Remember this old thing?
What I Ate Wednesday?
You guys! These type of posts are OLD SCHOOL.
I used to love these posts way back in the blogging day. I never actually wrote any of them myself, but I always enjoyed reading them, which is kind of weird because it’s just sort of a version of creeping on other people’s food? But let’s be honest – that’s just the kind of person I am.
I thought it would be fun to do a What-I-Ate post each week during Sugar Free January because it puts a bigger concept into a very practical and real-life context! Like, how do you ACTUALLY make your day delicious and filling and not sad during a month without refined sugar? Not blog-post perfect answers, just regular-pictures-of-your-lunch?
So, yeah. It’s a pretty simple concept.
Here are some quick snaps of What I Ate Wednesday: Week One!
Breakfast
Breakfast tacos! Our perfect at-home alternative to going out for brunch with a baby in tow.
Featuring soft scrambled eggs, cauliflower walnut chorizo (from my freezer stash! so awesome), avocado, queso fresco, and salsa verde. I put them on flour tortillas even though I’m trying to avoid refined grains for Sugar Free January. I dunno, it’s day one. A little grace. No freak outs allowed.
Lunch
Sweet potato tortilla soup! Loaded with sweet potatoes, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, more avocado, more queso fresco, and crispy fried tortillas (corn this time).
I’m working on a recipe post for this one for the blog, but if you need a head start, I worked off of this one as a starting point.
I would like to mention that this is excellent soup for people with colds. Kinda spicy? Lots of nutrition? With a big ol’ squeeze of lime in there? I could actually, finally breathe after I finished eating it.
Afternoon Snack 1
Chamomile tea.
Basic, a little blah looking, but very cozy, calming, and soothing for my sore throat.
Afternoon Snack 2
Fresh juicy mango from ALDI! So good!
This was the point in the day when I was really finding myself wanting some sugar – I started my ritual 2pm hunt around the kitchen for some chocolate or a desserty snack – so a super (naturally) sweet fruit was a perfect stand-in.
Pre-Dinner Snack
I was prepping some edamame for another recipe… aaaand ended up eating a little bowl of it, sprinkled with sea salt.
Dinner
Sheet pan dinner with kielbasa, sweet potato, broccoli, and a little maple Dijon olive oil sauce.
I am kind of having a moment with this one because we can use the leftovers for breakfast – kinda like a hash when you throw it in a skillet and top with a fried egg and sriracha. YUM.
Post-Dinner
Champagne! For 2019.
This might have a little sugar – I don’t know. Not gonna sweat it. Again, day one.
Night Snack
More chamomile tea, plus some cinnamon + peanut butter + honey + banana chunks.
This one was a big win for me. I love to eat chocolate and cookies and all the sweet things at night, so finding something that is sweet and satisfying and not straight up dessert is kind of an Olympic gold medal moment.
I find the first week to be hardest with these moments. Next week, it gets a little easier. You’ve got your new go-to’s, and then it just becomes a positive snowball. Know what I mean? You got this.
Okay! That’s it. That’s what I ate!
What about you guys? What are you eating? What do you WANT to be eating? What should I be eating NEXT week?
Looks delicious! Do you have a recipe for the sheet pan dinner? Leftovers we can use for breakfast – I’m all in!
I loved WIAW back in the days. It’s really a good mix for finding inspiration in the kitchen. And let’s be honest, to spy on other peoples live haha 😀
What a fun post and throwback! Thanks for sharing. I definitely need to get on that cauliflower chorizo train.
Happy Thursday Lindsay,
Avocado are a great and natural form of Testosterone, healthy fat, and loaded with essential vitamins to help the body heal itself and stay healthy. Avocados are also a good food to eat before going to bed. If you stack Avocado with Banana, you might possibly find yourself sleeping deeper and feeling more refreshed in the morning upon awakening. 🙂
Love the idea of using your cauliflower walnut chorizo in breakfast tacos!! 🙂
Those breakfast tacos look delicious! I made your cauliflower burrito bowls last night for dinner and my husband (who doesn’t normally go for no-meat meals) turned to me and said ‘We need to have these EVERY week’. Your blog is my go-to for healthy but still delicious and filling recipes 🙂
Go Lindsay! That’s looks like a very good day – this health coach approves. Two thumbs up plus clapping hands emojis! 🙂
Thank you for the inspiration. Love your stories and photography. Recipes are delicious and comforting. May 2019 bring you more success and more inspiration. Wishing you many blessings for a wonderful year.
Love this post! Keep ’em coming! And I love your night snack. I can do really well during the day but crave something sweet and night and it all goes downhill from there. This is great inspiration!
All of these look absolutely cozy! Truly home cooked meals. Loved seeing into your eating habits!
