Easy Peasy Eggy Breakfast

For awhile I had been off the egg game. Years ago I did a food intolerance test and they told me I was allergic to eggs. Specifically the egg white! So, I got it in my head that I shouldn’t eat them. Since that time I’ve heard of how inaccurate those tests can be and since I loveeee eggs, I’ve been incorporating them back into my diet. Everything in moderation right?

My favorite way to eat an egg is pan fried over easy so the yolk runs out all over the dish.

I’ve also recently been indulging in my cheese cravings.

• Easy Peasy Eggsy Breakfast

  • Two eggs fried over easy in butter

  • Melted sharp cheddar cheese

  • Slice avocado

  • Sriracha sauce

Tuna Salad and Brussels

My fiancé left some tuna in the fridge. Not enough to make a meal, to I opened a new can and mixed them together. I figured it was a good way to make the most of leftovers and add some extra protein to my meal.

I’ve also been back into eating nice salads for lunch. We’ve been getting these great greens from our local supermarket. Gotham Greens, a Brooklyn based company, grows all of their greens in greenhouses. The specific variety we’ve been buying, Rocky Mountain Crunch, is grown in Colorado. And since we like to support anything local, we’ve been buying this.

A nice little lunch filled with protein, fiber, clean carbs, and healthy fat.

• Tuna Salad

  • Canned albacore tuna

  • Organic mayo

  • Dijon mustard

  • Soy sauce

  • Salt

  • Tomatoes

• Green Salad

  • Rocky Mountain Crunch

  • Cherry tomatoes

  • Opal apple

  • Organic red kidney beans

  • Raw chipped yellow onion

  • Avocado

  • Ground flax

  • Olive oil, red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar

  • Salt and pepper

• Sauteed crispy brussels

  • Brussels, stemmed and halved

  • Cooked on medium-high heat with olive oil and salt

  • Uncovered for 5 minutes, covered for 5 minutes (or until tender enough to pierce with a fork)

Quinoa Sardine Bowl

Most times when I’m putting a dish together I’m really just looking to hit certain macros (fat, carbs, protein, and fiber - although fiber might not technically be a macro). In this case my body was craving healthy fats and healthy carbs.

At the base of the bowl is about 1/2 cup of multi-colored quinoa with chopped white onion. I drained the extra virgin olive oil from the sardines over the quinoa and added 1 tbsp of soy sauce. Soy sauce and quinoa with raw onion is one of my favorite combinations.

1/4 sliced avocado, 1 can of skinless boneless wild caught sardines from Wild Planet, and a few halved cherry tomatoes, sprinkled with a pinch of sea salt.

A totally delicious and nutrient packed bowl for any time of the day.

Salmon with Garlic Lemon Butter Sauce

I’ve been getting these amazing wild sockeye whole salmon filets from this company Thunders Catch. I randomly stumbled upon them at a local food coop about an hour away from my house in this little town called Nederland. It was by far the best frozen fish I’d ever made. So I went onto the company’s website and discovered that I could order them in bulk, 25 lbs at a time. I had recently bought a freezer for a 1/4 share cow I purchased, so I went for it and bought the bulk filets.

Normally I bake the salmon with either just olive oil and salt, or sometimes I add a layer of dijon mustard to it. At 350 degrees it takes about 17 - 18 minutes. But I was wanting to try something different, so I searched for some recipes and came across this one.

Pan Seared Salmon with Garlic Lemon Butter Sauce

I love butter but I don’t cook with it enough, so I was excited to try this one. Also the only time I’ve ever had garlic, lemon, butter sauce was at a restaurant so I decided it was finally time to try it myself.

I didn’t pan sear the salmon though. Since the salmon I buy comes in big filets, I opted to bake it instead and add the sauce once it came out. I also used vegetable brother instead of chicken broth. For one, I didn’t have any chicken broth handy, and two chicken broth and salmon seemed like an odd pairing although I’m sure it would be delicious.

I paired my salmon with quinoa and mushrooms, and zucchini, red bell pepper, tomato, and garlic, sides that I had made the night prior. The salmon was absolutely delicious. The sweetness of the honey in the sauce brought out the sweetness of the fish that I had never experienced before. Overall a great recipe and a nice dish for dinner.

The Big Salad

Mixed greens

Black rice

Roasted chickpeas

Avocado

Raw carrot

Celery

Tomato

Olives

Raw red onion

Sardines (1 can)

Olive juice

Olive oil

Lunch: Salmon and a side salad

Wild sockeye salmon (bought frozen and thawed), pan fried for 3 minutes per side on medium heat. Simple seasoning, olive oil and salt

Side salad: mixed greens, apple, olives, grated Parmesan, roasted romanesco, oil, vinegar, and salt

Bowl of yogurt

Strauss European Style yogurt is my favorite. My mom and I discovered it on a trip in Wyoming at a cool little breakfast spot. Luckily my local grocer, Natural Grocers, sells it.

6 spoonfuls of yogurt

Almonds, walnuts, pecans, Brazil nuts

1 date, 2 prunes

1/2 tangerine

Sprinkle of chia seeds

Splash of homemade almond milk

Perfect way, to start the day.

Big Boy Breakfast Because It’s Almost Lunch

I went to bed hungry, which means I woke up hungry. I woke up at 6 am. Worked out from 9 - 10:30 am. I finally sat down to eat at 11 am. I was hungry, so I started with this.

Crock pot chicken, crock pot beets, sautéed mushrooms, avocado, boiled broccoli, chopped red onion, and chopped red cabbage. I put on a dressing made of olive oil, fig balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, sriracha, dijon mustard, pickle juice, and salt.

But after finishing it I was still hungry and I knew I had a long day of packing ahead of me, so I had this.

