What I've Been Eating & Favorite Snacks to Stash in Your Desk Drawer (& Fridge!)

If you follow me on Facebook, you'll notice that I've posted lots of pictures of my yummy salads that I've been eating for lunch everyday.
Like this one:

I am so fortunate to have a great breakfast/lunch place on the first level of the building I work in. It has literally been life-changing for me because for awhile there, I had been eating Kashi frozen lunches pretty much every single day.  They are delicious, but I really wanted to start eating fresh food and getting more veggies into my diet.

I pay about $5.80 for my lunch everyday, which adds up to just under $30 a week.  The way I think about it, a Kashi lunch is about $3.50, so it's really not that much less and it's not as fresh or as healthy as a salad.  I get a garden salad with tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, onions a home made (not from a bottle) vinaigrette dressing with chicken or tuna on top.  Sometimes I get the salad without protein and get a small cup of soup instead, but only on the days they serve the soup I like (a light chicken tortilla).

I still keep a drawer full of snacks at my desk but my main lunch is usually purchased at work. Snacks I love to keep in my desk include:


Speaking of food, I recently attended a bridal shower where the host hired hired a chef to come and cook for us/teach us how to cook a meal.  It was SO fun! It was just a small group of 10 girls and it was such a nice treat. I seriously want to host a similar event in my home.

We made a delicious cheese-stuffed chicken and potatoes and brocollini.  I forget the exact name of the recipe but it was delish and I will report back here when I re-create it (especially the potatoes...they were to die for!)

Have you ever hosted a dinner party?  I remember as a teen I always felt like hosting a dinner party meant you were an adult, because that's what everyone on TV did. We have had friends over but I've never cooked a full-on dinner for a group or even a couple of people and it's something I still really would like to do.  Maybe that will motivate me to cook more often (here's to hoping!)

I find that I enjoy cooking most when my H and I cook together right after work. The moment I get on the couch, it's hard to peel myself away from what I'm doing and I end up not wanting to cook.  I'm trying to get into the habit of doing some tasks around the house as soon as I get home instead of heading straight for the couch.

Anyway, this post was kind of random and a total mish-mash of updates, but I thought I'd share because I get a lot of requests for eating-related posts.

Wishing everyone a great week!

xoxo,

Veronika.

• Plain almonds
• Luna Bars (iced oatmeal raisin is my fave, I buy them in bulk)
• Rice cakes
• Skinny Cow Heavenly Crisp bars (for sweet cravings...so pretty much everyday)
• Chiobani Greek Yogurt in the fridge (I love the 0% raspberry)
• A banana or apple
• Cheddar Crackers (I think the brand is nature's own...they are in the health food section)
• Red grapes (in the fridge)
• Honeydew melon (in the fridge)
• Ezikiel english muffins (cinnamon raisin)
• Peanut butter (I eat this on my Ezikiel muffins---YUM!)

Now that the Thin Mints are gone (thank God!) I have started to track my food again since I'm not working out as often as I used to. I don't track calories, I just keep a spreadsheet of what I eat everyday so that I can get a general overview of how I'm doing.  I think mostly it's about being accountable and understanding my eating and hunger patterns. Right now I am eating about every 3 hours or so. I cannot really go longer than that because I start to get distracted by feeling hungry. I truly believe that eating smaller, more frequent meals is the key to keep your metabolism going all day long.

I am also still drinking green tea in the morning and after every meal, for anyone wondering (except for after dinner, when I have no-caffeine peppermint tea).

Now that I'm eating healthy greens for lunch and also incorporating more veggies into dinner (tonight we had chicken terryaki with yellow and red bell peppers and zucchini), I'm really wanting to do that more and more (I guess it becomes addictive!)

By the way, I did an interview on The Daily Sequin with some fitness and eating updates, so please go check that out if you're interested!