We are closing in on our third month of the year and three full months of my “health journey.” How is it going, you might be thinking? I’d say...not bad!

The first month was tough as I changed some major snacking habits, but being honest, every month is tough. Eating well, exercising regularly, and still making time for fun, is, well, difficult. And while I am super proud of the changes I have made and the progress that’s happening, I fully admit that each week is hard and I still crave pasta, meatballs, and cookies fairly often. However, I also crave far healthier options and for that I am very pleased.

I haven’t given up desserts entirely and I made a batch of cookies (or a few), but for the most part this health train is still going full speed and I’m quite happy.

So with that, let’s get to the meals! Greens in Disguise: aren’t you surprised at how healthy each of these meals turned out to be? 

Taco Salad

Source: What’s Gaby Cooking. Grab the recipe, here. 

Tip: This recipe is naturally gluten free. It’s a lettuce base, so no worries about finding GF tortillas or chips (unless you want to include them). 

Review: When combining the words ‘taco’ and ‘salad’ chances are that the end result won’t exactly lean heavily on the salad side. However, I think the trick to making this potentially unhealthy meal into one that’s definitely good for you is to fill it with the healthiest components first, and being mindful of portions. And ingredients. 

The bowl was overflowing with chopped romaine before I even added a single pinto bean which made it almost impossible to fill it more with the less-healthy parts such as the shredded cheddar. Nothing wrong with cheese, but I’m working hard to avoid including a whole block of it in my salad. ;) 

What was even better about this delicious dish was that once we mixed everything together and were chomping away, we didn’t even miss the taco! There were so many textures and flavors bursting in this bowl that there was no time, or space, to worry about the missing taco (or chips).

A taco salad can be as healthy as you want it to be and it’s a terrific vehicle for your favorite taco fillings. I loved the combo of spicy ground chicken, pinto beans, corn, cool avocado and tomatoes, plus shredded cheddar. It was a big meal that made us full without feeling “too full,” which is a pretty optimal way to be after finishing a gloriously delicious dinner. ;) 

PS: swap the chicken out for turkey or tofu to keep up with the protein. And skip the cheese if you’re so inclined.

Chicken Tzatziki Bowl

Source: What’s Gaby Cooking by Gaby Dalkin.

Tip: This meal was naturally gluten free. We chose to use Right Rice as the base of the bowl rather than quinoa. But you pick your favorite! 

Review: Every time we include a Mediterranean-style meal on our meal plan I get so excited and can barely wait for the day we make that recipe. I love the flavors, ingredients, and everything about these meals and I admit to wishing we made them multiple times each week. 😏 They’re simply too delicious!

Beyond the general awesomeness of this dinner, I loved that it came together quickly thanks to both cold and hot elements. While the chicken skewers cooked on the grill plan, we could prep the cucumber salad, make the Tzatziki, and let the Right Rice cook on the stovetop. Overall, a very quick dinner that offered way more flavor and “yum” than many other fast meals. 

Let’s say it again though: much applause for any and all Mediterranean recipes that land on our plates. I loved the flavor of the yogurt-marinated Chicken with the amazing Tzatziki, crunchy cucumbers, and bold feta. It was like a party in every bite! And it transformed our apartment into a summer oasis (stay with me).

Certain dishes and flavors immediately take me to new places, better weather, and a mindset that’s most definitely way more exciting than a typical weeknight. And for certain this dinner (and many more like it) does exactly that.

Healthy Asian Chicken Chopped Salad

Source: The Lemon Bowl. Grab the recipe, here. 

Tip: Make sure to purchase gluten free soy sauce for this dish. All other elements are naturally gluten free. 

Review: One of the best elements of surprise when healthy eating is involved, as it is these days, is when a salad tastes indulgent and “bad for you” but is actually just the opposite!

Joyfully, this Asian Chicken Chopped Salad was packed with veggies and chicken and tossed with a peanut dressing that was so delicious I could eat it with a spoon.

