What's on your plate?

[lylysa]

Hello there, ladies and gents!

Keeping in line with all the fun and interactive threads asking about your most recent halls, items you have your eyes on, what you're currently wearing, what's your hair routine, and more, I've decide to branch out and ask:

"What's on your plate?"

The beauty world doesn't just stop at skin care and cosmetics, it also goes hand in hand with your overall health and well-being, so with that, I'm curious to see what we're all chowing down and snacking on be it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, or inbetween!

For those with apps that help count calories or to those who just want to keep a log, here's a place to share, possibly find and share some recipes, and even tips on maintaining a balanced diet.

Don't just share food items, but even drinks! I'm a huge fan of tea and at least have a cup of green tea a day (anti-oxidants) and drink plenty of water.

For lunch today, I had:

-Brown rice

-Steamed egg

-Steamed red snapper with green onion, sesame oil, and black pepper

-Gai lan (it's a type of Chinese vegetable/greens)

Now, tell me, Beauty Talk world, what do you have? 😄

[ChicDabbler]

I'm more into Doritos and peanut M&Ms than potato chips, I usually grab them for my 6-9pm meetings/classes.

Haha, eating healthy occasionally makes me feel less guilty about snowed in days like today, spicy ramen and oreos (without milk, so that's healthy, right?).

[lylysa]

Haha, better add that milk for calcium, boom, back to healthy! 😛

[lylysa]

No need to be intimidated at all! This isn't a place to judge, it's just to share and maybe even learn about new products or even recipes!

I wish I had some chips right about now, I love BBQ or blue corn chips. Yum yum! My friend showed me an awesome recipe of baking chicken dipped in egg (just egg whites if you want to be more lean) and rolling the pieces in crushed BBQ potato chips then baking them in the oven. This gives a nice crunchy texture without having to fry anything and you can serve them with various dipping sauces.

[MaritzaNicole]

Today I had apples with "The Bee's Knees" peanut butter! It keeps me full and energized at work! 

I also love making oatmeal banana shakes! They are quick, filling, and delicous!

[lylysa]

Aw, the photo didn't post up! 😞 Is it set on private?

That oatmeal and banana shake sounds delicious, I'm sure it would also make a great work out/power breakfast shake too!

[Panda168]

Well if you must know... lol.... between study sessions I had 2 slices of pizza topped with mushrooms, pepperoni and pineapple and paired it with a Matcha Green Tea Latte from Starbucks.

Surprisingly enough the green tea latte is delicious and I get it without any added syrup.

[lylysa]

I remembered when that latte first came out, holy cow it was so sweet! I never got it without the syrup, and haven't gotten it since actually, maybe that throws the taste off and makes it less like a sugar bomb.

Mmmmm, pineapple on pizza!

[helpful]

I eat a lot of the same things because it keeps me on track- usually breakfast is a protein shake after my workout followed by an egg white omelette. Lunch is lean protein- usually grilled chicken or salmon with a large serving of vegetables or salad, and dinner is usually a stir fry or a duplicate of what I had for lunch. Snacks are fruit, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. And a TON of water!!

[lylysa]

I'll have to post up my recipe for miso honey glazed chicken/salmon! The marinade can really be used for either or!

[ChicDabbler]

I follow Smitten kitchen so a lot of my fancy recipes are from there. But there are a few healthy simple things I love:

Sushi: seaweed sheet from asian grocery store, smoked salmon from any grocery store (don't trust myself with raw meat), avocado, and rice seasoned with salt/vinegar. It's not difficult to make and great finger food when you are on the go or can't heat things up.

Salmon alpha alpha sandwich: I feel sooo clean every time I eat this. Two piece of sourdough or ciabatta bread, put alpha alpha sprouts (lots of vit K), smoked salmon, avocado, sliced tomato inside. No condiments and it's plenty tasty. So delicious and looks fancy.

Cold noodles: make sauce from soy sauce, nut butter (whichever kind suit your need), garlic, ginger, vinegar and salt. Boil Chinese noodles or Italian angel hair, dump the water and mix in the seasoning. Top with scallion and/or black sesame. It goes great with any kind of meat or vegetable. I usually just blanch some broccoli or spinach as the side and top with whatever cooked meat's on hand. I like making a ton of these on the weekend and just do combination of veggies and meat over the week.

