Amidst the hectic world of school, college applications, dance, etcetera, I try to keep my food choices healthy and real. I definitely miss the liberty of preparing meals all day in the kitchen, taking the time to be creative and colorful with my food. I would totally spend my Sunday prepping some homemade energy bars, healthy muffins, or other things filled with superfoods of the world, but that usually can’t happen (or, let’s be real, I’m just not in the mood). Thus, some lots of Wheat Thins and oatmeal bars with long lists of ingredients are eaten more often, but I’m not stressin’ over it. Otherwise….I would be stressed. Duh. I still like to keep my eats as whole as possible, but I’m not completely against convenience foods even if they’re not THE best choices. Being mindful doesn’t have to mean being super strict.

Here are some things that I still do regularly to help myself out:

• prepare sandwiches for lunch on the weekend + pack lunch/snacks the night before
• think about what I’m going to have for breakfast (partially because it’s my favorite meal and I get excited for it)
• have some convenient fruits and vegetables on hand (bananas, apples, carrots, broccoli, etc.)
• make sure I have enough healthy snacks with me at school or dance so that I don’t reach for a bag of chips or a cookie out of desperation (<–that sounds a lot more serious than it really is…)
• even if I can’t take my kitchen with me everywhere, it’s nice to have the fridge and pantry stocked with real foods for when I DO have time to prepare meals at home

Of course, I’m still a high school student, and I am grateful that my parents and brother provide much of this for me. We’ll talk about surviving college when we cross that bridge. I am also very fortunate to have a mom that prepares and cooks a bunch of healthy foods that are quick to reheat or grab-and-go. She has helped me make my sandwiches this week, she hard boiled some eggs, and her Korean bbq makes for some delicious leftovers!

With all that being said, here is a look at a typical day of school and after-school eats. You all know I love Jenn’s WIAW parties!

7:00 Breakfast

Rice Krispies and PB Puffins + banana with pepita sunseed butter

8:00 School starts. Work work. Scribble scribble. Use the noggin.

10:00 Snack

Corazonas Blueberry Oatmeal Square

11:50 Lunch

Tuna sandwich + unpictured Golden Delicious apple

More school. Chorus after school. Homework.

3:50 Snack

Carrots and Wheat Thins with hummus

Homework.

5:15 Snack

Finishing a tub of Greek yogurt with some banana slices

6:00-8:00 Ballet. Plie, pirouette, jump, stretch.

8:40 Dinner

Avocado toast with HB egg + spinach, roasted red pepper, egg salad

Made possible by our nifty egg slicer!

Homework.

9:20 “Dessert?”

Figs dipped in Greek yogurt

I’ve been having this sweet and filling snack almost every night for the past month or two. It’s just SO GOOD. We’re down to the last handful or so of dried figs, and I honestly think I’ve polished off this bag by myself. I have around three every night, and I might just cry when I finish them because we can only find these kind at Costco in Florida! Yes, we have found other brands of dried figs, but these Calimyrna ones are just so perfect and plump even though they’re dried. My mom bought dried apricots but they’re just not the sameeeeee. You are probably snoring at my whining about wrinkly, dry, brown fruits. I’m done.

Actually, I should probably try making these muffins from Amanda soon. They look BOMB.

Happy hump day! (The guys at my school go around yelling this in their obnoxious loud voices. The camel commercial is popular. As if you didn’t know ;))

So tell me: What have you been eating lately? What do you grab to eat on your busy days? Do you love dried figs like me?