Welcome to What I eat in a week in Dublin, where we find out what Dubliners are having. We're asking people who live in this fine city what they are really having for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This isn't a platform for lecturing or snarky comments, just a place for foodies to tell us what they are putting in their face holes during any given week.
Location: Dublin
Diet: No particular diet but I am attempting to "eat better" (which translates to eating more balanced, not a diet).
Is there anything you don't eat/drink?
There's not much I won't eat but I'm not a fan of raisins, pears, and two years ago I gave up eating pork (so there's a lot of turkey bacon and sausies in my diet).
What snack can always be found in your bag?
Nairn's do these banging breakfast biscuits, in chocolate chip and oat, and they're gluten free if you're gluten free (I'm not, but there you go).
Your fridge is never without?
Grated cheese, pickles (big fan), yoghurts, and turkey bacon.
What's your emergency dinner?
Nothing beats my childhood fave of: pasta (preferably farfalle, or bows as I usually call them when I'm not pretending to be fancy), butter (real, no margarine), and salt. Sometimes I'll add copious amounts of cheese, but there's something about the three ingredient pasta that just gets me going.
If you had to eat one place in Dublin for the rest of your life where would it be?
Ooh very tricky, but for the variety I'd have to go with Nutbutter on Grand Canal.
Day One
12:32pm: Strangely not hungry this morning so go right into working for a few hours before I get my first coffee of the day. Currently going through a troubling insomniac period of time, so will have to cap my coffee intake at two a day.
1:33pm: I'm a soup fiend, so I start with some Avonmore Farmhouse Vegetable soup (highly recommend, the
perfect chunky veg soup) and then move onto a turkey bacon sambo. One of life's simplest pleasures is a bacon sandwich, and just because I gave up pork, doesn't mean I wanted to give those bad boys up.
5:33pm: Almost on the dot of when I finish working from home I get a WhatsApp or a call up the stairs from my dad that dinner is ready. Tonight is the first of our two-night special, spaghetti and meatballs. An elite dinner, and one I always relish.
7:00pm: Tea time. I drink decaf (which is such a hack btw, it tastes the exact same) and include some of those Nairn's biscuits I was telling you about for dipping.
8:30pm: While I binge the rest of my rewatch of
Euphoria before I start on Season Two, I eat a white chocolate Greek style yoghurt, and a Nature Valley chocolate and peanut protein bar. Because you know, gains.
Day Two
11:13am: Another sleepless night despite my precautions with the decaf tea (I swear that tea hack normally works, I must just be a wee bit stressed) has me sleep in until literally 8:57am before going straight into work. Therefore I wait to have my plain buttered bagel (I'm normally more creative than this) and coffee until now.
1:45pm: I'm dying for another coffee, but with fears of another sleepless night, I manage to abstain and instead enjoy a hearty lunch that comprises of the rest of that Avonmore soup, and a tuna melt toastie.
5:35pm: It's night two of spaghetti and meatballs, except the spaghetti is swapped for penne.
7.01pm: I have a packet of Barbecue Flavour Pop Chips which are stunning; my only complaint is that you only get about seven crisps in the bag but still, I'm obsessed. I munch through these as I watch the first episode of Season Two of
Euphoria (a wild season premiere if you ask me).
8:33pm: I settle down with
Private Practice and devour some of my fave Nairn's biscuits with half a litre of water to make up for the fact I apparently think it's good craic to completely dehydrate myself.
Day Three
8:28am: Finally, a good (well, sort of) night's sleep. I reward myself by staying in bed with a cup of coffee as opposed to doing any of the productive things I normally plan to do with my morning.
10:32am: Another lack lustre breakfast of a bagel and butter. Toasted at least.
1:30pm: Venture out of the house for an americano and a slice of banana bread from Sam's of Goatstown, a gorge local café, where I meet a friend for a catch up.
4:01pm: Realise I've eaten nothing of substance but it's too close to dinner, so opt for another packet of Pop Chips.
6:00pm: Enjoy a veggie lasagne alla The Happy Pear with a side of chips. Discover I have somehow managed to only eat veggie today and congratulate myself on the accomplishment. Not quite Veganuary standards, but not far off.
8:28pm: Have a Cadbury's chocolate egg thing. I've eaten it and thrown away the wrapping, hence why I don't know the official term.
Day Four
8:33am: Sleep schedule nearly back on track. Coffee time.
11:01am: Throw together a quick breakfast. We're making the plain bagel and butter a little fancier today by adding some smoked salmon. Gourmet, I know.
1:45pm: Drop off a Depop package, and find myself going to Dealz and picking up another five pack of BBQ Pop Chips. So of course I had a pack when I got home then.
4:04pm: Had a packet of "Skinny Cookies". They were pretty decent, but had a similar downfall to the Pop Chips in the sense you only get about four to a packet.
6:00pm: More veggie lasagne with chips. Did we add just a little bit of real cheese in order to feel something? Yes, yes we did.
Day Five
8:00am: Coffee.
10:31am: Enjoy some turkey bacon on a bagel - a classic breakfast for me. Another coffee wakes me up efficiently for the morning.
2:00pm: Open up some Happy Pear tomato and red pepper soup - very delicious. Enjoy this with a cheese toastie.
6:33pm: Eat the most childish dinner ever of plain pasta and Bird's Eye chicken dippers.
Day Six
11am: Nairn's breakfast biscuits do me over for brekkie. Not exactly a balanced breakfast, but it hits the spot.
2:01pm: Finish off the roast pepper and tomato soup, of course with a cheesy bagel for dipping. What a small but lovely pleasure it is to have tomato soup with a cheese toastie. Doesn't take much to please me.
7pm-1:15am: Eat copious amount of snacks including a whole bag of Tayto Smoky Bacon (just because I gave up actual pork doesn't mean I gave up on the flavour), M&Ms, Dairy Milk Oreo, a few Mango White Claws, and a Coke Zero or two.
Day Seven
10:33am: A friend makes me a delish sausage bagel, using Denny's meatfree sausies. I've tried their fake bacon and can confirm it's a no go, but the sausages on the other hand are amazing. Wash it down with a cup of tea.
2:01pm: Pasta. Butter. Salt. Chef's kiss.
5:38pm: Enjoy picking at some fish and chips, as is Sunday tradition.
7:01pm: Head to Nutbutter (one of my absolute fave spots to eat in Dublin) for a classic poké bowl, which is quickly becoming one of my favourite dishes. As in if there's a poké bowl on the menu, I will order it no matter what.
8:33pm: Eat one Passionfruit and Mango Little Moon. If you haven't tried Little Moons yet, let this be a sign you need to start.
10:30pm: Enjoy a Butler's hot chocolate (although I both burn the milk while making and my mouth while drinking) (not ideal).
Overall
Not a bad week of eating, but given my lack of sleep, and the inevitable side effects of that, I found myself eating anything and everything just to keep functioning. Still, I enjoyed some new bits, like the banana bread from Sam's, and the poké bowl from Nutbutter, and I've certainly had worse weeks of eating. Given how late it is in January, the eating out was kept to a minimum, but I still felt satisfied with the meals I had at home. Although I really need to get fruit and veg into my diet...
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