Oatmeal ... Meal?

Lately I've been on a happy streak of healthy eating. I started experiencing these really unpleasant "food hangovers" (that's what I'm going to call it) after my San Fran trip, so I figured it was time for me to do some detox. Over the past month, I also did a lot of kitchen re-organization that has really given me a lot of motivation and inspiration for clean eating.

I had originally planned on making a blog post about my DIY kitchen organization containers ... but, I got busy and it didn't end up happening. I am debating on whether I should still do one.

I am really a "clear space = clear mind = FOCUS" -type person. Any type of clutter tends to weigh down on my determination.

So, my first order of business was to DECLUTTER. And by declutter, I mean getting down to the essentials kind of declutter. If you've been to my apartment, you'll know that I value minimalism. If I don't need it, I'm not going to keep it.

Second, I started a new project -- a Meal Planning Binder. It's still in the works and there's not enough material to show right now, so I'll likely blog about that later (if I remember!).

Now you're probably wondering how this relates back to oatmeal (and it does, I promise). As part of my Meal Planning Binder project, I've been doing a bunch of research on healthy recipes/meals - mostly on YouTube and Pinterest. From my research, I discovered ...

...
..
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SAVOURY OATMEAL!!! Excuse my excitement if you're reading this and are thinking "duh... that's totally a thing ... who doesn't already know this". I, on the other hand, have never even thought about oatmeal in that way before.

If you're thinking that I might have been a bit heavy-handed with the parsley, it was intentional - I LOVE parsley.

It is so easy to make and I'm obsessed with it. I've always been a huge fan of the risotto-like texture in food and this just like that. Instead of milk, I used all water and then mixed in sea salt and black pepper.

I also mixed in a bit of shredded cheddar cheese (not pictured here).

So, there it is! I felt compelled to share my newest discovery with everyone because I found it totally life changing ... and sharing is caring :)

If savoury oatmeal is news to you as well, PLEASE let me know so I can feel less like I've been living under rock my whole life.

Monday to Friday Food Game

Disclaimer: I don't eat this healthy every day, but this is just a sneak peek into my good days for those of you who might be looking for some meal ideas.

I know it can be hard for someone working full-time 5-7 days a week to fill their belly with healthy food ... but it can be done! For me, I think the key is to: 1) have a routine and 2) do a bit of prep in advance.

Although I do like to throw in some variety here and there, below are examples of what I would eat for work on a typical day:

1. Breakfast.

Prep time: 5 minutes.

Ingredients: Several spoons strawberry yogurt, 1 banana, 1 packet of Quaker Harvest's cranberry and almond granola.

I like to eat my breakfast (with my cup of coffee) while I go through my emails in the morning, so I pack everything and bring it to work with me.

2. Lunch.

Prep: 15 minutes the night before and 5 minutes in the morning.

Ingredients: Quinoa, cucumber, tomatoes, mixed beans, red onions, shredded cheese, lemon juice, garlic seasoning, salt, and pepper.

The key here is to do a bit of prep the night before. I usually cook the quinoa and cut all the veggies the night before, so that all I have to do in the morning is put everything together. To avoid having to do timely prep during the week, I usually cut up a bunch of veggies on Sunday and keep them in separate containers in my fridge.

3. Snack

Prep time: nil.

Aside from the granola bar and tangerines (which are self-explanatory), I usually have a handful of this "Power Mix" (I think you can get it from Costco) that consists of edamame, cranberries, pumpkin seed kernels, and almonds.

I usually snack on the Power Mix throughout the day, have the tangerines at some point between my breakfast and lunch, and save the granola bar for sometime in the afternoon after my lunch.

4. Post-Work/Pre-Dinner Snack.

Fruit smoothies!!!

Note: I will add in a scoop of protein powder if I'm feeling extra hungry.

Prep time: 5 minutes.
Ingredients: Baby kale, strawberries, tangerines + water and honey.

Prep time: 5 minutes.
Ingredients: Baby kale, 1/2 of a chopped apple, 1/2 of a chopped pear + water and honey.

Prep time: 5 minutes.

Ingredients: 1/2 a slice banana, strawberries, blueberries + milk.

5. Dinner.

Prep time: 20-25 minutes.

Ingredients: Kale, quinoa, garlic, tomatoes, white onions, mushrooms, and chicken breast, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

Dinner tends to be the most unpredictable meal of the day for me. It's also my favourite meal of the day and I look forward to it the most ... so I try to mix is up as much as I can. This is just what I happened to have for dinner tonight. As with my lunch, I cooked the quinoa and chopped the veggies the night before. Most of the prep time had to do with cooking the chicken. I only throw in the kale at the very end, so that it's barely cooked. While the chicken is cooking, I mix the chopped up kale in a separate boil with some olive oil and salt.

So What Do They Say About Salad?

I know they say you can't make friends with salad, but you totally can. Salad could never replace my best friends (i.e. mac n cheese and poutine), but we're friends. It's unfortunate that I only came to this conclusion fairly recently.

When I was articling in Toronto, there was a salad place right across from my office, right around the corner of Bay and Richmond (Sandwich Box - yes, they also makes sandwiches). I used to go there several times a week with my co-workers and we would obsess over how good the salads were. The only thing I didn't like was that my salads would come to $10-12 dollars every time. 

