Easy Ways to Get Your 5-A-Day Part 2

Hello!! I'm back with the second part of the series I promised! 

And first on the list are brussels sprouts. People feel pretty negatively about them. But I think they've just gotten a bad rap! Poor, poor brussels. Roasting them is the perfect way to get rid of their bitter flavor and then they can be seasoned various ways or served along with scrambled eggs. Or at least that's what I do...

Aren't those just beautiful up there ^^^?!? I'll stop being weird now...Cut off the ends of the brussels, chop in half and mix with olive oil, salt, pepper, and minced garlic. Roast at 425 for 20 minutes or until cooked fully. Add thai sweet red chile sauce and mix thoroughly. I added 1 Tbsp to the amount shown here, but you do you.  

Vegetable numero dos: CAULIFLOWER! I know, I sound absolutely nuts. But it is so so good. Seriously. I love it roasted, in this cauliflower calzone, in stir-fry's as "rice," or steamed and covered in melty cheese <3. It's one of the best things you can put in your mouth. 

For a stir-fry, just put a head of cauliflower in the food processor and pulse for a few seconds until it reaches a rice-like consistency. Then sauté it in some sesame or olive oil and use it as you would regular rice or fried rice. I even like to do a combination of rice and cauliflower rice so that I get the staying power of the carbohydrates and the nutritional benefits of the veggie!

For the mac-n-cheese cauliflower, cut half a head of cauliflower into bite-sized florets. Place in a large microwavable bowl, add a few tablespoons of water, and cover with a lid and microwave until tender (7-10 minutes). Meanwhile, add 1 oz. cream cheese, 1/3 cup shredded havarti cheese, 1/2 tbsp spicy brown mustard, garlic salt, pepper, and a splash of milk in a saucepan. Once the cauliflower is steamed and the cheese mixture is melted, add the cauliflower and coat. Feel free to add more cheese if you want. I mean, can you have too much cheese in your mac-n-cheese?

Last, but not least, I have for you a fruit-filled breakfast. I discovered this oatmeal awhile back and used to eat if everyday. The whipped banana thickens up the oatmeal and also gives it a natural sweetness without needing to add any extra honey or sugar. Combine 1/2 thinly sliced banana, 1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup milk, and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Once it starts to boil, quickly stir to "whip" the banana into the oats. Once cooked, add ground flax seed, chopped walnuts, peanut butter, and chopped apple. See what I did there? Bananas AND apples. :-D

Hope you all have a wonderful, fruit and veggie filled day! And if not, there's always tomorrow :-)

Taste of My Tuesday...Numero Dos

It's time....for a Taste of My Tuesday, second edition!! GeT ExcITeD!!! Or don't if you don't really care about what I eat. If so, I'm very sorry. I'll post a new recipe soon...

For those of you in the Instagram world that don't know yet, I'm now on Instagram @donuteatingdietitian! I used to always tell people that I didn't want to get an account because no one cared about my life. That hasn't changed--my life still isn't interesting enough to follow--but you should check me out anyways! Maybe you'll become just as obsessed with oatmeal pictures as I am right now. I'm LOVING the Instagram world and am kicking myself for not joining sooner! I'm able to get food inspiration all the time. Aaaand, it allows me to creep on celebrities' lives without being creepy. Everyone does it. You know you do. 

Because I'm taking sssoooo many pictures of my food, it's hard to choose which ones I wanted to feature for this post. But here you go.

Breakfast: I've been eating some sort of oats for breakfast practically every day for the past several weeks. Top choices include my breakfast cookie dough featured in my last TOMT post, baked chocolate creme brulee oats topped with peanut butter,  this single serving oatmeal cookie with peanut butter, and these overnight latte oats. I cut it down a bit--combine 1/3 C oats, 1/4 C strong brewed coffee, 1/2-3/4 tbsp chia seeds, 1 tsp brown sugar, and a little less than 1/2 C almond milk in a bowl and place in fridge overnight. In the morning top with chopped apples, walnuts, and almond butter of choice. I usually eat some sort of protein with it--a slice of ham with avocado, a few bites of cottage cheese, etc. And of course I drink it with cold brew latte <3.

Lunch: After my workout I whipped up this white chocolate peppermint shake that I got for Christmas from my in-laws. It comes in a packet and all I add is water, almond milk, and ice and blend it up in my vitamix. Seriously the creamiest shake I've ever had and it tastes just like a milkshake!!!!  I drank part of it, and in going with my mindful eating, realized halfway through that my mouth was tired of it and that my stomach was no longer hungry so I popped it in the freezer to eat later. 

Snack: I was out and about after a job interview and between meeting a friend for coffee. Since I hadn't eaten a whole lot after my workout and I knew I was about to get some java, I got a snack at Target to tide me over until dinner. Chobani simply 100 was a great choice!

And a short skinny caramel macchiato for me at Starbucks...the last sip is da beeest!!! You're essentially just drinking the caramel drizzle. Mmmm mmm.

Dinner: I had been craving salmon and my grocery store had fresh salmon on sale $3.00 off/lb. Winning! So dinner this night was slow baked salmon, zucchini and red onions, and cauliflower mac-n-cheese. Holy moley, this mac-n-cheese. Probably the best thing I put in my mouth this month--and I put some really TASTY things in my mouth...yeah, it was that good. For the veggies and salmon, I drizzled them with olive oil and topped with salt, pepper, and fresh garlic and cooked at 275 degrees until my salmon reached 145 degrees on my meat thermometer. For the cauliflower, I steamed cauliflower florets in the microwave and then combined it in a stovetop pot with light cream cheese, havarti cheese (my newest obsession), spicy brown mustard, and salt and pepper and then added in fresh spinach. 

And that was my day! What have you been eating lately? Anything I should try out? Or any incredible instagram accounts I should check out? Comment below to let me know!