Happy weekend! (I think it’s late enough on Friday that we can go ahead and call it the weekend.) Any fun plans? Unfortunately, our Friday night is going to look like navigating our way through a client management software change and transition for the studio but hopefully it won’t be too painful. We’re hosting a Halloween costume party on Saturday night so that should be fun (although I totally don’t have a costume yet…any last minute ideas for me?). I’m also really looking forward to running this weekend. I’m shooting for 10 on Saturday and 5-6 on Sunday.
I know I sound like a broken record but all I want to do right now is run. It just feels so good. I set out for 4-5 on Tuesday and ended up running 7 with Zoey. It was 64 degrees and 30% humidity…perfect conditions. Last night I ran 4.5 before teaching strength at the Y. I’m making myself take a rest day today so that I can get back to it this weekend.
Switching gears to food, I made it to Whole Foods on Monday to stock up for the week. I did a decent job sticking to my meal plan with some modifications. Before I jump into the eats, I have a PSA for ya.
If you shop at Whole Foods, I highly recommend downloading their app. You can find coupons in the app that aren’t advertised in the store. This week I got $5 off my produce purchase and $1 off some eggs. I have found the coupons to be pretty great!
And here’s an overview of what I ate this week…
Breakfast
Two scrambled eggs, grapes and half of a pumpkin muffin.
Sweet potato breakfast bowl topped with almond butter and granola.
Two scrambled eggs, grapes and sourdough toast.
Chia pudding topped with frozen cherries, almond butter, unsweetened coconut and cacao nibs.
Toast with mashed avocado, sauerkraut and a runny egg.
Lunch
Spinach, beets, avocado, carrots, dried cranberries, pine nuts, canned salmon and balsamic vinaigrette.
Whole Foods salad bar with spinach, kale, blueberries, pomegranate seeds, mushrooms, cucumbers, quinoa, tomatoes, tuna salad, shredded carrots, almonds, balsamic and olive oil…and one piece of buffalo tofu because I wanted to try it. RANDOM box of food!
Leftover Armenian Lentil Soup with a piece of sourdough toast with mashed avocado and sauerkraut.
Spinach, kale, beets, avocado, dried cranberries, hearts of palm, carrots, pine nuts, canned salmon and homemade balsamic vinaigrette.
Jasmine rice cooked in coconut oil and mixed with avocado and arugula. Topped with a scoop of hummus and a runny egg. I have been craving eggs and white rice so much this week.
Dinner
And the award for most unphotogenic but most delicious goes to…
Instead of my one pan roasted dinner, I decided to leave the chicken sausage whole and serve it over Trader Joe’s Cruciferous Crunch blend along with some beet greens with some beets I was roasting…and then topped it with bacon. Roasted acorn squash on the side. This dinner was so good that we had the same exact thing two nights in a row!
Armenian lentil soup with eggplant and apricots.
Herbs de Provence chicken and orzo skillet with roasted broccoli. I need to blog this recipe soon!
Broiled mahi with jasmine rice and sauteed spinach. This was supposed to be homemade spaghetti sauce over spaghetti squash but after eating the tomato-based soup twice and the tomato-based orzo, I just did not want another acidic, tomato-based meal. I’m going to make the sauce this weekend and freeze it for easy dinners over the next couple of months.
Takeaways…
- If you haven’t tried cooking rice with coconut oil, you must! A friend of mine turned me onto it and I love it. I just melt a tablespoon or so in the bottom of the pot I’m cooking the rice in.
- I’m so glad it’s winter squash season. The two acorn squash we ate this week were so tender and delicious!
- I know this sounds a little cray-cray but I think I may have a slight sensitivity to nightshade vegetables (which includes tomatoes, all peppers, eggplants, white potatoes are the most common). Eggplant has always had a tendency to make my mouth a little itchy and my digestion can get a little wacky when I eat a lot of tomato-based foods, especially if it’s in a back-to-back meal situation. (Like eating the soup twice and the tomato-based orzo dinner over the course of two days.) It may also just be the high acidity of tomatoes because I don’t really experience these symptoms with potatoes. Just a random thought I wanted to throw out because I definitely haven’t felt super great the last day or two (thus my desire for blander food and rice).
Weekend plans? Any Halloween parties? Are you dressing up? Share your costumes so I can copy! 😛
Any foods you love but look totally unappetizing on a plate?
Experience with nightshades?
I’m always so inspired by your recent eats posts. Everything looks so yummy and it gives me tons of ideas for the weeks ahead! Question: What brand of canned salmon do you use? I tried it once and wasn’t a fan, but I love fresh salmon so I’m thinking I just didn’t have the right brand.
I have not decided what my costume will be either. I guess I will steal ideas from any comments on this post. ? Do you snack any between your meals? I like you balance of foods, so I was just interested in what you do in between.
The WF app is great. I’m surprised they don’t advertise it more! It’s perfect running weather in charlotte now, it’s hard not to want to keep running!
No Halloween costume or parties for me but I am running my first ‘Virtual Race’ this morning! I signed up online and they sent me the tshirt, bib and medal ahead of time and I can run a 5K on the course of my choosing anytime this weekend. It’s Halloween themed. I thought it was a neat idea since I run on weekends anyway. 🙂
Hi Jen! Long time reader, first time commenter 🙂
It’s funny you mention nightshade vegetables – I know you’ve mentioned you deal with patches of eczema on your eyelids. I deal with eczema on my hands, and I notice that tomato anything really makes me itchy. I’ve definitely noticed quite a bit of improvement when I steer clear of nightshades (and limit eggs). You inspired me to do a Whole30 this summer and while it helped my skin, I still was getting eczema flares. I’ve started to limit the nightshades, and actually any fruit that is very high glycemic, and I have noticed positive changes in my skin. I don’t know how your eczema is doing, or if you’ve noticed a correlation, but I just wanted to give you my experience with nightshades! 🙂
Liz
Funny that you say that about nightshades.. I feel that way about the Cruciferous Crunch from Trader Joes that you mentioned earlier!! I used to have it at lunch every day and it would make me so bloated and uncomfortable that I had to cut it out. So strange!
My friend is having a Halloween party tonight and I’m so excited for it. I’m dressing my dog up as a lobster and I’m going as a chef 🙂
I saw some really cute DIY pineapple costumes online. Basically wear a yellow dress and then a big green stalking headband. Check them out!
I love your recent eats posts… It gives me ideas for my upcoming week. Whenever I make chili or curry and put it over rice it looks so horrible but tastes so good! I don’t have a problem with any nightshades besides eggplant. When I eat eggplant my mouth, lips and tongue get tingly and feel like I just ate something super spicy. So strange! I avoid all eggplant now!
I love running too! Running a half today! Here’s a costume idea: pig in a blanket! That’s mine. So easy pig snout and ears and a warm blanket!
So funny…I JUST discovered the Whole Foods app last week (saved $5 too). Kicking myself for not getting it sooner.
Your lunch combos always give me some inspiration 🙂