I always love to write a recent eats recap but I think they are extra helpful on a Sunday to provide some ideas and inspiration for the week ahead. Lots of good eats in this post including some variety with breakfast, salad combos and a few dinners cooked by my dad!
BREAKFAST
Cottage cheese scrambled eggs cooked in Kerrygold salted butter and a bowl of mangos, strawberries and bananas.
Banana egg white oatmeal with raisins, chia seeds and hemp hearts. Topped with peanut butter and jam.
Dave’s Killer Bread Boomin’ Berry bagel with butter and cream cheese, scrambled eggs and mango.
Sambazon mango passionfruit açaí bowl topped with homemade granola, fruit and peanut butter. I don’t have a blender in Florida that compares to my Vitamix at home so I’ll buy these pre-made frozen açaí bowls sometimes when I’m craving a smoothie bowl for breakfast. Related, I just looked at my Vitamix to find the model number and saw that it was made in 2012. My parents gifted it to me Christmas 2013 and it’s still going strong. They’re definitely an investment but last forever. I use mine almost every single day.
Sourdough toast with peanut butter, honey, banana, chia seeds and hemp hearts.
LUNCH
You’ll notice that I’ve been on a kick of putting chopped apples on my salads for the last few weeks. I generally like fruit on salads and have been enjoying the crispy crunch and sweetness of the apples in my salads lately. And speaking of fruit, I’ve been eating a lot of mangos as you will also see throughout this post!
Mixed greens, brown rice, edamame, avocado, apples, shredded chicken, pepitas, dried cranberries, goat cheese and Trader Joe’s Goddess dressing.
Tuna salad sandwich made with white albacore tuna, mayo, mashed avocado, chopped sweet pickles, salt and lemon pepper. Mango on the side.
Chopped romaine, tomatoes, apples, queso fresco, chickpeas, deli turkey, avocado, pepitas, dried cranberries, a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic and Trader Joe’s Goddess dressing.
Avocado toast on sourdough with hemp hearts and sea salt and mango.
Mixed greens tossed in lemon juice, honey, olive oil and sea salt and topped with tomatoes, edamame, goat cheese, avocado, pepitas, dried cranberries, apples and a can of Trader Joe’s lightly smoked salmon.
Salad with mixed greens, beets, apples, avocados, crispy chickpeas, dried cranberries, glazed walnuts and a seven-grain mix. Dressed with Marzetti Simply Balsamic.
This was a “haven’t been to the grocery in a week, use whatever I can find in the fridge” kind of salad. Baby spinach, pecans, carrots, shredded cheese, avocado, apples, dried cranberries and air fried dino chicken nuggets. Dressed with a homemade lemon tahini.
DINNER
Let’s start with the dinners that I ate in Florida last weekend!
On Friday night we had ribeye steaks, roasted brussel sprouts, homemade mac and cheese and popovers. My dad cut the steaks from a standing rib roast. I honestly can’t tell you the last time I ate a steak and this was such a great meal. I need to get my dad’s popover recipe on my blog at some point because they are the best!
We had our Easter dinner on Saturday night. Baked ham, roasted asparagus, deviled eggs, the cheesiest and creamiest scalloped potatoes and homemade buttermilk biscuits. You must try the biscuit recipe if you haven’t yet. Only three ingredients and so flavorful and fluffy. I ate two of them with butter and ham.
My grandmother requested bolognese for her birthday dinner so that’s what we had on Sunday night. You can never go wrong with a big pot of homemade bolognese sauce!
Back in my kitchen I whipped up a delicious orzo skillet with a jar of pumpkin and butternut squash sauce that I saved from last fall. Sautéed chicken sausage, peas and mushrooms with orzo, the sauce and goat cheese.
Another use for the chicken sausage – served over brown rice with sautéed green cabbage, shredded cheese and Trader Joe’s pepita salsa and cilantro dressing.
Air fried salmon with sautéed green cabbage and roasted acorn squash with butter and brown sugar.
Trader Joe’s Orange Chicken over steamed basmati rice with edamame. A few things here…it was my first time trying the Orange Chicken. Apparently, it’s one of the top selling items at Trader Joe’s. I air fried the chicken and then tossed it in the orange sauce. I liked it but it would have been even better if I’d had broccoli or stir fry vegetables to serve with it instead of the edamame but we make do with what we have! 🙂 I’d buy it again but probably not soon.
Meatloaf + salad. My nanny made this Ina Garten meatloaf and shared a slice with me. I texted her asking for the recipe as soon as I finished eating. I cannot wait to make it myself – it was to die for! Related, I’ve always loved ketchup on my meatloaf.
Post-yoga dinner outside at Cava. This was their seasonal lemon chicken bowl. Walked over to Jeni’s after dinner for a waffle cone of brambleberry crisp.
This was more of a late afternoon snack but so tasty that I need to share. Toasted sourdough with butter, mashed avocado, kimchi and a fried egg.
ETC
Afternoon snack of ginger turmeric tea and a slice of peanut butter chocolate chip banana bread from the freezer. If you haven’t baked this bread yet – I highly recommend doing so. It freezes beautifully. I just wrap individual slices and then microwave for about 45 seconds on 50% power when I want one.
My grandmother requested Parlor Doughnuts for her birthday cake this year and OMG YUM. It was my first time trying them and it won’t be the last. They are fluffy, layered cronut-style donuts. Mema wanted coconut cream and we also got turtle, blueberry, strawberry shortcake, maple bacon and honey glazed. 10/10 recommend!
Lastly, alllllllll the carrot cake – which is how it should be on Easter week. 😉 I grabbed a slice of carrot cake at Edible Art when I was getting a slice of lemon cake to take down to my grandmother. When I was in Florida my dad pulled a third of a carrot cake he’d just baked the week prior out of the freezer and sent it to my grandmother’s condo with me. Definitely ate carrot cake for a solid five days in a row and I’m not mad about it.
We’ve reached the end!
QUESTIONS
What fruit are you enjoying right now? Do you like fruit on salads?
If you had to choose…cake or donuts?
Do you like Cava?
