A Day in the Life: Food Edition

If you haven't figured it out from this here blog, my life is pretty darn busy but I crave routine and do a pretty good job at sticking to a "regular" schedule, even if it does start at 5am and end sometime after 10pm. One of my most consistent things in life is definitely my eating. I love to eat, and love trying new foods and new restaurants but during the week I am the most boring person ever because I literally eat the same things at the same time every single day. At dinner, we get buck wild, but between 5 and 5, I am like a senior citizen. Here is a day in the life of what I am munching on:

5:00am (or whenever I stop hitting snooze): one cup of coffee brewed at home with a hefty splash of half and half. I recently switched to the "light cream" store brand but that is as low on the fat as I will go - milk just does not do it for me like cream does.

Post-run/workout (around 6:45): second cup of coffee with cream

Commute breakfast (between 7:15 and 8): I make this smoothie with a scoop of Target brand vanilla protein powder. If there is fruit that needs to get used up I will throw that in too (berries go well as does pineapple). I drink it on my walk to the train and am usually done before I sit down to read my book because it is super delicious. 

10:00am Snack: Kashi Chocolate Almond and Sea Salt bar. These are seriously the best thing ever and I do not get sick of them; even the hubs eats one every day!

12:15pm Lunch: Usually a salad with spring greens, cucumbers, bell peppers, avocado and Simply Dressed ranch dressing. I try to get creative with my salads, but since most our things are packed and I am not feeling like being creative in our mostly packed kitchen I have been keeping it simple. Again, I hate to waste food so I will also throw in anything that needs to get used up (pasta salad, cheese). 

2:00pm Snack: Cabot Vanilla Bean Greek Yogurt (seriously the creamiest and most delicious thing ever) topped with whatever granola NatureBox has sent. NatureBox is this awesome snack delivery service that sends us five healthy, yummy snacks each month; you can pick things you like or get surprised, which is what I like to do.

6:30 Dinner: We try to have dinner between 6 and 6:30 and are pretty good at sticking to that depending on our commute home and what we are making. This is the one meal a day where I really like to switch it up, although we do tend to keep some meals in our weekly rotation like this avocado bowl and one night of grilled dogs and burgers (it is summer, after all). Before our kitchen was all packed up and I spent most of my time stressing about our home buying situation, I liked to try at least one new recipe a week and let Matt take one night to get creative, though he usually does a weekend thing because he gets all sorts of master chef and not so weeknight-quick in the kitchen (not complaining! He too is an awesome cook!). During the cooler months we do at least one slow-cooker meal a week and then on Thursdays we have family dinner night at my AILs and get some sort of culinary masterpiece that we also get to eat without chasing Maddie back to the table.
We always eat dinner at the table, which we have done since Maddie was born. We talk about our day, put some classical or jazz in the background and really just take some time to relax and enjoy our meal. Granted, Maddie is unable to sit still for more then 30 seconds and has the palate of a, well, toddler but we hope that as she gets older this ritual is a good, consistent time where she knows she has our undivided attention.

Thanks for reading! Time to go grab a bite!