Fabulous Food & Our Weekly Meal Plan

Hi friends, happy Monday! I hope you had a great, relaxing weekend. Mine kicked off with an early power yoga class at Truve.

So not fair.. they’re both yoga instructors!

I’m not much of a yogi but good lordy, my body was sore! I think I need to hit up yoga a little more regularly and get some stretching in. Later, I grabbed lunch with a friend at what may just be my new favorite sushi spot. It just so happens to be about 10 steps away from where I’m moving!

Friday night was our night out on the town. Nathan and I made a deal to go out to eat less on the weekends so we really went for it!

Beer #1: Perennial Abraxas

If you can get your hands on this beer, you don’t want to miss out. It’s one of the most complex beers I’ve had and it really makes its way through each of the spices as you drink it. The cinnamon stood out the most but there’s also just a hint of spice at the very end. Amazing.

2 Meat + 2 Sides: Chicken & pork with cauliflower salad & cowboy beans with burnt ends. Also added a hot link!

Whenever we go to Perdition, we split the 2 meat plate. It comes with 2 sides + pickles and bread; we’d had the pork and chicken before but never tried the hot link so we decided to add that too. It was so much food! But of course, we ate the whole thing. It was wonderful and I definitely went to sleep fat and happy that night. Ha!

Saturday I was so ready to head back to Truve for barre; I’m officially addicted and it may just be my new favorite class. I was also ready for a much lighter day of eats.. and Sizzlefish 😉

Sizzlefish shrimp & kale salad with ALL the veggies!

Digging the Atlantic Cod!

It was nice to stay in and use up some of the extras in the fridge and freezer before we move! Speaking of moving, we had to scedaddle yesterday for a couple hours while our place was being showed to potential renters so we took advantage of a gift card and went out to lunch.

A nice, lighter beer paired with a kale and brussels sprout + salmon salad was calling my name. Delicious! [But more on that later..]

Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday – Crispy Thai pork [+ turkey] lettuce wraps with cucumber salad
Monday – Cuban chicken & black bean rice bowls with fried bananas
Tuesday – Turkey burgers with roasted potatoes & side salad
Wednesday – Grilled chicken/fish & brussels
Thursday – Leftovers
Friday – Out!
Saturday – Leftovers

Food for Thought
Have you ever tried barre?

What I Ate Wednesday #116: Downtown Napa

Can you believe we’ve lived in California for over a year and had never been to downtown Napa? Clearly that had to change so Sunday we put on our drinking caps and made the 45 minute drive. Our plan was to stop at the Oxbow Public Market and then head to NakedWines.com for $10 all we can sample. Sounds like a pretty good plan, right?

Our first tasting stop at the public market was at Fatted Calf. We didn’t intend on that being a snack stop, but when we got in our jaws dropped, the woman behind the counter started offering samples, and we just couldn’t say no!

Everything was absolutely incredible, from the pate maison to the housemade roast beef and lomo [cured pork loin seasoned with paprika.] So many samples; it was such a great appetizer.

Next up, we went to Ca’ Momi where we started with their own Ca’ Secco.

Followed by a shared porchetta & cipolle flatbread sandwich.

And to wash it down, a shared beer; Anchor’s new-to-us Our Barrel Aged. Anytime I see barrel-aged, I’m sold.

Of course, Nathan couldn’t forget dessert. He picked up some of their famous cream puffs.

I took a bite of a couple but apparently I’m not a big cream puff fan. More for him 😉 Not to worry though, I did get some toasted almond gelato around the corner!

And since we’d walked off our drinks and snacks already, by the time we got to Bounty Hunter, the smell of the smoker drew us right in.

To continue the theme, we shared a bbq chicken sandwich with a side of brussels. And each a glass of wine to wash it down.

And after all of our eating and drinking excursions, we never did make it out to Naked Wines. But I’d say we did pretty well for ourselves, yes? 🙂

We had to test everything out to make sure it’s up to par for all of the people coming to visit us next year.. you know, since we’re upgrading to a 2 bedroom apartment what whaaattt! We’re so fancy. And I’d have to say this place far and away passed our test. I can’t wait to go back and eat and drink more!

Food for Thought

Do you ever share dishes at a few different places?

What I Ate Wednesday #100: The Birthday Food

I think birthday food is the perfect way to celebrate 100 WIAW posts, don’t you? I’m glad we agree.

