Tag: Fruit

• Minimalistic Easter

  Posted at 7:35 AM by Brittany, on March 24, 2016

  Long time readers know that I tend to lean on the simpler side of life. I have an aversion for clutter, waste, things in excess, and slugs. Mostly slugs. Thanks to my willingness to always reduce, reuse, and (mostly, but I could do better) recycle I was more than happy to help the folks over at gifts.com inspire others to find an Easter basket that could be reused.

  

  With a wide variety of gift baskets, I settled on a rustic picnic style basket filled with fruit. If you’re boring like me you could leave the fruit and call it a day, or you could eat the fruit while you stuff the basket with other Easter treats.

  

  

  I am one of those lucky souls that still gets an Easter basket from her mother. Born with wings of an angel that woman, she never skimps with the goodies. These days I try (key word) not to overdo it with the candy (I save that for Halloween and every other day of the year) and instead opt for non food related items.

  

  So what would I put into my basket this year? As with most gifts I receive (regardless of insisting I need nothing else added to my current lifestyle) I try to choose things I have a current use for. I hesitate to say things I need, because let’s be real we don’t really need half the stuff we ask for/receive.

  This year I don’t really need anything, so instead I’ll speak hypothetically.

  Easter Items I “Could Use Right Now”

  • A trip to Ireland, itinerary nestled inside a pale pink envelope in the center of my basket with an egg sticker sealing it shut.
  • A new cat wrapped in a blush blue bow to emphasize his snowy white fur. A friend to play with one of my current children, to match my black and white life.

  

  “It’s my CAT IN A BOX!”

  • The ability to rewind time. Not because I want to go back to my past, but because I want to tell people what I really think, and then rewind so I don’t get slapped. 🙂
  • Food, but not candy. Self explanatory, think staple items like veggies, nut butter, and oats.

  

  • A massage everyday for the next year, from the hands of Tom Hiddleston. <– Top priority please.
  • An iron gut to digest all the vegetables, and iron legs to get me through my half marathon next month. My training has been God awful less than stellar.

  

  “How about instead of running you just lay on this step and be a blob like me. Also, can you hand me that mouse?”

  • A TINY HOME!
  • A new Garmin because my current Garmin only tracks running. I want to explore the world of Garmin fueled biking, hiking, breathing, and scuba diving. My REI dividend is calling me to buy one.

  

  I dream about this beauty, and reaching rhino speed.

  Per usual there’s nothing I need, so a cup of coffee, bottle of Kombucha, and using my new basket for a picnic with my family suits me well. If my gift ideas don’t spark your fire check out Gifts.com for all the fanchy schmancy stuff.

  DISCLAIMME: I was not paid for this post, but I did get this basket o’ goods fo free to hippity hop my way to grandma’s house like I’m red riding hood. Can someone please knit me a cape for Easter?

  Q: What would you fill your basket with? Both realistically and hypothetically as I’ve done.

  

  | 85 Comments Tagged Basket, Cats, Easter, Fruit, Garmin, Gifts

• Real Food, Real Good

  Posted at 8:35 AM by Brittany, on August 31, 2015

  Seven days. It’s been seven full days since I’ve consumed any added sugars and I’m not only alive, but I’m alive and well. I’ve realized how easy it is for me to get complacent about the foods I put into my hard working machine of a body. It’s easy to fall off the wagon and a whole heck of a lot harder to get back on which is why finding a happy balance is key. For me that balance is all about a healthy mindset.

  

  Cauliflower rice, by far one of the easiest things I have ever made.

  Choosing to avoid certain foods that make me like a bag of flaming poo is just that, a choice. I’m not being forced and if I want to eat cookies for dinner every night I can. I will just have to deal with the consequences, which I don’t like. I play the “I’m not going to eat sugar” game all the time, back and forth I go until I find some solid ground. This time however, I’m doing things a bit differently.

