Technically, yes, it is our job to deliver fresh and beautiful food content.
But when you take away the fancy pictures, the fun new recipes, the beautiful styling… what are we all *actually* eating in real life?
We’re super excited to bring you this mini-series – for the next three weeks, you’ll be hearing from a POY team member as they bring you into their very real, very normal, very regular-home-cook life (during Sugar Free January!) to show you what’s been keeping them full and happy without the sugar.
Meet Lindsay
(Well, okay, we might already know each other! Here’s a nice watery eyes picture of me because it’s cold and I have dry eye!)
Name: Lindsay
Role at Pinch of Yum: Co-Founder and Content Director / Creative Director / Editor in Chief / Basically I Make The Food
Have you done Sugar Free January before? Yes! Here is a detailed recap of the first time Bjork and I ever did a sugar free challenge.
What does Sugar Free January look like for you this year? I’m really moving my personal focus this year AWAY from an all-out sugar detox approach, and more towards establishing simple healthy habits that can feel really hard for me to actually do sometimes. Like… eating more fruits and vegetables. Starting the day with a solid, protein-heavy breakfast. Making intentional snack choices instead of just defaulting to sugar. Prepping meals in advance so I have food I look forward to eating at the ready. Cooking meals at home more often than getting takeout.
What is your favorite part of Sugar Free January? It’s a set amount of time that helps me focus on making my intentions into reality.
What is your biggest challenge during Sugar Free January? Cooking at home, making food from scratch, choosing something healthy and fresh over convenience food… all of it just takes time. That’s my biggest challenge. Setting aside the time to make it happen.
What was the number one, most easy / delicious / favorite best recipe you made this week? Bjork and I both reeeeally loved the pita bowls… but that recipe hasn’t published yet! Check back next week! 🙂 The chicken tikka masala was also really good and even better as leftovers.
Breakfasts This Week
Breakfast Sandwiches (The Easy Button Way)
I made a big batch of these meal prep breakfast sandwiches and they are just my favorite thing ever.
We store them in the freezer, and you can heat them up in the microwave, but I definitely recommend finishing them in the oven to get a little toasty crunch on your English muffin. Add some avocado and a squirt of Sriracha and YES this is the best way to start your day ever.
Oatmilk Honey Latte, I See You, Starbucks
So apparently you can get an oatmilk honey latte at Starbucks (decaf for me). It is 100% as luscious as it sounds.
(It is sweetened with honey which is SFJ-friendly for me, but there is a small amount of sugar in the “toasted honey topping” – I’m just going with it!)
Egg Meets Tortilla
Listen. I don’t love eggs. I do not eat eggs a lot.
But eggs in a tortilla with cheese, avocado, and hot sauce is just never not good. It is there for me when I have nothing else left it my fridge. It never lets me down. It is straight easy-delicious.
Hi I’m Super Healthy Now
Smoothies have been single-handedly my most healthy food this month.
Currently into this strawberry, mango, spinach, macadamia milk, chia, and avocado blend.
- They taste like a milkshake.
- They’re easy and fast.
- SO MANY FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.
- Solvi, my 1-year-old daughter, loves them. We pack the extras away into these little freezer pouches (affiliate link) and store them for quick snacks for her, which honestly makes me feel like mom of the year on so many levels.
Lunches This Week
Lunchy Shortcut Migas
Remember the comment about no groceries? Still on that train. We always have eggs, though, and we almost always have cheese, and I can almost guarantee there is at least one handful of tortilla chips lounging around at the bottom of some bag somewhere.
This is a really quick We-Have-No-Groceries lunch that I put together based on this migas recipe, but I used chips instead of tortillas, garlic powder instead of fresh, etc. Not a problem. SO GOOD.
Hummus Bowls Forever
May I present: a huge bowl of hummus!
Plus roasted cauliflower, fresh tomatoes, olive oil, lemon juice, and some store-bought naan as a stand-in for pitas because sometimes pitas are dry, do you know what I mean?
We loved this recipe. Ate it half as a naan / pita sandwich with some added rotisserie chicken that didn’t make the pic, and half as a fork-and-knife bowl, and loved it even more as leftovers. Roasted cauli hummus bowls recipe here!
Winter Grain Bowl, AKA My Love Language
Roasted everything (beets and sweet potatoes, specifically) plus some wild rice, soaked with creamy balsamic dressing, mixed with dried cherries and pistachios, topped with goat cheese, served with kale, and finished with more dressing.
YEAHHHH. Here’s the grain bowl recipe.
A Vegan Taco Situation
I cooked up some vegan “ground meat” with spices, added some leftover roasted sweet potato from last week, and threw it all in a tortilla topped with cilantro and cashew queso.
YES PLEASE.
Snacks This Week
Smoothies and More Smoothies
Almost every day. So good.
Okay, Sure, Cereal
Yeah, I don’t know. I just needed a bowl of Chex with some vanilla almond milk. Is it super healthy? Nah. Is there sugar in it? I’m not sure. It was just a necessary cold, crunchy, hold-me-over-till-dinner snack.
Dinners This Week
Tikka Masala Dreams Coming True
I know, I made a mess. I used this recipe (already had some masala paste in the freezer – SCORE) and added some leftover diced potatoes and the extra bell peppers from the pita bowls. It was so. good.
You Win Some, You Lose Some
The day was SO LONG and suddenly I was eating straight cheese and tortilla quesadillas for dinner with a one-year-old. Plus a side of mashed avocado. And a glass of red wine. Because this day was so long. Did I say that already?
Chicken Cacciatore Saving The Day
From frozen, in the Instant Pot. Couldn’t have been easier! Super savory, lemony, and pastalicious.
Recipe for that saucy goodness is right here.
Thanks for joining us for this edition of Eating In Real Life!
What are YOU eating in real life this week? The good, the bad, the… interesting?
NEED TO KNOW.