Hi guys! It’s been a busy few weeks of food in our house. I definitely feel like we are back on the eating well train. I’m starting to get really excited for warm weather – smoothies and salads and burgers on the grill. But I shouldn’t get too ahead of myself because we likely have a long few months until we’re all the way into those glorious warm nights.
Let’s eat some food, shall we?
Matt doesn’t bring home sweets from the bakery that often (at my request) but every now and then he surprises me with something whole grain. This week he brought home an Oat Berry Crisp Muffin – back on the menu after a long hiatus. I had 2/3 of it crumbled over some greek yogurt with fruit and drippy almond butter.
One of my favorite breakfasts is a variety of tastes! Here I had an over easy egg, banana + raspberry side and a toasted Honey Whole Wheat roll with jam and almond butter. That was GOOD!
MY OTHER RECIPES
Next up were some overnight oats (despite the cold!) These were made with oat bran (which I buy because Mazen likes the finer texture) but sadly oat bran doesn’t really work all that well as overnight oats. This was more like oat bran soup! I think we need the starch in the oatmeal to really soak up the liquid. Nevertheless, it was yummy with a sprinkle of granola and almond butter on top. (I’m really into Whole Foods’ 365 Almond Butter with a pinch of my own salt stirred in. I don’t need sugar, but I can’t go without salt!)
Movin’ on to another egg-licious breakfast – scrambled ones with Cinnamon Chip toast and a pan-seared banana. Decaf on the side!
And finally – more toast, banana with some Naturally Nutty Mocha Almond Butter and a side of yogurt with chia seeds.
I went back in the Cook Smarts archives and found one of their Favorites weeks for our meal plan. First up were 5 Spice Salmon Kebobs. Loved this method of eating salmon! The pieces of salmon were wedged between sliced lemon. Excellent recipe!
We served them with roasted bok choy and Virginia rolls.
Night 2 we had Beef “Sausage” with Gnocchi and Kale. This was a mix of ground beef with fennel seeds and other sausagy flavors cooked with tomato sauce, kale and some sweet potato gnocchi. We had salads in the background on the side. I liked all the textures of this meal a lot!
Night 3 we had leftover gumbo – heat + eat and it was just as good as the first night!
And finally we had the third meal of Cook Smarts favorites week – Chicken with pan sauce and mashed sweet potatoes with greek yogurt. Loved the pan sauce! And we need to make mashed sweet potatoes more – yum! We added a few pieces of Mazen’s broccoli for extra veggies. They were otherwise missed.
![Lunches[2]](https://www.katheats.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Lunches21.png "Lunches[2]"){kind=small}
Leftovers are served!!
First, the final slice of frittata from our previous week’s meal plan served with bread + salad.
![Foodblog-3952[3]](https://www.katheats.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Foodblog-39523.jpg "Foodblog-3952[3]")
I had the salmon kebobs not once but twice! They were awesome over salad. Served with blue cheese and toast with butter.
![IMG_4027[3]](https://www.katheats.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/IMG_40273.jpg "IMG_4027[3]")
I had nearly the same lunch the next day!
![IMG_4050[3]](https://www.katheats.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/IMG_40503.jpg "IMG_4050[3]")
Here’s my leftover gnocchi lunch.
![IMG_4038[3]](https://www.katheats.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/IMG_40383.jpg "IMG_4038[3]")
Plus the better half of a pear I shared with Mazen
![IMG_4042[3]](https://www.katheats.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/IMG_40423.jpg "IMG_4042[3]")
I had the last of the gnocchi dinner over greens the following day. This was surprisingly good!
![IMG_4074[3]](https://www.katheats.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/IMG_40743.jpg "IMG_4074[3]")
Hope y’all have a great week!
Love the salmon kebob idea! I will definitely be giving that a try
everything looks wonderful! I wish I were better with leftovers 🙁
Could you give some advice? Do you do the majority of your shopping at Whole Foods? I would love to do my shopping there but the problem is that I can’t get out of there without spending at least $200! 🙁
I do. ..I try to stick to fresh food only
Your overnight oats always look so creamy and delicious! Love the big blob of nut butter on top too! So yummy!
