I usually spend the first five minutes or so when I wake up doing a quick check-in with email and social media. While this probably isn’t the best way to wake up, it’s a nice buffer between sleep and my feet hitting the floor. One of the things I almost always check before getting out of bed is my TimeHop. It’s an app that shows you your social media shares and photos “on this day” for as many years back as you have history.
I love it when my TimeHop reminds me of photos like this one. It brought a huge smile to my face. Look at my baby Sullie! She was not even two in this photo!
Speaking of the dogs, the pollen situation over here is a little intense. When they go outside they come back to the door a hot mess. Look at all the stuff hanging off of Zoey! The benefit of this is that we’ve been brushing them a LOT more regularly and it’s definitely helped the dog hair situation in the house. (Could they look any less excited to pose for this picture. Ha!)
I never got around to sharing our Easter weekend recap with you but I made a ham for the first time on Easter Sunday and it fed us all week long. I don’t know what got into me but mid-afternoon on Easter I decided I wanted to make an Easter dinner. The next thing I knew I was buying a 10 pound ham and educating myself on the best way to prepare it. It turned out SO well! I followed this recipe from Dave Leiberman.
Here is the full recap of what I’ve been eating this week!
Breakfast
Lots of smoothies and smoothie bowls. Sometimes they look pretty.
Annnnndddd sometimes you get this lovely shade of yuck. Tasted delicious. 🙂
Scrambled eggs with kimchi (<– so good, try!), bacon, fruit and avocado toast on sourdough.
Lunch
Ham sandwich on a multi-grain bread I picked up from The Fresh Market. I wanted a little sourdough switch up.
Salad with arugula, spinach, ham, dried cranberries, sliced almonds, avocado, butternut squash and strawberries. I also had half a peanut butter and honey sandwich.
Another ham sandwich with a side salad.
Lunch bowl with quinoa, sauteed kale and kimchi, roasted butternut squash, avocado, Cedar’s lemon cayenne hummus, coconut aminos and Be Runa seed salt. This was by far my favorite lunch of the week!
Dinner
Easter dinner! Ham, roasted carrots, the most amazing spinach salad that I need to share the recipe for and flaky biscuits from Immaculate Baking. In an ideal world, I’d have made my own biscuits but this feast was so last minute that I went the canned route. I highly recommend this brand! I found them at Whole Foods.
I did a great job staying on the meal plan this week but I threw out Monday’s peanut tofu recipe when I read that it would take and hour and a half. I ended up making a variation of my homemade pad thai and it was delish! We went the veggie route with tofu and scrambled eggs only and I added some bok choy too.
Even though I was missing some of the ingredients, this recipe turned out so well. It’s THE most popular recipe (traffic wise) on my blog and for good reason. If you haven’t tried it, you have to!
Tuesday night was white chicken chili in the crock pot. It was a rainy day so this was a nice dinner to come home to. We had leftover biscuits on the side.
Wednesday night was quinoa, kale and kimchi bowls. I steamed quinoa and then topped it with sauteed kale and kimchi, drizzled that with sesame oil and coconut aminos and topped it all off with an egg and some sriracha. I am officially on team kimchi!
And finally, I used the ham to make a fritatta last night.
I kind of winged this one and need to share the recipe with you! It had ham, shredded sweet potatoes, caramelized onions and some other goodness in there. I served it with some roasted broccoflower. (Thus the reason for the weird color.) We both agreed this was a winner and I can’t wait to have the leftovers!
ETC.
My fave! I stocked up after Easter. 🙂
And that’s all folks! I’m off to make a playlist for my yoga classes today. I teach at 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Speaking of yoga…only ONE WEEK until I take off for Harrisburg, PA for my weekend workshop at Studio B Power Yoga. JOIN ME!
Favorite way to eat ham?
What do you do in the first 5-10 minutes that you’re awake?
Best thing you ate this week?
Oh my gosh those cadbury eggs are SO GOOD! Also, how do you manage to make sandwiches and salads look so darn tasty? Favorite way to eat ham is with MUSTARD!
Yes to the mustard! The spicier the better! RE: the sandwiches/salads…lots of practice plating and shooting! I don’t even think about it anymore!
Best thing I ate this week was Spanish sandwiches and a salad, with spinach, lettuce, chicken, avocado, and baked plantains on a side.
All of your food looks delicious. I really admire your creativity when it comes to cooking, Jen!
Tell me more about these Spanish sandwiches!
Yum! I would love the recipe for the spinach salad and the frittata! Your recipes are always so good and easy to follow.
I will work on them! 🙂 Great to hear that feedback on my recipes.
I love Cadbury eggs! The first 5-10 minutes after I wake up is spent with my dog licking my face and my hand, and whining at me to get out of bed, lol!
I always make a ham for Easter so I’ve been eating all.the.ham this week, too! 😉 My favorite things to do w/ ham leftovers are fried rice, an egg bake, ham tetrazinni. I’ve even substituted it for chicken in pot pies & chicken noodle casseroles. I’m planning to try a new (to me) recipe tomorrow: it’s a ham & swiss quiche w/ carmelized onions (it reminds me a little of your frittata).
Ahhh tetrazinni is such a childhood food for me! Thanks for reminding me. Yes, the ham definitely keeps giving! I made a really awesome soup with the ham bone and last of the ham.
Your lunches always look so good! Do you have snacks during the day? Would love to see some snack ideas. I’m home most of the time with 2 kids and once I start snacking I can’t stop!! Need some ideas to keep me on track.
Hey Allison! In general I try to limit snacking and eat larger meals. I eat between 500-600 calories at breakfast and that usually helps me not to snack before lunch. My most normal snack is an apple + nut butter or a date and nut butter with hot tea in the afternoon. My snacking downfall is while I’m making lunch or dinner. You’ll almost always find me snacking on some sort of chip/cracker and hummus or salsa. After dinner, some chocolate is not uncommon!
Try some kimchi chicken or pork fried rice! Thow in leftover rice (never freshly cooked because it’ll be soggy), chicken or pork, sliced omelette, your choice of veggies (I like peas, carrots and beansprouts) and kimchi together with some sesame oil, soy sauce and the kimchi juice. So yummy!
Thank you for the recommendation! I will try!
Wake up, 5-10 minute journaling and hit the gym! I’m trying the sourdough bread recipe this week! Last time I tried to make bread it was a disaster. I’m hoping this time is better!
Love your journal + gym combo. Great intentional way to start the day. Good luck with the sourdough. Report back.
I love bowls for lunch! Can you give portions for the ingredients?
I don’t measure anything out! I just eyeball!
Never made my own ham before. You’ve inspired me now! Also, I second the request for the recipes for the spinach salad and fritatta. Thanks for sharing!
I was a little intimidated but it was SO easy! Definitely try it!