Big Portions for a Big Week | What I Eat in a Day

This week is a crazy one! Hence the post being a day late (sigh). My final portfolio for first year is due THIS FRIDAY GAAAAAH! It's such a stressful and busy time that eating is one of those things that's really easy to push to the side. However, if I want to get through this week I need to fuel my body with good, wholesome foods that will give me energy!

Breakfast - 8:45am

Of course, sticking with my old faithful. I had 1/2 cup oats cooked in 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup water. I mixed in raw cacao powder and cinnamon and topped it off with a dollop of greek yogurt and cinnamon. Along side it was a very large cup of coffee. It was the perfect start to a long day at school of edits and photo printing.

Lunch - 2:30pm

A big portion of carbs and veggies to get me through the afternoon after such a long amount of time from breakfast was much needed! I had 1/2 cup of rice with peas and carrots. While the rice cooked I added in rosemary, pepper, and red pepper flakes to infuse some flavour into it. It was actually really delicious!

Dinner - 7:45pm

After lunch I headed back to school to do some more editing and a last minute photoshoot. When I finally got home for dinner I realized the serious lack of protein i had in my day. Ground beef was exactly what my palette was craving! I seasoned it with oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. I threw in some broccoli, peas, and baby carrots for some more veg! It was delicious!

After dinner I did a 40 minute vinyasa to relax after such a busy day. After my yoga time I had a cup of peppermint tea and read a book. I finished off the day with a nice hot shower and a phone call home before heading off to bed!

I hope you enjoyed seeing what I eat in a day to get through end of the semester crunch time! How do you fuel a busy day? Do let me know in a comment.

If you're going through finals right now GOOD LUCK <3

Thanks for reading & check back again to see what KatieDidd, xo

What I Eat In A Day: College Edition | Food Friday

Breakfast:

The power went out just as my coffee finished brewing; I must have had some good karma on my side yesterday morning! Unfortunately that meant no hot oatmeal for breakfast. However I did have some greek yogurt mixed with raw oats, raw cacao powder, and cinnamon. I topped it off with a layer of Multigrain Cheerios and cinnamon. Whilst eating I was reading Game of Thrones. I didn't much enjoy the television show, but I'm loving the book so far!

Lunch:

Two fried eggs and a peppermint tea- that's it? Nope... I also had roasted mixed veggies (beans, carrots, and peas) but forgot to take a picture! Bad blogger award goes to me. I seasoned my fried eggs with black pepper, and roasted red pepper flakes. 

Dinner:

Why yes, that is melted cheese you see! For dinner I had a pork chop seasoned with black pepper, rosemary, garlic, and red pepper flakes on top of corn, broccoli, and rice. A little trick I've learned to ensure extremely flavourful rice is to season the water from the very beginning of the cooking process. I love using rosemary and red pepper flakes!

This is a very typical day of eating for me- super simple recipes but still so healthy! What do you eat in a typical day? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading & check back to see what KatieDidd, xo

2. What I Eat In A Day: College Edition | Meal Time + Recipes

Breakfast:

Chocolate Oatmeal

1/2 cup large flake oats, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 teaspoon raw cacao powder, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. 

To make this I add the oats, milk, and water to a saucepan and bring that to a light boil over a medium heat. I then turn down the heat to very low, stir in the cacao powder and cinnamon and allow it to simmer over the low heat for about 5 minutes. To serve, I put it into a bowl and add a little splash of milk around the edges.

Cinnamon Tea

1 cup water, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon milk.

To make this super delicious and simple cinnamon tea, I bring 1 cup of water to a boil. I then stir in the cinnamon and allow it to steep/simmer for about 8 minutes. I add in the sugar and milk once the tea is already in my mug. It's super simple, delicious, and great for you!

During breakfast I have been journaling as of late. It's been so nice to start my morning with some me time instead of what I had been doing prior which was scrolling social media. Taking this time in the morning to reflect has really helped with my anxiety and has also helped me to have a clear mind going into the day. 

Lunch:

Eggs on Salad

2 large brown eggs, black pepper, 1 cup romaine lettuce, splash of white vinegar.

To make this salad I fried my eggs on a low heat to ensure that they cooked all the way through whilst still keeping the yolk runny, seasoning them with black pepper. I chopped up the romaine lettuce and drizzled the vinegar on top- I probably used about 1 teaspoon. Once my eggs were cooked I placed them on top of the lettuce.

Rice Pudding

1 cup cooked rice, 1 cup milk, 1 tablespoon greek yogurt, 3 teaspoons sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.

To make this delicious rice pudding I put all the ingredients, discluding the cinnamon, into a saucepan and let it cook over a medium heat for about 20 minutes, until almost all the liquid was boiled off. I then stirred in the cinnamon, covered with a lid and allowed the pudding to simmer for another 5 minutes. It's such a delicious way to fill you up while being able to have a dessert element at lunch time- plus you get a container of leftovers from this sized batch!

Lunch for me is usually a nice little break from school/studying. I like to catch up on YouTube videos or TV series whilst I eat my lunch. I'm trying to eat slower and more mindfully than I had been in the past so my lunch usually spans about 30-60 minutes. I noticed myself eating out of boredom quite often which left me feeling bloated and not having the greatest energy levels. Now that I'm eating mindfully I have noticed a big difference in the way I feel. I make sure that I'm truly hungry before thinking of eating instead of mindlessly binging on food just because I'm bored during a long study session.

