Hi friends! Happy Monday and happy July. I hope the new week and new month are off to a great start for you.

WEEKEND IN YOGA TEACHER TRAINING WITH ALL THE PRANAYAMA

I spent this past weekend taking yoga teacher training (I’m participating in an advanced studies program this summer through Asheville Yoga Center). I was on Zoom Friday night and 8a-5p Saturday and Sunday. It was the third of our six weekends so I am halfway done!

This weekend was a lot. In addition to the sheer amount of hours I spent on Zoom, it was also a lot of information and a lot of breathing practices (pranayama). The focus of the weekend was pranamaya kosha which is our energy body and it’s most effectively managed through breath. We did hours and hours of various breath practices over the course of the weekend. It was a lot to process and I experienced a full range of feelings about it from “I love this” to “I am so over this, make it stop.” Our teachers validated this roller coaster of emotions as a normal part of the process.

Luckily, I had an emotional support doodle to help me through. 🙂 While this training is challenging on many levels, I’m mostly feeling grateful for the push.

And now let’s do a massive pivot from yoga to food. It’s been a month since I shared a recent eats recap so we have much to catch up on. I’m going to do breakfast and lunch in this post and I’ll do dinner next.

RECENT EATS: BREAKFAST

Half of a cinnamon raisin bagel with butter and cream cheese, cherries and cottage cheese scrambled eggs with Wild Brine green kraut.

PSA: I know a lot of us are already on the Good Culture cottage cheese train but they have cream cheese now. I picked some up at Whole Foods a few weeks ago and it’s good. Not quite as smooth/creamy as some cream cheese spreads and very tangy but overall I like it and I’d buy it again.

Lots of smoothies and the occasional smoothie bowl here and there.

And if I’m spending a long morning at the gym training clients, I almost always throw a Perfect Bar in my bag. Current favorite flavors are chocolate chip cookie dough and salted caramel.

RECENT EATS: LUNCH

Here’s where things get a little more interesting! Lots of interesting and delicious lunch ideas for you here.

Let’s start with the bowls and then we’ll move to sandwiches.

This is Trader Joe’s frozen multigrain blend with vegetables – it’s a staples Trader Joe’s buy for me. I quickly heated it through in a skillet with olive oil and served it over arugula with avocado, roasted red pepper hummus, tzatziki and feta. Pita chips for scooping it up.

Mixed greens tossed in olive oil, balsamic and sea salt with chickpeas, deli turkey, blueberries, dried cranberries, avocado, feta and pepitas.

Chopped romaine with white beans, avocado, carrots, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, pepitas, feta and ranch.

Chopped romaine, balsamic, olive oil, sea salt, beets, salmon, avocado, apples, pepitas, dried cranberries, feta and Trader Joe’s goddess dressing.

Baby spinach, farro, deli turkey, apples, avocado, tomatoes, feta and pepitas with Marzetti Simply balsamic vinaigrette.

Mixed greens and arugula, avocado, hardboiled egg, tomatoes, pepitas, radishes, feta, dried cranberries and poppyseed dressing.

Missed greens tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, honey and sea salt and topped with apples, avocado, beets, dried cranberries, toasted pecans, quinoa, feta, tomatoes and poppyseed dressing.

Arugula, quinoa, jammy eggs, avocado, cottage cheese, roasted red pepper hummus and feta. The only thing I would change about this is to leave the feta off. Didn’t need it with the cottage cheese.

Mixed greens tossed in olive oil, lemon juice, honey and sea salt with quinoa, avocado, beets, chopped leftover chicken, dried cranberries, feta, apples and Trader Joe’s goddess dressing.

Trader Joe’s ready-to-eat kitchari with buttered, toasted naan, cherries and strawberries.

Now, let’s do the sandwiches!

First tomato sandwich of the summer! YAY!!!! Sourdough, mayo, bacon, tomatoes and arugula on homemade sourdough.

Turkey sandwich on honey wheat bread with mayo, mayomust, avocado, cheese and sweet pickles. Cherries and salt and vinegar kettle chips on the side.

Egg salad on honey wheat with arugula and tomatoes. I haven’t had egg salad in forever and I’ll be making it on the regular this summer! I just chopped hard boiled eggs and mashed them with mayo, diced celery and sweet pickles.

PBJ – there are some days where I just want a super simple lunch and PBJ always fits the bill.

And that wraps us up for today! I’ll be back with some dinner ideas for you next.

QUESTIONS

Do you eat more salads or sandwiches for lunch? 

Do you ever practice any breathing exercises? 

What fruit are you loving at the moment?