  

  Along with avoiding the obvious: cookies, cakes, store bought chocolate, etc, I am also paying attention to the hidden sugars. You know, the ones you find in your store bought salsa and ketchup. Fortunately for me 95% of the food I eat is already in its pure unadulterated form, but my one go to has always been store bought salsa.

  Thanks to the abundance of tomatoes my garden has thrown at me, I have been making my own. Nothing beats the flavor of fresh.

  

  I find it powerful to be fully aware and present with what I eat. Distractions aside, and really stopping to savor each ingredient, texture, and flavor. In the past my sugar hiatuses left me like a rabid dog searching for blood, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on sugar. This time, I’m calm, peaceful, and I feel good.

  

  I voraciously tore through that book. I’ve always wanted to use the word voracious in a sentence about books, checking that one off the bucket list. I finished the book in three days, which never happens in my world. I’m usually distracted by other things, probably chocolate. I found the read to be inspirational and comforting.

  

  Staple meal. Everyday. Popcorn and salads in bowls fit for sasquatch.

  This is not to say I will NEVEREATADDEDSUGAR again, oh no, you bet your sweet britches that won’t be happening, but I intend to be mindful of my sugar. Avoiding it where it’s not necessary (salsa) and moderating it with simplified treats. Local, homemade, things like that. I owe a lot of my success this last week to bananas and almond butter. I ate an entire Costco tub of almond butter in five days. Five days.

  

  This specific brand of almond butter has given me ZERO troubles and the fats have helped curb my sweet tooth while providing me with sustainable energy. No crashing. I also think what’s made this so easy is knowing that I am honoring my body. Insert awkward hippie dance here. Raw cacao has been helpful too.

  What I love most about being fully aware and present with what I’m eating is that food becomes almost spiritual. It’s the foundation for our entire being, and should be treated with respect. We as Americans have become all too comfortable with convenience, but what happened to actually working for our food? Baking our bread at home instead of buying it with ingredients not meant for bread, whipping up cupcakes from scratch instead of staining our fingers with Red#40 and Blue#6.

  I’m inspired to not only eat the food I eat, but to be excited about it. Real food makes me feel real good. Also fall, fall makes me feel real good. The pumpkins and colored leaves have come out of storage. That was quite the sentence transition.

  

  FALL DECORATIONS.

  Alright, I’m done preaching. Long story short is that I’ve fallen back into my crunchy granola ways and am mindful of my food. Avoiding sugars has also inspired me to avoid things like processed oils. You get out what you put in so fuel yourself with whole foods and I assure you that you’ll notice the difference.

  Q: Do you notice when you’ve had too much of a good thing? To be fair, I’ve been having too much fruit so I’m going to start paying attention to that too. I think I need to start a fructose addiction support group. 😉

  

  | 52 Comments Tagged Almond Butter, Fall, Food, Fruit, sugar

• A Day in the Life of My Gut

  Posted at 8:59 AM by Brittany, on January 30, 2014

  I don’t participate in blogger linkups…like…ever. More specifically I don’t participate in the ever so popular linkup “WIAW,” also known as, “What I Ate Wednesday.” I’ve never had a desire to snap photos of things I ate on days other than Wednesday, but then post them on Wednesday and claim to have eaten them on….Wednesday? Meh.

  

  Coffee always comes first, because in order to put more food in..things must first come out. This photo is of a couple I see every morning I go to Starbucks to blog. They play scrabble with their tea and coffee. Cutest thing ever. Faces blurred for privacy!

  

  Pre-Breakfast – LOTS of fruit. With a side of nut-butter.

  I’ve been asked to participate in this link up to give more vegan options to the world wide web, but instead of linking up (because I’m too cool for school) I will post my own-singular- unattached post cleverly titled, “A Day in the Life of My Gut.” AKA what I typically eat. I like to pretend that all I eat are cupcakes and chocolate, but that’s just not true. Balance.

  In reality my “vegan” meals aren’t anything to be excited about. They are very simple and probably not what most people would opt for when cooking vegan. I am a bit of a minimalist, and simple is always better in my world. I like my food basic and “real.”

