Recent Eats: How Much Is Too Much?

Welcome to Recent Eats, the “how much is too much…SALMON (and tuna)!” edition.

I love salmon. We have it at least once a week for dinner and I usually cook enough so that I have leftovers to use as a salad topper. I also default to a can of salmon or tuna as a salad topper if I don’t have any chicken, turkey or hardboiled eggs on hand in the fridge.

While I was editing photos for this recent eats recap, I realized that I ate salmon and tuna four out of five days between last Friday and this Tuesday. That got me thinking…how much is too much? I’ve heard for years about the dangers of consuming too much mercury through eating certain fish so I decided to do some research.

Good news! According to Consumer Reports, wild and Alaskan salmon (both canned and fresh) are one of the lowest-mercury choices that you can make. I think my serving sizes (usually around 5 ounces) are definitely falling within the safe range.

Canned tuna, on the other hand, requires a bit more caution (especially albacore). Luckily, I almost always default to salmon anyway so all is good. I probably have 1-2 cans of tuna month.

Let me take a moment to remind you that canned pink salmon is really good! I blogged about it in a Friday favorites post a couple of months ago. I like it much better than tuna.

I share random things like this with you because I’m interested and curious so I figure that at least some of you may be too. Anyone remember the banana ripeness post? Now THAT was mind boggling and I’m still working on stomaching eating them riper.

Moving on, some recent eats to share.

I pack chia pudding for breakfast on mornings that I have to get ready at the studio after teaching and go straight to the gym after to train clients. I eat it while I’m getting ready.

Sweet potatoes and almond butter with a side of two scrambled eggs on mornings I’m home.

Lunches have been heavy on the salad but I’m starting to burn out and am thinking about different options for next week. I think I’m going to make a big batch of quinoa/sprouted rice and start doing lunch bowls again.

Salad with spinach, arugula, canned salmon, beets, tomatoes, apples, pistachios, avocado.

Salad with leftover salmon, beets, dried cranberries, tomatoes, almonds, strawberries and avocado.

Salad with canned tuna, watermelon radish, tomatoes, avocado, strawberries and sliced almonds.

Over salad and made a scramble with chicken sausage, eggs, spinach, mushrooms and avocado. Topped with Sriracha with fruit on the side.

Remember how I mentioned doing a mini Whole30 reset? Well that lasted one day and then these avocado fries came into my life. We just started serving them at the restaurant in the studio and they are AMAZING. They are so crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. We serve them with a spicy aioli and an herb aioli.

The rest of my dinner that night was a salad topped with our housemade beet burger. It’s a mix of beets, black beans and brown rice and equally as amazing as the avocado fries. I had it with our vegan coconut milk ranch that I could probably straight it’s so good.

Baked salmon with asparagus and crispy potatoes. This is one of those beautiful “turn the oven on 400 and put everything in” dinners.

I made my favorite Three Ingredient Pot Roast in the crock pot on Monday night. I served it over Trader Joe’s frozen cauliflower rice (first time trying, it was good!) with sauteed mushrooms and roasted broccoli. This is one of my favorite easy dinners. For only having three ingredients, it’s incredibly flavorful. We both went back for seconds and have enjoyed the leftovers all week.

I got the mushrooms and the chuck roast at the farmers market last weekend.

I met two girlfriends for dinner last night at Foxcroft Wine Co. which is one of our favorite places in Charlotte. I had this salad topped with crispy chickpeas and duck confit. It was dressed with a citrus vinaigrette. I love duck confit.

This has been a welcome addition back into the post-dinner routine.

And this rotten thing has started bringing sticks into the house. We have a doggy door and she loves to bring things in (and take things out…I won’t even start on the list of things I’ve found in the backyard, most recently a bra…).

Sullie is still a perfect angel. 🙂

Okay, off to take these two to take these two to the park to throw the ball and then it’s back to the computer for more work. We try to take a mid-afternoon break every day to get some fresh air.

How much fish do you eat? Do you eat mostly low-mercury fish? Are you a canned tuna fan and do you limit your intake? 

What’s on heavy rotation for lunch these days?