Dinner:

Herbed Pasta and Veggies

1 cup whole wheat penne pasta, 1/3 cup frozen peas, 1/3 cup frozen corn, 1 teaspoon garlic, 1/4 teaspoon oregano, 1/4 teaspoon basil, salt and pepper to taste.

To make this super simple dinner, I first boiled water to cook the pasta. Once the pasta was half cooked, I added in the frozen vegetables and allowed the pasta and vegetables to cook together. Once everything was cooked through I drained off the excess water, stirred in the spices and allowed the dish to cool before transferring to a tupperware container. 

Although this particular day, my dinner was eaten at work, most days dinner is treated a lot like lunch for me. The only difference is that I have been taking this hour of time to read a novel for pleasure while I'm eating. I love to read but allowing myself the time for enjoyment reading is a tricky balance. When I begin to read I tend to get lost in the book- two hours later I've still got my nose stuck between the pages. Reading during dinner gives me a conscious cut off time; I can read for an hour without the fear of wasting my study time.

Snack:

Greek Yogurt Bowl

1/2 cup greek yogurt, 1/2 teaspoon raw cacao powder, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 cup oats, 1/3 cup multigrain Cheerios.

This snack is so ridiculously simple yet so deliciously satisfying at the end of the day. I begin by mixing the yogurt and the cacao until it's completely mixed through. I then fold in the cinnamon and oats roughly and flatten the mixture out- yes it looks as odd as it sounds but trust me on this. I sprinkle the Cheerios on top with a dash of extra cinnamon and voila! It's a light snack but enough to tide me over during the night. On top of that the flavours are amazing- you get a taste of chocolate, cinnamon, yogurt, and cheerios in every bite.

During my evening snack, I pull out my journal again. I like to look back on my day through writing. I'm currently on a journey of getting to know me and I feel like daily journaling is really helping me to get in touch with myself. 

I hope you enjoyed reading through my meals of the day and I hope it helps any of you struggling to balance college life with eating well. Not sure if you noticed but this was a completely meat free day for me! I like to eat meat free 2-3 days per week as I feel it really helps with my weight control, my digestion, and my energy levels- I highly recommend trying a meatless day! If you have any tips for me, please do let me know! What is your favourite quick meal or snack?

Thanks for reading, xo, Katelyn

What I Eat In A Day: College Edition | Food Friday

Now that I'm moved away and in college I thought I'd share with you a typical day of food for me. I try my best to plan ahead to make sure that even if I have a busy day I will always have home cooked, healthy meals so I don't need to resort to boxes and cans to survive.

This is absolutely hilarious that I haven't done a what i eat in a day for ages and yet the breakfast is still the exact same haha. I had been switching it up a little bit for the hot days by mixing together:

1/2 cup greek yogurt

1/4 cup oats

1 tsp cacao powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

But now that it's cooler again, I'm really loving my old faithful of oatmeal! I always make my oatmeal stove-top and with large flake oats.

1/4 cup oats

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp cacao powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

 Lunch for me was a pasta salad that I pre-made on Sunday for all week and a bowl of romaine lettuce salad. I don't like most salad dressings so I just dressed it with with black pepper and plain white vinegar.

Pasta Salad Recipe:
Rotini pasta
1 diced chicken breast
Peaches and cream corn
Broccoli
Tomatoes
Peas
Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Greek yogurt

This is literally the easiest meal prep recipe in the world! All I did was cook the chicken and the pasta, chop all the veggies and throw them in, then add the spices. I used a little bit of greek yogurt to kind of bind everything together. It tastes amazing and lasts in the fridge for ages

Around 3:30 I always seem to get hungry and my go-to is ALWAYS my favourite cereal; Multigrain Cheerios with a splash of chocolate milk, a dollop of greek yogurt, a few chocolate chips, and a generous sprinkle of cinnamon. It's so delicious and not as unhealthy as you would assume!

For dinner I made a HUGE pot of meat sauce and portioned it off into freezer containers (you can see the small container in the corner for my lunch tomorrow haha). I served it over whole wheat penne pasta and broccoli. I had another bowl of romaine lettuce with vinegar- gotta get those 5 a day!

Meat Sauce Recipe:
5 strips 40% reduced sodium bacon
1 Lb extra lean ground beef
1 can diced tin tomatoes
1 can crushed tin tomatoes
2 tsp white sugar
Garlic to taste
Basil to taste
Oregano to taste
Onion powder to taste
Black pepper to taste
Salt if desired

To make this sauce I began by dicing up the bacon and cooking it in the pot. I poured both tins of tomatoes over the bacon and added the spices whilst I browned the beef in another pan. When the meat was fully cooked I rinsed and drained it, added the same spice mixture as shown above, then added the meat to the sauce along with the sugar. The sugar does a really good job of cutting the acidity of the tomatoes. I let the sauce simmer on a low heat for about 2 hours before putting into freezer containers. It's absolutely delicious!

To finish off the day I had a glass of 2% milk with a touch of cinnamon- I know, weird combination, but trust me it's really good and calming for before bed. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing my first college edition of what I eat in a day! If you try any of my recipes do let me know! I'm also curious to know any easy, student-friendly recipes that you know of (freezer friendly is a great option).

Thanks for reading, xo, Katelyn