Happy Friday! It’s been a gorgeous week here in Charlotte and full of all the normal things – training clients, teaching classes, running and momming.

Finn and I spent over two hours at the park yesterday afternoon and it was just perfect – low 70s, low humidity, sunshine and fresh air. I’m on a mission to do more reading and less scrolling so trying to tuck my Kindle into my purse more often these days. I am currently reading an old TJR – One True Loves.

I’ve got a couple of months worth of dinner highlights for you in this post so be prepared to finish this post feeling hungry! Lots of delicious things coming your way.

RECENT EATS: DINNER

Salsa chicken bowl.

• Parsley-lime rice (was supposed to be cilantro but accidentally bought parsley – whoops!)
• Shredded cheddar
• Frozen (heated) corn
• Black beans
• Crockpot salsa chicken – one pound of chicken breasts, one jar of salsa and some taco seasoning. Cook on low for about 6-8 hours, until falling apart/shreds easily.
• Trader Joe’s Guacasalsa (this stuff is soooo good!)
• Avocado
• Corn chips

Leftover salsa chicken, roasted sweet potatoes and roasted broccoli and baby portobello mushrooms.

Air fried tofu over steamed jasmine rice with a bag of frozen Asian veggies from ALDI and Trader Joe’s jarred yellow curry sauce.

Baked salmon and frozen Asian veggies from Trader Joe’s over quinoa with the same yellow curry sauce.

Spaghetti night is always a winner. My favorite spaghetti sauce, chopped salad with Italian dressing and French bread. I can’t tell you the last time I bought Italian dressing and it was so tasty!

Roast salmon cooked with a sea salt, a seasoning rub and lemon slices, roasted okra, roasted potatoes. Tzatziki and ketchup on the side for dipping salmon and potatoes respectively.

Turkey meatloaf, roasted potatoes and my favorite braised red cabbage. Such a great side for fall!

Loaded baked potato with butter, shredded cheese, cottage cheese and broccoli. For a perfect baked potato – wash it well, poke about 12 holes in it with the tip of sharp knife, coat in oil and kosher salt and bake at 350 until internal temp is 205 with an instant read thermometer.

Love a chicken parm night! Here’s my go-to recipe. I used jarred Rao’s marinara sauce and that stuff is so good! I get it for a good price at Sam’s Club or ALDI.

Leftovers with sautéed zucchini.

Roast chicken with barbecue sauce, roasted brussels and mashed sweet potatoes.

Crockpot pork roast, roasted carrots and potatoes, sliced tomatoes. For the pork roast – thinly slice an onion and place at bottom of crockpot. Season pork generously with salt and pepper, place on top of onions, pour in enough chicken stock to cover onions/bottom of pork roast. I used a bone-in pork shoulder for this and it was delish!

Leftover shredded pork over rice, sautéed squash and zucchini, shredded sharp cheddar and Trader Joe’s pepita salsa.

And then I had quite a few quesadillas with the remaining leftovers. Pork, barbecue sauce, avocado and cheese. Either served with salsa or ranch.

Filet seared in a cast iron skillet and finished in the oven until internal temp reached about 125-130. Let rest for five minutes before serving. Sautéed mushrooms on top, baked potato and roasted asparagus.

Trader Joe’s pre-marinated herb chicken thighs roasted with green beans and served with a boxed wild rice blend from ALDI and a scoop of hummus.

Whole Foods frozen Pacific Protein Blend – add feta, sautéed chicken sausage and hummus. This veggie blend has lentils, broccoli, edamame, broccoli and more – and 25 grams of protein in the bag (I eat the whole thing). Note, it is rather heavy on the fiber. Once you add the chicken sausage, you have quite the protein-packed meal!

Trader Joe’s Southwestern Chopped Salad – add tomatoes, avocado, air-fried Trader Joe’s gluten-free chicken nuggets and a little bit of ranch.

Another dinner salad at Midwood Smokehouse with Finn. This is their “Fixin to Chicken” salad and it’s so good! Pulled barbecue chicken, avocado, tomatoes, corn, black beans, cheese, tortilla strips and chipotle ranch. The best part? It’s only $14 and so generously portioned. We also got a basket of hush puppies.

Here are two dinners that my dad made on our last trip to Florida…first was pork chops and gravy, stuffed acorn squash, buttermilk biscuits.

And second was one of my fave dinners of all time – corned beef, cabbage and roasted potatoes.

And finally, we went out to our favorite seafood spot for dinner on our last night in Florida. I had grilled grouper tacos, green beans, the tastiest cheese grits and about a million hush puppies. Need more cheese grits in my life this fall/winter.