Self Care 2020: Healthy Meal Inspiration

This year has turned out to be the weirdest year. 

Nothing like any of us would have ever predicted - right!?!

For most of us, life feels stressful in new ways, jobs are different, kids are home from school, you're doing school at home, it's hard to find a gym to work out at, our regular exercise routines are being impacted by being home much more than usual, grocery shopping is stressful with items being in stock, limiting trips to the store and shopping in a mask. 

That's a lot of challenges to overcome in the name of self care.

My 2020 forms of self care:
Real food, Drinking lots of water, Rest and Alone time. 

I make the effort to grocery shop and make lists that include lots of colorful, healthy foods.  I'm training myself to think of food as fuel to motivate myself to make real meals for me.  I do a lot of the ingredients in batches to save time each day.  I rest when I can - sleep in, nap and head to bed whenever the baby sleeps.  Alone time looks like Kevin taking the big kids out to play while I'm inside doing my own thing while the baby sleeps.  Technically my alone time is always with the baby, but he's still sleeping a lot so I'm counting it as alone time :)  I've yet to be cleared for exercise after having Leo so I'm just taking little walks and going on little bike rides here and there.  I plan to walk and bike for longer lengths of time when I can.

Today I'm going to share some simple recipes that are delicious and are a great way to incorporate colorful meals into your days.  I try to meal plan one salad per day.  Some days it's lunch and some days it's for dinner.

1. Berry Crunch Salad
Mixed greens
blueberries
raspberries
cucumbers
red onion
parmesan cheese
Homemade lemon vinaigrette * Recipe is saved in my Salads story highlight

I threw this salad together with all the last bits of stuff in my fridge.  I wasn't sure the cucumbers would be good with the berries, but they were a yummy addition.

2. Sweet Potato Hash
Roasted sweet potatoes (I do these in a big batch and then have them ready to eat for several days)
2 fried eggs
2-3 slices of  bacon *I love the big pkgs of precooked bacon from Sams that just needs to heat for 1 minute or so.  Saves so much time!
a little shredded cheese

 .
3. Veggie Packed Salad
Mixed Greens
hard boiled eggs
sweet peppers
carrots
cucumbers
red onion
shredded cheese
Honey mustard Vinaigrette from Primal Kitchen *pricey but DELICIOUS

3. Nothing But Berries Salad
Mixed Greens
All the berries
parmesan cheese
pecans
Lite Raspberry Vinaigrette from Kraft

I've been on a breakfast sandwich kick lately for breakfast, brunch or lunch.  They're super filling, delicious and really don't take long to make.  #5 is my favorite, but #4 is faster since you just toast it and don't have anything to bake.

4. English Muffin Sandwich
English muffin
raspberry jam
2 slices of bacon
2 fried eggs

5. Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit 
Frozen biscuits - delicious and you can just bake a couple
2 slices of bacon
2 fried eggs
slice of sharp cheddar cheese

*Sometimes I double the bacon, egg and cheese needed so I can eat one sandwich right away and then the following day just pull the bacon, egg and cheese combo out of the fridge, microwave them and add them to the biscuit.  Saves time and it tastes great.

What things are you doing to take care of yourself right now?
Would you enjoy any of these recipes?