Big Fat Ugly

This year, Deb F. decided to take down The Big Fat Ugly which is Fat Sandwich's biggest, most alarming sandwich of all. But there is nothing ugly about this pic and I think it is simply terrific that she went for it (and with all of those onlookers behind her! Bold).

In  the meantime, it's New Year's Eve and if you're like me (i.e. a sap who does all of the holiday related things at the holidays, including New Year's resolutions), you're thinking about all of the things about this year that you hope to change in the next. One of my biggest goals is to revamp my relationship with food, body image, and weight loss. Starting this blog has been a big help for me, and has already set me free in a lot of ways. I don't feel half so self-conscious about eating as I used to, and I don't worry about my body half so much as I did in the past. The way I discuss food, my body, dieting, etc. has changed dramatically. I'm fine. You're fine. We're all just fine. And as women of the twenty-first century, we automatically have enough to worry about without getting stressed over stupid stuff, like whether or not people are judging us for having two desserts in a single day. So I'm trying to do more of what I like (eating, reading, and running) and less of the crap that I hate (with-holding food from myself, thinking mean thoughts about my body or about the way I eat, listening to others do the same). For me, 2011 is going to be a year about acceptance, nurturing, and enjoyment. And I sincerely hope that 2011 is another year closer to a new world for women, where all of those things are dominant features in our lives and when the bad stuff (shaming, worrying, beauty and body obsession) are things of the past. To achieve that end, I encourage everyone to rethink their language and the way they treat themselves. For me at least, it really feels better. I also encourage you to keep sharing your food pictures. I'm really delighted that this is something all of us can enjoy together. 

Thanks for everything, and happy New Year!

Love,

D.  

Christmas Eve Feast

Bailey H. ate a delicious meal of Mac n' Cheese this year on Christmas Eve. When you pick the blue box, it really gets you into the Christmas spirit as you can see. Thanks for sharing, Bailey!

On another dinner date with my NOW prez, Ashley D. We ate at this place on University Avenue that used to be Dos Reales. Good eats, even though it's non-Dos. You can tell it's tasty by Ashley's concentrated efforts.

Mm, Italian

Enjoying ravioli at the Spaghetti Factory in St. Louis. That place is awesome. They bring you bread, salad, your entree and at the end, a bowl of spumoni ice cream. As you can see, I enjoyed my ravioli so much that it caused my eyes to roll back into my head.

Good Morning!

These are pictures from a breakfast feast that my friends and I recently prepared for ourselves.

Here is Alexae S., making her usual provocative faces while she has a bite of chocolate chip pancakes.

Me and pal Brittany M. work on scrambled eggs, pancakes, and oj on our corner of the table.

Brittany is a no-nonsense kind of girl. She recognizes that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so she went ahead and cleared her plate.

Pancakes are just great. I wish that I had some now.

A Formal Affair

Peggy P. sits down to another fancy dinner aboard her cruise. I have never seen this kind of enthusiasm before but it inspires me.

I Heart!

Today's contributors are Melissa and Anne, enjoying BBQ and corn on the cob!

Together they manage a terrific e-newsletter for young ladies, I Heart Daily, where every day they feature something cool, whether it's a phenomenal teenager, a great website, or a new fashion trend. In my favorite post, they featured a Valentine's Day play list as selected by Ben Kweller (it's awesome)! You should definitely sign up to receive the newsletter and recommend it to any younger-sister types in your life who might enjoy it as well.

A big thank-you to Anne and Melissa for sharing this picture; clearly two ladies with a lot of great work on their plates. We're delighted to have you! 

A December Birthday Girl

Here is Ava S. digging into her birthday cake and ice cream! In 10 days, this lovely lady who eats will be turning 22! Happy early b-day, Ava!

Ava also wanted to share a picture of the Thanksgiving desserts she enjoyed.

Cheesecake or pumpkin pie? A hard choice made easy; try a bit of both!



Brunch

Alexae S. enjoys a ham and cheese crepe for brunch. The plate, she reports, was full of grease.

Alexae is a very proud alumnus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, hailing from the department of Computer Science. Now she lives and works in Chicago and leads the coolest life of anyone I know. 

It's the Holiday Season!

This Thanksgiving, Jeanie R. feasted wtih family.

