A glance at my Tuesday for easy, wholesome meal and snack ideas to help you conquer any weekday! Blueberry oat flax muffins, tuna melt, bacon sun-dried tomato veggie frittata, vanilla frozen custard, and more.
It’s been a long week, rainy and yucky here in Florida. But on the plus side, today marks the start of our two-week “break” before Fall semester begins. Of course, I will still be working and doing basically the same thing, but just calling it a break makes it feel more relaxing. Either way, we always need to make time to talk about food, am I right? In this belated post, I’m highlighting my Tuesday and all the craziness along with it from a foodie’s perspective.
Breakfast
Blueberry Oat Flax Muffin + Chocolate Almond Butter
My goal over the next couple weeks is to stock up on all the healthy delicious baked goods that I can whip out of the freezer for quick breakfasts, snacks, sides, and desserts. Muffins will definitely be a priority; I’m already running out of this batch of Blueberry Oat Flax Muffins that I posted recently. 🙁 Although I shouldn’t be surprised about that–they’re freakin’ awesome.
Heated the muffin in the microwave 35 seconds to thaw; sliced in half width-wise; toasted on both sides in the toaster oven while getting together the rest of my breakfast; then commenced with globs of Wild Friends Chocolate Almond Butter. Heart melts.
Yogurt, Fruit, Granola
On the side was 1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt, summer’s best blueberries and 1/4 chopped peach, about 1/4 sliced banana, and a sprinkle of walnut granola. Pictured is Engine 2 granola from Whole Foods, which I am super happy with. Nutty, crunchy, and satisfying, simple flavor that works well with anything, low in sugar, and a kick-butt ingredient list: steel cut oats, whole rolled oats, applesauce, maple syrup, walnuts, vanilla extract, cinnamon bark. That’s it. Unfortunately, I don’t have a Whole Foods here in Gainesville and can’t find it anywhere else. I also love the products from Purely Elizabeth, but my best bet is to make some of my own. (Stay tuned…)
Tea
Finally, tea in the morning (and afternoon, and anytime really) is a must: earl grey with lemon and monk fruit extract with this breakfast. I have cut back on added sugar considerably over the past several years, but calorie-free sweeteners are still a work in progress. Granted, no evidence points to anything bad about monk fruit–it’s natural and may even have anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer properties; however, not relying on added sweetness in your food is clearly the way to go for optimal health.
After breakfast, which came together really quickly because of those life-saving muffins, I rode my bike to the lab for work–neuroscience research! which also happens to be the crux of my major.
Lunch
So I should probably get in the habit of packing my lunch and bringing it with me to school/work…because come Fall, I probably won’t have an option. But, lately I’ve been a snob and insisted on waiting for the luxury of my own home to eat. It’s so much more enjoyable when I can relax for a hot minute and fix whatever strikes the mood–like, eh hem, this divine hot and toasty tuna melt. Plus, I can get more done at work when I don’t take a lunch break, and the post-lunch slump doesn’t bring me down. Luckily, my breakfast is filling enough to keep me going strong until around 2 pm!
After I got home, I somehow managed to squeeze in a 20-minute power nap then jumped out of bed to get on this tuna melt. Almost identical to this tuna melt, but with white cheddar instead of smoked gouda, and thinly sliced grape tomatoes instead of sun-dried.
The Tuna Melt
- Lightly toast a thick slice of whole grain bread.
- Mash on some ripe avocado.
- Top with the best ever tuna salad: 5-oz can chunk light (drained), 1/2 Tbsp Greek yogurt, 1/4 tsp Dijon, 1/2 tsp balsamic, diced bell pepper, red onion, chives, olive, sprinkle dried oregano and pepper.
- Top with thinly sliced grape tomatoes. (Or mix chopped sun-dried into the tuna salad.)
- Toast all that in the toaster oven/oven (on a holey pan or directly on the rack) for several minutes.
- Add freshly sliced sharp white cheddar. (Or regular cheddar, smoked gouda, provolone, etc.)
- Stick it back in the toaster oven until the cheese is melty and drooping down the sides.
AND OMG I JUST CAN’T EVEN. People really don’t show enough appreciation for how beautifully white cheddar melts. I mean, we should celebrate cheese more often.
On the side were sweet Ranier cherries and Crunchmaster Roasted Vegetable Multi-Grain Crackers.
Snack
Larabar (Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, aka the only flavor 😉 ) and Celestial Seasonings Dirty Chai with milk (chai with espresso–absolute perfection)
I had this “snack” immediately following lunch, so I guess you could call it dessert or lunch-part 2. I certainly would have preferred to space it out and wait until I got hungry again, but I was rushed to get to the gym for an afternoon/evening of group fitness classes. Getting ready to teach Total Body and Stadium Conditioning back-to-back, my goal was to load up on as much energizing food as possible. Not to mention get in enough calories to gain weight, which is nearly impossible with the foods I love and my exercise schedule. Baby steps…
Work-Out
I go all out for my classes, and double-time on Tuesdays this summer with Total Body and Stadiums. Gators, I’ll see you in the fall.? Both are an hour and high intensity. Total Body is essentially what it sounds like, and I make sure we get plenty of cardio, resistance, plyo, and core. Stadium Conditioning is on a level of its own, with running and climbing and shuffling and sprinting and strength training…all in the place that has my heart.
Dinner
After biking home–which isn’t so bad on the way back because it’s slightly downhill–and getting in around 8 pm, my muscles were pretty much dead. Still, I can always count on a little burst of energy after my work-out(s), definitely better than the drowsiness that plows through around 4 pm. So I showered, cleaned a little, and went hard into frittata mode. This one featured turkey bacon, mushrooms, bell pepper, yellow onion, baby potatoes (lightly steamed before mixing them in the sauté), sun-dried tomatoes, Hawaiian rub, chives, and {extra} smoked gouda. Holy yum I will never get enough frittata. Try it and you’ll be hooked. Basic recipe here.
As an added bonus, it makes the BEST leftovers (and I’m really picky about what is still good days later from the fridge). Any meal, a frittata is the thing to have on hand on busy weekdays.
During dinner I managed to get some studying/reading done as well. That MCAT will be here before I know it.
Dessert
A necessity in my house. At Earth Fare I was excited to find my new frozen dessert obsession, Mad Jack frozen custard. As far as I know, it is sold exclusively at Earth Fare, but hopefully it will catch fire and get around to other stores. Because it makes me REALLY HAPPY. It’s like ice cream or gelato, but made with egg yolks and less sugary. In fact, there’s less sugar in a serving of this custard than in a glass of milk! But the ultra-rich, creamy texture goes above and beyond what the sugar would do.
Above is vanilla plus some Endangered Species 72% with Blueberries chopped and loaded all throughout. Because if it’s not chocolate, does it really even count?
That’s a label I can feel pretty good about…even if I am eating it at 2 am. (I don’t know how it gets so late so fast; there’s just so much life to be lived!)
Happy Eating!
-MAK