Lunch today was probably one of the best I have had in a long, long time. I feel like I say this everyday, but seriously, believe me this time! :D
While grocery shopping yesterday, I decided to pick up some soy hot dogs. I normally try to limit the amount of processed veggie/soy meats that I consume, but I do allow myself some every now and then!
I bought President’s Choice brand because it was the cheapest!
I also tried out my new flatbread hot dog buns! How cool are these??
They have 130 calories per bun, which is about 50-70 calories less than the traditional hot dog buns I was looking at.
I made some homemade Ketchup to go with it:
- 2 T tomato paste
- 1-2 t your choice of milk
Mix together, add a pinch of salt if you prefer, and put into a baggie for ‘piping’:
I pretended I was decorating a vegan cupcake. *grins*
With fresh dill (yup, still going strong!)
And leftover walnut, cranberry, spinach, pepper, tomato salad:
And an apple and Mary’s Crackers:
So satisfying.
I absolutely am smitten by this salad combination. If you have never put cranberries and walnuts in your salad I strongly suggest trying it! It was off the hook delicious and crunchy and sweet!
I also really enjoyed the hot dog buns (much as I did the flatbread hamburger buns from last night!). So fun!
As for the PC brand soy dogs, I honestly couldn’t tell the difference between those and the more expensive St Ives ones. Always nice!
Time for some more interesting blog talk!
Missed Part one? Part two? Part three?
Today’s installment is on:
Friends, family, and significant others: Their thoughts on your love for the blog world
Recently I was talking to Jen from Eating Bender about my recent installments on blogs and the pressure that readers or other bloggers feel to keep up. I asked Jen this question: What do you think the next installment should be on? And this is what she said:
It might be interesting to pose a question to bloggers/blog readers about how their family and friends who DON’T read blogs react to them spending time in the blog world.
Umm…heck yea!
I know for myself, when I first started reading food blogs I didn’t announce it to the world. I honestly thought that people would have a negative reaction about it or think it was weird. About a year later, I finally decided to take the plunge and start my own blog.
I was really nervous about what my family would think of it, but to my surprise the feedback has only been super positive.
I only recently got the nerve to post my website links on my Face book account. I just felt so weird that others would be able to read about what I was doing day in and day out. Slowly but surely though, I am getting used to it. I haven’t gotten any negative feedback from any family or friends which is really reassuring. I’m not sure why I thought I might, but I guess you never know what someone is going to think. I also have been contacted by many friends that I had lost touch with too! All and all I don’t regret opening up at all. Once I got over it I realized that all of us are going through many of the same struggles each day!
It just made me realize that if I follow my heart and my passions I can’t go wrong. I get emails everyday from people thanking me for opening up about all sorts of body image and eating disorder issues, and that alone keeps me going even when I feel scared or vulnerable.
Eric and I have had a few discussions about it and I have made it a point not to offend him, or my family, with my blogging.
For example, when we have family here the blog is off limits unless they are out or have gone to bed! Secondly, I try to not blog when Eric is around. In other words, time that we would normally spend together I try not to take away with blogging. This has made me super efficient with blogging. In the beginning, Eric admitted to me that he felt a bit jealous with the time I spent on my blog, so I really had to step back and figure out a way to make it all work. Windows Live Writer has also saved me tons of time.
So Jen and I are curious:
1) Have you told any family or friends about your love of blogs? Why or why not?
2) What kind of response did you get and why do you think that was?
3) If you have a blog, did you tell your family/friends about it or do you prefer to keep it private? Why?
4) Do you keep your blog private from your co-workers? Or would you share with co-workers your love for health blogs?
5) Have you posted your blog link on Facebook?
I am super excited to read all of your amazing thoughts on this interesting topic!! :)
i love the presidents choice brands, they are cheaper and healthier options most of the time! A few of my friends know about it due to my mix of real life friends and blog friends on twitter but coincidentally they were freinds with their own blogs. They were just upset that I read theirs and didn’t tell them about mine, I was just worried bc mine is a food blog vs their personal (and hilarious blogs) and they’d think mine was silly but they loved it and say its inspired them too cook more and try to live healthier lives!
1) Have you told any family or friends about your love of blogs? Why or why not?
They know I have it, but they don’t check it.
2) What kind of response did you get and why do you think that was?
They thought it was interesting. I got really started sharing things when I went home to the USA from Australia in November. I started posting all of the food pictures because my Australian co-workers kept asking me about American food/lifestyle. So my family thought it was cool then. They don’t have any idea about how big it is now.
3) If you have a blog, did you tell your family/friends about it or do you prefer to keep it private? Why?
