Taylor N. Lacey: food

Imperfect Produce: A Healthy Eater's Dream

As part of my intentions for this year, I wanted to work on healthy eating habits. I have a ton of them but I would say other than reading French Women Don't Get Fat, my time in Italy did a really good job of getting me to eat better and recognize some more mindful eating habits. Here are the 5 main things that I have noticed that have changed in me from a year ago to now.

1. Drinking a coffee or a tea after lunch is a part of my daily routine. The daily crash that we all experience in the afternoon after a good lunch is part of life. What I did not know is that ingesting caffeine after a large meal slows that absorption of the caffeine so that you will not crash later in the evening. In the US, I do not have the perks of an in office espresso machine but a cup of tea or a run to Starbucks on a stressful day makes the afternoon a whole lot better. I do stop ingesting caffeine after 3 or 4 pm so that I can sleep better at night.

2. Cooking and grocery shopping with the season's produce has become a norm to me. First, it is cheaper and tastes way better than anything grown in a hotbox or shipped 1000s of miles. Right now it is winter, so most of the veggies that I would use to make salads are expensive or taste way less flavorful. I've been cooking a lot of stews that incorporate beans and heartier veggies like onions, sweet potatoes and squashes. Above is the start of a veggie based "meat" sauce that had lentils, onions, tomato sauce, and squash - all things that you would have in the kitchen in the winter :)

3. Adding meat to a dish as an accessory and not the main meal. I was fully vegetarian for 5 years and starting eating meat again about a year ago. I am very used to eating food without meat so reincorporating meat back into my diet has been a challenge. A lot of dishes have meat as the main focus and while they are good, plants still make me feel better. While in Italy, a lot of things I ate had a hint of meat like bacon or beef but still used a lot of plants to make them filling and delicious. Above, I cooked up some veggies, black beans and turkey to stuffed into a bell pepper. The turkey was a nice addition to the veggies but did not overpower the dish.

4. Good quality carbs are not the enemy! I used to think that eating bread or pasta was really bad for you and that using my daily calorie allowance on simple carbs was a waste. In Italy, you can eat a lot of really delicious pasta and bread or desserts, but I find that eating them regularly helped me remember that while delicious, they are not terrible for you. Dessert has always been a weakness of mine but by incorporating it regularly into my diet, I find that I can eat it in moderation and not crave them all the time.

5. The simplest things are the best - 4 or less ingredient meals are my favorites. One of the easiest ways for me to eat a healthy dinner is to keep a couple of things around that I know I love together and throw them into a quick meal. Above, I tossed the bok choy in cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper and then roasted it in the oven for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees along with the sausage on a sheet pan. For a quick dinner, it was filling and nutritious while fast and easy to clean up!

abroad

Snippets of Life

After work today, Lili and I went to Ikea to look at things for my apartment. I wanted cute functional bookshelves and nightstands if my mom cannot find me free ones for my apartment this year. I like how Ikea sets up their stores with little model rooms because this really let us see what we would need to buy or how we could use things. We walked through a ton of rooms that were not really my style but cool none the less. I fell in love with this blue cart for my room and I will purchase it if my mom does not find me a bookcase to put my things in. Isn't the color divine?! It also rolls and I love the baskets as storage on the storage rack.

Another thing I wanted was wall art for my side of the room. I made a couple little things but I want a big piece to hang above my bed. I really like a lot of the paintings and little things that they have at Ikea. I got a lot of inspiration from the storeroom and tried to snap pictures of what was really adorable. I think I can make something similar for my room. I really like the flowers in the this canvas print but I would do something with open tulips or hydrangea. I also love the idea of a little greenhouse for fresh herbs in the kitchen. I really like fresh basil and thyme for my food.

I am a huge goofball when I go to department stores and had too much fun in the kids section. There was so much stuff for kids that I would get. Little dog lunch boxes and cute little lamps caught my eye. Outfitting any kid with a ton of toys on the cheap is gonna be easy now. I can go to Ikea and grab some really cute dolls and stuffed animals. I loved this little stuffed African American baby. I almost bought it!

After we bought everything that was cheap or under a dollar, we had dinner at Ikea. I tried the salmon lasagna. IT WAS BOMB. I would make something similar at home during the school year. Because Lili and I signed up for the Ikea Family Card we got free tea or coffee with our dinner. We also got some percent off of the items we bought which was awesome! I got a bunch of cute things for our apartment including salt and pepper shakers, some guest bathroom napkins and a nice clear bin to keep my dry food under by bed safe from bugs. We ended our trip with some frozen yogurt and getting lost trying to get out of the parking lot.

Overall, I missed going to Ikea and it really like looking at home stuff there. It makes me get creative with what I have to make something really cool in my own spaces.

crafts