You are really good at utilizing your leftovers! I can’t tell you how many times mine end up in the garbage.
That’s good to know oatbran doesn’t work as well with overnight oats. I buy it at Whole Foods sometimes and I was thinking of making overnight oats to take into work – now I’ll get some oats for it!
While you’ve been having the same lunch, I’ve been having the same dinner…lots and lots of salmon! I love the idea of cooking it in kebab form. Never thought to do that. I imagine the lemon keeps the fish from flaking and falling off the skewer. I may have to try and duplicate that!
That salmon sounds really good!! I just cooked salmon for myself for the first time last night (no joke!) and it was delicious. I feel like salmon kabobs with pineapple might be good too!
Those salmon kebobs look amazing! Adding salmon to my grocery list now 😉 Thanks for the inspiration!
Does Mazen like the gumbo? Or is it too spicy?
he loooooved it!
Dear Kath,
what an amazing array of wonderful food!
Are your gnocchi homemade? (I love preparing gnocchi, one of my favorite dish)
Ella
These weren’t but I love fresh gnocchi as well!
Im loving mashed sweet potatoes right now too! Just discovered that if you boil with the skin ON it peels off and takes the tough part of the skin with it after it is soft. So much easier than peeling! (and not missing portions of the tough inner skin)
I love that salmon kebab, I love when lemons are cooked, so good!
mocha almond butter?! sounds amazing!!
I can hardly wait for warmer weather too! It’s so much more motivating to eat huge salads and I love grilling:)
Everything looks delicious, but all your portions are sooo tiny! How do you stay or get feeling satisfied. I would need to eat 3 times that amount. And do you have many snacks in between meals? I find that I can’t comfortably go any longer than 3 hours MAX without eating.
They don’t feel tiny to me! I do snack quite a bit and mentioned in my recent post on motherhood that I’m snacking a big more so I’m eating a little bit less at meals.
Having leftovers is one of my favorite parts of Cook Smarts! Do you have any suggestions on what you usually have on hand to make them into lunches? For example, mixed greens, etc. I usually buy salad things for lunch, but since starting Cook Smarts I feel like I have too much food with all the leftovers.
These days I just keep mixed greens and some cheese on hand to turn anything into a salad. I’m not buying as many side veggies for lunch though… like peppers and carrots and things.
Everything looks delicious as always!!
I know you’ve had many of the Naturally Nutty nut butters. I was wondering if you’ve tried the new Pepita Sun Oatmeal Seed Butter? It sounds interesting but was curious of the texture…
It’s good and cinnamony!
Ooooh that mocha almond butter sounds delicious!
As soon as I read ‘frittata’ I got a huge craving for one! That sounds good right now! I’m also really anxious for warm weather and the corresponding foods. I’m loving hot homemade chai teas with almond milk and Indian, Thai, and Nepalese food, but after last week’s below zero weather for multiple days in a row, I’m ready for some heat and smoothies! And cold salads!
These meals look so great!
I love taster plate breakfast too…nut butter, eggs, yoghurt and some sort of fruit, toasted rye if I have any at hand! All the good stuff!
every week when you post these i swear i am going to try pb&j with egg and i somehow never do… this week it is going to happen! =)
kinda jealous that you can have a variety of great harvest treats daily! Perks of being the boss!! We get a loaf of honey whole wheat a week and get special loaves when we fill our bread card but to have others daily would be awesome!! Love GHB! ok well I meant great harvest bread not the other GHB! 😉
The weather has made it so hard for me to get my veggies. I just cannot do cold salads when the cold is out. This has led to very creative and sometime yummy warm veggie dishes.
Everything is so well balanced and it just looks SO delicious. Your pictures always make me crave something. This time raspberry jam 🙂
Hi there – I’ve always wondered how you sear your bananas? It looks so yummy and I’ve always wanted to give it a try. Thanks!
I just add a little butter To a skillet and cook on medium high
Hey Kath, when you add a pinch of your own salt, how much would you say you add (1/4t or 1/2t?)
Thanks!
1/16th to 1/8?