Today I decided I would do my first “What I Ate Wednesday” which features exactly what it sounds like… what I ate today. I’ve seen it around on a few blogs and decided why not try it out. Not sure if I can remember every Wednesday to take a picture of every dish I eat (because let’s be real, sometimes it’s not cute) but I’ll try.
Lately due to the influx of products I’ve been receiving, it feels like I have a million things to sample, review and try, along with tons of things I made last week that are leftover. This morning I decided I wanted to make a green juice (or smoothie in my case since I am juicer-less) and because that can’t hold me over… I paired it with two baby blueberry muffins that I made a week or so ago.
The juice was a wonderful blend of kale, romaine, cucumber, swiss chard, 1 cup frozen pineapple, some frozen strawberries and 1 cup of coconut water. It almost filled my huuuuge mason jar up to the top and was super fresh. I topped my muffins with Earth Balance’s Coconut and Peanut Spread (which was phenomenal) after I took this photo. I always put nut butter on my muffins. Guilty pleasure. Earth Balance mailed me out some coupons a few days ago and so far I have tried the peanut spread, the buttery spread with olive oil and their new cheddar mac and cheese. A-mazing. First experience with Earth Balance and I loved each product.
After my workout I came home and had no clue what to do for lunch because I wanted to make a million different things. Another problem I have being the foodie I am – I want to make everything and never can easily decide on one specific meal. I ended up making my chickpea avocado sandwich with some sliced cucumbers and red pepper. Tossed it on a pita and threw it under my panini maker and BAM, deliciousness in a matter of minutes.
Because I only had one pita leftover and my chickpea salad couldn’t fit onto it all, I tossed the rest in an empty hummus container with some romaine lettuce. Kind of like a salad. Looks pretty ugly but tasted the opposite, I swear. And a plum on the side. Good eats.
A few hours later during my break at work, I only had almonds in my purse which I wasn’t really feeling so luckily I grabbed a pack of granola at Peet’s Coffee for $2. Giddy Up and Go Granola with pumpkin seeds, gluten-free oats, sesame seeds and raisins. Mmmm. No funky brown rice syrup or pure excess sugar, just a bit of agave nectar. It was delicious and I can see it happening in my future.
Once I got home from work, I knew I should probably eat my leftover Pho but what did I want? My brand new Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Mac and Cheese that I bought yesterday from Whole Foods. After looking up some reviews of it on Instagram, I couldn’t wait any longer to try it. So many people commented on the product saying it tasted exactly like the blue box from Kraft I was used to from my childhood. Let me tell you, the flavor was almost the exact same but better. Cooked the noodles in boiling water for 13 minutes, added the flavor packet, added 4 tbsp almond milk and 2 tbsp of my new Earth Balance Olive Oil spread. I decided to add an extra tablespoon of nutritional yeast to really intensify the “cheese” flavor. The final verdict: I was on cloud nine. Tossed some steamed broccoli and cauliflower with it and I was quite impressed. In the future I might add some vegan cheese to the bowl or spinach. Now I’m wondering what the White Cheddar one tastes like. Adding that of my to-sample list.
Look how good that looks. Don’t lie and say it doesn’t! Right after I made this, my uncle walked into the kitchen asking me if I was cooking something with gouda cheese. I found this hilarious. It amazes me when vegan food can be so similar to real food and if people didn’t know otherwise, I could easily feed this to them, tell them it’s Kraft Macaroni and I’m 99% sure they would believe me. Hopefully one day I can get him to try one of these wild vegan creations I whip up.
The great part about Earth Balance’s brand new Mac and Cheese is that it doesn’t contain artificial dyes and preservatives like the Kraft brand. Nor does it contain dairy or animal products. Despite Earth Balance just recently coming out with these products, they also sell non-dairy mayo, “butter”, crackers, popcorn and creamy/crunch peanut butters. What’s not to love about that? They take your average condiments and snacks, turn them vegan and dairy-free and you can’t even taste the difference. Next up on my list of Earth Balance products to try? The popcorn and vegan mayo.
Thanks to Earth Balance for these products and making my Wednesday’s eats oh so fabulous.
-Addie
