Done With Chopt Salads + Other Recent Meals

This is likely the last Chopt salad you will see from me, at least for the time being.

Literally, a day or two after I had the above salad, Chopt changed their menu (and raised prices!) so now they don’t carry the ingredients I routinely order and if I alter the salad to include the basic ingredients that I don’t even love from the list, I can pay a few extra dollars for it too.

My go-to order is all marked up in the app like I did something wrong.

The crispy chickpeas really made the salad – how did they remove them from the menu? No roasted brussels sprouts anymore either? No cucumber mixed with tomatoes?

Chopt is down to majorly basic ingredients and charging more for it. No thank you. I will now go to Sweet Green which may be expensive but at least I like the various options they have if I’m not going to make a salad at home. At this point, I don’t even think Sweet Green is more expensive than the new Chopt prices.

Okay, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, let’s move on to a few recent meals…

I didn’t know if I wanted breakfast or lunch after yoga on the weekend so I made it a combination of both—

Toasted Ezekiel bread with vegetable cream cheese and an egg on top with a side salad.

I had salad and baked ziti for dinner one night recently when my son and I did take out from Vincents.

We ordered the family meal deal where you can choose a salad, pasta, and entree.

I’m very into roasting cauliflower again. I roasted it last night and added it to tomato sauce with lentil pasta. Such a good combination for dinner!

This is what it looked like all mixed together in the pan.

I made a quick stop at Trader Joe’s yesterday. I’m not doing a full grocery shop because I leave for Florida in a few days!

I just needed a few necessities like chocolate chips, mints, oatmeal, and the organic rainbow cauliflower from the frozen section. It’s not an easy find so when Trader Joe’s has it in stock, I always buy it.

I did take note of what Trader Joe’s was out of stock on that I would have bought if I saw it:

• Organic Chickpeas
• Organic Crunchy Salted Peanut Butter
• Frozen Broccoli
• Organic Apples
• Organic Tomatoes (only had the grape tomatoes in stock)

The peanut butter has been out of stock for a while and the organic chickpeas have been hit or miss at Trader Joe’s over the last couple of months.

Figuring Things Out + Sweet Green + Recent Meals

So while I’m trying to figure out my next career move, I do have extra time for my blog.

It’s been so long since I’ve been able to post six days a week. But blogging has changed so much over the years and even during that time, so have my original posting interests.

Like, I don’t even remember to take pictures of everything I eat nor do I want to!

But what I eat is still a top view and interest for the blog so maybe I’ll get back to talking more about it or remember to focus on what I bought at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods again.

I don’t know. These days I have enough trouble getting what I need at Trader Joe’s (and even Whole Foods) all in one shop. Every time I go to the stores, something is not in stock.

I’m really in the figure out what’s next phase of things.

I have a few ideas for my blog at the moment, including some interesting fitness-related posts with insight from experts — but please give me a minute to figure things like that out. As I keep saying, I need a minute to breathe.

Recent Meals

Let’s discuss that I found whole wheat grandma pizza at La Focaccia. And it’s delicious.

Every time I bring this pizza home, my son appears and takes a corner of my crust. I can’t stand it when he does that. If he wanted a bite, he should have said to bring him home a slice!

I tried the new Sweet Green location that opened in my area. Even though I’ve had Sweet Green in the city (and in Florida too) I figured I should try this one too even though I don’t think it’s anything special.

I had the green goddess salad (no almonds) and the buffalo cauliflower.

The Sweet Green salad was just fine, not special.

The cauliflower was mixed with crispy rice but was mostly rice. I liked it but would have liked it to involve more cauliflower. I much prefer the buffalo cauliflower that I get at Farmers Table when I’m down in Boca!

I still like Chopt. I’m sure I will go to Sweet Green randomly but I like Chopt because the salads are actually chopped up into small pieces. I’m used to that and I’m a creature of habit.

Lately though, I haven’t been able to finish my Chopt salads in one sitting. Sometimes I have half of the salad for lunch and then add something to it to finish the salad at dinner.

My bagel and vegetable cream cheese phase is still a phase. Not as strong as it was in the summer, but I do buy bagels and cream cheese each week to have in the house.

I had extra bialys in the house so I made my classic toasted bialy with tomato and mozzarella cheese one night for dinner.

So basic, not pretty, but so good.

Last but not least for today, I made a simple grilled mozzeralla cheese sandwich on Ezekiel bread to dip into a bowl of Trader Joe’s Roasted Red Pepper Tomato soup. I buy the low sodium variety of this tomato soup and most times I go to Trader Joe’s this time of year, it’s out stock.

Recent Meals + Breakfast Change?

Halfway through the week!

Let’s start today’s post with my post-run beach lunch of a bialy with vegetable cream cheese and tomato.

It had been a good two weeks since I last had a salad from Chopt. No spicy-sweet peppers this time! I swapped those out for sweet potatoes. Everything is chopped so small that you can’t even see them in there.

