Hello! I hope you are having a nice week and enjoying the spring weather! I love this time of year with the longer amount of daylight and milder temps here in Michigan. I’ve been enjoying getting out on runs/walks and waking up earlier with it being bright out earlier. I’ve got some delicious eats to share today to hopefully inspire you in the kitchen! Also some life updates!

BREAKFAST:

Usual breakfast of oatmeal topped with nut butter (almond butter) and fruit. However, I finally switched up my oatmeal game the past couple weeks! (BIG breakfast change for me, haha). I have been making a big batch of steel-cut oatmeal once a week and reheating that throughout the week. Once a week before I go to bed, I add 2 cups of steel-cut oats, 4 cups of almond milk, 4 cups of water, and a dash of salt to my Dutch oven (any large pot will work). I then bring the mixture to a boil, let it boil for a minute or two, turn off the stove, and let it sit overnight. In the morning I give it a brief stir and it is good to go! Store leftovers in the fridge and eat cold or reheat in the microwave.

Delish chia pudding breakfast bowl with granola and fruit eaten on the water at the Hotel Del Coronado. We went to San Diego last week to visit my brother which was a lot of fun! Before breakfast we spent time biking around Coronado.

LUNCH:

Mixed greens topped with blueberries, cucumber, red onion, chopped dates, pistachios, and feta, with homemade balsamic – one of my favorite spring salad combos!

Herbed chickpea salad over arugula with pita wedges for scooping. This recipe is from Cookie and Kate‘s cookbook, Love Real Food. I’ve been loving the recipes from this beautiful cookbook!

Another salad, this time was mixed greens topped with all the springtime goodness – carrots, beets, radish, cucumber, peas, pistachios, and feta. Also drizzled with homemade dark balsamic.

Lunch in downtown San Diego at Le Parfait Paris – I had a housemade croissant sandwich with smoked salmon, red onion, capers, dill and crème fraiche. So tasty! Alec had a garden veggie sandwich on sourdough with an herbed goat cheese spread.

Naturally, we followed our sandwiches with a couple of macarons! I had Oreo and honey lavender. Would definitely recommend giving this cute French cafe a try if you are ever in the San Diego area!

HOMEMADE BAGELS 🙂 one of my fave lunches as of late! For my final project in my Food Science class, I had to film a food demo video of me demonstrating a specific cooking or baking technique (I chose baking with a yeasted bread, hence the bagels!). Check out the video if you want to learn how to make homemade bagels!! This was my first time making bagels and I will definitely be making them again!

SO good, especially topped with smoked salmon (I have been on a smoked salmon kick!), cream cheese, red onion, and spinach.

DINNER:

Baked salmon topped with my favorite avocado pesto. Sides of sautéed brussels with olive oil and a dash of balsamic, and coconut quinoa. Most of my dinners also have an un-pictured side salad (usually mixed greens with carrot, cucumbers, tomato, and homemade balsamic).

This was also a recipe for a class assignment that ended up being surprisingly delicious! TJ’s brown rice-quinoa pasta, TJ”s marinara with cooked red lentils mixed in, mixed veggies (previously frozen), and shredded parmesan. I had to create a recipe using a max of 5 ingredients that would be commonly found at a food pantry. Like I said, I was surprised with how well it turned out, and will definitely be making it again! Quick, easy, and still satisfying  – perfect for a busy weeknight.

May not look pretty, but don’t necessarily judge a dish by its looks!! Delicious creation of Mexican-seasoning-inspired ground beef skillet with sautéed sweet potatoes, bell peppers, and onion. Topped with a homemade cilantro-lime aioli. I winged this dinner, so will have to make it again and share the recipe!

More salmon, this time served over regular quinoa and topped with a strawberry salsa. Side of peas. Fabulous springtime flavors!

MISCELLANEOUS:

My SNACK OF LIFE… seriously eaten every day. I make a big batch of energy bites (usually a chocolate flavor and also lately coconut apricot – recipe coming soon) every other week – I keep half in the fridge for the week and freeze the other half to take out for the next week. These were date-sweetened cacao mint energy bites – so chocolatey and gooey. I eat 1-2 every morning pre-run/exercise to tide me over until breakfast! Alec loves them too!!

Moist carrot muffins modified using this recipe. I added raisins, subbed pecans, and also converted it to a vegan muffin version (also for another class assignment).

Other delicious recent eats include TJ’s 72% dark chocolate eaten on repeat (of course), granola bowls (lately using Purely Elizabeth granola), and a delicious strawberry cake that my Mom made for my birthday! This is the recipe to use in my opinion if you are ever looking to make a fresh strawberry cake!!

LIFE UPDATES:

I graduated! YAY for being done with school!! We had dinner with my family to celebrate and to watch my Nutritional Sciences graduation on Zoom!

I honestly didn’t mind the Zoom graduation situation because it was a bit more personal than a typical graduation (I participated in our department-specific graduation but passed on watching the larger School of Public Health graduation) and it also was a lot more chill.

SO now that I am DONE with school, what does life look like now? I have couple months until my Dietetic Internship starts mid-July. I am using that time to tackle some projects around the house, work on my blog, work more days at the cafe, and prepare some for my internship/upcoming transition. My internship should wrap up sometime next spring, after which I will take the R.D. exam to finally become a dietitian!

I’m also hoping to post on the blog more regularly, about once a week. Hope you enjoy the rest of your week!

I’d love to hear…

• What’s the tastiest thing you’ve eaten this past week?
• What are you looking forward to this spring?