June 1, 2018 | Lex Daddio

Hi, happy Friday! I swear these weeks keep going by so fast, I’m trying to slow them down haha! We are officially 3 days before baby T’s due date so we’ll see when the little guy decides to come 🙂 Thomas & I are praying sooner than later, because we are just so ready to meet him!

Here’s some fun eats I’ve had this week! Hopefully it inspires you and gives you some fun ideas for meals and snacks! Also, I realize I’m still consuming SO MANY dates, so that’s a little repetitive. Soon, I’ll be eating more of a variety and not so many dates. I actually really love them so much, but I’m ready for a break, haha!

BREAKFASTS:

PB&J Smoothie– Same smoothie I’ve been LOVING and can’t get enough of. SERIOUSLY. Also, I think the warm weather is really making me crave smoothies! This one is the same as last week: vanilla protein, frozen blueberries, dates, spinach, pea milk, and peanut butter.

Avocado & Egg Toast– Got to hang with my little bestie (my niece Harper) after Pure Barre the other morning & I made one of my FAVS. Sourdough, avocado, 2 hard boiled eggs, sriracha, and sea salt! Sriracha takes avocado toast to the best level in my opinion!

Protein Pancake Spread– I made a big batch of protein pancakes using Pamela’s Pancake & Baking Mix & added in 2 scoops of MRM Cinnamon Bun protein and followed the directions on the back of the baking mix. We cooked those up & I served mine with organic strawberries and blueberries (Whole Foods had both on sale) and whole milk yogurt, almond butter, and then lots of maple syrup.

Yogurt Bowl in a Wrap–  I’ve seen people do this before but I’d never tried it so I thought I’d give it a go! It was really good (and extremely messy haha), so I think I’ll stick to actual yogurt bowls, but definitely still fun and delicious! Sprouted wheat tortilla filled with plain whole milk yogurt, strawberries, banana, hemp seeds, raw honey, granola, and peanut butter!

Egg, Avocado & Bacon Toast– More toast, but this time with a bacon upgrade! Sourdough, avocado, bacon, hard boiled egg, sea salt. YUM.

Berry Coconut Smoothie– Decided to change up my regular smoothie (slightly) and try adding in some frozen coconut chunks (bought these from trader joes). This one is vanilla protein, frozen mixed berries, dates, frozen coconut chunks, and pea milk! Very tasty and a fun little change, but I tend to like my nut butter so next time I’ll add both!

Cheesy Egg & Avocado Wrap– This is GOOD and so satisfying! Sprouted wheat tortilla with 2 eggs scrambled with cheddar cheese and spinach and added in avocado chunks and hot sauce. Yes please.

Sweet & Savory Toast– I bought freshly baked Pain Au Levain from the Whole Foods bakery and it was the best decision ever. The bread is so dang delicious & I love changing it up! The top is avocado, hard boiled egg, red pepper flakes, and sea salt. The bottom is peanut butter, strawberries, raw honey, and hemp seeds. This is one of my favorite breakfasts to have when I can’t decide between sweet and savory. This is always a winner!

 

LUNCHES:

Beef & Rice Taco Bowl– We cooked ground beef in taco seasoning the other night and ended up having leftovers for lunch the next day! I loaded up my bowl with mixed greens and heated up the beef with some leftover brown rice. Topped it all off with 1/2 avocado mashed with sea salt and lime and some salsa!

Fig & Pig Pizza (from The Daily) – Okay so I posted this pizza and mentioned it in my stories haha but it’s a beauty right? That crust was amazing, BUT I really wasn’t a fan of the toppings. It was a white pizza with roasted figs, pulled pork, arugula, and balsamic reduction. Sounded amazing, but the pork didn’t have any flavor and I wasn’t digging the sweetness from the figs. I also learned that I LOVE marinara so the fact that it didn’t have it made me sad haha. Anyway, I would definitely try another pizza there again, just wasn’t a fan of this one! Thomas & I shared a caesar salad on the side, which was delicious!

Cheese Platter (from Can Can)– My mom took me out for a day to do all my favorite things. So we went to Can Can (and adorable French restaurant in town) and got a cheese plate for an appetizer (I could live off cheese plates). I don’t like blue cheese or pate, but I liked the brie, the one in the front, and the jam. Oh, and of course the bread.

Beet & Arugula Salad with Salmon (from Can Can) – After our cheese plate, I ordered the beet and arugula salad topped with salmon. They send up bringing me an extra plate of the salad part because they accidentally sent out the side portion for me instead of the entree. Thomas & I always get this salad to split as an appetizer when we go here, but I’m said because they used to have big crunchy hazelnuts and A LOT of goat cheese and now there’s only a little bit of goat cheese and a sprinkle of candied pecans. Not the same. My favorite lunch item from here is the croque monsiuer and still need to try the burger, because it looks AMAZING.

Salmon Salad with Potatoes & Onions – We had roasted russet potatoes and white onion in olive oil, garlic powder, sea salt, and black pepper for dinner the night before and had leftovers. So I made a random bowl of mixed greens with balsamic & olive oil, leftover potatoes/onions, canned salmon (from Safe Catch Foods) and pesto (from Costco, it’s amazing).

Pesto Pasta with Chicken Sausage – We made this for dinner one night & had the leftovers for lunch the next day. One of our favorite easy meals. Banza chickpea penne pasta (even Thomas loves this pasta and he’s Italian, haha) cooked and mixed with pesto and chicken sausage. We usually throw in broccoli, but we didn’t have any. Instead, we served it with sautéed kale in olive oil, garlic, sea salt and pepper. Another great addition would be sun-dried tomatoes, I LOVE THOSE.

