Tag Archives: Snacks

I really like reading posts that people do of “what I ate” posts, whether it is for the day, week, lately, whatever. I figured, some people are wondering what I pregnant vegan eats in a day, so I thought I would try really hard to take a photo of my food before gobbling it all up. And share some of the nutritional information.

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Almost every single day has been a chocolate banana shake since I found out that I am pregnant. I was using spirulina (and chocolate) in the shake to up my iron, but the powder spirulina ended up being more expensive than the tablets, so I am making the switch. Which has been nice because I rarely have a “pure” chocolate shake. It’s always spirulina chocolate, fruit and chocolate, peanut butter and chocolate, etc. It’s made with soy milk, chia seeds, collard greens, some greens powder I got from Vegan Cuts, brown rice and pea protein.

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Before heading to work I made myself a small iced cafe au lait. I had leftover coffee from Rook and added some soy milk since I keep hearing how I need so much calcium. So I figured why not? Snapped a quick picture next to the flowers at my work’s garden. It seems nice and quite but there was a lot of construction going on. My boss is building a deck for her backyard and is laying lots of new cement around the building, so today was a little crazy.

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Since work was pretty all over the place, I didn’t even notice how hungry I was and had a late lunch. I had a green apple, which I always pre-chop and stashed in a Blue Avocado baggie. I love these reusable bag, because unlike Lunch Skins, these baggies have a zip seal so they are perfect for holding fruits and veggies. Sorry if I sound like they a sponsoring me, but I just really love these bags. Although if Blue Avocado approached me…. ^__~

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Clearly I didn’t JUST eat an apple for lunch. I also had some leftover Dragon Noodle Salad from Isa Does It. Since rice noodles get hard the next day I ate it hot, and tossed in a few cherry tomatoes from my CSA since I wasn’t eating it over lettuce. It is by far NOT the most attractive dish to take a photo of, but it is pretty tasty. And I even got to use brown rice noodles, so I get a little credit for a whole grain right?

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Then around three I was starting to get crabby, and was like “oh yeah, I’m hungry again.” Jon got me three months worth of Vegan Cuts boxes as birthday gift, joking that I would be a snacking monster. He was kind-of right. Each time I got one I took all the snacks and brought them into work to eat when I was running on empty. I picked this bar by Kutoa, and I’ve never had one before. It was pretty good, I liked how it wasn’t too sweet, and had some crunch from the chia seeds.

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When I got home I went for two mile run (about 3o minutes) and was hot sweaty, and still hungry. I quickly gobbled up a black bean brownie from Minimalistic Baker and took a shower. This mostly was just to hold me off while I took a shower and finished up dinner.

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So what’s for dinner? I prepped some pickled eggplant on Monday specifically for this Hummus Bowl dish. Jon and I aren’t big eggplant fans, but our CSA is kind-of having a weak year combined with they are transitioning from spring crops to summer crops. Every year it’s a little slim picking at this time, but this year seems notably bad. So I picked an eggplant, and figured I would try the pickling and roasting method. It has been… interesting? The whole bowl was a little too acidic overall, at least for acid reflux prone pregnant me. I made the hummus as instructed on the site, and tossed the couscous in some soy yogurt. Since I didn’t have any falafels, I used some frozen hemp beet burgers from Protein Ninja.

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So what does all this food look like nutrition wise? Well, I do plan on eating more. I just haven’t picked out what yet. Bagel with tofutti cream cheese? Maybe. Homemade purple basil ice cream with blackberries? Very possible. Wegman brand oreos? Yeah, that might happen too. So some of the stats are wrong, I am probably adding another 300-400 calories to my day. Plus, I am not getting the specifics for the bar I ate, and I just used a generic hummus instead of plugging all the ingredients in Cronometer. It isn’t perfect guys. But it gives you a general idea of nutritional intake. I excluded the shot of protein because I hit 100% on all the specifics, BORING.

