Recent Eats + Week in Review

I feel like I just posted my weekend recap and now here it is Thursday evening. This week flew by…in a good way! I got to break out of my normal routine and get a little taste of the professional world. I attended the Digital Marketing Summit Charlotte on Wednesday and Thursday. It was so great to take a break from the day-to-day grind to step out and do some learning and bigger picture thinking. I’ll post a short conference recap in a day or two!

Headband: Manduka (only $4!), eyeliner: Maybelline Lasting Drama Waterproof Gel Pencil in Polished Amethyst (only $7!), necklace: Erin McDermott Seed Bead

When I wasn’t conferencing, I was teaching. I showed up at the studio to teach on Wednesday night after being at the conference all day and you’d of thought I’d grown two heads. Everyone kept commenting that I was wearing makeup and had my hair done. I was like, “yes, sometimes I can look semi-put together.” (And thought to myself clearly I should do it a liiiiittttttle more often.) I posted this photo on SnapChat after class and although I haven’t blogged in a couple of days I shared a lot of conference moments on SnapChat. If things go dark over here, look for me there! 🙂 My username is JenDeCurtins (all one word).

Some eats from the week to share before I head off to take and teach. I’m so ready to move my body after sitting all day! I’m also ready to be warm because it was FREEZING at the conference. Why, why, why do these things have to be like 60 degrees? I was so cold the first day that my toes went numb and my nose was running. Today I wore socks, boots, jeans, a sweater and a scarf. Everyone there (including the guys!) was commenting on how cold it was.

Anyway…the food!

Chia pudding with strawberries, raspberries, mango, coconut, cacao nibs and almond butter.

Sweet potato bowl with almond butter and granola. Granola topper is GOOD!

This was the salad to end all salads. It was awesome!

• Spinach
• Arugula
• Sprouted Quinoa and Wild Rice Blend
• Avocado
• Radishes
• Pine Nuts
• Golden Beets
• Dried Cranberries
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes
• Sliced Chicken Breast
• Olive Oil
• Fig Balsamic
• Sea Salt

Conference lunch x2 days in a row. The first day I had a pesto roasted veggie wrap with feta and hummus and the second day a chicken salad wrap. Both were surprisingly good and I can never say no to kettle chips and cookies! 🙂

I normally wouldn’t show you something like this because it’s not very pretty but the combination was so good that I wanted to post it. It was a chicken breast with half an avocado and roasted sweet potatoes. I seasoned it with a little sea salt and it was such a great snack!

It was a Blue Apron week so I was happy about that. (Nothing to do with the partnership I’ve had with them in the past…I just like to get the meals once or twice a month to mix it up and simplify meal planning!)

The first meal of the week was Crispy Cod with Yuzu Shoyu Sauce.

The second was Grains of Paradise Crusted Steaks with Mashed Plantains, Collard Greens and Gingered Peanuts. We both went crazy over this one. The mashed plantains were crazy good and I will be making these over and over again. Also, the gingered peanuts really took the whole dish over the top. Everything about this was so good!

And our last dish was Seared Chicken Over Sauteed Purple Potatoes, Kale and Apples. This was a solid dinner but nowhere near the previous two meals on the “specialness” scale.

I hope it’s been a great week for you guys! I’ll be back Friday with some Friday favorites and also share that conference recap with you soon!

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO! Go eat a taco! Or have a margarita!

Have you attended any conferences lately? 

What was on the dinner menu this week? Favorite thing you cooked? (Always looking for new recipe ideas!)