I have in general been eating horribly. Comfort foods, convenience foods, snacks and desserts galore. All of these categories are excellent, and I think they should all be part of a person’s regular rotation, but I have been overindulging and I feel yucky. The yuckiness could also be from my early morning three-to-five wakings, as well as from going up and down the stairs far too many times each day, usually with a box in my arms, but I think eating meals that aren’t particularly nutrient dense is taking its toll. I am most definitely NOT eating enough vegetables. In between packing and keeping the house clean for potential buyers and preparing for my ill-timed but MUCH needed vacation, I just don’t have a lot of bandwidth leftover for meal planning or cooking.
Well. Here’s what I WANT to be eating this week. Anyone’s guess whether I will end up making a single thing on this list, but perhaps the mere act of writing these ideas down will manifest them in my life.
Dinners for the Week of July 31-August 6
- Chili Lime Salmon with Mango Salsa: Another blogger recently mentioned making mango salsa, and I realized I haven’t had it in AGES and I must correct that immediately.
- Boursin Lemon Pasta: Honestly, I have no idea what Boursin even tastes like. Perhaps I won’t like it at all. But this looks so fresh and simple… and I think I could easily add broccoli or spinach or arugula if I felt like it. Plus, I like trying out viral recipes. (Or tweaking them for my own purposes.)
- Caprese Salad with Balsamic Chicken and Balsamic Dressing: We haven’t made this in a looooong time. I think at some point the addition of avocado to my salad just started tasting unpleasant to me. But I can learn from previous experiences! So I am going to simply SKIP the avocado.
- Miso Ginger Soy Chicken Rice Bowls: Okay, okay. So the actual recipe is for salmon bowls, not chicken. But I don’t think I can persuade my husband to eat salmon twice in one week. Even once is pushing it. Plus, this recipe seems like it would be perfectly delicious with chicken or honestly any protein of your choice.
- Summer Squash Spaghetti: Two pasta dishes in one week is very unusual for me! But this sounds very simple and very delicious. Zucchini is one of my favorite vegetables and maybe we’ll have this instead of the Boursin dish… or maybe we’ll have both. I feel like it would be super easy to add shrimp or chicken or some other protein to this one.
What do you WANT to be eating this week? And what’s keeping you from eating it?
I have lived my life with the belief that having the intention to eat vegetables is a close second to actually eating them… I have no evidence of how that manifestation has helped or hurt me, though! Secondly, I love Boursin! It was like one of the only dip-esque things I would eat as a child and has a dedicated spot when we have charcuterie dinners (Lil Momma LOVES it, too)!
I like your choices for dinner. I’ve thought about making that Boursin recipe, but have yet to do it. We’re having tofu lo mein and homemade pizza, for sure. After that, who knows… the sky’s the limit…
Ah. Well, not having a kitchen has kept me from eating any home-cooked dinners this week! Our takeout has included an okay amount of vegetables, but also plenty of bread, oil, salt… the usual takeout ingredients. The kitchen will be functional enough tomorrow, just in time for me to leave for Texas! But, I will say that miso marinade for the bowls sounds delicious. I would make it with marinated tofu! As a matter of fact I might make it when I get back. I hope you end up making some of these, but I get it- when things are stressful, making dinner is like the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
The other night I was making recipe that was taking longer than I expected and I got downhearted about cooking in general and how much time and energy it takes. This week we’re eating more convenience foods (frozen dumplings, veggie hot dogs, veggie chicken nuggets) than usual but with vegetables so it doesn’t feel completely devoid of nutrition. And in the summer it’s easy to just slice a tomato, and/or steam some green beans, and voila, there’s vegetables in dinner.
I have so many junky leftovers from a busy weekend, but I aspire to healthy choices by midweek LOL.
I’m just grateful that we have power and can cook again! I will not complain about making dinner again! (I will break this vow within the next 48 hours.)
