The second half of this summer has been a wild ride of eating, drinking, traveling and celebrating. Between our beach trips, Sonoma, social events, and Mazen’s birthday I’m ready to settle down and eat kale for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I tend to get in the habit of eating based on a snowball effect. If I have a healthy week, I will stay on a roll, but the same happens if I travel too much – I get used to eating more than I need and it’s hard to break the habit. Thus, I’m feeling the need to tip my squiggly line back downward. I know if I “fake it until I make it” I’ll get there. It’s just those first few days (ok maybe a week) that is the hardest. It’s time for a system reset!
At least our home-cooked meals have been pretty healthy!
I started the week off with a green smoothie (from Tina’s book!) and almond butter toast on Great Harvest High Five.
Next up was a big yogurt bowl topped with fruit and granola. Look at that blackberry!!!
Matt stayed home for breakfast one day last week which meant a little bacon ended up on my plate! Along with swirl bread, eggs and peach.
More amazing blackberries with eggs and toast.
And finally, Honey Whole Wheat toasted along with eggs and fruit.
I’ve been buying these locally made corn tortillas at the market. I have discovered they make an amazing instant quesadilla in our toaster oven – just one slice of cheese in the middle, “baked” for 4 minutes and then folded in half. Served with leftovers from dinner and a Siggi’s on the side!
Next up: a No Bull Burger on a Virginia roll with ketchup and pickle. Plus a peach! They have been so amazing this summer.
This dish is leftover baked local trout with green beans, greens and cheese. Quick n easy lunch piled into a bowl.
Have you locals been to Salt? It’s the corner café next to Jefferson Vineyards. I went to my friend Sarah’s new house and stopped in to pick up lunch.
I got the special sandwich – bacon, gorgonzola and asian pear slaw. Boy was it good!! The gorgonzola flavor melted throughout the whole sandwich.
And lastly, I had a salad with No Bull Burger (shared with Mazen) and Everona dairy cheese, plus some pepper, cuc and tomatoes
We have had some lovely dinners out at the picnic table. I’m so glad we finally got some benches to fit it! This dinner was the last night my parents were here, and we had shrimp burgers, okra and sautéed shitakes. My Better Than Fried Okra is one of my all-time favorite KERF recipes, and the shrimp burgers were some I made a while ago and froze that weren’t worthy of a recipe – tasty but kind of fall-aparty.
Next up:
This was a green shrimp curry we threw together one night when we had friends over. I made a quick curry sauce with a can of coconut milk, a few heaping tbsp of green curry paste, peas and spinach and shrimp that I had sautéed first. We served it over a bed of rice cooker brown rice. It came together in minutes and was pretty tasty!
We had Karen over for dinner one night. I made grits in the rice cooker, and we roasted chicken breasts along with potatoes and beans. A little beer for max flavor!
This low-key dinner happened on Friday night after I had been at the gym doing a workout class and eating chips and guac on the roof. Matt stayed back and prepped beans and fish so we could cook as soon as I got home. The trout was coated in cornmeal and panko and baked, and the beans were sautéed with a little extra panko breading plus lemon and garlic.
And lastly, we had Mona Lisa pasta (fresh pasta is soooo good!) topped with some of our frozen homemade pesto, fresh zucchini and chicken sausage. Mazen loved the noodles!
Tell me: what’s your best trick to get yourself back on track after a few too many vacations?
Anele @ Success Along the Weigh says
Everything looks great. Thanks for unintentionally reminding me I have shrimp I need to use!
Kaila @healthyhelperblog! says
Baked local trout sounds delicious! And that ‘special’ sandwich looks SO unique!
Nicole Bowles says
I always assume it’s easier to eat healthy in the summer because of the variety of fruit and vegetables available and in my refrigerator-I’m a CSA member. However, there are also the trips (I have my own wine tasting weekend starting today) that make eating healthy a continual conscious decision for me as well.
Katie @ Talk Less, Say More says
I’ve been having a few too many weeks lately where I feel like I’m over-indulging so I’ve been working on getting back on track, as well. For me, it’s meant about making sure I’m getting enough water and paying attention to my hunger cues.
Em says
I can’t say I have ever had the problem of having too many vacations! I wish I could have taken even just one of your trips – they looked wonderful!
jill says
I’ve been finding My Fitness Pal really helpful. I like looking back at how I’ve done over the day. I’m somebody who eats and then tends to forget the details. “Did I have a donut? Was that yesterday?” so MFP has been great.
Your photos are just lovely. If I were to take a picture of my breakfast, it would have been a blurry mess of eggs, avocado and toast, probably after I’d already devoured most of it. I don’t have a blog about food (or any blog at all), but still, it takes a lot of effort to nicely photograph something that you’re going to eat. I always worry about my food getting cold, so I appreciate that you take the time to snap some pics before you eat!!
Enjoy the day 🙂
KathEats says
🙂
mary @ minutes per mile says
overstock the fridge with veggies, and leave my Vitamix and juicer out on the counter! Part I keeps me eating all of the greens (because I hate letting food go to waste), and Part II keeps me from being too lazy to make green smoothies/juices
KathEats says
Leaving the vitamix on the counter is a great suggestion!