Speaking of sweet potatoes, I’ve been eating the below “power bowl” on repeat lately for dinner.

I roast sweet potatoes with a little bit of olive oil and Trader Joe’s Citrusy Garlic seasoning and then add them to a bowl (well, plate), with rainbow cauliflower, chickpeas, and avocado.

This dinner is so basic yet so good. Not to mention, colorful and nutrient-dense.

Have you tried the Citrusy Garlic seasoning yet? I really like it.

I don’t think I’ve shared my usual whole wheat margarita pizza and salad combo in a while but don’t worry, I’m still eating it at least once a week for dinner.

Can we discuss breakfast for a minute?

I rarely talk about breakfast because I eat the same oatmeal combination for so many years that discussing it seems so pointless. However, lately, I have had moments when I don’t want oatmeal for breakfast every day. I don’t like to feel this way! I’m so used to oatmeal that I don’t want to NOT want it but I can’t help that sometimes I feel as though I want something else. I’ve switched to whole wheat English muffins with peanut butter but then go right back to oatmeal (with different fruit mixed in) and while the feeling has slightly gone away and I’m fine with oatmeal again, I’m still thinking that I may be due for a major breakfast change.

What that change will be, I do not know and I do not like that this is a topic at all! Breakfast is the one meal I don’t think about!

Anyway, I had this bowl from Cava for dinner and it was good. I get all of the toppings except for olives.

I will be in the city today and hoping to have Beatnic for lunch! I miss the delicious vegan options.

Three Meals + Two Desserts To Share Today!

Let’s start with dessert first!

I needed something good for dessert over the weekend so I went to Uncle Guiseppe’s which to me is the best-hidden bakery in the area. I say hidden because it’s within the big grocery store/specialty market and I don’t hear it discussed often when people rattle off best bakeries.

This chocolate chip cupcake style cookie filled with chocolate fudge frosting and a cookie on top is right up my alley. I can’t eat the whole thing at once which is fine because I freeze the other half and then remember I have it to eat another day when I decide I need something really good for dessert.

Nothing unusual here, just my favorite whole wheat margarita pizza with a salad.

My son asked me what was in my repeat salad order from Chopt. I told him that I had no idea and he thought that was weird. This is what happens when you rely on your Chopt salad app and keep hitting reorder a few times a week without reading what you are ordering.

I made this quick dinner the other night and it was easy and delicious. I roasted cauliflower while cooking chickpea pasta and then combined the two with Trader Joe’s plant-based bolognese sauce. So good!

One more dessert for today! My son called me yesterday while he was out to ask me if I wanted ices from Ralph’s. He must be making up for the fact that he was at Kilwin’s over the weekend and didn’t bring me home a chocolate-covered apple.

I graciously accepted and ordered my usual snickers bar fudge ices.

If I remember for next week, I will take a picture or two of the oatmeal I eat every morning. I’ve been making it slightly different from usual — not that different but one little adjustment when I cook the pot for the week and it’s worth sharing!

Healthy Chinese Food + Other Recent Meals

Before we talk about food today, I should mention to you my running shoe situation which is still a situation.

While I will give the Hokas one more chance, something is telling me that they aren’t going to work out for me.

I’m not sure at this point what will work out for me. A part of me is just waiting for the next Brooks Ghost launch in July but the other part of me really needs a pair of running shoes now. July is a few months from now! What’s even funnier is that a few weeks ago, I briefly considered running this weekend’s Long Island Marathon weekend 10K but thankfully I dropped that idea — I don’t even have running shoes I trust right now!

Anyway, I will keep you posted about which shoes are next, should it come to that.

Recent Meals

I have two lunches and four dinners to share today!

I’ve been making a salad for lunch literally every day during the week while I’m working and haven’t deviated from this plan in months.

The ingredients in my salad lately are basically the same:

• Romaine
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Chickpeas
• Onion
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts
• Avocado
• Vegan Dill Dressing

My lunch weekend salad is made by Chopt.

It had been a long time since I last had Mogu for dinner. Mogu is known for their “healthy Chinese food” and it’s really very good!

I had a vegetable egg roll (which is air fried) and instead of my usual vegetable dumplings, I tried their relatively new Impossible dumplings which are made with Impossible plant-based “beef”.

I also tried Mogu’s brussels sprouts for the first time too. With brown rice, this was a really delicious dinner.

I had some leftovers of the brussels sprouts and brown rice plus two of the mildly spicy dumplings so I reheated it all in a pan the next night for dinner with the addition of cauliflower and a fried egg on top.

It’s really not like me to eat eggs but I had a new carton of organic eggs in the house for my son so I figured why not. Seemed like a good dinner idea.

I had to go to the post office Monday late in the day which naturally meant I would walk into Villa Monte for a slice of whole wheat vegetable pizza to bring home for dinner.

It’s always funny how I go to Trader Joe’s every week and still wonder what I should eat for dinner. I’m so basic that I never buy anything all that different or even desire anything too different.

