Hi blog buds!  Hope your week is off to a great start!

First off, absolutely awesome comments from the Shopping with Shari post!  Thank you so much for participating!  I’m glad to know that my grocery bill isn’t completely out of whack!  I will confess that I DID go back into a grocery store on Sunday, but it was innocent – when I shopped the prior Tuesday they were out of the refrigerated almond milk that MSP likes, so I went back in to get some before we were completely out, along with a dozen eggs.  :)   So I didn’t make it a FULL week, but because I knew I’d need to come report it here I was much more aware of trying to AVOID the store and use what I have.

I’m tellin’ ya folks, if you ever want to hold yourself accountable for anything, start a blog!  ;)   It’ll keep ya honest for sure!

It’s been a while since I’ve done a post featuring my actual EATS, so I thought I’d share some of my recent adventures in food.

I’ll start with this morning’s post-workout smoothie because it was DELICIOUS with my most favorite fruit ever, MANGO!  No greens this time, just one mango, a scoop of Jay Robb brown rice protein powder and a tablespoon of raw pepitas for a tiny boost of iron and healthy fat (and 8 oz water).  There’s nothing like a five mile, five-fingered run before you drink your smoothie to make seem like the best thing you’ve ever tasted.

Mmmm mangolicious!

I also recently tried one of the new Larabar flavors, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.  It was so good, I’d eaten the whole thing before I could take a picture.  So all you get here is the wrapper!

I figured that would be my new favorite – that is, until I tried Chocolate Chip Brownie.  While I don’t consider this on the same ‘healthy level’ as I do most of the other Larabars, I will say that this bar will come in handy when  you feel like you want to stuff your face full of chocolate cake.  Because of the chocolate, this isn’t one I’d recommend eating every day (as I would with some of the fruit flavors like Apple Pie and Lemon Bar) but it IS an amazing treat that will keep you from needing to eat actual brownies.

On the dinner front, I’d attempted to make a Fish Taco that ended up being a better photo op than it was a meal.  I think the fish was in the freezer too long (it couldn’t POSSIBLY have been the cook’s fault!)  ;)   The rice is lime cilantro basmati, in case you were wondering – and it ended up being the star of this meal.

A quinoa salad stuffed red pepper (in an attempt to mimic the delicious quinoa I’d eaten at BOP restaurant).  Served with a light sprinkle of goat cheese and a side of massaged kale salad:

A “Wrap Panini” – we’ve been on a kick lately of putting our wraps on the George Foreman grill and using it like a panini press.  This one has some marinated spicy tempeh, sliced tomato and some melted Daiya dairy-free cheese.  If you are bored with your wraps, put them on your Foreman grill.  You’ll be in love all over again!

And while on the spicy tempeh theme, this was sauteed with a little Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning, the placed on a bed of romained and chopped veggies, garnished with a little salsa, a dollop of greek yogurt and some toasted pepitas.  AMAZING!  I love it when “thrown-together” meals taste way better than those that take hours to make!

I’ve tried two different recipes recently for a Cold Carrot Avocado Soup.  Not a fan of either attempt, I’m afraid.  It’s definitely a cool and refreshing soup, but I like this better as a dressing (on a salad.)  Or maybe as a soup “shot” appetizer.  A bowlful is too much of a strong flavor.

Last but not least was the Sesame Stir-Fry we made from last Tuesday’s grocery trip.  MSP’s is made with lean ground beef (on the right) and mine is made with spicy tempeh (again with the tempeh, I know!  I’m loving it lately!).  We followed the recipe from Eating for Life, which we usually LOVE recipes from.  This wasn’t bad, but it didn’t WOW us, so I’ll need to do some tinkering with the seasoning.  We added a squeeze of lime at the end to give it some zing.

I figured I’d better share some of what I’ve been eating lately, lest you think I’ve fallen off the healthy wagon!  ;)   Of everything above, hands down my favorite was the spicy tempeh grilled wrap.  Next time I make it, I’ll be sure to write down the ingredients and steps so that I can share the ‘build a meal’ process.

Have you put together a healthy meal lately that knocked your socks off?  What was it?

Make it a GREAT and FIT day friends!

– Shari B. =)

Related FitFeat Posts to Check Out: