Hey there - how's your morning going? Halfway to the weekend!
We've been catching up on life the last two days after our awesome week away. We flew to the East Coast and hopped around New England for Tripp's first vacation. First we stopped in NYC for a Yankees/Red Sox game, made our way to CT to see my extended family and attend my Aunt's wedding, then drove up the coast to Maine so that I could eat my body weight in lobster over 3 days. Amazing. Lobster and steamed clams, lobster benedict (with avocado!!), lobster rolls....don't mind if I do. :-)
Coming home from a week away always entails one of my least favorite things: an empty fridge. What to do....
I like to have a good selection of grab & go stuff ready, especially now that we have our little man. I don't always have time/energy to cook or I might be busy when Patrick is hungry and he can't doesn't like to cook haha.
This week:
beets, quinoa and lentils
kale salad (kale, red cabbage, shredded carrots, red onion and sesame seeds with a homemade dressing: 2 oz olive oil, 1 oz sesame oil, 1 oz apple cider vinegar, 1 oz maple syrup, 1 tsp ground ginger)
grilled chicken breast and grilled veggies
I'm on a total eggplant and zucchini kick right now. I'll usually toss those in olive oil and sea salt, along with whatever random veggies come in our box for the week and grill away.
I eat a lot of salads, too, so prepping all of that stuff makes my life way easier. Kale salad is easy to make ahead of time because it doesn't wilt like lettuce. If you don't like kale, tear and wash your lettuce and store it in a wet paper towel in a ziploc bag, cut your veggies ahead and just throw everything together. Its normally better to wait and cut fresh fruits and vegetables right when you need them since they start oxidizing as soon as they are exposed - but if it means the difference between eating healthy and not, I say chop away!
Having foods ready to grab when you don't have a lot of time to prep something healthy is a huge key to success when it comes to eating well. When I make dinner, I try to make enough so that we have leftovers to heat up the next day as well - minus fish. Fishy leftovers are gross.
Off for a morning run while Daddy feeds the baby! Have a lovely day everyone!
xo
Shaina
Hey there! How is everyone's Monday going so far? This is one that I hope lasts as long as possible....Tripp gets his first round of shots tomorrow. Womp wooooomp.
When my cousin was here from Hawai'i a few weeks ago, she made a DELISH quinoa salad that I decided to replicate last night. Hers was prettier because she used red quinoa, but I already had a bunch of this stuff and it was still amazing nonetheless:
1 C dry quinoa
1 C vegetable broth
1 C water
1 mango, cubed
1.5 C dried cranberries
1.5 C sliced or slivered dry roasted almonds
1.5 C shelled edamame
1/2 medium red onion
1/4 C fresh lime juice
1/4 C balsamic vinegar
Put rinsed quinoa in a saucepan with 1 C water and 1 C vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer until the quinoa just starts to stick to the pan (approx 30 minutes). Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes. (You can also use the brown rice setting on a rice cooker if you have one. I don't...but my birthday is coming up. *wink wink*)
While the quinoa is cooking, dice 1/2 of a medium red onion and mix with edamame, cranberries, mango and almonds in a large bowl. Add the cooked quinoa and mix well. For the dressing, add the lime juice and balsamic vinegar. Mix well and enjoy!
This makes a pretty big batch that you can keep in the fridge for the week and have it ready to put on top of greens or just enjoy by itself.
Karla also made an amazing kale salad that I was pretty excited about because even my Mom liked it! Mom has always been intimidated by kale...we're bringing her over to the green side slowly but surely. :-) She was so excited to find this recipe and send it to me today. She's bringing it to a friend's house for dinner tonight - big step! I haven't tried it yet, but it looks awesome.
This recipe serves one, but can be made in a bigger batch. Kale salads are awesome to make in large quantities because it doesn't wilt like regular lettuce, so you can have a grab-and-go salad already made for days! (If you make this one ahead of time, add the avocado when you're actually ready to eat it.)
6-8 ounces of kale
6-8 dried apricots
1/3 C cooked beans (I would probably use pinto or kidney beans...black beans & kale don't mesh for me)
1/4 C sliced or slivered dry roasted almonds
8-10 flakes of Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 avocado, cubed
salt and pepper
Fold a piece of kale in half lengthwise and use your fingers to tear out the
tough inner stem. Repeat with the other leaves of kale (you can save the stems
to use in stir-fries, sauces, or soups). Tear all the leaves into bite-sized
pieces and put them in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
Cut the apricots into little bits and add them to the bowl with the kale,
along with the beans, almonds and cheese. Whisk together the oil and
vinegar. Pour the vinaigrette and a pinch of salt
over the salad and use your fingers to toss and rub everything together.
Transfer the salad to a bowl and add the avocado (or enjoy straight out of the mixing bowl as I can frequently be found doing).
I didn't get around to my test kitchen last night for the veggie burger experiment because I hurt my back. No idea what happened, but my lower back is super tight. There was no moment where I turned and just felt it happen, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with lifting weights and not having my ab strength completely back yet. I'm also lifting a chunker these days:
His forearm rolls are becoming pretty impressive. Hooray for mama's milk!
I'm taking it easy today to nurse my back...maybe get a massage? Have a fantastic Monday!
xo
Shaina
Something that made me laugh hysterically last night (but it could also have been the nightcap of Bailey's that I was drinking haha):
Happy Wednesday everyone! Its been a busy start to the week over here - an unexpected shift at work, early meeting, belly photo shoot, tour of the maternity ward (!) and lots of errands. More on the belly photo shoot and tour in tomorrow's baby update. :-)
I wanted to talk about buying organic products at the grocery store today. These days, everyone is on a budget and many people can't afford to buy everything organic or just don't feel its necessary. Every year, Environmental Working Group puts out a list called The Dirty Dozen - foods that rank the highest when tested for pesticide residues. The data is from the previous years harvest, so it also includes information about where that particular food ranked the year before so you can see trends. Obviously, its hard to know what is going on down on the farm this afternoon, but having as much information as possible so that you can make educated decisions is always good right? I found this awesome article with a ton of good info. I like that it gives you yummy alternatives to buy if you can't find that particular item in the organic section.
I personally take all this information with a grain of salt, too. I try to go by the rule that if I'm eating the outside of the produce, organic is probably better (strawberries, apples, etc). I don't feel its absolutely necessary to buy organic bananas. Sometimes, organic isn't available depending on what is in season. Also, I like to support local farms, so if its something that I don't *need* to buy organic, I'll opt for the local pick over the one from Chile. We all know I'm a fan of farmer's markets (which are generally organic)....AND I'm going to start getting a produce delivery every week from a local farm!! More on that to come.
(salad in a mixing bowl, just the way I like it: arugula, chickpeas, sundried tomatoes, pepperoncinis, feta, nutritional yeast and light champagne viniagrette)
So what's on the latest Dirty Dozen you ask?
1. Apples
2. Celery
3. Strawberries (always on the list)
4. Peaches
5. Spinach
6. Nectarines
7. Grapes
8. Sweet Bell Peppers (and this article has it listed as a fruit. I know tomatoes are a fruit, but this was news to me.)
9. Potatoes
10. Blueberries
I think today's sunshine calls for me breaking out the juicer and making some fresh, organic lemonade. Talk about local! :-) (That tree is in a common area, I'm not stealing from the neighbors!)
Have a fantastic day everyone! xo Shaina
