What I Ate: Week of Jan 15-21, 2024

Welcome to a new post format where I highlight a week of meals that I actually made and ate! I'm doing this not to showcase that I'm a good eater (because you may see some things that the "clean eaters" of the world will question), but to show how a busy person can plan, shop for, and prep a few things to curtail those hunger-crazed, eat-all-the-things binges that happen when we're tired, over our day, and just want the world to stop spinning for a moment. 

I hope it helps inspire you, give you recipe ideas, brainstorm, and fuel yourself to your happiness and satisfaction, so you eat for YOUR goals! 

Comment 👇and let me know what worked for you, what didn't, and send me ideas of your own! I'd love to try them!

OKAY - Here's what was on MY Meal Plan this past week:

A quick review of the fridge revealed I had salmon, some carrots, and a bag of pre-cut kale I needed to eat. I also knew that I wanted some type of easy-to-pack egg breakfast.

I also have set a new habit goal this month to add a serving of vegetable or fruit before lunch. Here's what I came up with for my meal plan.

NOTE: I train jiujitsu at night, so my biggest meal is lunch (somewhere between 2 and 3pm everyday). This gives me plenty of time to digest my meal before 7pm training. I have a banana one hour before class. I have a protein smoothie after class, because I've learned that I can't eat after 9pm and get to sleep to achieve good recovery.

So in my meal plans, I plan for lunch as the main meal and then decide on a few breakfast items and snacks that I can randomly choose from (because I like a little daily choice).

SNACKS:

• Peanut butter + jelly or honey sandwich (on whole grain bread)
• Apple and small protein drink (I'm liking these Pirq plant protein drinks lately! -  If you're in Texas you can get them from H.E.B. for less than on the Pirq site. They're less than $2 each)
• Hummus and carrots

BREAKFAST:

Egg + Vegetable "Muffin" Bites. My version is cheese-free and filled with vegetables. It also comes together in less than 40 minutes, especially if you have a food processor. (PS, I'm not anti cheese. Add it if you'd like. I just just don't like the taste/texture of it). The recipe makes 12 Bites, which is really enough for 1-2/day for the week. It's also easy to double the recipe if you have a bigger household.

SUNDAY/MONDAY/TUESDAY:

Fish Stew. On Sunday I slow cooked a fish stew (inspired by a Whole30 Slow & Easy cookbook recipe). This was to use up the salmon I mentioned at the top of this post. I'm not doing Whole30, so I paired it with jasmine rice. My husband and I ate this for 3 days. 

WEDNESDAY:

Seitan Tacos! I bought taco seasoning and some ground seitan. Served on whole wheat tortillas with avocado and chopped spinach with a little storebought salsa. The next day I mixed the leftover seitain with 2 eggs and diced sweet potato and had it for breakfast (also on tacos)

THURSDAY:

I fried up some tofu in the air fryer, wilted kale (from the bag I needed to use) with broth in a skillet, and then mixed it all together with leftover tomatoes.

FRIDAY:

Lunch with a friend at a restaurant. They had some tuna salad and tomato, so I went with that. Not pictured are the club crackers I ate it with. 

SATURDAY:

Spinach salad with beets and walnuts. I used pre-cooked beets to quickly throw it all together. Dressing was a little olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette, and mustard shaken together with a dash of salt and pepper.  Ate this with half a frozen pizza.