Typical

One of my favorite blogs, runsforcookies, recently did a post on her typical meals for "healthier eating." I loved the post and found that I ate many of the same snacks and meals. I thought I would do a simple post (in between my normal ideas rambles) about some of my favorite things to eat!

Breakfast:

• I eat cereal everyday, sometimes twice. I know it may not be the best choice, but I try and eat cereals that at least have some benefit to them. My favorites include: Kashi cereals (Honey Sunshine, Original Go Lean...), Cheerios (all kinds), Fiber One for mixing, Total Raisin Bran, Cascadian Farms (I like their cinnamon one!), and some others. Some of these brands can be expensive so I track their sales and also shop at stores like Big Lots sometimes- they offer many of these "organic" or "natural" brands for much less.
• Whole Grain Waffles with mashed berries and smart balance light
• oatmeal...I will get to this later ;)
• 1 cup whole grain cereal with 1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt (Fage 2%)

Lunch:

• Yogurt parfait (as a side)...1/2-1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt, handful of frozen berries (unless they are in season) and 1/4 of granola (Bob's Red Mill is my favorite right now) or cereal
• Tuna salad with triscuits (1 package light tuna, 2 tbsp unsweetened vanilla Greek yogurt, cucumber chopped, dill, and black pepper)
• Open faced sandwiches (usually turkey and provolone or Muenster with lettuce as the "top" piece of bread, and I load mine with onion and tomato), serve with popped chips
• LOVE oatmeal with PB and banana (1/2 cup oatmeal, 1 1/2 tbsp PB and sliced banana), usually have with an egg beaters omelet (50 cal worth of egg beaters, 1 slice cheese, chopped onion, spinach if on hand)
• Lots of grapes and apples with lunches
• Carrots and cucumbers are delicious together- with or without dip
• Angie's Naked Pita Chips with Sabre Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Snacks:

• Fruit: bananas, apples, grapes, berries, oranges, and whatever else might be in season
• cucumbers, carrots, green peppers with or without light dip/ranch
• Kashi bars (really like the dark chocolate coconut and dark chocolate cherry)
• Luna Protein bars
• Mozzarella cheese stick
• Kind Bars (delicious!)
• Fruit or Protein smoothies/shakes (just getting into the protein shake thing- runsforcookies blog has tons of yummy recipes)
• Serving of pretzels with 1/2 cup LF cottage cheese
• Apple slices with 1-2 tbsp PB or PB2
• Handful of peanuts or cashews
• Walnuts mixed with raisins
• Cereal :)

Dinner:

This is harder because we eat all sorts of things for dinner, but these are just ideas to get started maybe...(I have also done and will do some posts on recipes I have used and liked!)

• Quinoa and brown rice...I do a lot of Mexican flare with these using veggies like corn and green and red pepper with black beans, pico de gallo and chicken
• Tuna melts...whole wheat pitas and the above recipe for tuna salad and add cheese!
• Smart Taste Pasta with veggies and chicken or steak (did a post on this one earlier)
• Homemade Pita chips or gyros (did a post on this one earlier)
• Homemade chicken or veggie fried rice with spring rolls
• Soup and bread or grilled cheese :) simple, but comforting
• Enchilada casserole (did a post on this one earlier)
• Pita Pizzas
• Cowboy Beans (will do a post on this)
• Veggie burger or Turkey burgers (for me)
• Breakfast! We love breakfast, so often times we will have omelets and Bob's Red Mill pancakes or waffles, yum.
• Chipotle, Subway, or Mexican food

Dessert:

Elephant Ear Cookies with Cream Cheese or
Cinnamon Sugar Topping- post to come!

• ICE CREAM (I really like the serve yourself fro-yo places and also during the week I try and stick to 1/2 the fat, no sugar added Breyers' or Edy's flavors like vanilla or Neapolitan)
• Protein Brownies (recipe to come!)
• Chunky Cookies (still a dessert, but have walnuts, raisins, and whole wheat flour for an extra boost)
• Frozen Light Cool Whip
• Fruit...when I am being good
• Applesauce with cinnamon
• FiberOne Cookies 90 calories or Flax Seed Choco Chip Raisin Cookies (wal*mart)
• Trail Mixes (like- pretzels, peanuts, choco chips, and raisins)
• CEREAL...yes, again
• Okay, fine...I like sugar. But, I try and keep it special- I usually have a treat everyday and try to mix it up here and there to keep my body guessing. I am not great at not having dessert, so I at least attempt to tone it down here and there. Sometimes you gotta go full fat and do DQ though ;)

These are just some ideas of what gets my tummy rumbling. I hope it might spark some of your own creations. We are not perfect, we like to go out when we can and I do buy "fun" things too for our kitchen. But, I try to keep it balanced and we reserve weekends for a little extra fun. Most importantly, we do not fully restrict ourselves. We like to be active, but we also like to be lazy. I love fruit and cucumbers, but I also like ice cream...so, moderation and keeping these special foods special is an easier way to feel good. I like to experiment and look up new recipes...look for many more to come!

xoxo