WIAW: Eating in Real Life.

Good morning and happy Wednesday!

Which of course, means What I Ate Wednesday. We all enjoy our little bits of foodie voyeurism, don’t we?

So for today’s post, I’m recapping my eats from this past Saturday. I was at a conference the vast majority of the day. I left the house at 8:45 in the morning, got home at 5:30 to rest for about 10 minutes before heading back out to the dinner/social. I ate breakfast at home, but my lunch, snacks and dinner were provided for.

Of course, a few years ago I would have driven myself nuts with anxiety over what my food options were going to be and peppering myself with questions. Were there going to be healthy options? Would I be able to resist the unhealthy ones? What snacks should I pack in case the food options didn’t meet my criteria?

But nowadays, I realized…I just don’t care. In fact, one of the organizers told me a few weeks ago what the food options were going to be, but I forgot. Completely forgot, because it didn’t matter to me. When it came time for meals, I looked over my options, picked what sounded good, and ate it. And that sort of freedom is pretty fabulous.

So, on with it!

Breakfast

My usual ACV mix and a quick breakfast before I left the house.

One of my coconut-dipped baked banana donuts that I baked last week, and two fried eggs. Easy and delicious.

The conference was being held at the school, which was definitely convenient. This was actually the first one ever, put together by two school friends of mine. It wasn’t too big (about 20 presenters) but it was a success. They did a fabulous job putting it together!

My volunteer role for the day was running the Twitter account. Basically, being the official “Tweeter” (I need a fancier title though…Social Media Executive? Twitter Hostess? PR Manager? Something along those lines). Running an ‘official’ Twitter account is pretty fun…it makes me want to be more active on my blog twitter account.

And I was part of a group presentation, so I got some experience in that way. Note: I am such an awkward presenter.

I have absolutely no idea why my legs are crossed like that. My friend Zoey told me I looked like some sort of pretty flamingo. I suppose that’ a compliment, of sorts?

Another shot:

Apparently, I don’t know what to do with my arms either. So.awkward.

But moving on…

Lunch

Lunch was catered by a local deli, so that meant sandwiches, pasta salad, and egg salad.

I went for two half sandwiches: roast beef and cheese (I think it was swiss?) on marble rye and salmon salad with cucumbers on what I believe is ciabatta. I also took a small scoop of pasta salad, because I’m always excited to see an oil-based pasta salad as opposed to a mayo based. Pretty tasty!

Exciting moment of the conference: over lunch, we got to see speeches from the Brantford Mayor, the local MPP (Member of Provincial Parliament) and MP (Member of Parliament at the Federal level).

Pretty cool stuff!

There were more presentations before breaking for afternoon snack.

Apple and chocolate – gotta have balance, right? And…I went back for a third chocolate. Of course.

There were more presentations before closing with the keynote speaker, one of the professors at Laurier. I have to say, I think what I love most about my program is the ridiculous amount of topics that you can cover, and they’re all so interesting to me. For example, my focus is on media representations (of crime and government, for the most part), but others in criminology focus on global issues, political issues, stigma, homelessness, mental illness, white collar crime and corruption, criminal law, cybercrime, sexism, Aboriginal issues…there are so many things to look at. Ahh, love.

Dinner

I headed home to rest my feet for a few minutes and pick up the boyfriend before heading to the Hawk and Bell (a pub in Brantford that just opened) for a buffet dinner and social. Dinner options were salad, garlic bread, perogies, vegetarian penne, chicken parmesan, and butter chicken with basmati rice. A good variety, clearly!

(excuse the poor restaurant lighting)

I went for salad with balsamic, perogies, and butter chicken. Umm, that butter chicken might be some of the best I’ve ever had. From what I understand, the family that owns that restaurant is Indian and that was an old family recipe. It used shredded chicken instead of the usual chunks of chicken breast that I usually see in butter chicken, which was delicious.

Apparently, conferences made me hungry because I went back for seconds on the butter chicken.

Amazing.

I was definitely tired after my day, so we didn’t stay at the social to long. We headed home, where I promptly collapsed on the couch and turned on a movie

11:00 pm munchies:

Graham cracker with peanut butter. Did the trick.

