friday 5 at the farm: feel good meals this week

Happy Friday!! Lots to celebrate over here. Lots of good stuff to press again into our flesh so it becomes more a part of us.

Yesterday I got to nourish my soul as much as my body by gobbling up two hours of top-shelf conversation with my cousin Jen. Actually our moms are cousins. More importantly, we are friends and have been since we were little girls.

Jen and me at Roman Nose state park, circa the 80’s. Climbing rocks in flip flops? Since this is a food post, I will tell you that I clearly remember eating cottage cheese with pineapple that day, on a bed of lettuce. We also roasted hot dogs.

I am always so grateful to grab time with this woman. She lives in Colorado now, not far from Jocelyn. Needless to say, we have some fun activities planned for my next drive up.

I love you Jen!! Thanks for sharing your heart and your cake.

Real quick, five meals that made me feel great this past week.

I do not “meal-prep” in the traditional hashtag sense of the word, though I admire those of you who do. How fun to see what other people eat, especially folks with similar goals and lifestyles. For us, I just plan loose menus aiming for as many vegetables as I can find, some lean-ish protein, eggs, fruits, good grains and cereals, and, okay, copious amounts of caffeine. Also popcorn.

Close observers might notice a conspicuous absence of tortilla chips these days. Just an experiment to see I die from not eating them?

When I hydrate completely and nourish myself with just a little intention, I always feel better. Happier, more energetic, stronger for good consecutive days of running and farm chores, sleepier at night, comfier with life in general.

Handsome feels better with good habits, too. He and I eat the same more than our friends might believe. I might eat slightly bigger salads than he does, and he might like potatoes more than I do, but otherwise? Like 67.814% the same.

Onward!

1. Apple Oats & Strong Coffee with Full Fat Half and Half, no sugar: I ate this late Tuesday morning after running nine miles, six with my friend Sheila and three solo. I was cold, wet, happy, and pleasantly depleted. I got home and craved something sweet. Normally I put runny eggs in my plain oats, but this day a Granny Smith apple was perfect. Loads of cinnamon. I was at max energy for hours. And behold the extreme volume of froth on that coffee, thanks to my $1.79 IKEA gadget. Obsessed. 335 calories, 68 carbs, 3 fat, 12 protein.

2. Roasted Broccoli with Quinoa, Lean Ground Beef, & a Parsley Mountain: A few cups of broccoli thawed and roasted, a nice sized patty of lean ground beef, and a hefty scoop of quinoa-wild rice mix. I smothered all of it with fresh parsley and added mustard instead of salad dressing. I was so full and content. 537 calories, 15 fat, 55 carbs, 53 protein.

3. The Egghead at Red Cup: Thursday was lunch with Jen. We met in OKC at the Red Cup, an adorable, artsy coffee shop that has evolved nicely over the last couple of decades. First I ate this picturesque sandwich you see here, and washed it down with some pretty decent French Press coffee. The bread was marbled rye, and the good stuff inside was a fluffy egg or two, avocado slices, some salad type things, and maybe a smear of hummus? Delicious. No exact nutrition data to share, but I felt great after eating it and had energy all afternoon. See below for our dessert…

4. Vegan Peach Cake: Jen and I nibbled together on this cold, fluffy, nutty, fruity mound of indulgence in between updating each other on our lives lately, our hearts’ desires, and what books we both have read. We made this cake last a long while, man! And by the end of our two-hour lunch, still half of it remained on the plate. Not because it wasn’t good, because it was. It was just so dense. And we were both already so full from our actual food! Yum.

5. Green Salad with Broccoli Slaw & Sirloin: Have you ever tried a baggie of that raw broccoli slaw from the produce department? I grabbed one a few days ago for a great price and have to admit, I love the convenience. I recently saw the idea of using these tiny veggies slivers in a stir fry, which I will eventually do. So far, on a “big salad” night I just added about half a cup of it, plain and raw, to a bed of chopped romaine and tomato, topped it with several ounces of petit sirloin and some vinaigrette, and called it a huge win. I ate a big handful of “air-fryer” russet potato fries afterwards, too. Yum. 464 calories, 38 carbs, 15 fat, 42 protein.

Food regrets this week? Nope. We were well fed and happy every day, for which I am grateful. I feel super fortunate.

Wednesday night we ate that slightly famous homemade Chick-Fil-A pan-fried “pickle chicken,” this time on toasted hamburger buns, and I added cheese and peppers to mine. This dish did not make my top 5, but it was really good. I call it an extra win because I relaxed enough to enjoy every bite despite not being able to run that day. Still, let’s not discuss nutrition on that. Thanks. : )

Let’s admire a llama instead.