This blog post is a follow up to last week’s “Nutrition Week of 01/25 to 01/31“.  In last week’s post I shared about my lifestyle as a No Meat Athlete.  I also discussed a few of my favorite resources I use while meal planning for a family of four.

Here are the meals from this week:

MONDAY

Since hubby’s stomach does not agree with any kind of peppers or hot spices, I omitted the red chilies and red chili powder that this soup recipe called for.  Needless to say, it was missing some kick.

Before making tonight’s dinner, I ran 4 miles on the levee while the 10 & 13 year-old rode their bicycles.

 

 

TUESDAY

Again, this recipe called for both red pepper flakes and red bell pepper.  I omitted both to spare dear hubby of some discomfort.  He really enjoyed the salad.  As for myself, however, it tasted as though it was missing something… like some red pepper flakes and red bell pepper.

Tonight’s dinner for followed by an 8 mile run on the treadmill at the gym while catching up with this season of The Bachelor.

 

 

WEDNESDAY

Do you ever have one of those night’s where mid meal prep you want to throw in the towel and order pizza?  Well, this was almost one of those nights.  I was on a time crunch because the 10 year old wanted to go to his weekly Club 45 at church.  I followed the recipe to a T, yet my sweet potato chunks just wouldn’t soften. This recipe was almost a disaster.

Fortunately, after some researching on Google, I tried increasing the over temp and letting them roast longer.  This worked.  It wasn’t done in time for the 10 year old to make it to church, but he equally enjoyed spending the evening with Dad watching the new Goosebumps movie.

I’m normally not a sweet potato fan, but these were delicious!  It was my first time making a marmalade and I felt like a “real” chef. I’d love to report that the whole family enjoyed my meal and the rest of the evening went fantastically, but that would be a lie.  Neither child cared for this recipe.  They both did their best to try it and they both tried to be as polite as possible, yet mama wasn’t happy.  I had spent 1.5 hours cooking a fabulous meal in the kitchen and now no one was appreciating my hardwork!  Thankfully, after a quick breathing session in the bedroom after dinner, I came back downstairs, apologized for my attitude (yes, even mama has an attitude every once in a while), and then headed to the gym with the 13 year old.

5 miles on the treadmill while watching Bob Harper on The Biggest Loser, was just what I needed!

THURSDAY

After last night’s fiasco, I knew that I wanted something easy and delicious.  I got just that when I chose to make the Mozzarella, Pear, & Date Salad with an Orange & Balsamic Reduction.  This was my first time making a dressing as a reduction and it turned out wonderfully!

The kids and husband were happier this evening because I paired their salad with meatballs, mashed potatoes, and gravy.  As for myself, I skipped everything else and just ate the salad.  This was the 10 year old’s first time eating dates (my first time purchasing dates) and he loved them.  Yay!

Tonight’s dinner was followed by a speedy 5 mile run outside while sporting my SmarterLife LED headlamp… safety first!

FRIDAY

Friday evenings are usually date nights for the husband and I.  Most Friday evenings you’ll find us at one of our favorite local Mexican restaurants.  If I could only eat one type of food for the rest of my days here on Earth, it would be Mexican food.  Albeit not the healthiest of foods, this spinach tamale is to die for!  I keep it light by only ordering one tamale instead of the two that it normally comes with and I try to limit my intake of chips and salsa. I also stick with water to drink and try to drink at least two full glasses while at dinner.

After dinner we stopped by a Redbox to pick up a free rental (yay promo codes) of Bridge of Spies.  Overall, a fantastic way to close out the week and to bring on the weekend!

SATURDAY

I love Saturday mornings!  My alarm was set for 7:30, but my body woke up naturally at 6:30.  I laid in bed for a while catching up on emails, Instagram posts, blogs, etc., and then finally made my way to the running clothes I had nicely laid out the night before.  I fueled my 12 mile run with a Larabar, and then was out the door by 7:28.  Less than two blocks away from the house my Fitbit vibrated letting me know that it was time to wake up.

This week’s 12 miles was faster than last week 12 miles (Yay!) and I wore a new quarter zip jacket that worked out perfectly for my morning run (Yay!).  Upon arriving home and taking a hot shower, I decided to make myself some scrambled eggs with spinach, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and avocados.  It was oh-so-delicious!

As for dinner, my parents invited hubby and I to meet them at Applebee’s along with my brother and sister-in-law.  I’ll confess that Applebee’s is not our favorite and I knew it would be a challenge to find good vegetarian options at a pub-style restaurant. It was not my first time, however, looking through a menu that had zero vegetarian options.  Most meals can easily be adapted to become vegetarian.

I ordered the Thai Shrimp Salad. I asked for the shrimp and dressings to be on the side and asked for additional lettuce.  I gave the shrimp to the husband and then started to inspect my salad.  The picture on the right below is what was brought out to me.  Does that look like I was given extra lettuce?!  No.  I asked again for extra lettuce to be brought out to me.  I then also noticed that they had forgotten the edamame.  I asked for that to also be brought out to me.  Needless to say, I was not raving about the service nor salad at Applebee’s. I will not be eager to return unless it is for another evening spent with family.

SUNDAY

Sunday morning’s 10K Super Sunday Run was fueled by a Skinny Vanilla Latte from Starbucks and a Larabar.  Post run I enjoyed some potato wedges at the post race party. For lunch I suffered through another meal of spinach tamales (wink, wink) with hubby, my in-laws, and brother-in-law.

As for dinner, let me just say that I am so glad that we do not have cable in our house! We own a Roku and with that we were able to stream the Super Bowl. Commercials are terrible!  After watching several commercials for the new Pizza Hut stuffed garlic knots pizza, we caved and ordered one to be delivered.  It was delicious, but I noticed a big difference in my energy level after eating a high fat junk food.  I immediately wanted to take a nap!  I am so glad to have changed my eating habits and lifestyle so that I am now able to notice a difference when I fill my body with… junk.

Do you notice a difference when you eat junk?  How do you avoid falling victim to enticing commercials?  Were you like me and wanted to take a nap while watching the Super Bowl?