Happy Wednesday! I just finished my Food Gatherers rotation last week and am now on to five weeks of a clinical inpatient rotation with Michigan Medicine focused on pediatric intensive care nutrition. Second-to-last rotation! On to some delicious eats from the past few weeks.

This smoothie is definitely my new favorite. Actually tastes like a snickerdoodle or tahini date cookie. You must give it a try! I also add a big spoonful of whole milk yogurt and vanilla protein powder. A fabulous way to start the day!

My favorite crockpot chicken tacos, topped with TJ’s salsa, shredded cheese, and some greens. I season the chicken with this taco seasoning, add a cup each of salsa and chicken broth, and cook on low for 7-8 hours. The most flavorful and tender chicken! I also am a big fan of the organic corn and flour tortillas I have been finding at Whole Foods. Makes for the perfect taco! Roasted bell peppers and red onion on the side.

A new-to-me dinner recipe, this nourishing and tasty ground turkey and sweet potato soup. The perfect simple dinner for a cold and snowy evening! Will definitely be making again.

Fattoush salad topped with the most amazing mint vinaigrette – our new favorite lunch!

Chocolate chip muffins I made for our small group – I used this recipe, which I’m not sure I would make again – they were okay, but not as sweet as I would have liked!

Snack plate of grapes, fresh veg, crackers, and this delicious hummus!! Amazingly flavorful! Would also be the perfect spread for a sandwich, atop a salad or veg/grain bowl… ideas for the future!

Egg dish #1… our favorite shakshuka with homemade sourdough and salad. We have been eating a lot more egg and vegetarian dishes lately since meat is so darn expensive right now!! Ugh. At least I do love eggs (in all their various forms) for dinner!

Egg dish #2… frittata with broccoli, corn, and cheese. Roasted potatoes and salad on the side. I love to mix the chopped potatoes in avocado oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and fresh rosemary before roasting!

Egg dish #3… basic scrambled eggs with shredded cheddar, roasted veggies, homemade sourdough, and salad. Simple and delicious.

There is indeed steel-cut oatmeal, almond butter, and flax seeds under this mound of juicy honey-crisp apple! This breakfast never ceases to satisfy. Coffee with almond milk on the side, of course!

Slow-cooker chicken cacciatore made for the perfect dinner on a cold and snowy day! Served over brown rice.

Beautiful arrangement of desserts from afternoon tea on our Phoenix trip. First course was finger sandwiches, and then (my favorite course) homemade scones with different buttery spreads and jams! Yum! I also enjoyed a steaming pot of white berry tea.

Roasted salmon with Mexican-inspired seasoning, coconut rice, and roasted veggies. My go-to salmon dinner lately!

I have been taking the time the past couple of weeks to prepare some sort of snack (muffin, bar, etc.) on the weekends for eating throughout the week. One week it was these tasty sweet potato and almond butter muffins.

The next week it was these homemade granola bars in an effort to use only ingredients I already had at home. I really liked how they turned out! For add-ins I added almonds, peanuts, chia seeds, coconut, and chocolate chips (which I pulsed all together in the Vitamix before adding to the granola bar mix).

My other favorite salad lately – my take on Caesar salad. Mixed greens topped with chopped cucumber and cherry tomatoes, hemp seeds, shredded parmesan, spicy roasted chickpeas, and this Caesar dressing.

Yellow cake with chocolate frosting for my grandpa’s 90th birthday! Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Any recipes I should try, leave them in the comments!

Everyday Enjoyment:

Reading more fiction: Lately I have been passionate about reading more fiction and thinking about the value of engaging in stories and imagination. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was reading The Book of Lost Names which I am still enjoying / almost done with. I am also reading Phantastes by George MacDonald in a women’s fiction book club through my church. There is so much to learn, ponder, and simply enjoy through fairy tales, fantasy, and other forms of fiction! I have also been really liking The Literary Life podcast and have been listening to the relevant episodes as I read through Phantastes – I plan to keep utilizing this podcast as a resource for other books in the future, too!

New chocolate bar: For some reason the TJ’s in Ann Arbor has stopped stocking my favorite chocolate bar that I have been buying multiple of every week for probably over ten years at this point… very distressing!! I am not sure if this is a COVID thing, if all the TJ’s have been out of this, or if they are no longer selling it?? It took me a while to find a suitable alternative but I have to say I have been liking this chocolate bar a lot and am now down to have it as my new usual evening snack. Would be interesting to have my other favorite side-by-side to see which I like better!

Decaf chai tea: I tend to prefer coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon or evening. However, I generally don’t drink tea on a daily basis though because my favorite teas are black (aka generally caffeinated). I just discovered that Tazo makes a decaf chai tea which is a game changer! Love this with some almond milk.

Hope you have a great rest of the week!