For those of you who started reading within the past year, you may not know that I used to take pictures of all of my meals until I got laid off last summer. Gone was any desire to chronicle my day in food, especially since my days were so dull. How many days in a row could I say I ate a banana sandwich, it was good, and then I sat on my couch with my laptop and probably cried?
So I focused on my workouts, one of the only things I felt I had control over at the time, with all that extra time.
And it worked–I shattered my marathon goals last year.
Gratuitous marathon shot? Why not?
But anyway, I still eat, even though I don’t talk about it here.
Breakfast today: whole-grain Trader Joe’s waffles with banana and sunflower butter. (Whole Foods brand whole-grain waffles > Trader Joe’s whole-grain waffles.)
And still fairly healthily most of the time. Baked salmon, avocado, arugula and tomato on seven-grain. (From Delectica, for New Yorkers.)
But while photographing what I ate when I was losing weight was great because it made me not want to eat something unhealthy and then have to blog it, when I was unemployed and most vulnerable, I decided I didn’t want to worry about anyone judging that I was eating too much or not enough. <— This will likely never happen.
But during those losing-weight-and-photographing-my-meals days, I learned how to cook healthy food, and learned to dabble in cooking foods slightly more exotic than chicken parmigiana.
One of my favorite things I learned how to cook was a quick and easy stir-fry. Once I started at my last job, I found a soba noodle salad that I LOVED (if you work in Midtown West, go to Thalia’s Kitchen and get the soba noodle salad. You won’t regret it.) It’s now one of my go-tos. I saw a soba noodle salad at Delectica this afternoon, but it had peanut oil, and so I couldn’t get it, but was inspired tonight to make my own.
(I should add that, while writing this post, I saw Ashley tweet about a very similar recipe. Great minds think alike.)
Mine included:
Soba noodles
Broccoli
Shredded carrots (thank you Trader Joe’s)
Sesame oil
Soy sauce
Chicken (pre-cooked. Again, thank you Trader Joe’s. It wasn’t the tastiest before coating it in the sauce, but it got better)
Red pepper flakes
Curry powder
Chili powder
Easiest preparation ever. I’m not even going to call this a recipe: Sautee veggies, chicken, oil and soy sauce with spices. Cook noodles. Dump noodles on top of chicken and veggies. Eat.
I made the entire package of chicken and noodles, so it’s coming to work with me for the rest of the week.
Oh, about running? Yeah, 4 miles this morning. It was fine. Five miles tomorrow. Good night!
What’s your fast go-to meal?
I need to buy soba noodles again. I love them, but sort of just forget about them LOL.
My quick go to meal is to throw whatever meat or beans + any cooked veggies + salsa + small amount of cheese in a whole wheat tortilla. Roll into a burrito and bake in convection oven for 15 minutes at 350. In a true pinch, microwave it. Healthy, filling and fast.
Fast go to meal – either a sandwich (usually of the grilled cheese variety) or eggs. I could eat eggs at every meal and I’d be happy.
My fast go-to meal is a salad. We always have thick slices of ham in the fridge, so I chop that up and throw it into a salad. Makes for a quick and healthy meal! 🙂
Our to go meal is chicken fajitas or salmon. We usually keep cooked chicken in the refrigerator and some bell pepper. For the salmon we keep Paul Prudhomme’s Salmon Magic Seasoning. It’s amazing!
Stir fries are great like that. I made a 5-ingredient coconut curry tonight that we loved!!!
Since I started working from home, I love making kale omelets for lunch. My workload has been slow this summer though; I totally get the loss of motivation to photograph daily eats (um and maybe the crying on the couch too. . .)
I love love love stir fry! Gotta convince my husband still…how can he not adore them???
My favorite go-to is a panini. Any kind but they’re always quick, easy, and delicious! Especially with a side of roasted sweet potatoes. I could eat it every day!
My go to meal definitely includes eggs. I could make breakfast for any meal of the day and be happy. Love.
That recipe looks good, will give it a go – thanks!!
My go-to meal is always scrambled eggs on toast – with some peanut butter on the toast. Heaven!!!
@Cathryn @ myheartscontent: Eggs AND peanut butter on toast? Interesting…
I got that salad from Thalia today. Love it! My only concern is that it’s way too many servings of soba noodles (I eat the whole thing). What do you think?
@Kaitlin: Maybe? Although…given the state of my belly, I am probably the wrong person to ask.
I’m not gonna lie, soba noodles have been a staple in my house. I’m actually make it tonight (again)! Love them so much!
My favorite fast meal is pizza – I slop some tomato sauce and cheese on a frozen gluten-free pizza crust and make a quick green salad while it’s baking, and 15 mins later it’s dinnertime 🙂 I also love making fried rice, it’s a great way to use up leftover rice and those random veggies that I find hanging out in the back of my crisper…