Hey-lo! (Hybrid of hey + hello. I’m trying to mix it up, ok?)

I think one of my favorite parts about blogging is participating in Jenn’s ingenious What I Ate Wednesday party. I used to spend who-knows-how-many hours clicking on every link in the WIAW linkup to see what everyone was noshing on. That’s how I found so many of the blogs that I still love reading today! So without further ado, here’s what I ate yesterday:

Breakfast

If you saw my post about waffles and pancakes yesterday, you already know what I ate for breakfast, but here it is again in all its deliciousness:

Shortstacks Oatmeal Raisin Cookie waffle and pancake topped with plain Greek yogurt, vanilla sunbutter, and a drizzle of maple syrup. Glass o’ milk on the side.

Workout Snacks

I had an unpictured banana before my workout, and then some bites of each of these mid-circuit:

Some cashews and a cinnamon brown sugar BelVita biscuit

I keep these in my gym bag in case I start to slump and need a boost of energy. I’ve definitely had instances in which I feel depleted and start flailing dumbbells instead of lifting them, if ya know what I mean. Therefore, I take snacks everywhere like I’m 5 years old. You can ask any of my friends–I’m ALWAYS snacking during school, dance, whenever. I’ve learned to deal with the stares 😉

Lunch

Looked the same as all my other lunches…

Chicken, avocado, spinach sandwich with some more of my creamy sriracha dip

The other day, my mom was surprised at how I’ve recently been adding a considerable amount of sriracha hot sauce to many of my meals. I’ve always liked a wee bit o’ spice, but I never liked anything too spicy because then I would complain that it overpowers the flavor of my food. I think I also just didn’t like the taste of sriracha. My parents and brother would say, “You don’t know what you’re missing!” and I would reply “Hahahaha have fun burning your tongues!” Can someone say catty?? Well now they get to say “I told you so.” *Kicking myself in the butt*

Now it seems like something is missing if I don’t add a little bit of the unnaturally bright red sauce to my savory foods. My tastebuds have definitely evolved as I’ve gotten older. Here are some other things that I claimed I would never like (or didn’t think I liked) that I now love or at least eat quite often:

• Wasabi–I would CRY if the tiniest particle of this stuff would get into my mouth (sorry to my friends and family who had to deal with my dramatic reaction). I hated the taste and the nasal spiciness of wasabi. I have no idea why or when I decided to try it with my sushi, but now I enjoy a nice dab of it on each piece. Never thought this day would come.
• Raw carrots–I never used to like the earthy flavor. I still prefer them with hummus, but I often eat them by themselves now too.
  
• Avocado— I KNOW. I have no explanation as to why I didn’t like it. What a shame.
• Mustard–The taste always turned me off because it has that strong wasabi-like flavor. Now I love it in my burgers, especially the strong whole grain stuff!
• Raw tomatoes–The thought of raw tomatoes used to make me gag. I’ve always been okay with cooked tomatoes, but now I even eat other peoples’ raw tomatoes if they don’t want them…Extra lycopene!
• Watermelon–It’s still not my favorite fruit ever, but I do love the refreshing taste during summer. I used to never eat it.
• Chocolate–Yep. I used to not like chocolate. I actually DID like it when I was a baby/toddler, but then something weird happened and I stopped liking it. It’s still not my sweet treat/flavor of choice, but I enjoy brownies, some chocolate candies (Reese’s to be exact), and occasionally chocolate cake and frosting. It really just depends on how I’m feeling.

There are probably a lot more, but those are just the ones that stand out in my mind right now. It’s fun to think about how much taste can change. I want to know how your tastebuds have changed too!

Snack

One of my favorites:

Dried figs (I had another one after the picture was taken!) and plain Greek yogurt

I actually dip the dried figs in the yogurt and eat it that way. Does that sound weird? It’s like the figs sweeten the plain yogurt, and the yogurt adds protein and creaminess.

Dinner

Some chips and our favorite salsa from Stop and Shop

Salmon and salsa over spinach + corn on the cob (x2)

Colorful and flavorful! That corn was so swwwweet!

Late Night Snack 

You know how I love my late snacks!

Chocolate peanut butter banana protein smoothie

This was AMAZING. Not overly-chocolatey 🙂 I didn’t want it to end! I don’t have an exact recipe since I sorta just threw a bunch of things into the blender, but to the best of my memory:

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tbsp peanut butter (or PB2 if you want it to be lighter)
• 1/2 frozen medium-large banana
• 1/2 scoop of chocolate protein powder
• 2 heaping tbsp plain Greek yogurt
• (if you want an extra chocolate punch, I’m sure 1 tbsp of cocoa powder would do the trick!)

Definitely a nice way to end the night. Have a great Wednesday!

So tell me: What are some foods that you used to not like that you love now? Recent yummy eats?