Well this post is one that has two purposes. One is to give an update and the other is to touch more on a particular aspect of my life, and that is healthy eating (or attempts at healthy eating). 

Since being out west, I have noticed that I have struggled with coming up with healthy eating options. This is probably because I am located in a more northern part of Canada and there are limited grocery options in my area. It is also probably because I have limited time to cook or limited kitchen options. I kind of miss my kitchen back in London ON with all its gorgeous kitchenware and stuff! I also kind of wished I did actually bring my magic bullet to make more smoothies for on the go, and I didn’t bring it because I thought I wouldn’t make much use of it. Nope, I think I probably would have used it more than I had in Ontario. 

One of the earlier/difficult things that I have encountered with healthy eating options is trying to plan my meals until I am able to go grocery shopping next. When I normally plan my grocery shopping back in Ontario, I usually go once a week, and usually buy fresh fruits, etc. This is actually much more difficult to do, and so, I have had to change the way I grocery shop and plan my meals—sometimes 2 weeks in advance.

The first thing I realized was the benefit of frozen foods, including fruits/vegetables. I already buy plenty of poultry back home, so meat/protein isn’t that big of an issue for me. For me, I love, love, love eating fresh fruits. Yet, the fresh fruit is a wee bit more expensive than the fresh fruit back in Southern Ontario. I did luck out on scoring a huge carton-thingy of fresh berries for only three bucks! I ended cutting those up and then placing them in the freezer. These fresh fruits help with breakfast ideas and also for late night snack (which I am horrible for). 

After realizing that I could not readily and easily purchase fresh fruit, I noticed that I had to be selective in the type of fresh fruit I did buy. For instance, oranges and apples tend to last longer than say, bananas. I actually love bananas and haven’t bought them since I was out here just because I know that they would go bad before I would actually eat them (I tend to buy them for my smoothies than actually eating them just as a banana). I find that these fruits, apples and oranges, are also one of the cheapest fruits, and probably because they tend to last longer out of the fruit family. Plus, the oranges are super huge which is another plus! 

Another way I adapted to this slight change in environment, I ended up buying lots of chicken, just like I did back home. To go along with my chicken, I also bought some brown rice and frozen corn. This is probably my number one favorite meal to make “slash” eat. It is also considered a “clean” meal which is something I did a lot of back in Ontario. Eating clean is hard to do in Northern Alberta but it can be done!

I have also saw the benefits of eating boiled eggs with my breakfasts in the morning. Along with boiled eggs, I eat hot oatmeal with frozen berries and a little bit of yogurt (no brown sugar or added sugar). My little sister already thinks I am weird for my love of hard boiled eggs (and eating them cold)—I sometimes feel like Napolean Dynamite when I put one in my purse/pocket then take it out right before (or after) programming to eat it.

So, as of right now, I am adapting to the limited grocery trips in comparison to what I used to do in Ontario and I am also adapting to this type of eating/meal planning. One thing that hasn’t changed in terms of storing/eating/cooking of food is that my vegetables/lettuce always seem to freeze! No really, they do! My partner didn’t believe me until I pull out my chopped carrots/celery/asparagus (and even my head of lettuce) from the fridge and they are FROZEN! This always happens with whatever fridge I use and I don’t know why 😦  lol I know how to adjust fridge temps but it never fails, my veggies always get hard! Ugh. 

Ps. I will try to post things I have purchased and type of meals/snacks I have made!