  ***Defiantly this post is on a Thursday..not Wednesday.

  

  Breakfast- Oatmeal with berries and other fun seeds and “rabbit like” grains.

  Most of my meals are very mundane, and I rarely deviate from the simplicity of what I’m posting here, but it works for me. Sometimes when I am feeling wild I will prepare something more elaborate for breakfast like a veg scramble, or pancakes…but that’s rare.

  

  Quick morning snack.

  I have somewhat of a system. I tend to eat my grains and fruit early in the day, and work my way to the veggies in the afternoon and evening. I figure I use the sugar from the fruit more during my energetic days than I do at night when I am sitting at home.

  

  Lunch is always in a bowl. Raw spinach, steamed kale, farro, wheat berries, baked/skinned beets, raw red pepper, and hemp seeds. Cooked in coconut oil and lightly seasoned with some pepper and spices.

  I find that bowl messes are the easiest for me to take anywhere. I always start with a base of some kind of leafy green (or two) and build from there. That part never changes. The protein source changes from quinoa, to beans, to cous cous (much more rare these days) and so on. Then more veggies like beets or brussels are added to the top. Never too many.

  To add flavor to my meals I sometimes saute my veggies in coconut oil, and add mustard or salsa. I am very basic with my seasonings because I happen to like the flavors of plain vegetables. If you don’t swing that way, then finding a sauce you love can make it easier to eat a shitton of vegetables in one sitting. Also crackers or chips help add flavor.

  

  A handful (or three) of these. Dark chocolate covered berries.

  9/10 times I have something sweet after every meal, this helps me not to overdo it.  A chocolate covered handful here, a cookie there, a finger dipped into PB everywhere.

  

  This afternoon snack has made a constant appearance in my eats lately.

  Snacks are welcomed, but moderated. I try not to mindlessly snack. A work in progress.

  

  Rice chips, OR rice crackers sometimes with hummus or salsa, and always with a giant carrot.

  Dinner is one of my meals that changes frequently. Sometimes it’s soup, sometimes it’s another bowl just like lunch, but with different protein and veggies (most of the time it’s this) and sometimes I use my evenings to make something more elaborate like black bean burgers, or BBQ tofu bowls. If I’m really lazy, it’s popcorn and an orange, but that’s rare.

  

  Steamed Kale, kidney beans, avocado, a baked/skinned beet, sauteed asparagus, and hemp seeds. Asparagus was cooked in coconut oil for flavor. My neighbor caught me taking this photo. It was awkward.

  One thing that never, EVER changes..is my water intake.

  

  No less than three of these a day. If I have more that’s fine. AT LEAST 100 oz must be consumed. I carry my jar everywhere…

  So there you have it, this is a typical day of eats for me. Lots of fruit, vegetables, and protein sources. I’ve cut out bread and only eat it once in a blue moon, but I opt for GF. I still feel like a big pile of dog turds if I have too much wheat…it’s bizarre. Obviously this isn’t set in stone, and things change around a bit, but you get the general idea.

  I say typical day because once in a while I get down and dirty with vegan butter heavy cupcakes, and I’ve been known to knock back a few rows of Oreo’s. All in moderation!

  

  All of these meals take no more than 10 minutes to prepare..whoever says you can’t eat healthy on a time crunch is WRONG! The key is food prep for things that take longer to make, like the quinoa. Making a giant bowl and using it throughout the week makes grabbing and going SO SIMPLE. Priorities people.

  ***I have nothing against this link up, in fact I enjoy seeing all the food-porn everyone posts. This is not a hate message to those of you that linkup, PLEASE KEEP DOING IT. It’s just not for me..that is all! Plus, no one wants to see the same thing every week!

  Q: Do you stick to simple, but delicious meals everyday, or do you play iron chef in your kitchen every night? I used to think I was Bobby Flay, but now that I cook for one and am constantly busy this quick stuff works best for me!

  

  | 55 Comments Tagged Fruit, Meal Prep, Vegan, Vegetables, Veggies

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• Contact: blissfulbritt@yahoo.com

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