DINNERS:

American Burger & Fries (from Citizen Burger) – We decided to go out on a date for burgers and fries and it was wonderful! I ordered the American Burger which is 100% grass-fed beef, cheddar cheese (I subbed for american), lettuce, tomato, citizen sauce, on a brioche bun. It came with fries and a pickle (very happy about the pickle, I love when places serve pickles!)

Cast Iron Chicken Thighs, Asparagus, Quinoa, & Pesto – Thomas made us cast iron chicken thighs and seasoned them with garlic powder, sea salt, and black pepper. We served them with roasted asparagus (olive oil, sea salt, pepper, garlic powder), quinoa, and pesto. Simple but so delicious.

Taco Salad Bowl – I love anything involving tacos or guacamole. I haven’t made guacamole in too long. Anyway, this is the night we made the ground beef with taco seasoning and I served mine in a bowl with greens, beef, cheddar cheese, avocado cubes, salsa, and red hot blue chips (from Garden of Eatin’, if you’ve never tried these, they are amazing and spicy!) Also, hi baby T!

Spicy Thai Green Chicken Curry with Jasmine Rice (from Sunbasket) – If you’ve never heard of Sunbasket, it’s a meal delivery service that is almost all organic ingredients. They send you everything you need portioned out and the recipe to follow. It’s fun because you’re still cooking, but it’s just easier. Anyway, we’ve been LOVING it! This meal was so delicious, a little spicy, but fabulous nonetheless. It was basically chicken thighs cooked with onions, garlic, bell peppers, and green beans. It simmered in coconut milk, green curry paste, and fish sauce, and we served it with lime and thai basil. I want to make this one again! Click THIS link if you want to try it, and first timers get $35 OFF!!’

Zucchini Noodles with Turkey Meatballs, Sauce, & Garlic Bread – I’m not the BIGGEST zoodle fan, but Thomas loves them. I’d rather pasta with a side of greens haha. So we just bought zucchini noodles from Whole Foods, baked some turkey meatballs (we used the Nature’s Rancher brand from Whole Foods), warmed up some Rao’s marinara, and sprinkled it all with parmesan. I served mine with freshly baked Italian bread from the Whole Foods bakery broiled in the oven with garlic ghee (from 4&heart). DELISH.

Braised Chicken & Rice – This was another Sunbasket meal that knocked it out of the park! So much better than expected and flavors I would have never thought to do on my own. It was basically braised chicken thighs with mushrooms, artichokes, onions, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, lemon, olives, and parsley. We served it with brown rice on the side. I just kept commenting how it tasted better than a restaurant. But really it was so good.

SNACKS/DESSERTS:

Dates with Peanut Butter & Cinnamon – Are you guys sick of seeing my dates yet? Haha it’s almost over I promise! However, this snack IS a favorite of mine and it’s so good in my opinion. Medjool dates with creamy peanut butter and cinnamon. Bomb.

Date Brownie – I followed THIS recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie. So yummy, easy and a great way for me to get in some dates! I’ve been keeping them in the freezer and just eating them straight from there. Chocolately, chewy fudgy!

Cinnamon & 72 Chocolate Gelato (From Gelati Celesti) – Gelati celesti is a gelato place in town and it’s hands down the best. It’s also located across the street from Thomas & I so I’m sure we will frequent it this summer! Per a suggestion, I tried the cinnamon ice cream and the 72 chocolate (which is 72% cacao dark chocolate) and the combo was SO great!

2 Dates Stuffed with Peanut Butter, Cinnamon, & Coffee – More dates, more peanut butter, more cinnamon. Plus some coffee because I’ve been eating dates and drinking coffee before Pure Barre for some fuel!

Freshly Squeezed Limeade (from En Su Boca) – Spent the day with the brother and sis-in-law the other day and they wanted to get some lunch, but Thomas and I had already eaten. So we went to En Su Boca, and Thomas & I got drinks and they got some food. I’ve never ordered limeade before (in the past I would have been petrified of the sugar in it and wouldn’t have touched it, but not anymore, I’m free from that). They make freshly squeezed limeade and it was one of the most refreshing drinks I’ve ever had. You could definitely tell it was fresh, because it was tart and not overly sweet. Also, this wasn’t a “snack”, I just really wanted to include it!

Homemade Brownie with Julie’s Cookies & Cream Ice Cream – This was the combo of my dreams. I usually love any baked good (brownie, cookie, apple pie) with ice cream. Probably my favorite kind of dessert. I made THIS recipe for the brownies and they turned out fabulous. Also, they were easy as heck and I had all the ingredients already so that was a win. Paired it with Julie’s cookies and cream. Love Julie’s ice cream so much! – This was the combo of my dreams. I usually love any baked good (brownie, cookie, apple pie) with ice cream. Probably my favorite kind of dessert. I made THIS recipe for the brownies and they turned out fabulous. Also, they were easy as heck and I had all the ingredients already so that was a win. Paired it with Julie’s cookies and cream. Love Julie’s ice cream so much!

2 Dates Stuffed with Almond Butter & Cinnamon – I have more pictures of dates haha but I didn’t include them all! This time I used almond butter 🙂 Literally love this combo with all nut butters: peanut, almond, cashew and even sunflower seed butter & tahini.

Chocolate Sea Salt RXbar & Coffee – This was another pre- Pure Barre snack. Coffee and a chocolate sea salt RXbar. These bars have been another great way to get in some more dates. I personally don’t love all the flavors but my favorites are: chocolate sea salt, peanut butter, maple sea salt, and chocolate peanut butter.

Avocado & Green Pea Crisp Toast – Such a fun snack! Slice of Alvarado sprouted sourdough with avocado mashed, sea salt, and white cheddar harvest snaps for a crunch!