Love this!
It was my first day back to work, and I hadn’t prepped myself super well, so it was a bit of a scramble! Ended up with a banana and some oatmeal with honey for breakfast/snack (as well as my sugar less coffee, which I’m mourning a bit). Lunch was the instant pot summer soup we made a batch of the other night (one of our favorites!). Snacked on some almonds in the afternoon (and some cheese-its…). Hit major traffic on the way home and needed a snack, thankfully I had prepped the chocolate snack bars! Scarfed one of those down then had brown butter gnocchi with shrimp for dinner and split a small glass of white wine with my husband! It was a win day 🙂 Loving this challenge to myself so far!
Loved this post! I too would love to see a recipe for the kielbasa sheet pan dinner with accompanying sauce, if you have one. Looks simple and quick, but delicious.
Frozen mango is the best! I’d love to hear about any other Aldi favorites you have!
Hey Lindsay! Love the post! I was trying to find the freezer version of the recipe for the taco meat but it wouldn’t come up?
I really like the idea of jumping on board with this, but I have a very hard time actually doing it. For example, I love to have salads for lunch, but I like salad dressing. Don’t know how to do no-sugar salad dressing. Got any? Or do you just adapt yours with honey or maple syrup? I also NEED my morning coffee and I like a little sugar there. I’ve tried stevia, but I don’t like it in hot coffee. Maybe I’ll revisit that and try again. I am definitely interested in that sweet potato tortilla soup recipe. Even if I don’t get totally sugar free, I enjoy following along on this because it helps me be inspired to try and eat more healthily. Thanks for inspiring!
I have found some no sugar added salad dressings at the store, just have to look at all the labels. I’m struggling with coffee though! Going to try to add some cocoa and maybe a little tiny bit of honey or maple syrup to mine.
Try a product called Just Like Sugar sold in health food stores. I get the hot cocoa variety and use 1 T. in my coffee with some milk.
Jumping in because I am doing this challenge, too. Love the Green Goddess dressing from Trader Joes – it has a clean ingredient list and so delicious! https://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article/4276
I love this! I’m semi-newer to your blog so I don’t remember WIAW, but it’s the best idea! I often find myself in ruts or struggling to think of things to eat, especially when I’m doing a challenge like sugar-free January and the like. Things like this really help me as springboards for ideas of what I might want to eat or add to meal plans down the line. I also discovered this blog while looking around for Sugar-Free things; she posts a bunch of weekly lists of what she ate and they gave me so many great ideas! http://inspiredmood.com.au
Also – I too am stricken with a cold. A Christmas gift from my niece who loves me too much not to share everything with me, especially her germs. I’m at the tail end of it now – hallelujah. I am the absolute worst with a cold, I loathe them more than most things. I’ll have to try some yummy spicy soup next time I’m stricken! 🙂
I’d love a recipe for the sheet pan dinner, too! Thanks for the snapshot of your meals 🙂
One of my fave sugar-free snacks is stewed apples. Cut up a few apples, with the skin on, into a pan. Add water about 1/3 of the way up the apples. Sprinkle with a bunch of cinnamon. Boil til water is about gone. Delish. And really good for you.
I’m all about the simplicity of sheet pan dinners, but what’s this Dijon maple olive oil sauce? It sounds wonderful!! Please share.
Looks amazing especially that scrambled egg cauliflower walnut chorizo… Mangos from Aldi… I also get most of my groceries there one of if not my favorite stores haha
Oh yum! I love this! My day… breakfast: avacado toast with fried egg (the bread was a homemade seeded bread over half whole wheat flour. But yes some white. But yes first day. I love your approach)
Lunch: lentil quinoa bowl + a bowl of broccoli cheddar soup + ginger peach tea. Supper: sushi (yes. first day.) spicy peanut ramen. Orange slices drizzled with honey and sprinkle of cinnamon. SO excited for this month!
Really excited for the soup and sheetpan dinner recipes!
I had a vanilla protein drink with greens for breakfast. For lunch it was scrambled egg with avocado. I love that recipe! And I put it on a bagel (probably a no-no) with spinach and Dijon mustard.
For dinner a mixed greens salad with a couple beef sausages. I’m not much of a sausage eater but these are from the Pioneer Woman, and not filled with all the junk sausage usually has. They are very tasty. For a snack I couldn’t resist a bowl of cereal with a banana.
My new seeet go to are 5 ingredient peanut butter cup energy bites by minimalist baker! Used 88% dark chocolate natural almond cashew butter oatmeal chia and also added some unsweetened coconut also has dates. So easy and A very satisfying sweet fix! I have it as a night snack with berries and sliced banana!