful with keeping track of nutrients etc. 

BREAKFAST: 

After sipping 24 ounces of filtered water with the juice from 1/2 of a lemon, I make a cup of coffee with a yummy splash of the Silk Almond Vanilla Flavored Creamer (a superfood coffee post coming soon ;)). After that I usually do emails or some blog work then make breakfast 30-45 minutes later or whenever I feel hungry. Listening to our bodies is so important! There are days when I’m starving right as I wake up and there are days when I don’t feel hungry until mid-morning. I don’t stress about it – just eat when I’m hungry and stop when I’m full.

So on this morning, I made a superfood smoothie to fuel a quick morning workout. Smoothies are perfect because you can pack in tons of greens and superfoods to kickstart your morning in the best way. My go-to smoothie for the past few months now is usually purple or gray, depending on the type of green I’m using. Similar to my Purple Power Smoothie Bowl, this had:

• 3 heaping cups of spinach
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/2 of a frozen pitaya pack
• 1 teaspoon maca powder (find here)
• 3 teaspoons hemp seeds (find here)
• saigon cinnamon (find here)
• a mix of unsweetened vanilla almond milk with filtered water (about 1 cup altogether)

So much goodness in one mason jar 🙂

SNACK:

I had the taste for something sweet and it probably didn’t help that I made these Vegan Cherry Chocolate Muesli Cookies on Monday… so I ate one… maybe two… with another cup of coffee. Balance, right?! They’re somewhat healthy and seriously good.

LUNCH:

Lunch was simple but super yummy. There are so many variations to Glow Bowls now and I love them all – especially when you guys tag me in your instagram pics or snap me your meals on snapchat (username: glowingfridge) 🙂

Glow Bowls are filled with color and plant based goodness. They can be anything you want them to be as long as they include some type of leafy green, whole grains and veggies. The more colors, the better! I was running low on veggies but had curly kale in the fridge so I de-stemmed the kale and mixed it with fresh lemon juice which helps to soften the kale. On Sunday, I made quinoa to last me through the week so I added that to my bowl along with a baked sweet potato (YUM!) and the lemon tahini sauce from my Green Goddess Glow Bowl which added the perfect amount of creaminess. 

SNACK:

While out running errands in the afternoon, I snacked on a fuji apple and a cold-pressed green juice from Snap Kitchen! This juice tasted exactly how it sounds… SUPER green… but I drank it anyway to get in some extra greens! Picture is from my snapchat (glowingfridge)

DINNER:

Another bowl… bowls are so much more fun than plates! I know the picture is not the best quality which is exactly why I photograph all of my recipes during the day! Anyways, roasted brussels sprouts were calling my name when I went grocery shopping in the afternoon. You can find my recipe for them here – you may think I’m wacko for saying this but they’re totally addicting, kinda like salty chips. The other half was leftovers of my Spicy Kale & Quinoa Black Bean Salad which has become a blog favorite for sure; similar to a vegan bowl at Chipotle and you need to try it ASAP!

That’s it for What I Ate! 

Hope you find these posts helpful and inspiring to get more greens and veggies in your day. 

 

XOXO,

Shannon

♥