Another week flying by where I eat a total random conglomeration of meals that are usually pretty similar and also a tad bit random. Since I do still have a meal plan at my school I try to steal as many veggies as possible to roast or use in stir-fries to maximize my costs elsewhere. Yet of course I get sucked into the wonderful worlds of Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s (both of which are 2-3 blocks from my downtown campus), leading me to buy an assortment of other odds and ends.
Every week I’ll do a mix-up of a few of the prettiest and best tasting (to me) meals I ate during the chaotic school week.
Breakfasts, snacks, desserts, dinners, drinks, odd products I find… whatever! You name it, I’ll probably throw it in here some time.
First up on my list was a homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte. The ingredients may throw you for a loop but no weird artificially-flavored pumpkin syrups were used in the making of this wonderful creation. To make my pumpkin lattes at home, I use 1/2 to 1 cup of coffee (I don’t like it too strong), 1/4 cup organic pumpkin puree, 1 cup almond milk (unsweetened vanilla preferably), 5-10 drops of liquid stevia for sweetness and a ton of ice. Blend it all together and it turns out super frothy and delicious.
I topped mine with cinnamon but pumpkin pie spice is now available at Trader Joe’s so get your hands on it!
Depending on how much pumpkin you add, it can turn out absolutely decadent and super rich. I made one two days ago that tasted even more pumpkin-y and I loved it. My friends had no idea I put actual pumpkin in it. I’m so deceiving.
Next up is one of my favorite lunches from last week. Surprisingly, half of it was from the dining hall. Actually everything but the veggie burger. The veggie burger I had this time was Falafel Burger from Organic Sunshine Burgers. I love love love their burgers so much because they don’t contain any fillers. Just all natural and all organic food. The falafel one is primarily brown rice, chickpeas and raw sunflower seeds. With added tahini and garlic a.k.a the best things in this world.
One burger delivers 9g of protein and 3 come in a box for around $4.50 so it is quite the steal.
I roast mine in the oven at about 375º for 10 minutes and they’re good to go. The dining hall that day had roasted sweet potatoes (those are the best days), broccoli and steamed zucchini so I snagged some in tupperware to eat in my room with the burger. Really, really good.
For dinner last Wednesday I stopped at Native Foods on my way home from my night class. As always I never can decide on what to get because 90% of the menu looks too good to be true. However, I ended up purchasing the Sesame Kale Macro Bowl with sauerkraut, brown rice, grilled tempeh and a super yummy seaweed salad. It is so huge for $9.95 that I had half for dinner and the other half Thursday night at work. So bomb.
I also ordered a side of roasted veggies so my total was $14 but not too bad for the huge amount I ordered. Always happy post-Native.
Saturday for breakfast I decided to be super quick with what I ate and had a gluten-free Chia Plus waffle from Nature’s Path, topped with Maranatha Sunflower Seed Butter (a gift from the gods), a sliced banana and some dried mulberries (nature’s candy).
I love the waffles because they’re obviously easy to grab and despite being gluten-free, they don’t fall apart like most GF items. The mulberries added a nice crunch and it filled me up just right.
Just a few of the things I nommed on last week! Looking forward to seeing what this week holds, especially since I will be traveling to Kansas this weekend and will be surrounded by my mom’s amazing all-organic vegetable garden.
-Addie
