What Did You Have For Lunch?

Eating the way I do, I often find myself fielding certain questions:  "What CAN you eat?", "So you're celiac?", "Are you vegan?"  I usually like informing people about my health-related choices (Gah, I hope I'm not annoying!) and I typically enjoy answering questions because it makes "Healthy Eating" seem less scary and limiting to people.

The best question I've been asked so far was by a very good friend (she's the kind of person you could tell anything to, and the kind of person you can be guaranteed a good laugh out loud session no matter how long it's been since you've seen her).  Instead of all the regular questions, she just said, "What did you have for lunch today?"  I love this question, because it's specific, and easy to answer.  And it's different almost every day (unless I have a massive quantity of soup or something and then it's the same from Monday to Friday!).

I have wanted to write a "What I Ate For Lunch Today" post since I returned, and so here it is.  This is what I had for lunch today:

Shrimp, Spinach and Quinoa Salad!

Here is the recipe:

1 small bag of  frozen shrimp (I just get the little ones with no tails to save time)

1 package of frozen spinach

1 cucumber, chopped

2 hand fulls of raw, unsalted sunflower seeds (they are a perfect food you know!)

1 package of quinoa, cooked

olive oil

all-natural rice vinegar (the kind without sugar if you can find it!)

lemon juice

Cook the quinoa, rinse it with cold water.  Add the thawed shrimp and spinach.  (Make absolutely sure you squeeze the spinach through a sieve first to get all that water out, you'll thank me).  Mix in the cucumber and sunflower seeds and then drizzle with whatever combination of the oil, vinegar and lemon juice you like.  Easy-peasy, protein-packed and delicious!

I don't enjoy "preachiness" about eating well.  To some, eating meat is healthy, to others, it is not.  Some consider whole wheat healthy, others don't touch anything with wheat.  Our grandparents had very different beliefs about what constituted a "healthy" meal than we do. It is not my place to say someone is right or wrong in the food choices they make.  Our diets are as different as we all are, and that's kind of what makes us all great.  This is the way I eat, it's what is healthy for me.  And that's why I share, in case it's healthy or (even better!) delicious, for you!

xox