WIAW #44: Cooking and Snacking Healthy + Effortlessly

Hello, hello! I trust your Wednesday is going well for you.

Currently, I am trying to fit in everything possible before packing up and getting ready for a home game tonight. We play the Chicago Bulls, so it should be a good one!

In true Hump Day fashion, I am sticking to covering another week of What I Ate Wednesday and highlighting an entire day of my meals and snacks. Today I present a day in the life of Tuesday Hesington Household eats with lots of fruit, veggies and snacking!

What I Ate Wednesday Tuesday

Tuesday started with a craving for cereal, so I gave in and enjoyed a fancy bowl of it for breakfast.

Cascadian Farms Raisin Bran, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, sliced bananas, chia seeds.

After a weekend of traveling and flying, I always feel a bit dehydrated when I return home, so I was hoping the big sprinkle of chia seeds (high in Omega-3’s!) would help get me hydrated.

About an hour of working on the computer, I saw this tempting can of Blue Diamond Smokehouse Almonds and dug right into a serving or two.

Directly after a bathroom break, I walked over the the refrigerator and grabbed a generous handful of sliced strawberries as well. YUM!

Lunch was effortless, thanks to the shrimp pasta leftovers I made for Scott the night before.

Garden Delight vegetable pasta, onions, spinach, vodka sauce, shrimp, and Parmesan cheese.

I have been wanting to incorporate more seafood into my cooking, so I finally bit the bullet Monday night at the grocery store. I found a frozen bag of peeled shrimp and cooking it couldn’t have been easier.

Just like adding diced onions and fresh spinach to the sauce, I threw the shrimp into my boiling pot of noodles for the final 4 minutes of cook time. Since they were already “cooked”, 3-4 minutes is plenty of time to heat them up and give them some pink color.

Like clock work, I grabbed this delicious green apple around 2 p.m. and enjoyed every crunchy bite.

On my way to the AT&T store, I grabbed a protein bar and a new snack to keep me fueled during practice.

Clif S’mores (<- um, dreamy) Builder’s Protein Bar.

Plum Organics Pumpkin & Banana Baby Food.

Before you think I’ve lost it, I do in fact realize this is baby food. Keep a lookout for more explanation on this one coming up on Friday!

I arrived home from practice around 9:30 p.m. with a hungry belly and devoured a couple servings of “healthier” chips and salsa.

Garden of Eatin’ Sweet Potato corn tortilla chips (<- still obsessed) with picante sauce salsa.

Total Snacky McSnackerson today, right? It’s fine.

Dinner was also easy as pie, thanks to a variety of frozen vegetable bags and a microwave.

While shopping the freezer section, I have been picking up a lot of vegetables lately. Whenever I am hungry for something nutritious and don’t really feel like putting much together, I throw a random combination of everything together and it always seems to work out just fine!

Simple Truth white quinoa (Kroger Organic line), peas, corn, butternut squash (all organic), black beans and Parmesan cheese.

The first bite wasn’t too flavorful, so I added a ton of black pepper and more Parmesan cheese, then enjoyed the entire bowl with a smile.

Too full for dessert, I called it a night “early” around 11 p.m. to finally catch up on some sleep. Today I woke up with extra energy and less bags under the eyes so I guess my plan worked. Three cheers for a great night’s sleep!

Well friends, I must leave you and go ready myself for tonight’s festivities. I promise to share more Orlando Magic Dancer Reunion stories tomorrow!

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Questions of the Day

•  What is some of your favorite ways to use quinoa?

I am very close to getting more creative than cooking it and throwing it into a bowl with a bunch of random ingredients, promise. So far my most successful combinations are this Summer Quinoa Salad and Black Bean Quinoa Salad. Any ideas or yummy ingredient combinations are appreciated!