Hi there! Gosh, it has been a busy few weeks! I'm pretty sure that's how I started last week's meal plan post, but that's just the reality right now.
I had a follow up with my doctor last week, and the good news is, everything is moving in the right direction! We didn't make any changes to my current protocol and are planning on continuing on as things are for another three months or so. I'm content with that, other than the part of having to take dozens of supplements. But they're making a difference, so that makes it worth it!
We had company in town again this past weekend, which was a breath of fresh air. It's always so good to spend time with good friends! We did plenty of eating out at some of our favorite restaurants here in SoCal: GoodOnYa Deli, Breakfast Republic, Urban Plates (a new find!), and Pressed Juicery, of course! After all of that, I'm looking forward to returning to the simplicity of normal work-week food. As with any extra busy weekend, I did take a few shortcuts, which I'll explain below.
Breakfast for me: Pork and Spinach Hash + Sage Roasted Butternut // I recently found the bags of chopped organic spinach in the freezer section of Trader Joe's, and I've been taking full advantage of their convenience! In the past I would have chopped up a couple bags worth of fresh baby spinach just to toss it into the skillet to wilt, but the frozen bags taste exactly the same to me, and they're so much less hassle! Cheaper too :) I started this meal by cooking up 1# of plain ground pork from US Wellness Meats (did you see? I'm their featured chef this month!) in my Le'Creuset dutch oven with about 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp ground garlic, 2 tsp fennel seeds, and 2 tsp ground sage. When that was cooked through, I added in a 1# bag of chopped organic spinach that I had thawed and removed a bit of the extra water from, then portioned everything out into Pyrex containers. At the same time, I roasted a couple of trays of butternut squash cubes (1/2" pieces) that I had tossed with some coconut oil, salt, sage, and mustard. Those cooked 400 for about 30 minutes until soft.
Breakfast for him: Protein Packed Banana Oat Bread // We've been relying on frittatas for several weeks in a row now, so this week I mixed things up with this oat bread. While nutritionally I do prefer the frittata, the oat bread is a bit easier to make (one step instead of several) so it's convenient for busy weekends. I started with this recipe as a base, but honestly, I never measure the ingredients! Here's what it usually ends up being: 3 blended ripe bananas, 1 egg, 5 scoops of whey protein powder, 1 carton of greek yogurt, about 1/2 cup water, 1 heaping cup of oats, 1 beaten egg, 2 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp cinnamon, and about 1-2 cups of frozen berries. I mix it all together then pour it into a greased baking dish (usually an 11x7 Pyrex) and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean).
Lunch for me: Beef Sausage + Veggies // Really guys, if you're not buying meat from US Wellness, you should take a look at their site! I make a big order every few months and stock up on plenty of ground meat, whole cuts, and convenience items like these sausages. Pro tip: they send out a 15% off coupon in their newsletter every few weeks, so keep an eye out for that! All I did for this meal was roast some sweet potatoes (in Fourth and Heart Vanilla Bean Ghee YUMMM), sauté some kale on the stovetop until crispy (again, featuring Fourth and Heart, garlic this time), and roast some zucchini in the oven while the sausages cooked in a skillet.
Lunch for him: No-Cook Spread // His usual of veggies (this week with some hummus for dipping!), fruit, deli turkey (one of our staples for shaving some time off of meal prep), and nuts. Veggies and grapes are in our favorite Stasher Bags.
Dinner for me: AMPLE // You may remember these from a couple of weeks ago. Ample is a meal replacement shake that I discovered in the Spring. It is designed as an all in one "just add water" kind of product, and after looking at the ingredient list, I was impressed! They have a whey and collagen based formula, which is the one I'll be having this week, as well as a vegetarian pea and rice protein based one. While I do generally prefer whole food based meals, having something like Ample is an incredibly convenient backup for busy weeks. If you'd like to try it out for yourself, you can use the code "wholedailylife" for 10% off of your first order!
Dinner for him: Chicken Sausage + Potatoes and Broccoli // Pretty much the same as my lunch, but with different sausages and different veggies. I make a weekly trip to Grocery Outlet (If you've never heard of it, it's a bargain grocery store, just like it sounds! They carry lots of name brand products there but at great prices. I've found The New Barn, Artisana, Purely Elizabeth, Chosen Foods, and plenty of other amazing brands! It's like a treasure hunt every time.) and a couple of weeks ago they had Aidels chicken and apple sausages on sale for $3 a pack, so I snagged a few packs to put in the freezer.
Snack for me: Apple + Artisana Coconut Butter // Pro-tip: stash a full jar of coconut butter stashed at work. You'll thank me someday :)
Snack for him: Epic Snack Pack
Alright, I have plenty more that I could write about, but I'll have to save that for another day. Have a great week!
-Tracey