Happy long weekend Friday! 🙂
We’re sticking around Charlotte this weekend since we have so much coming up in June. I’ve got a hair cut/color scheduled that I’m excited about as well as hanging out with friends and a Memorial Day cookout. Luckily, many of my friends are also in town this weekend.
Remember how I was in a lunch rut? Well, I got myself out of it this week! Check out these lunches!
Mashed sweet potatoes topped with braised collards, a perfect egg, avocado and Be Runa Garlic Cayenne Seed Salt.
A salad with arugula, almonds, dried cranberries, shredded cabbage, sprouts, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado and a sweet potato falafel at Namastay Kitchen.
Another sweet potato and collard bowl, this one with two scrambled eggs and avocado. I had several people ask on Instagram if I have a recipe for braised collards on my site. I don’t, I’ll get on it though. Good to know y’all are interested in this southern veggie! (There is bacon involved in the cooking of the collards!)
And finally, a kale, quinoa and roasted chick pea salad. I made sure to photograph all the steps for this recipe so that I can share it next week…I am totally hooked!
This week seemed to pass in a flash. After last Friday’s post about this busy season of life I’m happy to report that while this week was jam-packed, I was able to add a good amount of rest/chill/relax into it. We had torrential rain the first part of the week (see how full the creek is behind the girls?) but the weather has cleared up the back half of the week. Me and the girls have been able to get our walks in the last two days and we’ll be heading out again after I finish writing this post. It’s 65 and sunny out there!
There was a time when I didn’t really enjoy walking. I was like, “if we’re not running…what are we doing!?,” but it’s honestly become one of my favorite ways to relax and unwind over the last few years. It just feels so good, mentally and physically.
Here’s a glimpse at the rest of our week from a dinner/social standpoint.
On Sunday night I made braised collards, smashed roasted potatoes and chicken sausage with grain mustard. This was a complete hack of a Blue Apron meal. Funny story…Tanner unpacked the Blue Apron box this week and didn’t realize that the protein was under a separate piece of cardboard/cooler packs and accidentally threw away all of the protein! I felt so bad for him when he realized what he’d done. This was supposed to be a beef knockwurst with some sort of “quick sauerkraut” and potato mix and I just went my own direction with chicken sausage we had in the fridge and collards that needed to be cooked. Basically the only thing I used from Blue Apron was the grain mustard. Haha. I’ll use the potatoes and cabbage for something else later.
On Monday night I made the Blue Apron recipe for squid ink pasta with peas and shrimp. We had shrimp in the freezer that I defrosted to make this dish.
Tuesday night brought chicken tostadas a la Blue Apron. We both agreed this was kind of like a Mexican pizza and ended up cutting it into slices and picking it up. Roasted squash with a chili powder blend and cojita cheese on the side.
On Wednesday night we had a 50th birthday party for one of our yogis at Namastay Kitchen. This plate is just a small sampling of the damage I did to the truffle fries and sushi platter. 😉 I have been so hungry since teaching these extra strength classes!
The cake was amazing! Our friend really enjoys Italian culture (she lived in Italy for a while) and her favorite dessert is this napoleon pastry which features layers of puff pastry with marscapone and custard topped with a sweet icing. (I googled the history of this dessert if you’re interested in reading more.) This cake was special-ordered from Amelie’s here in town. It was such a non-traditional birthday cake but I LOVED it!
And finally, last night I ate this bowl of leftover chicken tostada topping over brown rice with salsa, avocado and a squeeze of lime. I attended a meet and greet for the women on our street and then heated this up when I got home. It was SO awesome to meet everyone and we’re forming a monthly women’s group. I’m grateful for the spirit of community that my neighbors have. <3
Okay, off to walk those girls. I hope you have the best weekend!
Do you enjoy going for walks? Do you walk as part of your commute? Or do you live in a walkable city?
Have you ever tried collards? Do you like them?
