What I Ate Wednesday #106 & Healthy Vegetable Pasta

Hi friends! I hope your Wednesday has started off on a good note.

It’s been a bit since we’ve talked eats, so I thought it would be a good time to cover another What I Ate Wednesday. Below you will find what a typical day of eating looks like around our house. Of course, no two days are the same, but overall, we aim to eat a healthy, balanced diet with the occasional (often on the weekends) “cheat” days.

(Have no idea what WIAW is all about? This post breaks it down.)

Make sure to check out the pasta recipe at the bottom. It’s super light, easy, and drool-worthy!

 

What I Ate Wednesday Tuesday

I slept later than my alarm and woke up around 7:45 yesterday. I’m not going to lie… it felt fabulous. I stayed in my pajamas and made an easy breakfast with lots of staying power while I logged onto the computer and shared my morning blog post.

Van’s gluten free waffles topped in P28 White Chocolate Protein Peanut Spread and bananas

I logged off as soon as I finished my meal, and I got ready in a flash to be out the door and onto work at the nursery before 9.

After three hours of wrangling a room of two-year-olds, I was on my way to a Noon barre class.

I’ve truly been enjoying my time at The Barre Code. I’ll be back with a full review of the classes and studios in the next week or so!

I made it home before 1:30 p.m. and was ready for lunch as soon as I could put it together. Basically, I found whatever I could in the refrigerator that needed to be used up and hoped it made sense together.

Salad: spinach, red and yellow peppers, cheery tomatoes, black and green olives, avocado, and shredded cheese drizzled in a raspberry vinaigrette with a side of chicken sausage – sorry, I can’t remember the brand!

I had a couple hours of downtime and used them wisely to catch up on emails and work on a few different things for the blog.

Before long, it was time for me to change and get ready for work at the gym. I had a four hour shift with two 1-on-1 personal training sessions and two small group classes, so I came prepared with plenty of snacks.

I finished up this container of white bean hummus (purchased at Target – I love their hummus selection!) with a bag of mini-pretzels on the way.

And, I looked forward to eating a Chobani Greek Yogurt Flip in between classes.

I have been obsessed with those lately. My favorite is the key lime pie flavor, but I try to save that one more for dessert.

By 9 p.m., I was done with work and ready to head home! Scott picked me up from the gym, and we made a stop by the grocery store to pick up a few odds and ends for a (late) dinner idea.

I casually asked him if would handle dinner earlier, and it shouldn’t have surprised me that he wanted to go all out. He got the idea for this recipe right on the back of the pasta box!

 

Whole Grain Pasta With Vegetables 

(with an option to add protein)

(recipe taken directly from the back of the Barilla box)

Ingredients

 

1 box Barilla whole grain rotini

4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 small white onion, chopped

1 clove garlic

1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 medium zucchini, diced

1 medium yellow squash, diced

1 bunch asparagus, slick on a bias

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

salt and black pepper to taste

4 basil leaves, torn

(We added sliced grilled chicken, cooked separately)

 

prep time: 2o minutes

servings: 7 (we have plenty leftover!)

 

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil.

2. In a large skillet, heat olive oil and sauté onion for 3-4 minutes until translucent.

3. Using the side of a knife, gently press and peel the garlic. Add to the skillet and cook for 1 minute.

4. Add pepper, zucchini, squash, and asparagus; sauté for 5 minutes.

5. Add tomatoes; season with salt and pepper and sauté for 2 additional minutes. Remove garlic from the skillet.

6. Cook pasta according to package directions.

7. Drain pasta and toss with the sauce and basil, then serve.

It was delicious, and I already can’t wait to dive into some of the leftovers for lunch today. Like I mentioned above, I wanted to add chicken to the recipe, and I imagine that it would also taste great with shrimp. Yum!

By the time I finished cleaning up and getting some (clean) laundry off of the floor, I was pooped. I grabbed a hearty handful of dark and mint chocolate chips (Scott brought these home from the baking section! Um, yes.) and turned in by 11 p.m.

Seriously though, do you see that handful? It’s probably like three servings. No big deal.

Oh well, what can I say? I went to bed feeling quite content!

 

***

 

I hope you enjoyed a behind the scenes look into a typical day of eating around here. I have to admit that I have been somewhat spoiled by having Scott at home to help out with dinners lately. He’s – admittedly – way more talented in the kitchen than I am!

 

Questions of the Day

• Do you purposely make extra servings for dinner in order to have leftovers?

• Have you ever tried a recipe straight from the box of your rice or pasta?

(Feel free to link some of your success box recipes below! I love them!)

 

Have a great rest of your Wednesday!

 

You can always find my latest What I Ate Wednesday posts by exploring the “WIAW” category on the right hand sidebar.

Please note: What I Ate Wednesday features an entire day of my unfiltered eats. In no way do I change what I eat just for the sake of documenting it. While I try to be mindful with portions, I don’t count calories. I do, however, take into account how much activity I am going to be doing that day, and I plan my meals and snacks accordingly.