If you're wondering, it's one of those places where you can pick your own ingredients and the price is based on the weight of the final product. So naturally, it gets expensive because the good stuff always weighs more. 

That was my dilemma - I loved the salads there, but I hated spending that much money every time. After a bit of thought, I realized that the reason I liked going there so much was that: 

1. I could control what I wanted/didn't want to put in my salad;

2. I could control how much of everything I wanted to put in my salad; and

3. It was quick and I could easily take it back to work with me or eat it wherever I wanted.

Then I thought...

"Well if that's the reason, why am I spending the money and agonizing over it when I can just do the same thing at home?"

BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE TIME!!!

But, how long does it really take?

I already know what ingredients I like in my salad because I get the same thing every time. It's just a matter of doing groceries and getting everything that I need ahead of time (weekends are usually a good time!). If the plan is to wash and cut up veggies every morning before work to put in my salad, then yes, that would be time-consuming, inefficient, and impractical. But, if it's a matter of spending 30 minutes on a Sunday evening to wash and cut all of my veggies and cook quinoa, tofu, chicken etc. ... then it's well worth it. Meal prep, my friends. Admittedly, I initially thought "meal prepping" was just some obscure phenomenon that fitness fiends rave over. But, now I know better - it's not just for fitness fiends; it's for everyone. It's quick, efficient, and makes me feel productive and prepared for the week. And with that, I embarked on my journey and resolved to commit to meal prepping. It hasn't been easy on weekends where all I want to do is just lounge ... but then again, that's just life. And to be clear, what I'm advocating here is not that I don't enjoy eating out (because I love it!). When I don't feel like making my own salad, I still embrace the indulgence of paying for someone else to make my salad. 

I'm just saying ... 

All it takes is a little preparation and forethought 

(...and a bit of time and commitment)

... to achieve the same results yourself, as you would get elsewhere. Not just for salads!!! So, I guess that's the moral of my story.

I <3 Avocados

I LOVE AVOCADOS. They are yummy, nutritious, and filling.

Fun fact: an avocado contains more potassium than a banana. 

As much as I would love to say that I love avocados because they are healthy ... the reality is that I love them because they just taste so good. If we're friends, you'll know that I always have a craving for comfort food. For some reason, avocados taste like comfort food to me. So actually, I'm just lucky that they're good for you.

In any case, since I eat avocados pretty much everyday, I figured I would share my favourite ways to eat them.

I rarely measure ingredients precisely when I'm making food so I can't attest to how much of anything I'm really using. The exception to this is when I'm baking - I'm always very exact with all my measurements.

1. Avocado on toast.

Aside from cereal and granola with yogurt, avocado on toast is probably my #1 go-to breakfast. It's quick and easy to make - perfect for mornings before work.

I use one avocado for two pieces of toast. After I mash up the avocado in a bowl, I add in some lemon juice, garlic powder, black pepper, and salt, and then mix it all together. I spread that onto my toast ... and I'm good to go!

Banana AND avocado.

Sometimes, I like to get a bit fancier on the weekends. I add in some chopped up red onion to my usual avocado mix, and then I top it up with some chopped up grape tomatoes, green onions, and eggs.

I love eggs benny :) (almost as much as avocados)

2. Baked eggs in avocados.

This one is another one of my breakfast favourites - tastes great and looks nice too. It takes a bit longer (since you have to wait for the eggs to bake), so I usually save this one for a weekend morning.

To make room for the egg, I scoop out a bit of the avocado. Fear not! The excess does not go to waste. I usually mix up the avocado in a separate bowl and then save it for later to dip my crackers in as a snack. I bake them in my toaster oven because I don't want to bother preheating my standard oven. I keep the avocados in the toaster oven until the eggs whites solidify. Once they're ready, I top them with some sriracha sauce, salt & black pepper, and paprika.

Sriracha makes everything better.

3. Avocado in salad.

If you follow me on Instagram (@lamcj), then you've probably seen this picture already.

This was a quinoa salad with chicken, red peppers, red & green onions, baba ganoush ... and avocado! Avocado added to chickpea salads and green salads are also awesome.

4. Avocado sauce on zoodles.

I almost feel like this deserves a blog post on its own. I only discovered zucchini noodles (aka zoodles) recently when I bought a spiralizer. I found one sale for $12, and figured why not? Turns out it's super useful and easy to use.

All you have to do is chop off one end of a zucchini and feed it into the spiralizer in a twisting motion. I cook the zoodles on a pan with some olive oil, salt, and black pepper until they become soft. To make the avocado sauce, I chop up an avocado, then add it to my magic bullet with some water, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. I would've added in some cilantro to the mix too, but I didn't have any that day. Once that's all blended together, I just scoop it out onto my zoodles.

Lots of love for this green duo.

5. Guacomole!

This one is a given. I mean, who doesn't love guac? 

I make mine with: avocado (obviously!), lime juice, cilantro, roma tomatoes, white onions, minced garlic, salt, and black pepper. If I'm not having this with nachos, then I'm most likely having it in some tacos :)