Well hello there! It's been a couple of weeks since I've published a blog, but that's because I was on a last minute mini vacation!! As I'm sure you can tell by my meal prep strategy, I'm a planner by nature, so it's not often that I'm spontaneous enough to drop everything and change my plans at the last minute. However, when an opportunity comes up to escape to your favorite little cabin in the woods (15 miles outside of town, behind three locked gates, and across a bridge...talk about retreating to nature!!), you say YES. We booked tickets on a Sunday night and flew out not even four days later on Thursday morning. We ate plenty of home cooked food, did lots of sitting on the back porch, spent plenty of time outside in the beautiful fall weather, and cozied up to a fire every evening.
It was a perfect getaway. As much as I love schedules and routines, getting away from them is so refreshing!
We got back late on Sunday and jumped right into our normal work week on Monday, so I relied on frozen leftovers and some quality convenience foods to get us through the week. As such, it felt great to get back to my usual with this week's meal plan!
Here's what's on the menu:
Breakfast: Spaghetti Squash and Pumpkin Porridge // Here's how: start by cutting a spaghetti squash in half (hamburger style), then put it in your Instant Pot and steam for 7 minutes. (Alternatively, roast in the oven until tender.). De-seed, then add all of the squash (4-6 cups) into a large pot on the stovetop. Add a can of pumpkin puree, 2 cups of liquid (I used unsweetened vanilla almond MALK and some full fat coconut milk), and spices of choice (I used about 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and a pinch of salt). Stir to combine, then pulse a few times using an immersion blender to break up the strands of squash and give it some texture. You could easily leave it like this, but I like to add some protein by whisking up 10 eggs in another bowl, ladling in some of the hot porridge, mixing, adding more porridge (this is to prevent the eggs from cooking immediately when you add them into the pot), then dumping the whole lot into the pot and whisking until the mixture thickens. Other optional additions include a couple of mashed bananas or a few pureed dates for sweetness. I portioned this into 5 containers, which I will reheat in the mornings using my Hot Login Mini; I just plug it in before I head to the gym and it's ready to eat when I get home and cleaned up! I plan to top this off with a drizzle of maple syrup (obviously not W30), a hearty spoonful of nut butter, and a dollop of COYO before serving!
Lunch: Yai's Thai Curry // This is one of my go-to meals when I need something easy. All I did was steam some carrots and yellow squash, add some chicken that I cooked in my Instant Pot, and top it off with a jar of yellow curry mixed with an additional can of coconut milk. I also add either steamed sweet potato (W30 version) or occasionally some white rice that I've cooked up in bone broth. I'll also be taking some baby spinach so that I can stir it into my bowl to wilt.
Dinner: Beef and Liver Meatballs + Veggies // These beef and liver meatballs are my favorite way to get some organ meat in through the week. I love the flavor! I use a pre-mixed blend by Da-Le Ranch here in SoCal and follow my basic meatball recipe. I added some roasted sweet potato and asparagus as sides and called it a meal.
Snacks: Zupa + RxBar Kids // Zupa superfood soups are a super convenient way to sneak some extra veggies in through the week, and I like to use the Rx bars as a pre-workout on my HIIT days. As always, you can get 20% off + free shipping at www.drinkzupa.com with the code "wholedailylife." Lately I've been really digging their seasonal Pumpkin Cinnamon Sage flavor!!
I'm looking forward to nourishing my body with so many delicious wholesome foods this week!
My thoughts on Carb Cycling:
I also owe you my final thoughts on carb cycling. I implemented this for three weeks, as described in my earlier post, looking for a balance between the benefits of LCHF eating and physical toning. It wasn't too difficult to implement, but I don't feel like it accomplished what I was looking for. Eating balanced and intuitive meals feels much more natural to me, so that's what I'll be sticking to moving forward, at least for now! I'm glad I gave it a try though, because every opportunity to learn more about what works for each individual is worthwhile. This might be a strategy that I'll try again in the future, but for now I'm enjoying the flexibility of eating what I crave!
Have a good week!
-Tracey