What I Eat In A Day #2

It's been a hot minute since I did my first What I Eat In A Day, I guess it just didn't dawn on me. Since living in my own home with my husband, we've been making a lot more meals from scratch so I'm hoping to pick up this series and make it more of a regular thing. In this edition I woke up a little late hence the lack of snacks, though I'm never sure as to whether I ought to include those. What do you think? Let me know! Without further ado, here's what I eat in an average day.

BREAKFAST: For breakfast (after my usual cup of coffee) I had some of my current favourite oatmeal. I know, a cliche but it's just so yummy on a cold morning. This is the Better Oats Maple & Brown Sugar Whole Grain Instant Oatmeal with Flax. It's the first ever pre-flavoured oatmeal that I don't have to add extra sugar (or sweetner) to. A miracle! Using almond milk as my liquid (though roughly 2/3 of the recommended amount, as I prefer a thicker oatmeal), I blast it in the microwave. As a taste perk, I add a banana and a good shake of cinnamon. 

LUNCH: This was the day that I assembled my Carrot Hummus Recipe so for lunch I ate what I needed to photograph - the life of a food blogger (I imagine). Carrot hummus, the remainder of a pita turned into the chips pictured, and tons of veggies. Though the portion was light, I knew I'd be eating dinner earlier than usual so it fitted me fine. And was delicious. If you haven't tried this hummus recipe, I urge you to do so. It really is delicious.

DINNER: Dinner time came and that's when God's greatest gift came into play: pasta. Here we had Artichoke and Spinach Mac n Cheese. Though it sounds like something complicated to make from scratch, it is fairly easy. Here's the *recipe I used:

I N G R E D I E N T S: 

• 2/3 box medium shell pasta (roughly 3/4 lb)
• 1+1/2 cups grated Parmesan 
• 1/2 cup Parmesan, for topping
• 1/2 bag spinach (frozen would work)
• One 14-ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 12 ounces whipped cream cheese
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 3 crushed garlic cloves
• 1/2 white onion, diced
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

M E T H O D:

1. Cook your pasta until VERY al dente, roughly 5 minutes in boiling water (it will cook further in the oven, trust me). Rinse through with cold water and set aside.
2. Use a dash of olive oil to a heated frying pan and begin to cook down your onion and garlic (until onion is translucent), add in your spinach and continue cooking until it's wilted down. Feel free to add a splash of water if anything is seeming to stick or brown. Once cooked, set aside.
3. Grab a large bowl and add your mayonnaise, almond milk, cream cheese, and white wine. Use your hand blender to incorporate together, or use a whisk. Once combined, add in the pasta, spinach mixture, Parmesan, spices, and artichoke pieces. Mix together with a spoon. 
4. Add to a 7x11 dish (any size works, just adjust the cooking time to the thickness of your pasta layer).top with your 1/2 cup Parmesan,
5. Cook for 25/30 minutes on the middle rack, until the top is crispy. 

I served my portion with some leafy salad, red onion, and cucumber. But you can do whatever tickles your fancy.

I finished the evening with some tequila and ice (one of my favourite drinks of choice, anyone else?). Do you find What I Eat In A Day's interesting? Let me know!

*adapted from THIS Damaris Phillips recipe