Remember the very very early days of blogging? All the “What’s in my bag?” and “What I ate Wednesday” posts?
I’m guilty of the first one (and apparently long overdue for an update, should we get back to the glory days of blogging), but not guilty of the second…
…until now, sorry Internet!
I’ve been working really hard lately to stay on track with healthy eating. It always gets a lot harder during fire season, because as soon as a fire breaks out, all self-care goes out the window, and instead of eating whole grains and veggies, I’m existing on protein bars and fully loaded breakfast burritos from whatever catering company is contracted to keep us fed on fires.
(Side note: Catered meals on fires are portioned out to feed working wildland firefighters… which means that all of us — even those of us sitting catatonic in front of a computer for 16 hours — are fed 8,000 calories a day in meals. Seriously.)
Fingers crossed, we’ve made it into May without any major wildfires here on my forest, which makes it a little easier to keep eating healthy.
I wanted to share what a day looks like, food-wise, because I’m not over the glory days of blogging, and I honestly love reading these posts myself — they’re a great way to get some meal ideas! — so I figured I’d write one.
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I get out of bed at about 6:30 a.m. — a little later than usual because Yukon woke me up a few times throughout the night to go out. Luckily, I’m working from home today so I don’t have to spend a ton of time showering, getting ready, packing, taking Yukon to daycare and commuting, so I’m not on a huge time crunch.
I’m a HUGE coffee fiend, and we’re finally edging into the warm temps here in Flagstaff, so as soon as I get a morning workout in (I usually start my day with a 20-30 minute workout: indoor HIIT or power yoga if it’s cold, an outdoor run if it’s warm — today was power yoga) I pour myself some iced coffee. I try to make my own cold brew when I can, but sometimes I just don’t have the time the day before, so I rely on store-bought. I always top my iced coffee with oat milk – Chobani Extra Creamy is my favorite!
I sip on my coffee while journaling, hopping around my apartment getting a few pre-work day chores in, and settling in at my desk at 8 a.m. to start work.
Work was pretty busy right off the bat, so I didn’t get a chance to grab breakfast, but I did finally break for lunch a little after 11 a.m.
I’m a huge fan of grain bowls for lunch, because they’re healthy, filling and travel well. Even though I’m working from home, sometimes I get called into the office, and it helps to have pre-prepared lunches on hand just in case, so I spent my weekend preparing a few days’ worth of grain bowls.
Today’s grain bowl is roasted multi-colored cherry tomatoes and sweet corn with farro, served over spinach with avocado, feta and a squeeze of lemon juice on top.
There’s not really a recipe for it – just some stuff I tossed together. If you’re interested, toss about two pints of tomatoes in some olive oil and salt, and roast at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes. Saute about two ears sweet corn on the stove and separately cook 1 cup of dry farro according to package instructions. When the farro, corn and tomatoes are done, combine all three — this makes four servings. Serve each serving warm over spinach leaves, and top with half a diced avocado per serving, a sprinkle of feta and a squeeze of lemon juice.
I eat my lunch while working so that I can spend my lunch break taking Yukon on a walk. Ryan and I are super lucky to live close to the Flagstaff Urban Trail System (FUTS), which I try to use for a walk or run every single day. I’m busy at work today, so I didn’t get to head out for my break until a little after 1 p.m.
After our walk, Yukon treats himself to a nap and I treat myself to a 2 p.m. snack: A glass of orange juice with a plate of raw veggies (red bell peppers, celery and cucumbers) and hummus.
I like to make my hummus from scratch when I can — we buy chickpeas and sesame seeds in bulk from our local Sprout’s — but this is just Sabra.
I teach a yoga class Monday nights, so I always get really snack-y beforehand — just to make sure I don’t end up lightheaded or dizzy while I’m teaching. My class is heated, and yelling out motivational cues in a 105 degree room can be pretty debilitating if I’m not prepared and feeling 100 percent!
At about 4 p.m., I have a honey crisp apple, a wedge of aged cheddar cheese and some roasted pumpkin seeds followed by a smoothie: Oat milk and ice blended with a whole very ripe banana, a dollop of natural peanut butter and a small scoop of cocoa powder.
While I always try to drink a lot of water during the day, I try to drink extra water on the days I teach yoga. It’s hard to stop for a water break while I’m teaching, so I always make sure to hydrate in advance!
After yoga, I get home and take a quick shower.
Ryan usually makes dinner on Monday nights while I’m at the studio, but since he’s been out of town on a fire assignment for the last two weeks, I’ve been on my own.
Luckily, Sunday night’s dinner had plenty of leftovers. I’m having soy sauce and thyme-glazed cremini mushrooms, brown rice cooked in vegetable stock topped with a vegan gravy (made with Trader Joe’s Vegan Chicken-less Seasoning Salt) and roasted asparagus with parmesan cheese.
And that’s it!