Clearly I am not quite hitting all the B Vitamins I need, but if I eat the bagel with tofutti cream cheese I’ll end up hitting all my nutritional requirements. I was low on iron today, because well, I am not including spirulina in my diet like I use to. I am waiting for my tablets to arrive in the mail. But if I eat a bagel, I should get 100%. I have hit my requirements for vitamin C and calcium which are also common things that people stress about with diets for pregnant women.

Also, take note that I am using Cronometer to track my nutritional intake. Their information is only so accurate. Some foods don’t have all the nutritional information available. I also selected an option that changes my nutritional requirements. It recommends I have a food intake of roughly 2,000 calories, and I usually ignore that suggestion and go for more.


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If there is some sort of marketing that I get suckered into, it would be trying new drinks. It started in grade school when my friends and I would go to the local Krauszer’s and picking any cool labels or oddly shaped bottles. I mostly remember Snapple’s element drinks and the whipper snapple drinks. Yes, Snapple sure knew how to take my  money. But now that I am older I am less interested in sugary drinks, and more about healthy drinks. So now I try out all the new naturally sugary drinks that are at Whole Foods. Okay not all drinks are sugary, but most are sweetened in one way or another (including stevia) Lately I’ve been noticing bottles of maple water, and after my awful hangover, I decided why not? I was getting sick of normal water anyways.

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So you are probably like me and wonder what the heck maple water is? It is pretty much the most raw state that you can buy maple tree sap. We all know maple syrup, but it has been boiled down to a thicker, sugary, and more flavorful state. Since the drink is pasteurized but not boiled down, it has much less sugar than maple syrup but has a similar nutritional profile. There is one company selling raw maple water, which I find perplexing since I thought most maple sap would ferment with some alcohol with a few days.

A lot of companies are selling maple water in the same vain as coconut water- full of electrolytes but with less sugar and calories. Less calories yes, coconut water has about 46 calories per cup and maple water has about 25. Maple water has about 5 grams of sugar per cup, while coconut water has 6 grams. After looking at all the different brands, it seems the nutritional values vary, usually having about 1-2% calcium, 30-40% manganese, 1% potassium, and 50 different phytonutrients.

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The drink is surprisingly watery- totally clear. It tastes pretty much if I put a small drop of maple syrup in my water and stirred it around. It is a little weird, as I am expecting there to be more body to the drink. I think it would be pretty refreshing after a workout, more so than just water since it does have a little bit of sugar in it. And using maple water instead of plain water in a protein shake would be pretty awesome as well, adding a hint of maple to the mix.

Naturally I am a little wary. None of the companies are REALLY saying what is in maple water. It doesn’t seem like it has a long list of vitamins in it, and there aren’t many studies on the drink. So most of the health claims seemed to be pulled out of their asses. Is the drink good for you? Better than sodas and sweet teas, sure. It is a nice way to mix it up when you get bored guzzling water, but unless you really enjoy the flavor, I wouldn’t say to force it down your throat.

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But what IS rad about this drink is that they are almost all tapped in the United States. That means if you are replacing all your coconut water with maple water, you are avoiding shipping tons of liquids overseas, leaving a lighter carbon footprint. The method is great for the environment as well, one that has been used for many years (remember it is the same stuff as maple syrup.) If you are in Europe, there is apparently companies that make birch water, which seems to be very similar nutritionally. 


As you all know – I have been trying to shape my diet to have more veggies and fruits to replace meat. One of the harder things that I have run into while changing my eating around is my snacking. 

Now, I didn’t snack on meats but I do have smaller meals or meals that will leave me slightly less full. I keep drinking water but sometimes you just need to nosh. I mentioned in my post about Asbury Fresh that I had met Shelly at her booth titled “She’s Got Balls”. I saw her again this past weekend and we got to chatting a bit! She is super nice and had even more to offer this time around, so I picked up the *Coco Mint Treat. 

A picture with the ingredients listed on the back - just for everyone who is curious.

A picture with the ingredients listed on the back – just for everyone who is curious.

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