This salad tasted like something that would inherently be not-so-healthy. It tasted similar to one of those giant chain-restaurant salads that’s loaded with hidden calories and fat, but it wasn’t! It was healthy, hearty, and insanely yummy. And that dressing! 😮 I would make it again in a second to top other salads too because it was just that good. 

Before I bore you with more paragraphs on how delicious this salad was and how excited I was by the entire experience of eating it, I’d like to note that it made enough for a family of six or seven. Truly! It was a giant bowl overflowing with vegetables and chicken which served as amazing lunch-at-work leftovers. Win! 

Healthy salads that taste healthy are fine and all, but isn’t it more fun when healthy food tastes like an indulgence? I much prefer that because it makes the dinner overall far more pleasant and it’s generally more enjoyable! This healthy salad checked all the boxes for eating well; and it was beyond scrumptious.

Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Grapes and Slivered Almonds and Chicken

Source: Cravings by Chrissy Teigen

Tip: This dish is naturally gluten free. 

Review: Sure, this dinner wasn’t as exciting as the rest from this week. It’s fairly unexciting and I know a bunch of you may be wary of shredded Brussels sprouts as the main component of a salad. But, please! Hear me out. I loved this dinner. Simple, straightforward, and delicious.

Chrissy Teigen’s cookbooks are a wonderful way to introduce you to foods you may not have tried before, ingredient combinations you may not expect to enjoy, and flavors you never knew you loved. Every time we make a recipe from either of her books we’re smiling while chewing. The recipes are usually pretty quick, don’t use too many ingredients, and are optimal for a requisite flavor-packed dinner (my main food requirement).

While I love roasted Brussels sprouts (oven or stovetop, yum), I’ve recently learned to enjoy them shaved, tossed with olive oil, lemon, salt, and pepper, and served as a salad. Even better? When other flavors are added in such as almonds, grapes, and Parmesan which take the basic green to a whole new level of yum.

Those extra flavors take a pile of shredded Brussels from good enough to great and beyond. Am I being a little to extreme? Maybe. But it makes you want to try this salad, right? Right.

It helps that one of my favorite restaurants  (The Stones) does a shaved Brussels sprouts salad and throws in thin slices of apple and kale, and serves it all with a hearty dollop of whipped ricotta. Wowza. Yum. I’d like to thank them for introducing me to such a salad that in turn encouraged me to try this one from Teigen’s first book.

You never know where your new favorite salad will come from and you’d never know how easy it is to make a healthy meal the delicious star of your dinner table. The greens aren’t always right in your face, but they are there, doing a great job of filling you up, but also making you happy.

See? You’re not missing out on anything! It’s all delicious. 😎

Eats and Events of the Weekend... 

To celebrate Seth’s birthday, we took a vacation day on Friday! We slept in, I made us buttermilk biscuits, and we went out for a leisurely and luxurious lunch. What a day! And even though the weather wasn’t perfect, we still had a great day celebrating together. For the record, going out for lunch on a weekday is magnificent. Not too busy and kind of quiet.. delightful!

For the rest of the weekend, we kept the celebrations going by seeing Seth’s family, going out for tacos on Saturday night, and actually finishing a series on Netflix. 😏

While I will always be a fan of birthdays and any reason to enjoy extra dessert, I do find myself appreciating the more low-key tone of birthdays as we get further (and further) from our college years. Seth and I agreed that the years are definitely going by a bit too fast, but we’re embracing the “adulthood” we seem to be suddenly within.

If you’re wondering... 

We kicked off celebrations at Myers + Chang Thursday night, had our leisurely lunch at The Bancroft on Friday, and toasted with margaritas and tacos (our favorite) at Adelita on Saturday night.

All delicious in their own way and all places were worthy of the celebration. If you’re looking for an awesome restaurant to celebrate something, or to just have a fun time, go to any or all of these spots. I highly recommend each one!

I hope you had a great weekend and if you were celebrating someone important in your life, then I hope it was a blast! And very delicious. :)  

Eat, well. 

Mollie and Seth