Dinner Ideas

On my plate: 3-day food journal in the summer

July 18, 2020

I always enjoy seeing what other people eat. It’s inspiring and fascinating and gives me new motivation and ideas. So, I thought I’d share a 3-day food journal of what I typically eat.* First, I want to share a few things about our family’s eating habits: We try to limit our meat consumption. We have […]

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I always enjoy seeing what other people eat. It’s inspiring and fascinating and gives me new motivation and ideas. So, I thought I’d share a 3-day food journal of what I typically eat.*

First, I want to share a few things about our family’s eating habits:

  • We try to limit our meat consumption. We have a lot of meatless days and get our protein from beans and nuts and lentils and other ingredients. Other days, we eat meat and seafood. Mostly chicken, chicken sausage, salmon, shrimp, other fish and ground turkey.
  • I love trying new dinner recipes (I share my weekly dinner plans HERE and am always sharing new recipes I’m trying), but breakfast and lunch looks pretty similar most days.
  • I tend to eat a light dinner, filled with mostly veggies, but also protein, fat and carbs.
  • We go by the 80/20 rule. 80 percent of the time we eat whole real foods, and 20 percent of the time we eat whatever we want without feeling guilty. You can read more about my approach to eating 80/20 HERE.
  • I try to drink about 80 ounces of water every day. Some days it’s easy, others it’s hard. Keeping a cute water bottle full helps though.

My morning routine drinks

Every morning right after I wake up, I grab a cup of coffee. I fill my mug about 1/2 full of unsweetened almond milk, heat it up for 30 seconds, then fill the rest of my mug with fresh coffee and a scoop of Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Powder. (You can’t taste it, but it has protein, helps improve skin elasticity and helps strengthen your hair and nails, so I love adding it to my coffee.)

Also, just before eating breakfast, I drink a mix of 1 tablespoon Bragg Organic Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar with about 1/4 cup pineapple juice (Trader Joe’s has a great option). Did you know apple cider vinegar can help balance your body’s pH, help regulate your blood sugar and help improve metabolism? So many perks to it! It takes some getting used to, but if you drink it like a shot it’s doable. 🙂

Morning Routine Drink: Apple Cider Vinegar + Pineapple Juice

Here’s what three days of eating typically looks for me during the summer. (I’ll share one in the winter too, since it looks a little different.)

Day one

Breakfast: During the warmer months I love having a smoothie for breakfast. Berry Smoothie: Blend together 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, 1/2 to 3/4 cup frozen berries, a large handful of spinach and 1 serving of Arbonne’s Vanilla Protein Shake Mix.

Summer Food Journal: Breakfast Berry Smoothie with Arbonne Vanilla Protein

Lunch: Fish Taco Salad. Leftover Mahi Mahi and mango salsa with black beans, mixed greens and a spoonful of guacamole.

Summer Food Journal Lunch Fish Taco Salad

Snack: I mixed a little kombucha with a sparkling water for a little afternoon pick-me-up. For a snack, I had half an Apple Cinnamon Nature’s Bakery Fig Bar and a handful of Mary’s Gone Crackers Everything flavor.

Dinner: Shrimp Pineapple Cauliflower Fried Rice and a glass of cabernet sauvignon. This is such a quick dinner full of lots of veggies: riced cauliflower and broccoli, edamame, bell pepper and carrots. The recipe is in my free download (sign up at the bottom of this post!) and is super easy to tweak. For this dinner I followed the recipe and also added riced broccoli, shrimp and diced pineapple.

Dessert: A few Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. These are SO good. I have a big sweet tooth so most nights I have a little chocolate something for dessert.

Day two

Breakfast: Kodiak Cake pancakes topped with fresh berries and a drizzle of pure maple syrup. We love making the extra protein version of Kodiak Cakes by adding in 1 cup unsweetened almond milk and 1 egg per cup of Kodiak.

Lunch: Leftover Cauliflower Fried Rice. I eat a lot of leftovers for lunch because it’s quick and delicious.

Snack: A slice of Dave’s Killer Bread Organic 21 Whole Grains & Seeds, topped with peanut butter, sliced banana and a sprinkle of cinnamon. This is such a good snack! And a can of sparkling water.

Dinner: Cauliflower Crust Veggie Pizza. This is such a delicious dinner full of colorful veggies. I follow the cooking directions for the cauliflower pizza crust (I love the Trader Joe’s one), and while that’s baking, I sauté veggies with a little olive oil, salt & pepper for a few minutes until they’re heated but still have a little crisp to them. When the crust is done, top with your favorite pesto, veggies then pieces of fresh mozzarella. Bake for a few minutes or broil until the cheese is melty. Enjoy!

Cauliflower Crust Veggie Pizza

Day three

Breakfast: Chocolate Berry Smoothie: Blend together 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, 1/2 to 3/4 cup frozen berries, a large handful of spinach, 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder and 1 serving of Arbonne’s Vanilla Protein Shake Mix.

Raspberry Chocolate Smoothie. FivePlates.com

Lunch: Scrambled eggs with chopped zucchini, red bell pepper, half an Aidells Smoked Chicken Apple Sausage and about 1/4 cup already cooked brown jasmine rice; and an apple with peanut butter.

Lunch Idea Scrambled Eggs with Veggies and Brown Rice with Apple and Peanut Butter

Snack: A Banana Chia Muffin from Tone It Up and some fruit. I love making a batch of muffins with my girls and freezing them for a quick snack.

Snack Idea Banana Chia Muffins

Dinner: Pesto Pasta with Veggies and Chicken Sausage and a glass of rose. This is a favorite in our house. It’s so quick, easy and versatile. Some of our favorite veggies to add are broccoli, asparagus, peas, grape tomatoes, corn … really any veggies are delicious in this!

I don’t typically follow a recipe for this one, but use your favorite pasta, pesto, chicken sausage and veggies and mix them all together in a big bowl. I usually quickly sauté the veggies and sausage while the pasta cooks and it comes together in about 20 minutes! You can also sprinkle red pepper flakes and/or parmesan cheese on top.

Quick Dinner Idea: Pesto Pasta with Veggies and Chicken Sausage/ FivePlates.com

Dessert: A handful (or two 🙂 ) of dark chocolate chips. I like Guittard Extra Dark Chocolate Chips.

*I choose not to put ads on my blog, but do include affiliate links to products I genuinely love. With affiliate links, I earn a small commission on any order placed through the affiliate links on my blog, like Amazon. I promise to only share items my family and I use and love. Thank you for your support and reading! ♥ Lauren

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