Got inspiration from my favorite website this week…and it turned out most of my meals fit into that healthy-ish category too!
Had in kitchen: Olive oil, Greek yogurt, garlic, basil, Italian parsley, 1/2 shallot, salt, pepper, whole wheat spaghetti, Parmesan cheese, pico de gallo, eggs, small amount guacamole, tostadas, sm. amount chopped onions and peppers
Bought: Heirloom tomatoes, ricotta cheese, 1 loaf sourdough bread, 2 acorn squashes, 5 medium shallots, 1 head garlic, 1 jalapeno, 1/4 lb. cold cut American cheese, and ham, mini rolls, grated Mexican cheese, sliced mango, sliced pineapple
Spent: $34.29 (aka $6.89/day for 3 meals per day)
Daily Breakfast: Mini Egg Sandwich with Tropical Fruit Salad
MONDAY
Lunch: Leftover Salad from Weekend
Dinner: Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe
Comments from Claire: I needed something quick since I got home late, and had half a box of whole wheat spaghetti so I kept it simple and made this “Roman classic.” I never made it before but it’s pretty easy and involves ingredients you likely already have in the cabinet, so it’s good to keep in mind on a busy night! I just used pre-grated Parmesan since I had that in the fridge and it still came out yummy, though freshly grated is probably best!
TUESDAY
Lunch: Leftover Spaghetti
Dinner: Fried-Bread Panzanella with Ricotta and Herbs
Claire’s Quips: I can never resist a drippy bread-and-cheese combo, so when I saw this recipe as I was perusing Healthyish, I knew I had to make it. It also helped that I have a small herb garden growing on my fire escape so I didn’t have to purchase the basil or parsley! My grocery store didn’t carry fresh Ricotta and the Italian deli near me was closed by the time I went food shopping, so I splurged on the more expensive organic kind and I did taste a difference between that and the store-brand I usually buy. Since it was the star of this dish, I didn’t mind. This was delicious except that mine had a bit too much chopped shallot, but that might have been because my version of “half” was rather large.
WEDNESDAY
Lunch: Leftover Panzanella
Dinner: “Lazy” Squash Soup
Claire’s Quips: This was also a Healthyish recipe – I love their “Rent Week” series and have cooked from it many a time. The roasted veggies gave it a really full flavor in a short amount of time, and I was surprised to see it only called for water and Greek yogurt as liquifiers, no broth or stock. When I heated mine up the next day I realized it was still a tad bit too thick, so next time I would’ve added more water. I also didn’t think it needed extra Greek yogurt and oil as a topping since it was already rather creamy, but it looked nice for the photo!
THURSDAY
Lunch: Leftover Soup
Dinner: Quick Pork Nachos
Comments from Claire: I was originally supposed to have something different this night (which I will likely have on Monday instead), but I forgot I had leftover cooked ground pork and lots of ‘taco-esque’ ingredients I needed to use up (they would’ve been bad in another day or so). Besides just as breakfast, another way I use my leftover tostadas is to break them all up and use them as tortilla chips for nachos. Tostadas just come in such a big pack and I only use 2-3 at a time, so I need to get creative! I laid them on a cookie sheet covered in tin foil, reheated the pork in the microwave for a little while so it wasn’t ice cold, and put that over the chips. Then I added some chopped peppers and onions I had in the fridge, and a few handfuls of grated cheese. Popped in the oven for about 5-10 minutes on 350°, and when I took it out I added pico de gallo, some Greek yogurt, and a little guacamole I had in the fridge. Voila.
FRIDAY
Lunch: Leftover Nachos
Dinner: Out to Eat
See you next week! To see what I’m eating in the meantime, follow me on Instagram or Twitter @ClaireLeaden