This spread looks delicious, right? I sincerely wish Thanksgiving was everyday.

If you have Thanksgiving pictures you would like to send in, it's not too late: we'll post them throughout the holiday season. P.S. I'm ready for christmas cookie pics at any time. :)

Thanks for bearing with me over the break in pictures, everyone. It's that awful, breath-holding final-paper-writing time in the semester, but I will try to keep them regular from here on out.

Food and Friends

This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for all of the wonderful food I've had in the last few weeks. It seems like there was just delicious stuff in abundance, especially this past weekend which I spent with my best girl friends in Chicago.

Sarah M. enjoys an Alaskan salmon roll at the Sushi cafe where we started off our weekend of good eats.

Brittany M. and Alexae S. share a piece of Peanut Butter Fudge cheesecake.

Chocolate pastries are one of my very favorite foods on earth and this one was no exception. It tasted even better eaten outside in downtown Chicago, on a balmy November evening.



All Ages

Peggy P. (Grandma Peggy to Jolee P., featured earlier) enjoys a beautifully decorated meal on her cruise last year. 

While on the same cruise, she also enjoyed the heck out of some bacon at breakfast.

And it looks like she helped herself to some tasty chocolate soft-serve as well. Yum! What a good role model she is!

I'm Thinkin'

Breanne T. enjoys a sandwich and curly fries from Arby's!

Encouragement

Hey everyone! One of the biggest American food days of the year is coming right up and I want to encourage anyone who celebrates Thanksgiving to try and get a picture of yourself enjoying your fav. Thanksgiving food. I would love to do a super-lengthy post-Thanksgiving post full of ladies enjoying the holiday.

Send all submissions to alotonherplate@gmail.com

And don't limit your food-eating and picture-taking to Thanksgiving! Take a picture and send it in ANY TIME!

This is me enjoying a Hardee's cheeseburger a couple of years ago while hanging out with the SJO German Club in St. Louis because I love German and I also love super processed ground beef.

Sisterhood Anyone?

After checking out A Lot On Her Plate, Amber Tamblyn (127 Hours, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Joan of Arcadia) was kind enough to share this photo.

 " I love your blog. I've attached a picture of best friend and actress Alexis Bledel and I after we attacked a chocolate fountain. We call the picture, "Two Girls, One Chocolate Fountain."

Love,
A"

Of course both ladies starred in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies. You probably also recognize Alexis Bledel from Gilmore Girls and as Winnie Foster from Tuck Everlasting. Both are lovely and inspiring women with a lot on their plates. 

I would also like to note that Ms. Tamblyn is the first BUST cover-girl to grace the blog. I'm honored!

 

Sorority Girls Eat

Hannah H. from 4H House enjoys a Boston milkshake: a chocolate shake with an extra scoop of ice cream on top, plus some fudge and . . . Hannah? Cherry? Yum!

Hotpot

 "It's me and a friend of mine, Jackye P, eating hotpot!  It's kinda like fondue, but in hot water instead of hot oil.  It was pretty tasty, and lots of fun.  :)"

-Ashley D.

Jackye P.

Cute Hat AND Cute Food

Amber K. enjoying more street fare in Tokyo.

Beautiful Sushi

Sometimes food can really be beautiful: here is Jeanie R. with a lovely sushi display (which she totally helped destroy by eating it).

Submit, submit!

Hey ladies, keep the pictures coming! As always, you can send new submissions to alotonherplate@gmail.com. Just wanted to remind everybody/let any new followers know. :)

I've been working lately on spreading the word about the blog and have received a much appreciated helping hand from the UIUC Women's Resource Center, as well as many of you who have shared this blog with friends on facebook which I LOVE because I want to take this far beyond Champaign-Urbana. Just wanted to say thank you, so very very much.

Everybody have a beautiful week! 

NOW: Eating is a Party

A few weeks ago, NOW had a food party. Once again, Ashley's boyfriend came through with some amazing food: lasagna. :)

Anna C. enjoys the vegetarian variety. I had it, too. It was incredible.

Ava S. is having a bite of Paula Deen's Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie, which I brought.

Kristina O. had some, too.