I tell them about it. It me. I have nothing to hide.
4) Do you keep your blog private from your co-workers?
I share with my co-workers. In fact one of my co-workers and I have a blog together :)
Or would you share with co-workers your love for health blogs?
5) Have you posted your blog link on Facebook?
Yes all the time.
I love this, Angela! Thank you so much for including me on your post :) I have really enjoyed reading all of the responses so far and completely agree with what you said about how when family/friends/boyfriends are around, posting should be off limits unless they are busy doing other things! Life is to short. I am going to keep this page open and keep referring back – thanks again, lovely lady!
Also, love those hot dog buns! They remind me of Arnold thins!
1) Have you told any family or friends about your love of blogs? Why or why not?
Yes. It comes up in conversation a lot for some reason. :)
2) What kind of response did you get and why do you think that was?
Usually interested. I refer to the blog world in many conversations with like minded friends and family, that are on a similar journey to my own. Usually my statements start with “I so agree! I was reading in the blog world that….” You get the picture.
3) If you have a blog, did you tell your family/friends about it or do you prefer to keep it private? Why?
Totally, everyone knows! I want the world to follow me. Mwa hahaa! WAIT! Was that my inside voice??
4) Do you keep your blog private from your co-workers? Or would you share with co-workers your love for health blogs?
Mmmm, private from my bosses. I don’t want them knowing when I’m blogging instead of working, LOL.
5) Have you posted your blog link on Facebook?
Yes. Yes, I have. Passive aggressiveness at it’s finest, sometimes.
1) Have you told any family or friends about your love of blogs? Why or why not?
My family knows, and most of my friends now. After almost a year, I am much more open and tell just about everyone. I am glad Mark does it with me because he “knows” everyone and it’s something else we can share. I am kind of bad about blogging when I should be doing other things though.
2) What kind of response did you get and why do you think that was?
Some people think it’s strange, some people think it’s cool. Many are interested and some people think I have an eating disorder because I take pictures of my food.
3) If you have a blog, did you tell your family/friends about it or do you prefer to keep it private? Why?
Yes, they allll know, read, comment, harass me to put things on it, etc.
4) Do you keep your blog private from your co-workers?
As a teacher, I think it’s something I need to be careful about, but if I felt like I had a friend at work, I would tell him/her.
5) Have you posted your blog link on Facebook?
I have in the past, but don’t all the time.
Also, those hot dog buns are fabulous!
I’ve mentioned my interest in food blogs to my boyfriend and mom, but I doubt they know how much time I spend reading them! No one I know knows about my blog:) I guess because I’m trying to lose weight and talk about my mental struggles with emotional eating, I’m more private about it. Although my close family knows it’s an issue for me, I still don’t really want them reading about it at this point. I certainly don’t share the link on Facebook!
I think your ideas for keeping your blogging from interfering with life are great!
Cool flatbread buns!
There are only two people in my personal life that know abotu m blog.. my husband and my best friend. I think both read it as well. I just get embarassed about people knowing and the idea of judging me. I dont know why I am so paranoid.. I should just tell everyone (and that would allow me to take pictures everywhere). I dont really want people to know how much I really struggle with weight and my emotions that go along with it. So i keep it to myself and share it only with like-minded people..the blogging community!
Wow those flat bread buns are great! I am obsessed with the Arnold sandwich thin, which are basically those as a burger bun.
My boyfriend is really the only one that knows the extent of my blog reading and about my blog. Basically that’s only because A. he helps me with the blog design and technical stuff and B. I’m always with him so I have to do it in front of him or I’d never have any time to!
My parents know I have one but they don’t ask many questions. I don’t think they understand what blogs are! I think they secretly think my obsession with food is kind of weird but they’re always asking me to cook for them so they must like it a little too!
I’ll talk about the blogs I read with my friends but only a few of them know about my blog. I just started it though so I’m sure I’ll tell others when it gets going some more!
I don’t have my blog posted on facebook.
Those hot dog buns look so tasty! Yum.
1) Have you told any family or friends about your love of blogs? Why or why not? My husband, 1 friend. It’s its own little world in food blog land and it seems like outsiders don’t always get it.
2) What kind of response did you get and why do you think that was? Hubby thinks it’s fine, he enjoys spending time on the computer and reading sports blogs so I think he understands.
3) If you have a blog, did you tell your family/friends about it or do you prefer to keep it private? Why? My husband and our mutual friend convinced me to start one in December after reading them for so long. Others if it comes up, but I don’t bring it up. The first 2 were like, cool, maybe you’ll get free stuff. The other people: what do you have to blog about? Who reads it?