So the conference and eats there made me realize how normal my relationship with food feels. Generally, people don’t worry about what food is going to be served when they have a lunch or a conference (of course, different story for allergies or necessary dietary restrictions, but you get my point). They show up, they eat what’s there, and they move on. No concern about whether or not the options were healthy enough or met any sort of criteria…they just eat it. I love feeling that sense of normalcy around what I eat!

And still plugging away at papers today, but I’m almost done my final coursework paper. Light at the end of the tunnel!

Enjoy your day!

<— If you did/are doing post secondary education, what’s your degree in?

<— What was your favourite class in school? Interestingly enough, I think my favourite course that I ever took was the Greek Mythology course I took in my fourth year of undergrad. It was such an interesting course.

<— Do you get anxious if you’re at an event and don’t know what the food options are going to be?

Once, I Met a Celebrity’s Mother.

Good morning and happy Tuesday! Anything good planned today?

A few days ago, the wonderful Amanda at Running With Spoons nominated me for the One Lovely Blog award.

Rules: Share 7 things about yourself and then nominate 7 others.

Thanks love! I am all for sharing random tidbits of information (and learning them about others) so I’m happy to bring you seven random bits of info.

1. I’ve never met a ‘real’ celebrity, but I have met a celebrity’s mom.

So, I’ve mentioned before that I used to work at a group home for teenage mothers. The big ‘claim-to-fame’ we had was that Justin Bieber’s mom, Patti Mallette had been staying there when Justin Bieber was born. AKA: we were the first home of Justin Bieber.

(source)

When she was writing her book, she came back for a tour – and by some crazy coincidence, I was actually working that day (I was working relief at the time so I usually didn’t get day shifts). She was an absolutely sweetheart and gave the girls a great pep talk about how their situations would not prevent them from being fantastic mothers to their kids. It was so inspiring and uplifting for our girls, which I really respected.

And yes…I read the chapter in her book where she talks about her stay. But that was the only part of the book I read – I’m pretty much the furthest thing from a Bieber fan!

2. I have really weird pinkie toes.

I bet you’re excited you got to see a picture of a foot today.

 

My baby toes have a weird little hunchback to them, and my pinkie toenails are pretty much non-existent. And the nail that is there, has basically no nerves – I won’t notice if it splits or comes off completely. When I’ve gotten pedicures in the past (and evidently I will be needing one as soon as we’re back in sandal weather) they’ve had to actually paint a toenail onto my toe. Awkward.

 

3. Years of nail abuse has left me with insanely brittle nails.

I’ve been wearing gel nails on and off for years. I got them for the first time for my grade 8 graduation, had them on and off throughout high school, and wore them pretty much nonstop from when I started university up until this past summer. So now, I have the shortest, most brittle nails ever. As soon as they get past my fingertips, they crack. Don’t abuse your nails, ladies!

(source)

I’m not going to lie…I really miss them.

 

4. There are three reasons why I could never go vegan.

And those are eggs, cheese, and pulled pork. I eat egg almost every day without fail. If I don’t eat them for breakfast, I’m eating them for lunch! And cheese improve everything. Literally everything – I cannot imagine eating pizza or lasagna without it. Pulled pork is just amazing. When I go to London’s ribfest in the summer or to any BBQ joint, I guarantee you I’m getting pulled pork. Best thing ever.

 

5. My specialization school-wise is in media.

So, I’m currently in the midst of obtaining my MA degree in Criminology. I didn’t expect this when I started, but almost every paper I’ve done has been related to the media in some way – fictional, news representations, or social media. The meanings that are portrayed in our chosen forms of entertainment and news and how we respond to them are fascinating to me.

 

6. One of goals for the next (school) year is to start learning French.

I live in Canada. If you want to work in government (which I think an MA in crim is gearing me towards) knowing French is a huge asset. Unfortunately, my French teacher from grades 5-8 traumatized me from the subject, so I stopped taking it at the first opportunity. Clearly, I’m now wishing I stuck with it!

 

7. I’m a fidgety person.

I’m forever twirling my hair, tapping my feet/fingers, shifting positions, playing with something…I kind of suck at sitting still.

