Building the Lunch Bowl (+ Friday Wine Lunch!)

Happy Friday! I missed y’all yesterday but I was too busy with work to blog. By the time I got home, showered, ate dinner and made it to the couch it was after 10 p.m. and all I had energy for was sitting and staring at the screen. I did watch the finale of The Biggest Loser and it was incredible. I LOVED this season. Such amazing transformations. And I want to be Jillian when I grow up. I feel like she’s chilled out and really come into her own over the last few years. She’s seems like an awesome trainer and person. Did anyone else watch this season?

Remember when I blogged about a little spring clean up with my diet? Well, I’m still going strong with the clean eating. One thing that’s helped has been making satisfying lunches and upping my protein in general. I go through phases with my lunches. For a while it was the open faced sandwich, then salads and egg scrambles and now it’s definitely the grain bowl.

My base recipe usually includes…
– A green (spinach, chard, kale, arugula) – sometimes I don’t saute it (especially with spinach and arugula) and use it raw as a base at the bottom and don’t mix it in
– A grain (quinoa, brown rice, cous cous)
– A bean/legume (black beans, white beans, chick peas, lentils)
– A protein (tofu, chicken, smoked salmon, tuna, some sort of burger or patty) – sometimes I go meatless and just do the beans
– Cheese (goat, goat gouda, feta, cheddar)
– Miscellaneous veggies (tomatoes, green peppers, zucchini, brocoli, brussels, sweet potatoes, etc)
– Toppings (avocado, sour cream, Greek yogurt, hummus, salsa)

It’s such a great lunch! You can assemble all the ingredients and cook the grain/protein at the beginning of the week and go crazy from there. Here are some recent favorite combos.

Sauteed spinach, brown rice, white beans, diced tomatoes, smoked salmon, goat gouda, avocado and plain Greek yogurt.

Quinoa and lentil bowl with spinach, roasted brussels, sundried tomatoes, roasted tofu, Greek yogurt and hummus.

Spinach, quinoa and lentils, beets, butternut squash, goat cheese, avocado.

My most favorite combo this week has been the Mexican bowl with blue corn chips for dipping. I’ve eaten this combo at least four times this week. Spinach, brown rice, black beans, diced tomatoes, shredded cheddar, avocado, sour cream, salsa verde and a big squeeze of lime juice. I also love this Mexican Quinoa. This recipe is awesome and the leftovers are even better!

My Friday has been really great so far. Just what I need.

Triple soy latte this morning before an early training client. I thought a Friday morning was the perfect time to upgrade from my typical black coffee and use my rewards drink.

Cut and color…during which my stylist held up the fried ends of my hair and told me I may not want to wait five months before seeing him again. Oops. I’ve been busy! 😳

The day got even better when I met a friend for lunch at Cowfish. I haven’t seen her in almost five years. It was great to catch up! I enjoyed this beautiful seared tuna nicoise salad along with a glass of wine.

Hope your having a great Friday too!