What I’m Eating This Week
Oh, weekend. Where did you go? I say this to myself every 7 days or so.
Weekends are often a blur for me. I work throughout the week and sometimes, Saturdays too. So I try to cram in as much fun stuff on Saturday and Sunday as possible. Eric and I are pretty laid back when it comes to the weekend. Our Saturdays usually involve some type of yard or housework, grocery shopping and a movie. Sundays are full of driving to church in Georgia, lunch and meal prep!
Meal prep has become a huge part of my life.
Ever since I was introduced to the Whole 30, I have been meal prepping. I meal prep breakfast,lunch and even dinner sometimes. It’s really changed my life! 🙂
Whoah, That’s quite a statement! It’s true though. I love food. We know this. I always have. Well, who doesn’t? What I mean is, I derive a lot of pleasure from preparing, eating and serving food to myself or others. It’s fun for me. Meal prepping has also helped me to care less about food. Wait, what??
I put a lot of pressure on my food choices. Some of you can relate and understand what I’m saying. Some of you are like food is food, I don’t really think about it. I really want to enjoy my food, so I put a lot of thought into what I’d like to eat that week to meet my health goals or what sounds good for that week. For simplicity sake, I will eat the same thing for breakfast all week and the same thing for lunch all week-so I better LOVE it! 🙂 For example, for YEARS I’ve been eating eggs, roasted sweet potatoes and some form of meat protein for breakfast. YEARS. I like it. It makes me feel good and it fills me up for hours! I have absolutely no problem falling back on that option ever. Sometimes, I will add spinach or kale in place of the protein, switch up how I make my eggs or make toast in the place of the sweet potatoes.
I do struggle with lunch ideas though.
There are so many options! Sandwiches, soups, salads, leftovers and on and on and on! They ALL sound good. I’m never tempted to blow my healthy breakfast eating plan…even though Egg McMuffins are the love of my life. But lunch? Isn’t it so much easier just to swing through the drive-through while you’re out running errands at lunch time? Well, yeah it is. But that can really add up cost-wise if you’re not careful. $10 a day for 5 days is $50- just on lunch! That is more than half of what we spend on groceries PER WEEK! That was so much math right there. My point is this: if I have 5 lunches already made at home or work, I am much less likely to grab something else instead. It’s not a guarantee, but I NEVER feel bad after eating something healthy that I put thought and time into earlier in the week.
I also meal prep dinner. Eric’s work schedule varies so I usually don’t have much notice before he comes home. So a lot of the time, I try to make meals that can be cooked in 30 minutes or less. And it really helps if things are already prepped! In the mornings, I will take out the meat we’re having for dinner and start to marinate it. If I have time, I’ll also wash and cut any vegetables we’ll be having for dinner as well. That way, when he walks in the door, we are baking, grilling or roasting everything in minutes.
Since I had a little bit of extra time today, I thought it would be fun to share with you what I am having for breakfast and lunch this week as I am mixing it up a bit. 🙂
Breakfast: Avocado Toast with Eggs
Have you tried avocado on toast yet? It’s kind of a big deal. I like to add salt and pepper on top. It’s so yummy and filling. I’m all about contrasting texture when it comes to my food choices. I love the cold, soft avocado on the warm and crunchy toast. 🙂 I keep my avocados in the fridge once they have ripened. It’s suppose to help them last longer.
Lunch: Apple Harvest Mason Jar Salads
This is my first try at mason jar salads. I know. I may get kicked off Pinterest if they find out that I waited so long! I don’t know why I’m just trying them, but we’ll see how it goes! I did not put my dressing in the jars, because I usually eat at home for lunch. I just wanted something to grab and dump into a bowl that was already made for me. 🙂
It took me less than 10 minutes to put all 4 of these together! No excuses!
I reach for this salad recipe often. It’s so delicious! It’s usually spring mix lettuce or romaine lettuce(my favorite), but with the whole romaine lettuce issue right now, I reached for butter lettuce to mix it up. I’m a lettuce rebel! I then added honeycrisp apples, feta cheese, dried cranberries and walnuts. Sometimes I’ll add slivered almonds and red onions. Then, I top it off with some kind of vinaigrette. I’m trying a new idea of cutting back on my meat consumption at lunch time. I’m not a big meat eater anyway, so we’ll see if this change has me reaching for anything and everything before dinner. 🙂
Snacks: Carrots, Cucumbers, Strawberries, Blueberries and Blackberries
Oh, snacks. You’re always there when I need you. And that’s because I meal prep you. 🙂 I purchased these cucumbers and berries from my local farmer’s market. Oh my gosh, how cool am I? No, seriously though. I LOVE it. Fresh produce just tastes better, right? You can’t tell me a grocery store tomato is better than a warm and juicy garden tomato, can you? No, no you cannot. These berries are so sweet and delicious. I like to eat a few throughout the day to satisfy my sweet tooth…or teeth I should say. 😉
Meal prepping allows me to make something I know I will enjoy and be prepared for the week no matter what happens. I have been so inspired and convicted lately to live my life with intention. Have you ever felt like your life has been running YOU instead of YOU running it? I’ve made some changes recently to be more intentional with my time. Time is the greatest equalizer…we’re all given the same amount of time every single day, every single week. All of us. I want to use my time wisely. More to come on that later!
How are you planning for the week ahead?