 

And there you go! My seven nominees:

 

• Chelsea @ One Healthy Munchkin
• Devon @ Health in Equilibrium
• Lisa @ Lisa Lately
• Caitlin @ Chasing Chels
• Sarah @ Pickyrunner
• Sara @ Nourish and Flourish
• Tessa @ Amazing Asset

 

Have a good one!

 

<— What is one food you eat without fail pretty much every day?

<— Ever met a famous person?

<— If you could learn one other language what would it be? I wouldn’t mind learning Italian! 

WIAW: Brinner

Hello there!

I’m pretty sure I don’t even need an introduction to Wednesday posts anymore. We all know what’s going to happen.

Jenn’s WIAW!

And of course, St. Patty’s Day means it’s going to be a green month! Oddly enough, the only green meal I really got in yesterday was breakfast. But I’ll take it. On with it, shall we?

Morning Cocktail

Apple Cider Vinegar, lemon juice, water, stevia. The usual right when I wake up.

Breakfast

I wanted to play around with my xanthan gum a little more, so I put together a green smoothie for breakfast.

1 frozen banana, a scoop of protein powder, a handful of spinach, about a teaspoon of cocoa powder, 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum and enough almond milk to get it all going. It ended up really thick, which I loved, but it had a weird gummy-like taste to it. Maybe I added a little too much xanthan gum? A few drops of stevia seemed to mask it though.

Topped with blueberries and Love Crunch Dark Chocolate and Red Berries granola. Except minus the dark chocolate because of course, that aspect of the mix is long gone 

Mid-morning I was off to the gym for leg day – favourite workout of the week, easily.

1 scoop pre-workout, 1 scoop post-workout (which I drank while foam-rolling! Yay goals)!

Followed by lunchtime.

I had made Chelsea’s Adzuki Bean and Butternut Squash Saute the night before over brown rice (which was absolutely delicious, FYI!), except I used black beans. Leftovers were promptly heated up for lunch and devoured.

I had a quick meeting in lieu of my usual Tuesday class, so I was able to eat a snack at home. I heated up an Apple Pie Questbar (look for the review this weekend!) in the microwave briefly and smothered it with some PB.

Looooved this flavour!

After my meeting (which was fantastic – slowly but surely, my thesis proposal is coming together) I spent some time on the couch getting some work done and munching on a few handfuls of unpictured carrot sticks.

Dinner

Dinner was quick, easy, and fabulous.

Hello, brinner.

Scrambled eggs, bacon, and a piece of buttered toast. So satisfying!

I’ve never particularly enjoyed cooking bacon before – messy, greasy and I would usually get splashed with hot oil. But the last couple of times I’ve cooked it, I’ve baked it in the oven. It’s so much easier!

I line a cookie sheet with tinfoil, add the bacon, and then put it in a cold oven. I set it to 375 degrees, set the timer for 14 minutes, and walk away. It cooks up perfectly, and to clean up, all I have to do is throw the tinfoil in the trash.

So…with this knowledge, I will definitely be eating bacon more often.

Dark chocolate truffle for dessert:

Confession: this is leftover from Christmas. What can I say – my stash was massive going into the holiday season, and then between Christmas and Valentine’s it got even bigger. Don’t worry – I’m slowly making my way through it

Snack

So…I’m pretty proud of myself for my snack last night.

I remembered Laura saying at some point that she’ll stick flavoured yogurt in the freezer, so I decided that making some coconut fro-yo sounded pretty fantastic.

In the morning, I opened one of the coconut Oikos, stirred some almonds and chocolate chips in there, and popped it in the freezer. I took it out about 45 minutes before I wanted to eat it last night, and topped it with a bit of a chocolate casein-almond milk mix, shredded coconut, and sprinkles.

That will definitely become a common snack around here. I loved it! Next time I’ll be sure to put plastic wrap or something over the top when I put it in the freezer though – it had a little bit of iciness to it.

Ended the day on a good note, that’s for sure.

Have a good Wednesday!

<— Best thing to have for brinner? I also wouldn’t say no to a pancake or french toast dinner, either.

<— Do you have a favourite ‘Simpsons’ moment? This one was also acceptable, considering the context of the post :-p

<— Bacon: bake it or fry it? I’m never going back to frying, if I can avoid it.