What We’ve Been Eating Lately

For the past week or so, I’ve been sharing my meals on my Instagram. So far, you guys really seem to enjoy seeing what we eat on a daily basis! I wanted to show readers that we aren’t eating extravagant meals every day and that sometimes, cooking means throwing together a big salad, or making a giant vat of soup and eating it for four days straight. 

While I love sharing actual recipes each week, I think it’s important to show how we throw together quick meals. Eating doesn’t have to be a completely thought-out process or plan. Sometimes you don’t feel like eating what’s on the menu, or you’re too tired to fix the recipe you chose. 

So, I started photographing my meals on my nice wooden boards (instead of snapping pics at the table, they looked terrible lol) and posting them to IG! Every week, I’ll collect all of my pictures and explain more in detail about how I made the dish or products that were used. These posts are in NO WAY meant to make you feel bad about the current way you are eating. Don’t feel pressured to eat the exact same way we do– everyone’s bodies and taste buds are different. These posts are meant to inspire you to throw together dinner, revisit old recipes, and try new products and foods. Let’s dive in! 

Big Salads

Last week, Nick suggested garlic angel hair pasta + big salads for our meal plan (yes, he really did!). I love garlic angel hair (see the next pic down) and it tastes great just by itself (without getting to healthy and trying to add veggies or protein to it). A big salad solves that problem– adding bacon for protein (to give that satiety and flavor factor) and a nice helping of veg to keep things fresh. 

I made a trip out to Trader Joe’s and bought a bunch of rainbow carrots, heirloom baby tomatoes and avocado which made this salad almost too pretty to photograph. *Laughter note* Nick thought the purple shaved carrots was some type of meat but he couldn’t figure out what kind. Towards the end of his salad he asked “What kind of meat is in this salad?”– holding up a piece of shaved purple carrot. Hehe. I guess carrots have a meaty texture…? 

Garlic Parmesan Angel Hair

Here’s our “special” angel hair. It’s nothing more than pasta + olive oil + minced garlic + parmesan. And a splash of red pepper flakes if you want some heat. Takes less than 5 minutes from start to finish. We usually have all the staples on hand too, so it’s an easy pantry go-to meal. 

Tomato Soup + Polenta Fries

Last Saturday was a super lazy day. Nick spent the whole day playing video games and I spent the whole day laying on the couch with this book, which I was completely enthralled with and sparked a two hour discussion with Nick about how we’re going to feed our kids (side note we don’t have any kids and won’t have any anytime soon lol). 

Tomato soup was from the carton (Trader Joe’s) and the polenta fries are my special recipe. 

Orange Chicken + Snap Peas + Couscous

Random note: never put cornstarch into your instant pot. I was fooling around with my IP a couple weeks ago and decided to dust a bunch of chicken cubes with cornstarch BEFORE putting into the machine– then I read the manual that this can causes scortching and burning and possible exploding of your IP. So I took all that diced cornstarched chicken and shoved it in the freezer for later.

Well this was later. Sunday I pulled it back out of the freezer, defrosted it (which took a good hour gah). Then I dipped it in flour, egg and panko and fried it in canola oil. We had a bottle of Panda Express orange sauce in the fridge so we topped the chicken plus some snap peas with the sauce and served with whole wheat couscous. Which, by the way, tasted like sawdust. Apparently couscous tastes like sawdust when it’s stale. 

Time to buy more couscous! The chicken and snap peas were delish though! 

Silver Dollar Pancakes + Bacon

Another awesome Trader Joe’s purchase– these adorable tiny silver dollar pancakes. They’re SO good! I’ve been warming up 6-7 at a time and covering with butter (who else butters their pancakes?) and lots of syrup. 

Kroger had nitrate-free bacon on sale for 50% off so I picked up two packs– we’ve been making bacon in the morning and our apartment smells AMAZING. Nothing like the smell of bacon to wake you up. 

Curry Ramen Soup + Zucchini Pancakes

Could this lunch be any more random? Sunday was my video shooting day so I had a ton of leftovers. Keep your eye on the lookout for videos of these two amazing recipes: Thai Curry Ramen and Zucchini Pancakes. 

If you think the sound of zucchini pancakes sound gross, man, you’re in for a surprise! They’re SO freaking good. I could have eaten the entire batch in one sitting if I wasn’t being mindful and wanting to save them for lunch this week. 

Pasta Fagioli Soup

This is one of Nick’s favorite soups! Two types of beans, pasta, tomatoes, carrots, celery, and ground beef in a tomato/stock broth. It’s really delicious, but with my IBS I can only eat one bowl and then I can’t eat any more… it’s unfortunate. I made a huge batch of this pasta fagioli soup and Nick’s been eating it for three nights now with homemade French bread. 

Homemade French Bread

A new hobby of mine is to make fresh French bread on Sundays. I found a really awesome recipe (I can’t remember where…) and have been fine tuning it every week. I’m still working on appearances– my loaves are a little uneven but hopefully after practice I’ll get those nice baguette shapes you see at the store. 

So that’s it! I like sharing my every day meals with you guys. We aren’t cooking extravagant meals every day (sometimes I think this blog portrays that). Sometimes meals are as simple as angel hair with olive oil and parm. And that’s totally okay! 

What have you been eating lately?