WIAW: Goals for March

Hi everyone! I am so glad we’re halfway through the week! This weekend, I’m going home for the last time before spring break (which is in 16 days, heck to the yes) and I can’t wait. Not just because I love any opportunity to go home, but also because this Saturday is the annual father daughter dinner dance in my city. My dad and I have gone every year since I was in seventh grade, and the past 4 or 5 years my little sister has gone with us too. I love getting to get all glammed up and have fun dancing the night away with my dad and sissy. I will definitely be posting a recap early next week, so look for that!

For this week’s WIAW party, I wanted to share my goals for next month. I got the idea from Emily to do a 30-day health challenge. I think it’s a really good idea, because we all have things we can improve on. I’m deciding to start it in March, rather than right now, because I have spring break coming up and while I generally eat pretty healthy as it is, it can be hard to implement changes while living in a dorm and having a busy schedule most weeks. Once I’m home, I have access to a real kitchen, meaning I can eat even healthier and try new things! So here are a few of my goals for next month, some food-related and some not. And of course, some random eats from throughout the week!

1. Eat more veggies!

I love veggies, and I’ve even tried some new ones on recent weekends at home (kale chips and parsnips are some of my new faves) but it’s really hard to cook/prep veggies in a dorm with just a microwave. Basically, I live on carrots, cubed butternut squash and frozen grilled pepper strips and while I love them all, it gets pretty boring. I also happened to basically run out of veggies this week, besides sweet potatoes, so that’s been pretty pathetic! Over spring break, I want to work on eating a big salad once a day (probably at lunch) as well as trying new veggies and prep methods. It might be a little late for Love Your Veggies Month, but it still counts, right 😉

Berry Green Power Smoothie: 1/2 cup nondairy milk (I used unsweetened soy, because that's what I had at home), handful spinach, frozen berries (I used Dole Antioxidant Blend w/ strawbs, bloobs, raspbs, blackbs? and pom seeds)

2. Work towards getting a summer internship

This one is probably non-negotiable, at least to my dad. We’re allowed to have 2 for-credit internships while in college, and the school-organized one is next summer, so this summer I have to find one on my own. It’s probably going to be maybe a 5-10 hour per week commitment, which isn’t a huge deal, it’s just finding one that might be a hassle. I think I’m going to be emailing the TV stations around me over break so I can give them a heads-up for summer. After all, my summer break starts less than 2 months after spring break!

One of my new fave oats combos: volumized overnight oats topped with peanut flour paste, almond peanut cashew butter, frozen bananas and drizzle raw honey.

3. Cook more

Honestly, I really miss cooking when I’m up at school. I definitely appreciate having an oven, stove and grill while I’m at home so I want to take advantage of them. My mom and sister have different spring breaks than me, so I’ll have the house to myself that week from 8:30 to 2:30. Perfect for recipe experimentation! I have a few plans for what I want to make, like more kale chips, pecan milk and vegan “butter chicken” but I want to attempt to make at least one thing every day I have off. That might mean a lot of leftovers, but as long as they’re delicious, I don’t mind!

I won a Coach's Oats giveaway on Facebook, but I was totally blown away when they sent me this Hugh Jass bag of oats. Guess I'm stocked up for awhile!

4. Work on budgeting

I am still not the best at this, but I do want to learn! Right now, I am getting paid monthly for my work as an editor for my campus’ faculty newsletter and since it’s still a relatively new thing to me, I get super excited about seeing money in my bank account, and then I end up buying things on impulse. While I do end up using these things (like peanut flour, Hollister purchases, etc.) I would like to think out my purchases more and not just buy things because I can. This might be hard, especially considering my huge wishlist of spring clothing, but I know it’ll be worth it in the future when I have a real job.

Probably my second-favorite Pure bar flavor, cranberry orange. I love the combo of sweet and tart!

5. Avoid food ruts whenever possible

Most of the time, I don’t really think of them as ruts, because I enjoy what I’m eating and for many things (like oats, dried fruit, almond peanut cashew butter), I don’t get burned out on them–they just become favorites that I come back to over and over. But sometimes I do get into ruts and unfortunately, I eventually lose interest in that item, which is a shame, because I want to get a variety of things in my diet. So I want to work on mixing up my daily staples, trying out new products (including ‘fear foods’) and giving other ones a small break so I don’t get burned out.

Sweet potato topped with peanut flour paste and real maple syrup drizzle, mixed stir-fry veggies on the side topped with curry paste/mustard sauce.

Do you have any goals for March? What’s your favorite veggie at the moment?