Just to preface, these are RIDIC-OUS-LY good. I apologize in advance for the jars of nut butter you’re about to harm in the making of these cookies.
Breakfast:
Plain Greek yogurt + strawberries + pistachios + mango + chia seeds / hemp hearts. As much as I like trying the fun flavors Siggi’s makes, but I’m definitely more of a plain greek yogurt with fresh fruit type!
Mid-morning snack.
This mini sized spirulina energy bar from Go Raw. Made with sesame seeds + bananas + dates + coconut + spirulina.
Lunch.
My packed lunches have been looking like this lately – featuring this red quinoa, chickpea, and roasted vegetable salad.
Usually I would pack it with extra avocado, carrots with hummus, and some mandarin oranges for snacking.
Caught in eating action at work. Story of my life!
Afternoon Snacks.
A piece of this Trader Joe’s dark chocolate honey mints to cure a mid-day slump. Love that it’s only 3 ingredients – honey, chocolate liquor, and oil of peppermint. The PERFECT minty bite!
Pre-workout mini juice break via Whisk. A blend of kale, pineapple, lime, and mint. Loved this combination!
Dinner.
Post workout dinner was a bed of romaine with baked salmon + roasted asparagus + roasted red bell peppers + chickpeas + goat cheese + lemon juice and tahini – squeeze of fresh lemon juice. I’m a fan of big salads – athletes just can’t run (literally) on a bed of plain greens, ya know? I feel like romaine can sometimes be underrated – I know we all go crazy for leafy greens (which definitely packs the nutrition punch!) but did you know that even ONE serving of romaine gives you well over the daily recommended intake of Vitamin A? It’s packed with a variety of vitamins, fiber, and water for some hydration – I love the extra crunchy texture it adds to salads!
Thanks to Jenn for another week of fab eats. Head over to Laura’s WIAW to join the foodie fun!
Lots of base greens this week – I’m feeling all the salads!
From Trader Joes: Mandarin oranges, organic Tuscan kale, sliced mango, organic arugula, organic baby spinach, organic romaine, frozen pineapple, pomegranate seeds, tomato basil hummus, greek yogurt, radishes, lemons, tempeh, sun dried tomatoes.
I like to pick up frozen fruit from Trader Joe’s to keep stock in my freezer. They’re easy to throw into smoothies (frozen fruit just gives better texture!) or to just snack on. I’m loving frozen mango and pineapple as dessert!
Trimmed radishes are only 99 cents at Trader Joe’s, friends. Scrounge up some change from your couch and get you some. Great to toss onto salads!
A pack of sun-dried tomatoes made it into my shopping basket this week because I’ve been craving a nice big salad with all the toppings and sun dried tomatoes would be one those said toppings. These are also fabulous toss into omelets!
From Whole Foods: Pineapple mango salsa, crumbled goat cheese, kiwis, frozen tri-color carrots, bananas, organic bell peppers, and Japanese sweet potatoes. Oh, and the green tea and coconut flavor coconut milk ice cream from So Delicious (sale!!!!) Swooning. 
Seriously hands down my favorite flavors of all time from So Delicious. It’s like, if I were an ice cream, this is what I would look like. Green tea and coconut. Either one or maybe both. Probably both swirled together. A girl can dream.
I am SO happy to get some Japanese sweet potatoes back in my kitchen. They’re one of my favorite sweet potato variations besides my number one purple sweet potato.
So I know what you’re thinking – it’s definitely more economical to make your own salsa. However, when I’m shopping for myself, I like to to pick up a small container such as this from Whole Foods because it’s the perfect amount for the week. Sometimes making a big batch of salsa for myself results in me wasting half the batch – not good! I love the house made ones from Whole Foods – I stir them into salads or pair them with a protein for a little extra kick.
Stahibush Island Farms is often a go-to frozen vegetable brand of mine. The company’s passion for sustainable farming resonates in their products – I love their frozen sliced beets! I usually reach for the Whole Foods 365 Brand most of the time, but I’ll pick up a some from Stahibush when they’re on sale.
And even though Trader Joe’s sells a goat cheese crumble for less ($2.99 vs $4.99), I’ve always found that the Whole Foods version is a taddd bit creamier. Adding a touch of goat cheese crumble is a nice addition to salads, omelets, sweet potatoes….basically anything!
What’s in your grocery cart this week?
A full day of eats for you guys – hooray!
Breakfast.
Greek yogurt + berries + Purely Elizabeth granola + hemp/chia seeds. Lottsaa cinnamon dumped on afterwards.
Mid-morning Snack.
A Go Raw live apricot bar. They’re starting to grow on me – I wasn’t a big fan at first. But honestly, they are very easy to recreate yourself – which I’m planning to do soon!
Lunch.
My packed lunches this week have been looking a little something like this –
A toasted mini pita from Whole Foods (if you toast them until crispy, they slice perfectly open! It’s perfect for that crunchy texture without feeling like you just ate 10 loaves of bread) + Hilarys Eat Well black rice burger + clover sprouts + pineapple salsa. And baby carrots + Trader Joe’s 3 layer hummus on the side.
Seriously though…everything holds up in that pita perfectly.
Afternoon Snack.
A cara cara orange. So good and refreshing!!
Dinner.
A Trader Joe’s chili chicken lime burger + avocado + goat cheese + sauteed zucchini, yellow squash, and bell peppers.
Dessert.
Always ending my day with a little dark chocolate. Bonus points for the hazelnuts.