Luckily for me, I had 2 full days of birthday meals—one on my actual birthday, last Thursday, and another on the following Saturday. And let me tell you, it was gooooood!

Thursday

Lunch+
Nathan came home from work to take me out for a sushi lunch. I got the sashimi bento box [no rice, extra salad] and it was wonderful.

I had a feeling I’d want to save some room for our favorite ice cream around the corner. I had the lime meringue pie [with graham cracker crust pieces] and Nathan got the cardamom rose pistachio.

Dinner+
For dinner, we went Kanishka’s, an Indian Neo-Gastro Pub, where we started out with flights of red wine Belgian beer.

The restaurant offered tapas-style dishes, so we split a few, including the Tandoori-tini,

Chef’s 6 ‘O’ Clock Cravings [street-style rolls],

Chicken Korma Poutine,

and Nicoya Breeze Salad.

And if that wasn’t enough, we topped it off with another brew.

But it didn’t end there!

Saturday

Lunch+
We went over to Perdition Smokehouse, a new BBQ joint around the corner from us, and split a 2 meat plate with brisket, pulled pork, coleslaw, and Texas caviar. And beer, of course.

The brisket was awesome. The pork was ridiculous.

And then we had to top it off with a slice of peach pie.

Dinner
The big night out to NOPA! We started with a little amuse bouche—apples with honey yogurt and sea salt.

Next up was the tasso spiced ham with pluots, almonds, and balsamic. We were both hoping for a more flavorful pluot, but the dish was pretty darn tasty.

I ordered the king salmon with creamy corn, trumpet mushrooms, green beans, and roasted cherry tomatoes. The salmon was so perfectly cooked, the mushrooms gave the dish a little extra meatiness, the corn had that little bit of decadence, and the green beans and tomatoes really helped to lighten it up so it didn’t feel too heavy. I loved it!

Finally, for dessert [because birthdays require 2 desserts in 1 day], we split the fig and peach tart with cognac cream, walnut crust, and melon sorbet. Totally different than anything I’d typically order, but it was light and flavorful. That said, I’d go for the crumble from Perdition 😉

I’d have to say, it was a pretty successful birthday in the food realm! Couldn’t have asked for anymore.

Food for Thought

What’s your favorite birthday meal and dessert?

What I Ate Wednesday #98: It’s In the Bowl!

I’m afraid to say this “out loud” but I feel like I’ve gotten into a good swing with foods that are consistently keeping me satisfied and satiated. It seems every time I say I’ve figured it out, my mind plays tricks on me and I suddenly seem to be changing it up. Change is good though. One of the best and most important things I’ve learned as of late, though still working on it daily, is how to listen to my body and its cravings. Some days I very clearly need more food than others, but these main meals and snacks have really worked for me lately.

[Pre-Workout]

I like to pretend the coffee beans in these bites are giving me extra energy at the gym 😉 Really though, they’re just freaking delicious!

[Breakfast]

Egg white oats are still going strong! Clearly running low on nut butters though [what a disaster!].. I only have coconut cashew peanut butter and macadamia cashew butter right now. I just bought a ton of almonds and am trying to figure out what to make next!

[Lunch]

Packed up my usual “throw it all into a bowl” salad for lunch at work and topped it with Monday night’s leftover panko oat chicken. It was a delicious shake-n-bake kinda recipe that I’ll be sharing soon. It’s Nathan-approved and he’s a picky chicken eater 😉

[Afternoon Snack]
Unpictured creamy peanut butter ThinkThin bar.. sometimes you’re just too hungry for pictures!

[Dinner]

This sloppy joe bowl ended up being a hit on Instagram! I love when people ask for a recipe that’s just basically the contents of my fridge ha! I did actually plan this out, but it would work with whatever veggies you have. Mind included carrots, bell pepper, onion, zucchini, and mushrooms. I also added lots of garlic, 1 lb ground turkey, and a combo of apricot bbq sauce and Trader Joe’s all natural bbq sauce.

Underneath all of that goodness is was grilled corn salad with more bell pepper, tomato, and jalapeno. Topped it off with avocado and spicy gouda cheese and I was good to go! This isn’t exactly what you think of for a summer dinner but let’s be real here, the bay area isn’t exactly known for its hot summers.

[Evening Snack]

Love ending my nights with a nice crispy, crunchy apple and a super chocolatey bite!

Food for Thought

What’s your favorite snack? Healthy or otherwise 😉