Oh, hi!
We’re two weeks into Sugar Free January and let’s just say – we’re feeling energized and eating amazing food and loving it so far, right?
Most days, yes! There are some good moments and some wait-this-is-hard moments, but we’re doing it. Let’s carry on! Let’s march forward! Let’s keep up this feel-good biz!
This week I found myself struggling with snacks (LOVE SNACKS NEED SNACKS) and especially those late night snacks aka sugary, desserty things. So some big wins this week were finding naturally sweet, wholesome alternatives to my sugar cereal habit and the nightly Christmas cookie routine I was getting so good at in December.
Here’s a look at what I ate in a day this week!
Breakfast
Breakfast of champions! Peanut butter on sprouted wheat toast with sliced bananas, cinnamon, and a tiny drizzle of honey.
As a lover of cereal, donuts, pancakes, and French toast, I struggle with sugar free breakfasts.
I love eggs, but I don’t always have time to make a fresh hot brunch between answering emails and loading the dishwasher and tummy time with my daughter. And I don’t know, maybe someone can convince me in the comments with a good egg-based meal prep recipe, but reheated eggs just kind of weird me out.
This filling, wholesome, and naturally sweet PB/banana toast combo was what I ate pretty much every day during Sugar Free January last year, and it’s back again this year for round two.
Paired with:
A decaf coffee with cream.
A) I don’t do caffeine. I quit it as of a few years ago when I realized that it was making me so edgy and anxious (and I’m already a leans-towards-edgy-and-anxious person). I feel so good without it.
B) Normally I like a slightly sweetened coffee. Especially in December, when we buy all the froo-froo creamers and drink lots of peppermint mochas and keep homemade cinnamon syrup in the fridge. But I’ve found that I don’t miss sugar in my coffee as much if I can give it a little richness with a swirl of full fat cream. The cream even weirdly even starts to taste sweet to me as the month goes on. WHO AM I.
Lunch
OKAY THIS SALAD.
It’s basically black lentils, cucumbers, tomatoes, flaked tuna (!!), pepperoncini, and a dill yogurt sauce, and it is SO AMAZING.
Guys, I normally don’t love tuna. But this salad is both Bjork’s and my current lunch addiction.
I’ll have an official recipe for you very soon.
Snackage
Cookie Dough Energy Bites, obviously, and a Mother’s Milk tea because I’m breastfeeding and maybe that’s weird to show you my Mother’s Milk tea but this is What I Ate Wednesday, so honesty! Any Mother’s Milk tea lovers out there? It’s actually kind of sweet and yummy.
The Cookie Dough Energy Bites I made are –> these <– and I just used a little less honey than what the recipe called for, and more peanut butter to compensate for the change in texture. I also used a very bittersweet dark chocolate bar instead of regular chocolate chips.
Bjork eats one approximately every 30 minutes, so next time I need to remember to double the batch.
Dinner
Let’s just say IT WAS A DAY. I was so tired by the time dinnertime came (and by that I mean I was actually shushing, rocking, and loving on my poor teething baby during real dinnertime so dinnertime = 9pm) so I sent Bjork out to grab some takeout from J. Selby’s which is a vegan restaurant in St. Paul.
^ Yes, this is a vegan haul.
Buffalo cauliflower wings with ranch, and a Dirty Secret (basically a Big Mac) made with… I don’t even know what. Some kind of plant based burger patties. And fries.
After Solvi finally went to sleep, we sat down to eat, didn’t talk at all, and all of it was gone in five minutes flat. So good.
Dessert
Yum, doesn’t that look good? #foodphotography
So I’ve been playing around with mug cakes lately – like, the single serving ones you “bake” in the microwave? Really classy. But… actually I’ve been kind of enjoying them. It’s a nice evening fix when I’m looking for something cozy and celebratory in that we-made-it-to-the-end-of-the-day way.
I’ve made several variations on this recipe from Downshiftology, most importantly adding more coconut oil (fudgier) and adding some chopped, less sweet dark chocolate (even more fudgier).
It’s a mug cake, so it’s not going to be the best cake of your life, but it’s warm and chocolatey and it does the job just fine.
That’s it! That’s what I ate.
What are you guys eating this week? Links welcome – I may or may not stalk your food!
