What I Ate That Didn't Make It To Instagram — Registered Dietitian Columbia SC

We eat with our eyes, but sometimes instagram makes it seem like everything we eat should be an edible work of art.

Half the time, it doesn't even make sense. Frozen berries with a shadowy layer of frost look beautiful, but does it really taste good on a slice of toast? I love how people are styling smoothies with slices of fresh fruit pressed into the glass, but ummm, how do you eat it? That chunk of kiwi isn't gonna fit through my straw. And seriously, where do people find all these edible flowers??? Definitely not at my local Publix.

That said, I enjoy following bloggers, chefs, and food stylists who share pictures of beautifully presented food. At it's best, cooking is like art - creative, fun, and inspiring. But sometimes I wonder if food blogging is setting unrealistic expectations for eating IRL. Not every meal is consumed on a rustic farmhouse table on shabby chic mismatched china. Not every meal needs to be pinterest ready. Not every meal needs four types of garnish garnish.

I think a lot about this in my work. What's the line between being responsible, and being inspiring. There are dietitians and content creators whose job revolves around recipe development, photography and making food look so beautiful you want to jump through your screen to steal a bite. That's part of my work, as I work with brands and monetize my blog. But I also have a responsibility to my clients and readers who don't have a hour int he morning to style their smoothie bowl. I try to be "real," whatever that means, by showing the not-so-glamorous bits of life on my blog and social media. But at the end of the day, if I'm eating a frozen meal at my living room table under my flourescent interior lights, it's not ending up on the 'gram.

So with that said, this post is dedicated to the boring meals that didn't make the instagram cut. While they weren't worth sharing, they were worth eating!

Overnight oats that weren't so overnight because I totally forgot to make them the night before. Just mixed oats, yogurt, peanut butter powder and honey in a tub and brought it to the office.

Ain't no shame in a microwave meal. Vegetable biyrani from Trader Joes is one of my favorites.

Kinda dinner number one. I was teaching a CSA cooking class from 5:30-8:30 and totally forgot to eat a snack, so grabbed these to hold me over.

Dinner #2: After class, came home and had to immediately hop on a training call (#looooongday). The hubs heated up some canned Indian food for me. I'm a big fan of Jyoti

Not recommended, but lunch one day was a bag of kale chips in the car. Ate a "real" lunch later on, but it had to do for my noon "meal"

Threw some leftover brussels sprouts, farro, almonds and feta together in a bowl and gave it a toss.

Stir fry I made with random vegetables I had in the crisper, crumbled tempeh, brown rice noodles, and bottled stir fry sauce.

When you're too lazy to make a peanut butter sandwich: the peanut butter taco. I ate two, plus an apple and dark chocolate for dessert.

Smiling Hara tempeh (my fave) plus Trader Joe's riced cauliflower stir fry

Tomato tart fail. Tried to make this tomato tart but it turned into a watery mess. It still tasted good, so I ate leftovers (no longer in pie form) with a few Totinos pizza rolls (don't ask).