Overnight chia (2 tbsp of whole milk yogurt, 2 tbsp of chia, 1/2 cup soy milk), coconut flakes, ground flaxseed, frozen blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, brazil nuts, walnuts, almonds, pecans.

I’ve recently been thinking about the advice of “eat a big breakfast, and taper the rest of your meals throughout the day.” I think this is bad advice for the majority of people. Most people nowadays sit behind a desk for their work. And, most people fail to get the daily recommended amount of exercise each day (which still wouldn’t be enough to justify a big breakfast). Between those two factors, desk jobs and not exercising, I think it’s foolish for most people to eat a big breakfast.

Big breakfasts are reserved for people who perform manual labor, or who are professional athletes. In other words, people who need and are going to use the fuel. For the rest of us, eat a normal sized breakfast. Today was an exception for me, but on most days I go for 3 equal sized meals, and minimal snacking on fruit and nuts.

Cheers to your practice.

Dinner: Empty the refrigerator

Left, going clockwise:

Mix of leftover vegetables: roasted pepper, boiled broccoli, roasted potatoes with cheese and bacon jowl, roasted chickpeas.

Wild cod marinated in olive oil, butter, salt, chili pepper, chipotle pepper, coated with coconut flour, and pan fried. Topped with homemade tomato sauce: chopped red and white onion that we’re going bad, chopped garlic, leftover tomato paste from soup, chopped fresh tomato, olive oil, salt, parsley, water.

Spinach and arugula salad with olive oil, salt, fig balsamic vinegar, lemon squeeze.

Why it’s important to have food ready to go

I got back from a bike ride at 11:05 am. I saw I had an email from a Craigslist seller I was trying to buy dumbbells from. He said he’d be available until noon.

His house was 35 mins away, and I still needed to stop for cash. But I was hungry. I hadn’t eaten yet, and I had just finished my longest bike ride in months.

So I opened the fridge and through this tupperware together.

Ground beef burger. Roasted pepper. Chopped asparagus. Sliced tomatoes. Olives. Olive oil, salt, red wine vinegar, and apple cider vinegar.

It’s moments like these that show why preparing food ahead of time, having leftovers, is so important. If I didn’t have anything to eat I’d either skipped the meal, or grabbed something like a bar. Both not great choices when you’re hungry after a workout.

Spruce up your left overs

My girlfriend never finished her salad from CAVA the other day. It was getting to its last legs today so, I had it for lunch. But I didn’t eat it as is. An old wilted salad. I brought it back to life with fresh ingredients. 

Sliced apple. Raw red onion. Italian thin skin pepper. Slow cooked beets. Avocado. Cashews and walnuts. A side of chicken breast from the slow cooker. And finished it with a new dressing of salt, olive oil, and two types of balsamic vinegar. 

The result is this beautiful dish.

A few weeks ago we had left over pad Thai noodles. So I boiled broccoli. Cooked a piece of salmon. And added other fresh ingredients to use the noodles as part of my dish. 

Think about ways to transform leftovers before they hit the garbage. 

What are some ways you transform leftovers?

Homemade Stock and Soup

Homemade veggie stock from frozen vegetable scraps

Veggie soup: onion, garlic, carrots, celery, tomato, Bobs Red Mill Soup Mix (lentils, red lentils, barley, pasta), broccoli, kidney beans, tomato paste

Added 1 chicken thigh for added protein

Post Run Lunch Meal

I went for a long run this morning, at least compared to the amount I’d been running in the past year. I snacked on some nuts on the way home and prepared this “salad” when I got home. I wanted something meaty and tasty, and I got it.

I’m sure this will be just one of many meals I eat today #hungry.

Red leaf lettuce. Chicken thigh. Bacon jowl. Celery. Red onion. Spicy olives. Avocado.

Dressing: Olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, sriracha, salt.

Meaty Dinner

Homemade bunless burger patty, topped with red onion

Sautéed mushrooms (shiitake, white, baby bella)

Shredded and sautéed brussels sprouts

Cheesy potatoes

Wild Salmon Dinner and a Dressed Up Side Salad

Salmon. Boiled Beets. Sautéd Brussels. Mushrooms. Red leaf lettuce salad with avocado, red onion and roasted chick peas.

Breakfast: Eggs and Bacon (Jowl)

2 backyard chicken eggs scrambled with broccoli, avocado, white onion, and salt.

2 pieces of bacon 🥓 jowl 😋.

Dinner: Chicken, Veggies, and a Side Salad

Early dinner. Chicken thighs. Roasted Brussels. Boiled beet. Red leaf lettuce salad with 🥑, celery, red onion, red cabbage (dressing: olive oil, red wine vinegars, salt).

Lunch Option: Hearty Salad

Mixed greens. Chopped sweet pepper. Red onion. Raw broccoli. Walnuts. Pecans. Brazil nuts. Date. Spicy olives. Baked chicken thigh. Broccoli sprouts for topping. Side of kimchi.

Dressing: olive oil, apple cider vinegar, nutzo keto nut butter, Dijon mustard, salt.

Meat and Taters

Sometimes you just need something hardy. That stick to your ribs meals. We’d been eating super clean. Strict fish and veggies for about two weeks. We broke it with this banger of a meal.

Homemade blue cheese burger patties

Thin sliced roasted potatoes with garlic, onion, and walnuts

Bacon from our local rancher

Man was that good.

Breakfast: A mixed bag of food

My girlfriend always says I make whacky dishes. She’s probably right, but to me there’s nothing whacky about them. My goals are flavor and sustenance, and none of my bowls are ever lacking in either department.

Oatmeal, walnuts, almonds, peanut butter, blueberries, eggs, sardines, hot sauce, and salt.

Don’t knock it until you try it.