4) Do you keep your blog private from your co-workers? Or would you share with co-workers your love for health blogs? Yes. I’ve sent links to a couple of people if something I’ve been reading about comes up, but they’ve never sent anything back in response, like, wow! what an awesome link.
5) Have you posted your blog link on Facebook? I did, just on the link on the info page, not as a Facebook blog (where people can sign up as fans and follow it through facebook).
i love this question. whenever i tell my friends that i’m reading blogs, they all tell me i’m weird. when i tell them about a new food combination that i tried out because i saw it on a blog and it looked good, they tell me it’s weird. reading these blogs sort of helped me realize that the friends i thought i had are pretty shitty friends who don’t support me. but that’s okay because i always have these blogs!:)
These are such good questions! It’s fun seeing what other people write and thinking about my answers, too.
1) Have you told any family or friends about your love of blogs? Why or why not?
My parents, brothers and sisters know about my blog but I don’t think they realize there is a whole food/health blog community.
2) What kind of response did you get and why do you think that was?
With my blog, my sisters thought it was a little weird at first since it was basically just a food diary. I think they they thought it was very compulsive. My mom loves it. I’m pretty sure if my aunts and uncles found out at this point it would be, “why didn’t you tell us?!” and then they would go through the archives and start criticising!
3) If you have a blog, did you tell your family/friends about it or do you prefer to keep it private? Why?
Besides my immediate family, my close friends do know about it but none of them have a hufe interest in nutrition or health so they are only casual readers. My extended fam (aunts and uncles) are really critical and judgmental of my life in general so I haven’t told them. Not only would they judge the blog’s existence, but they would also be analyzing what I eat and what I do all day!
4) Do you keep your blog private from your co-workers? Or would you share with co-workers your love for health blogs?
No, I have always kept personal things personal. People do look at my oddly when I photograph my food though!
5) Have you posted your blog link on Facebook?
No, I think it’s the next big step, but I still have some privacy issues!
I totally understand. My family thinks going on blogs is really weird, but I know it helps me, so that’s all that matters! Thanks for bringing up this topic!
Interesting that you mention this, as I posted something a few days ago about how I accidently showed my blog address to a bunch of people on twitter.
1) Have you told any family or friends about your love of blogs? Why or why not?
My boyfriend knows. He’s also the only person that really reads mine that I know in real life.
2) What kind of response did you get and why do you think that was?
He seems to like what I have to say although I think that he thinks I probably spend too much time reading others.
3) If you have a blog, did you tell your family/friends about it or do you prefer to keep it private? Why?
I have only told my boyfriend and a cousin, who also has a blog. I’m very hesistant to tell my friends and family because 1, i worry that i might have written about them to some extent and well, i guess that’s really why. Somethings that I hide about myself in real life are discussed more in depth on my blog and I guess I’m not yet comfortably having my entire family know all of my business. Although in a way, I want to to increase my readership.
4) Do you keep your blog private from your co-workers? Or would you share with co-workers your love for health blogs?
Definitely private. I don’t blog from work because I dont want the IT person to even have any trail of it.
5) Have you posted your blog link on Facebook?
No. I accidently posted it on twitter and freaked out. Well, i didn’t accidently post it but I added a bunch of real life friends and forgot that it was there.
Dear Angela: I have a question about smoothies. Are they meant to take the place of a meal or are they considered a snack? I am trying to maintain a healthy weight and try to stick to 3 meals a day, with no between-meal snacking. I often want to try a smoothie recipe but wonder if my daily caloric intake would be too high. Should I substitute it for one of my meals or have it as a snack in addition to my regular meals? Also, I am cooking for one and most smoothie recipes are too large to eat all at once and do not store well. I’ve tried halving the recipe but it often doesn’t fill the container of my VitaMix enough to get a good blend.
Love your blog and I just bought the app,
Laurie
Hey Laurie, Thank you so much for the blog and app love! I’m so happy you’re enjoying the recipes. :)
Some of my smoothies are snack-sized and some are meal-sized; it really depends on the smoothie! There is nutritional info for my second book posted online (there’s a link to it in my intro of the second book), so that could be helpful. However, I don’t have nutritional info for the book, app, or book #1 recipes at this time (so sorry about that). I find the ones with protein powder tend to be good meal-sized ones. My In The Buff Smoothie Bowl or Green Monster Smoothie (with protein powder) are good breakfast options. Some of my blog readers have mentioned that they use free nutritional calculation software to help them with their weight loss goals so maybe that is something that may help you as well. We’re considering adding the info in the future though as we get requests fairly often. Anyway not sure if this has helped you but I hope you enjoy the smoothies (and other recipes too). All the best in 2018!