Bonus:
Since I don’t post as many dinners on Instagram, here’s a look at a few more dinners collected over the past week or so –
Tempeh and vegetable stir-fry with Trader Joe’s Mango Chutney.
Leftovers…more of the same. Special guest overlooking all the leftover goodies!
Another tempeh stir-fry with Trader Joe’s Island Soyaki.
Thanks to Jenn for another great WIAW roundup!
First things first…happy Registered Dietitian Day! Thanks to all the RD’s out there that inspires me everyday. Sending so much love and support out there.
Breakfasts:
I eat very intuitively these days. I use to be really paranoid about having the perfect balance of protein + fats + carbs + vitamins + minerals and everything nutritious under the sun, but sometimes, your body knows exactly what it needs – and we need to listen to it. Sometimes I crave fruit for breakfast but other times my body probably thinks it’s had enough sugar for a while and crave savory things and veggies. Sometimes I’m just all like, let me eat all the carbs, while other times my body feels 100% satisfied with healthy fats and protein. And sometimes I just want to eat the entire kitchen and while other times I just want to eat a grapefruit and call it a day (soooo rare, though, ha! #foreverhungry).
My point is that having balanced meals are great and definitely a key element to an overall healthy lifestyle, but as health fanatics, we sometimes get too caught up in comparing our meals with those around us and think that if we didn’t have enough protein like everyone else during breakfast or too many carbs at lunch, we’re doing something wrong. While looking at meal ideas are a great way to inspire you to try new foods, recipes, and meal variations, don’t forget that you do YOU first. There’s no such thing as a “perfect” diet – it’s different for each unique individual. It’s important to understand your body and goals first, and to take a step back from all the social media to re-evaluate what exactly it is that makes you feel best.
And because today is national Registered Dietitian day, I’d like to share this post by Robin, over at the Real Life RD – she’s a RD after my own heart. Everything is says in this post (well, everything she says in general) are words of gold and completely resonates with me.
Anyways, now onto a much lighter tone…a compilation of eats! I’ve decided to just compile meals together for now as part of my WIAW. Everyday is similar but different for me – I feel like sometimes just showing you a day isn’t very reflective of the variety of foods I like to eat. I use to eat pretty much the same thing everyday in college…and while there is nothing wrong with a little routine and sticking to what you know, there is an abundance of nutritious foods out there just waiting to be explored! With that being said, I’ll definitely throw in posts where it’s just a complete one day of eats for me – just so you get a feel of what it’s like in my day.
Breakfast is on rotations between a few things –
This cereal + cashew milk + strawberries + walnuts + bananas + hemp hearts/chia seeds + every ounce of cinnamon I could find.
Or mini breakfast pitas with an egg + spinach + goat cheese + red pepper chili flakes + avocado + grapefruit.
Rudi’s organic spelt muffins with almond butter + fruit + coconut chips + chia seeds & hemp hearts.
Sometimes, a venti is exactly what you I need.
Lunches:
One of my packed lunches/snacks: mini pita + avocado + smoked salmon, carrots + beet hummus, strawberries, green juice via Blend, blood orange Bai5 bubbles.
Oh what’s that? The chickpea from Verde. Not so sad desk lunch. (romaine + chickpeas + feta + roasted red peppers + pita chips + lemon tahini dressing)
Another Verde chickpea salad, different day. Pretty sure if you’re in the downtown Charleston area on a weekday during lunchtime, there’s a 85% chance I will be there!
Dinners:
Roasted up a batch of dijion cauliflower and broccoli for the week!
With these ingredients: a spray of coconut oil (unpictured), red pepper, jalapeño mustard, dijion mustard, and turmeric. Roasted at 400F for about 25 minutes.
And a batch of roasted sweet potatoes with these ingredients: turmeric, curry powder, garlic powder, and red pepper. Un-pictured coconut oil spray.
Roasted at 400F for about 45 minutes. My hack for crispier sweet potatoes is to coat it all in your spices and finish up with a spray of coconut oil right on top – leaves them crispy on the outside and dense on the inside – exactly the way I like them!I love using turmeric in my meals – it’s a such an wonderful healing spice and great for overall digestion.
After I get a few things roasted, I’ll pair them throughout the week with a few protein options – like a side of scrambled eggs.
And this sesame ginger dressing…that I like to dip the sweet potatoes in. Don’t knock it till you try it!
Also had some spelt risotto from Trader Joe’s this week. I added spinach to it and paired it with a runny egg.
Spelt risotto with the roasted veggies from above.
And cowboy caviar added after the picture.
Leftovers are my go-to after post-work workouts. This was a mix of peas, asparagus, Trader Joe’s chili chicken lime burgers, and a dollop of cowboy caviar.
Snacks:
A blood orange. Got it all over my keyboard while peeling it….story of my life. I still eat like I’m 5 years old sometimes.
An Evolution Fresh juice for an afternoon pick-me-up. (the Sweet Greens and Lemon juice!)
Got stuck in some major traffic the other day – so glad I have car snacks packed! Like this maple quinoa cluster with chia seeds from KIND snacks.
An almond butter and carob Go Macro bar for some pre-workout fuel.
And I’ve been munching on these dates with cinnamon raisin peanut butter and dark chocolate chips for a post-dinner (sweet) bite.
I definitely ate too many of these while making them. I mean, can you blame me though? They’re the perfect snack-sized granola clusters. It always happen with granola, doesn’t it? You go in a for a handful one minute and find an empty bag and yell YOLO the next.
I don’t know about you, but every time I open a new bag of granola, I reach for the biggest cluster first. Why is it that the rest of the bag is just slightly less exciting?