Carolyn says
That sandwich from Salt looks soooo good! And your shrimp burgers look like they held together just fine. 🙂
As far as getting back on track after a few too many vacations…can’t say I’ve ever had that problem lol. I usually can only afford to take one vacation every other year or so. But if I’ve gotten lazy about meal planning and find myself eating too much comfort food, I cut out bread for a week and really focus on lean proteins and vegetables. And fruit for dessert! 🙂
Oh the green curry looks amazing. Will you be posting a recipe? *hint hint* lol
KathEats says
I would need to remake it, but it turned out great, so yes!
Ali @ Taking My Chances says
That green curry shrimp recipe just got added to next week’s dinner menu– I jotted down your loose recipe and can’t wait to try it. I am a green curry addict!!
Rebecca says
Hi Kath,
Your meals always photograph so beautifully and I love your simple, classic dish-ware. I am curious what brand are your dishes? Also, do they hold up against scratches from silverware?
Rebecca
KathEats says
Most of them are Pottery Barn’s Great White dishes (the round plates, bowls and mini square plates). The big square plates were a wedding gift from Karen – they came from a specialty shop in SC. All of them have held up well. I’ve had most for 7 years since our wedding.
Sally says
The timing of this post is perfect – I, too, am trying to get back into the healthy swing of things after too many weeks of vacations, barbeques, parties, etc. Fall is a great time to restart! 🙂
Alex @ True Femme says
Every time I go on vacation I make sure to do a fridge clean before I go (I don’t eat everything, I might throw some things out) and then stock up on easy to prepare, healthy foods when I get back. I find that if I don’t have easy, quick meal ingredients on hand I want to go out to eat and that perpetuates “vacation meal” mode. Smoothies, tofu, easy stir fries and quinoa bowls are some of my favorites 🙂
Jesse says
the fried okra looks amazing!
http://semiweeklyeats.blogspot.com/2014/09/time-travel.html
Bri says
I make a point to work out 5 or 6 times a week when I’m trying to get myself back into healthy eating. I find the more I workout, the better I want to eat. Hence, I just make sure that no matter what, I get myself to go on a jog or go to yoga or barre method and my eating always seems to sort itself out in due time!
Julianna Foster says
all the eats look delicious, as usual! i feel like i’m in a cooking rut right now and am hoping to get out of it by scouring lots of blogs for recipes : )
Jenna says
An interesting post would be: what does the inside of your freezer look like? You are always talking about taking things out of your freezer and I’m wondering what types of things you currently keep in there?
KathEats says
It’s kind of a mess : ) But I’ll def. consider doing one!
[email protected] says
Lately posts always leave me wanting more eggs! I haven’t had scrambled ones all week…definitely on the agenda for tomorrow!!
RunEatRepeat says
Kath. I need you to please make me okra. I’ve never cooked it or really had it outside of a southern restaurant where it was fried. #help
Dana @ Fresh simple five says
Smoothies for breakfast and big salads for lunch always help me get back on track. Also just focusing on cooking as many meals as possible at home all make me feel better after about a week or so. I just discovered some wheat tortillas at Trader Joes and they make for great quick quesadillas too. Great to have on hand!
Tricia says
All of your food looks so delicious and your photos of your meals are great! Makes me want to work more on my cooking and photograph skills. 🙂
Kat says
Do you use dressing on your leftover lunch salads usually?? If so what do you use most in them?
KathEats says
I have been making a quick homemade dressing in the bottom of the bowl. A tsp of oil, a splash of vinegar, a drizzle of honey, a dollop of mustard and salt. Mix with a fork and then toss with greens
Alex @ Get Big, Go To Work says
That PTV green smoothie looks so delicious! After a heavy travel schedule or one too many parties out, I find that drinking water consistently and adding some extra veggies to my lunches and dinners help me get back on track.
Kelly says
Your salads always look so fresh! I have a hard time keeping my salads appetizing. 🙂 Do you buy pre-washed salad greens in a bag or the kind that you wash yourself?
KathEats says
Usually the prewashed kind – I really like alternatives to spring mix, which I think goes rotten faster. I like the power greens blends and things
Charise says
I have been having a very indulgent summer too – weekend fun stretching itself out over 3, 4, even 5 days some weeks! I try to get back to 5 nights/week cooking at home when things aren’t so crazy, wherein I ramp up veggie consumption and eat slightly fewer carbs, and try to make more of those I do eat whole grains than usual.
Melanie says
What helps me is to plan another milestone/vacation in which I want to look and feel my best. (i.e. right now I’m trying to keep things in line because I’d like to look nice for our family holiday photo session in November) When I can visualize that goal, I can better get my head back in the game.
Also I institute my absolutely no drinking during the week rule. Wine and beer is where I pile on a lot of calories when I’m being more relaxed with my habits. So I just try to tighten that up.
Lastly, sad as it is sounds, I just have really dial down social engagements and be boring for a little bit! This typically only works Jan-March!! 🙂