Freedom Friday 5: Part 2 (aka the foods)

So here it is....and it's a jam packed one. Here are all the Freedom Foods I did to kick off 2013 :)

Starting things off are these Van's Lite Waffles. These used to be a go-to b-fast for me and then somehow they got scary (yeah...wonder whose to blame for that....ED!). But I enjoyed them one morning at home as a way to get me out of my routine b-fast (I alternate between two). They were really good and I remembered why I used to enjoy them so much. Maybe one day I will even have syrup with them.

 During the New Year's Eve Festivities my family enjoyed some "real" desserts as they call them. These included chocolate dipped pretzels and cookies, but I am just not ready for that leap just yet. But I did a double freedom food whammy and had Arctic Zero (half container) AND Rice Krispy Treat. Decided you all needed to see more than just the container so there is an action shot taken in the middle of enjoying this treat :)

Next up was this dinner which I wanted so bad, but was so scared of. Lookin at it now, it looks really healthy and colorful. To me, the more colorful a dish the better I feel about eating it....weird I know. Anyway, this was Fat Free Refried beans (sodium fear) in a tortilla with the appropriate amount of guac (something I tend to restrict portions on). Served with 1/2 cup corn, 1 cup strawberries, and unpictured is a salad with dressing as well as a yogurt cup. This was a meal I really had to ask for support on in finishing because I was so scared to complete portions.

Back to School

Despite being thoroughly scared about returning to school, I have managed several freedom foods since coming back on Tuesday. First off, Fat Free Fig Newtons. These were once my favorite snacks at treatment, but then they got scary. My goal is to soon do a real fig newton pack....the full fat kind. In fact, I bought some at Walgreens this past week and they are just waiting for me to get gutsy. But really, I freaking love Fig Newtons. Have weird way of eating them though. I eat the edges, then top crust, then filling, then bottom crust. I tried a "real" bite of one and it just wasn't the same :p

And you all know how scared I was to eat in the dining hall. Well....my first dinner in the hall I did a freedom food that also hit one of my semester goals of trying a new dining hall food....ladies and gents I present.....UGA Ginger Jasmine Rice. This was very scary for me....rice is a huge fear food, and I only did a 1/2 cup portion for 1 starch exchange. Hope to one day be able to allow myself a whole cup....but baby steps. Anyway, this was amazing! It was spicy and tasted different than any rice I have ever had. Will definitely be doing this again :) 

 Sometimes though we try Freedom Foods that we wished we would have let fear keep us from. Case and point: last night's Crunchy Peanut Butter Clif Bar. I really wanted to challenge myself to this one due to some of the numbers on it I am scared of and my constant fear of peanut butter. Let me just say, won't be having this again. There is no crunch, no peanut butter taste, and it's just really gooey. It didn't even have the normal enjoyment taste of a Clif Bar. Left me dissapointed and anxious....so I was not a happy or peaceful camper.

Leave it to UGA dining hall to save the day though. Yesterday I also did Shrimp Creole. I did this over a year ago in the dining hall, but they used tiny salad shrimp and I was not a fan. When I saw it on the menu again, my fear was first thing to pop up (anything in sauce freaks me out) and then a sigh of relief as I remembered I don't like salad shrimp and thus would never have to face this. Imagine my surprise when the salad shrimp I expected to see were replace by normal sized shrimp. Couple this with the salad bar not having tuna and thus me not having a protein source....and fate just wanted me to taste freedom. Let me just say I love fate sometimes. This was so spicy and even had a lingering bite. It was like my mouth was smoking. In fact, this was so good I forgot I was scared. I coupled it with a salad, sweet potato, melons, guac (love this in my sweet potatoe), dressing, and chocolate milk (not happy this is back on the meal plan). Okay, well I'm happy about chocolate milk, but ED isn't.




And that's all the freedom I had time for this week. To be honest, this upcoming week will probably be sparse on freedom too as I will be focusing on getting my meal timing and class schedule down. Plus actually devoting myself to my meal plan. But who knows....maybe the next freedom post will be a day in my life post and you all can see my meal plan through pics. We shall see :)

Did you find any freedom in 2013 yet? 

What old favorites do you want to try again? 

And I can't help but leave you with this pic of freedom.......