Happy What I Ate Wednesday. How are you adjusting to the time change? This year, I find I don’t really care about being a little tired—I’m just so excited about spring starting. It’s not even that this winter has been so awful, I don’t think. I’m just ready for something new, I guess. I’ve got a lot of good stuff coming up this spring, and I’m excited to get into it.

As I mentioned in last week’s WIAW post, I took a little weekend work trip. I went up to Boston to give a presentation (based, in part, on what I discussed in this article) and food demo.

I started my Friday morning with a post-workout bowl of savory oats. This is one of my go-to breakfast on a day I’ll be traveling and not sure what the day will look like in terms of eating. I feel like front-loading my day with veggies gives me a little more flexibility.

I packed a salad and some yogurt to eat on the train. Stonyfield send me some of their whole milk Greek yogurts to try, and I LOVE them. I didn’t use much of the flavor sidecar, though, and opted, instead, to stir some flax in. 

Snacks I packed: apples, banana, peanut butter, dry-roasted edamame–the usual

Friday night there was a reception dinner. As far as the food is concerned, I always have a little anxiety about whether I’ll have to navigate any tricky allergy situations, but it was a pleasant evening. I actually got a good laugh because when I told the server I was allergic to shrimp (the entree was a take on surf & turf), she returned with a plate with two steaks on it. Turf & turf. That was kind of them, but I only ended up eating one because, well, one steak is plenty. The nut-free dessert was a token fruit plate and, again, was much-appreciated. I stuck to one polite glass of wine. I’m going through a phase where I’m super-sensitive to alcohol, and even though my tastebuds wanted to end the night with a whiskey, my logic-brain won out.

The next morning, I was up at freaking-morning-people-o’clock and met some friends for breakfast at a local place called Thornton’s. I was too caught up in chatting and enjoying my plate of scrambled eggs with feta, mushrooms, and spinach to think of taking a picture, but if you find yourself in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood and want a no-fuss, delicious breakfast, this is a great spot.

My presentation was Saturday morning. For the demo portion, I did red lentil beet hummus, and the hotel kitchen actually made samples for the 100+ people there. They made it look way prettier than I would have. I was overwhelmed by how kind the audience members were when they came up to me afterwards. A few had really nice stories to share. One woman, in particular, said, “Thank you for talking to us on our level” and gave me a big hug. Haha I think that’s a first for me, but it’s always nice to know when people actually get something out of what you’re talking about. I’d never want someone to feel like I glossed over something or talked over their head or ignored important stuff.

Before catching a train back to NYC, I had time for a girls’ lunch with my aunt at Douzo. We both ordered salmon lunch box specials with salmon teriyaki. I had a brown rice Alaskan roll with mine—so darn good. I skipped the brown rice because I was more interested in the other stuff, but overall, it was just such a nice way to end my trip. Even the green tea tasted extra-special. The company was awesome too : )

Some snacks on the train (apple and dry-roasted edamame) helped me avoid arriving home hangry. I usually would just reheat something from the freezer, but I got it in my head to throw some tofu in the oven while I unpacked. I tossed it with the end of a bag of arugula, some riced cauliflower, and made a quick dressing with sesame oil and rice vinegar.

Predictably, my stomach started growing soon after, so I had some more Greek yogurt, this time with a sliced banana and a spoonful of peanut butter. This flax & chia crunchy peanut butter from Trader Joe’s is, like, too good. I’ll be sad when this jar is gone.

Have you ever been to Boston? Is there a particular food you like to eat before traveling? 

To see more WIAW, check out founder Jenn’s blog Peas & Crayons.