Even though I kind of burnt the edges a little bit, I thoroughly enjoyed this pie because it is one my favorite recipes of all time. It's just like normal pumpkin pie except with a cup of apple butter. Freakin' fantastic.



Suspenders

This is my sister Sid L., eating a piece of Avanti's bread. Her suspenders are kickin'.

Volunteering Takes Food

Huong P. devours a slice of pizza at Venice Beach. This picture was taken during her Alternative Spring Break trip in 2010 where she volunteered at the AIDS Project, LA.

This year, Huong's Alternative Spring Break will involve raising awareness about domestic violence and helping The Sojourner Center. Huong is a great example of a young woman with A Lot On Her Plate, both figuratively and literally. Did you know that Generation Y spends more hours doing volunteer work than any generation ever before? Reason number ten-thousand why it's important to eat plenty of food.

If you're interested in supporting the project, look for Huong's group on the UIUC quad today where they'll be selling baked goods for $1 (and if you get some, definitely get a picture of yourself devouring food for a cause). If you're interested in getting involved in Alternative Spring Break yourself, check out the link up above or, if you're a UIUC student, head over to one of the info nights listed here.

Frosting First

Sarah M. eats the frosting off of a graduation cupcake last spring. Later, she won the title of bluest teeth. Illini frosting is awesome like that. So is eating.



S'more

I've been eating microwave s'mores like crazy lately. Love. them.

Third Place in State Needs Food

Sidney L. and Jolee P. enjoy bagels after their very successful race at state; both ladies ran three miles in under nineteen minutes. Sweet!

(Means they ran each mile faster than 6 minutes and 20 seconds which is super challenging)

Third place out of all the teams in Illinois; the girls' cross country team enjoys a pizza celebration. Everyboddddy eats.

From left to right: Chelsea B. (Ninth place finisher! Time of 18:19), Suzanne F., Sidney L., Hannah G.,
Jolee P., Tessa V., and Alyssa P. 

Pumpkin Ice Cream Ends a Day

Jeanine is an adventurer who is full of great ideas and beautiful words. And she wishes she could have pumpkin ice cream all year round. Me too.

 

"while i was taking this photo, i kept thinking how unflattering some of my outtakes were and realized that’s kinda the fucking point. i don’t owe flattering to anyone. i’m in my pajamas doing stats homework and eating ice cream. hell, it’s been the kind of day that i had to write “STATS” in big block letters on my hand to even remember it. i’m eating some pumpkin ice cream, and it’s awesome! and i want you to know how awesome it is, and that we should share this moment damnit, right?"

--Jeanine R.

Check her out:

http://juhneeeeen.tumblr.com/

A Mid-Swim Snack

Miriam K. enjoys a sandwich and some chips on a pleasant summer day! Her swimsuit makes me wish it was July again.

A Friday Beauty Eats

Welcome to the Weekend, everyone!

Jeanie R. enjoys her go-to snack, an ice cream sandwich, while walking around Washington D.C.

P.S. Let us please note that it's an even more excellent ice cream sandwich than normal, made with awesome looking chocolate-chip cookies. Wow! 

Cross Country Stars Eat

This is Suzanne F. having a scrumptious pasta dinner! Suzanne is an amazing runner with some of the strongest finishes I've ever seen, and I've been watching her run since she was in fifth grade. On Saturday, she will compete in her final high school cross country race at the Illinois State Meet, along with my sister and

several other ballers on the team.

 I have seen some runners with a lot of potential fall down in the middle of a race because they were restricting their diets and not drinking enough water. It's a very painful, heartbreaking thing to watch. And so I've always loved that my sister's team makes a point of sharing a big spaghetti dinner each week, ensuring that every lady they run with is taking care of her body before race day.

An Australian Appetite

A slightly fuzzy picture but the message is clear: Brittany M. freakin' loves Chinese food from Sydney Australia's Chinatown!

It's Important to Eat (And vote!)

In NOW, we are all about taking advantage of our right to vote. We also love a good themed cookie! Thanks to Ashley D.'s boyfriend for preparing these amazing, election day-inspired treats.

Ashley D. voted. Did you?

Ava S. got in on it, too.

Mandy W. eats her cookie carefully, the same way she chose her candidates this year.

I voted early (in spite of a certain County Clerk's best effort to keep me from it) but still got in on the eating action on election night.