Hey greenies, it's Wednesday so that means it's time to talk about food! I'm part of a link-up party over at Peas & Crayons where over 200 bloggers link up and share what they had to eat that day. "What I Ate Wednesday" is a great way to meet other bloggers, find new recipes to try, or just see what cool new food trends may be happening.
Let's get started with my gluten-free, vegan food for the day...
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| 5:00 AM Just woke up: warm water with the juice of half a lemon |
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| Pre-workout snack: 2 slices Rudi's Multigrain Gluten-free toast, Earth Balance butter, organic strawberry jelly. |
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| 7:30 AM Breakfast: "Chocolate Ice Cream Smoothie" |
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| 9:15 AM 1st Morning Snack: 1 Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar |
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10:00 AM 1st Morning Snack: "Sneaky Spinach Pancakes" with maple syrup. |
Lately I've been swamping out my usual maple agave nectar for real maple syrup (organic, grade B). I've been doing this primarily because of some information I've read in articles like: "Sweetner Comparisions: Honey, Agave, Molasses, Sugar and Maple Syrup" over at Green Lite Bites, and "Agave Part 2: The All-Amazing Agave Hoax" at My Merry Messy Life. I can relate to some of what these bloggers mentioned in their articles about how agave claims to not raise your blood sugar as much as traditional sweeteners, but yet I do recall having a light-headed, sugar-rush type feeling after eating it. This lead me to question it's claim of not raising my blood-sugar...when clearly it was! I know sugar is sugar...in all forms, but still, it seemed like agave marketing is making it out to be something it's not.
Don't get me wrong though, I love agave nectar...I'm just not sure I'm "in love" with it any more...lol. Coconut sugar and xylitol are my go-to's for baking, but liquid sweetener is a bit tricky these days! I've been giving maple syrup a try, because I've read it has a bit more nutritional value than agave nectar and to me it just feels "safer". So far, I don't feel quite the "rush" I occasionally felt with agave and I like it's milder flavor. When it comes to agave, I'm tempted to try experimenting with different brands and different flavors to see if it makes a difference. You know, trying out the "raw" agave and seeing if that makes a difference. I'll keep you posted. Do you have any favorite liquid alternative sweeteners?
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| 12:30 PM Lunch: Vegan Chili and Pasta, inspired by "Cincinnati Suburb Chili" from Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson (pinto beans, TVP, tomatoes, spices with Tinkyada rice spaghetti noodles, topped with fresh onions) |
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2:00 PM 1 green juice with apple, celery, pineapple, kale, lemon, ginger, and cucumber. |
To help me keep stick with "healthy habit" this month of drinking more fresh green juice, I've started taking my juicer to school and when my students have their snack time, I whip up some green juice. They think I'm pretty strange, but I think the more they see me having it, the more they are interested in trying it. Right now the green color freaks them out beyond belief so it's a no-go. But maybe down the road I'll have more willing taste-testers. At least they think I eat somewhat healthy...my poor morning class probably thinks the only thing I ever eat is pancakes, since I have them nearly every day during their morning snack time. Little do they know they are healthy too and full of spinach!
Now even though I can't get my preschool students on board with green juice, someone else is....Avery! Here she is hogging one of my green jucies from over the weekend!
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| "Yum! Green juice!" |
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| "Mix mix mix" |
Watching me juice is pretty enteratining to her as well, so I think she might soon become a juicing fan like her mama.
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| 3:00 PM Afternoon Snack: 1 "Gluten-free Vegan Blueberry Muffin" from Gluten-Free Goddess. |
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| 5:00 PM Just got home snack: "Chocolate Vanilla Smoothie" |
Ingredients: 1/2 cup vanilla coconut milk, Chocolate Sun Warrior Rice Protein Powder, 1 cup of spinach, 1 1/2 frozen bananas, 3 frozen strawberries...love this smoothie!
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| 7:00 PM Dinner: "Spicy Tofu Tacos" from Peas & Thank You, topped with corn and some of my "Smooth & Creamy Guacamole" On the side, some corn on the cob, organic blue corn tortilla chips and more guac. Quite the "corny" meal, but oh so delicious! |
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| "It's Taco Night greenies!" |
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| Tofu dipped in guacamole? You bet! |
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| The corn on the cob was definently her favorite though. |
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| Dessert: "Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough"...SIKE! It's actually beans (that taste like cookie dough) from Nourisng & Flourishing. |
What have you been eating lately? I feel myself starting to fall into a bit of a "recipe rut" so on my agenda for this weekend is to try some new recipes. I'll share the results in next week's WIAW. Do you ever get in a recipe rut? Have you tried any good vegan recipes lately? Share below!