You are in a tricky stage of life with this big transition! Just try to do your best and know that you’ll get back on track with your eating when you are more settled! We were gone last week and I barely had to cook which was lovely. Now it’s back to normal for another week before my next vacation. I really sound like I’m living it up these days, huh? 😉 Tonight I am making a lentil soup with chicken sausage in the instant pot. It is not soup weather but we eat soup year round! Our other meals are grilled cheese burgers with corn and shrimp & pineapple skewers with Asian-style rice and corn (again – gotta eat it while it’s in season!).
What you describe is exactly how I roll! When I start feeling sluggish, I start eating better. Once I feel better, I start to slide back into eating whatever I want.
I’m just back from vacation and dealing with the harsh reality of coming back to work. Blerg. It’s not inspiring for meal planning.
I once made a boursin pasta recipe, and it was AMAZING. Of course, I never made it again, but you reminded me how delicious it was…must make it soon. ❤️
I just bought a cookbook called Mandy’s Famous Salads or something like that – it’s bowls and salads and so forth, from a famous salad place in Montreal. Sounds great, right? Well, each recipe calls for something for which there is ANOTHER recipe (i.e., the dressing, the spicy tofu, whatever it is) and so then I have to flip through the book to find the recipe. And then sometimes the dressing is based on ANOTHER dressing and it’s all too much. I mean, really. I get that if you make like ten of the base dressings then you can add to them BUT I JUST WANTED A GODDAMN BOWL RECIPE. So tonight I AM making one of them but it’s so free-styling and not really at all the original recipe, which makes me wonder why I spent $30 on a cookbook that I have no intentions of using as a cookbook. Oh well, as M said, maybe it’s just an inspiration for me and I can use it to jump off from? Maybe, but then again, I should have saved the money and just googled new ideas. As an example, I think I am going to use 2/10 ingredients and then just add all my own, but maybe I’ll try the COMPLICATED, MULTI-PAGE RECIPE for dressing.
I just love your weekly recipes, and try many of them. Last week I made the cold noodle salad with spicy peanut sauce— so good!! I have some mango salsa my daughter left behind and was wondering what to do with it- so tonight it’s the chili lime salmon. Re your “all the worries” post- I know how stressful moving can be, plus it’s seems like it may be harder for you than some of us. I just want to say, yes you will be in a mess, and change is so hard, but please know it will get better and so much of what you are worrying about will be ok before you know it.
Well, if you could see how many gummy worms and Sour Patch Kids I had eaten today, you would feel better about your veggie intake. Really…it’s a bit much. I AM A GROWN WOMAN. But my father always has candy (I’m visiting my parents this week) and all I want right now is to eat. Why? I feel hungry and I want fruit and veggies but it feels like too much effort to prepare them and the candy is sitting right there. Ugh.
No advice, just solidarity <3
Boursin is Eve’s absolute favourite cheese, and I think it will make an amazing pasta.
We are in the summer lack-of-vegetable stretch also. Lots of fruit, but we need more vegetables. And we’re about to go camping, so I don’t see it improving for at least another five days. As long as there were peas in the pod at Farm Boy we were eating tons of peas, but the season for them is so short.
We haven’t had salmon for a while either – must rectify that.
Oh Boursin cheese is delicious. I’d be curious to hear how you liked that dish!
I think that with all you have going on, you should do some ‘healthier’ takeout and call it a day, week, month.
That caprese salad with balsamic chicken sounds divine! Recently I’ve been craving artichoke chicken (marinate chicken breasts in Italian dressing, then top with a mixture of mayonnaise, parmesan cheese and diced artichoke hearts and bake — delicious on its own and even more delicious the next day sliced on top of a green salad!).
I think you should cut yourself some slack. Hectic times call for routine disruptions.
I would LIKE to be eating Portillos chopped salad this weekend. We just left for a weekend at a rented lake house. I packed salads but they pale in awesomeness to portillos. Meanwhile I packed pulled pork in a giant thermos for our dinner tonight.
I love the recipes you share… whether you make them or not. 😉 I am especially enamored by the miso ginger soy marinade (um, yum) and think boursin pasta would be out of this world. I hope you went for it.. .it sounds delightfully easy. And you need easy right now! I cannot wait to read that this chaos is all behind you. Sending hugs your way.