Beet/carrot juice: another thing that makes me feel super clean. All you need is 2-3 beets, 2-3 carrots, 1-2 apples or pear, 1 half thumb size ginger, juice from half lime/lemon. If you don't have a juicer, just use a food processor to puree the heck out of it, then put it through a strainer. It's super red (great lip stain), taste so clean/healthy and refreshing when cold. Oh, and intense/flavorful/sweet enough you don't need any additional sugar.

Some fruit freeze very well and taste so much better than sorbet. Wash and freeze these for awesome snacks: grapes, blueberries, cubed bananas, cubed mango. Bananas have a very creamy texture, so if you puree frozen banana with melted chocolate and/or peanut butter....

I also made black bean pumpkin soup, ate with sunny side up eggs and spring mix. It's not as healthy because the soup called for a stick of butter (yeah, 1/2c of butter). All of the above and some free pizza/chicken wings are what I ate last week and this week./cookies

[lylysa]

Yum yum! If you and I were in the same city we would be foodies together! My mom and I used to make breakfast sushi, rice, seaweed, but we would add scrambled egg and either corned beef or strips of ham, roll it up and snack on it in the morning!

Have you ever had shiritaki noodles? They're traditionally made with yam flour, but some varieties use tofu or yam and seaweed powder. They're next to nothing in the calorie, carb, sugar, and fat zone! I'm talking about max 25 calories a serving! They're great! They don't do too well absorbing sauces, but still play well in stir frys or noodle soups.

[helpful]

I looooove these for stir frys!

[lylysa]

That's so awesome that you're a shiritaki fan too, Helpful! Any yummy stir fry recipes that you turn to?

[ChicDabbler]

Oh we totally should! Altho my specialty is in dessert, so not quite healthy.

I've had those, as in rice noodles, yam noodles, and the kind made with mung beans. They don't really keep me full enough to last the day (altho that's prob fine). I love them but haven't really make them since I like them in meat noodle soup (I rarely cook meat) and stir fried (texture changes when it's cold, altho I guess that depends on how it's made).

I love food too much to count calories. I don't put in a lot of salt and try to minimize bad oil, but I'd rather eat less than count calories. I like getting an order of Mushu pork from chinese restaurant (super oily and salty as everything is), use a strainer to separate the sauce and the veggie/meat. Stirfry the veggie/meat with rice as a dish (2 meals right there), and use the sauce for noodles (no other seasonings needed, 2 more meals).

[lylysa]

I love baking and making decorative desserts! 😄

I also like soba (buckwheat noodles), those plus the yam noodles are great substitutes for regular white flour noodles.

[Panda168]

LOVE soba!

[lylysa]

Whoohoo! Another soba fan!

[ChicDabbler]

Oh I don't care how it looks if it taste good, and I'm too lazy so I usually skip frosting (except for Tres Leches cake (fattening alert!)). My specialty that I make for friends' birthday is chocolate rum cake. I can also make classic chocolate mousse and if I have time for the next birthday, I will use that as frosting for the rum cake.

Oh, but speaking of healthy sweets, I love making granola, which are super easy. I put more nuts than dried fruits and less sugar so it's not as calorie laden and it taste good as snack, cereal or on yogurt.

[katie1724]

Tres Leches cake is SO good -- I'd never had it until recently, and it was so incredibly delicious. I *really* hate milk, too, which is weird.

Speaking of icing, I'm a huge fan of grocery store birthday cake, too...the kind with icing so sugary, it crunches. It's kind of my secret shame, haha.

[ChicDabbler]

 yay tres leches. I didn't have evaporated milk so I used half cup of Kahlua instead. =p. curiously enough, I don't like drinking much, but I love liquor in cakes.

Ahh vices. mine are thin mint and spicy ramen, which I usually try to make healthier by throw some lettuce in the soup and cracking an egg on it (boil until egg is cooked).

[lylysa]

Thin Mints!!! My buddy's daughter is a Girl Scout so I was able to get cookies on preorder and got them two days ago!!!! Samoas, Thin Mints, and Shortbread for me!

The best ramen I ever had was in Honolulu, they have so many ramen restaurants there it's crazy! I had mine spicy with an egg too, and since they're prepared when you order them, they're not just seasoned by a salt packet. So delish!