Sometimes I do vary my beans like in this salad, for example. I used white cannellini beans instead of chickpeas and also varied my potato choice by going with roasted white potatoes instead of sweet potatoes or a traditional baked potato.

White potatoes roast really well when diced up and put in the oven!

___

In case you missed the latest Stoney Clover launch, there are some really nice items available in the Pastel Collection.

Let me know what you select!

 

Plant Wise + A Stop At Trader Joe’s

It’s that time of the week when we chat about recent meals!

Since Plant Wise is only open on weekdays, my goal is to try to get out on Fridays for a quick lunch. It’s usually a little quieter for me workwise, at least in the sense that I should be able to run out to at least pickup lunch and bring it home.

Maybe not every Friday, but sometimes.

I went to Plant Wise last Friday to grab lunch! It was so cold outside that I immediately chose the half and half bowl – half of the avocado quinoa salad and half tomato chickpeas.

I don’t know how Plant Wise makes the “tomato chickpeas” but they are warm and delicious, with a black beanball included too.

I had this combo once before at Plant Wise and although it’s REALLY SO GOOD, it’s too filling for me for lunch. It’s nutritionally dense and filling with all of the chickpeas, quinoa, guacamole, and the black beanball!

In other news, it was another week, another Chopt salad situation.

How many posts have I said this exact same statement?

I made a stop at Trader Joe’s after a one-hour massage on the weekend. Even though I had already gone food shopping, I needed a few more things. My son wanted eggs and I wanted to make my vegan cacciatore for dinner.

I used the organic package of peppers, mushrooms, and onions along with that new-to-me vegan bolognese pasta sauce to make this easy vegan cacciatore dinner.

Whole Foods also has a vegan bolognese sauce which I tried a few months ago — I like this Trader Joe’s version slightly better.

The Vegan Creamy Dill Dressing that I bought from Trader Joe’s is really good too! I had never tried it before but ever since buying it on the weekend, I’ve used it every day for salads.

I make this basic greek salad quite often with either a baked potato or baked sweet potato on the side. It’s the perfect easy dinner solution for me.

Are you having any trouble buying the usual foods at the grocery stores right now? I can’t seem to find my favorite Ezekiel Raisin Bread and Trader Joe’s is constantly out of frozen broccoli. Those are the two main items I’m missing each week right now!

 

Recent Meal Highlights

I know that it’s Thursday but I wanted to pop in with a few recent meals from the week! Having Monday off earlier this week definitely threw off my days but hey, I’m not complaining that it’s almost Friday.

We had roasted vegetables and guacamole in the house (neither made by me) so I used both in a salad with a side of roasted potato wedges. This was so good – I could eat a meal like this every day.

Looking at this picture of my favorite pizza from the other night is making me want it again tonight for dinner.

I think I have a Chopt salad for lunch at least twice a week these days. Sometimes I wish that they added more variety to their salad ingredient mix in choices but whatever, it works for me as is.

I was so happy to have a chance to go to Plant Wise the other day!

While I wanted the kale caesar salad again, I just couldn’t eat kale on this occasion.

If my stomach is sensitive to anything, it’s kale. I had kale with dinner the night before going to Plant Wise and it killed me for two hours. So instead of ordering the kale caesar salad, I created my own salad which included:

• Arugula
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Red Pepper
• Cranberries
• Red Onion
• Zucchini Noodles
• Veggie “tuna” – made with chickpeas

Here’s what it looked like all mixed together.

I still want a try a few more things from Plant Wise, including the chili. I will report back when I do!

A Story On Measuring Food (plus recent meals)

 

I have a few recent meals to share with you today. But first, a story.

I don’t discuss it every week but I think you already know that I like to eat chocolate chips. And while I’m still devastated that Trader Joe’s changed the recipe for their semi-sweet chocolate chips (even if they say they didn’t – they did), I do still eat Trader Joe’s chocolate chips every day.

I don’t track my chocolate or count my chips. What I like to do is pop them into my mouth mindlessly to eat as a snack or dessert.

I don’t track or measure anything that I eat. I’m completely against such a concept.

My son, however, thought it would be a fun experiment to put my put chocolate chips into a measuring cup to see how many chips  I typically eat at a time.

I didn’t think that would be fun. Not fun at all! I quickly told him that I would not take part in his “fun experiment” and that he was making me uncomfortable.

Now of course he found me funny and although it sounded funny when I said that I was getting uncomfortable, I don’t think I was kidding.

I would not eat my chocolate from a measuring cup. It would remove all of the joy from my mindless chocolate chip eating.

I don’t want to know how many chocolate chips I eat. I’ve never wanted to know exactly how much of anything I eat. I prefer to just eat.

Measuring food and especially my chocolate feels like pressure, and also feels limiting. While some people may thrive from tracking their food, such an approach is not right for me.

And as I said to my son — I do just fine eating my chocolate this way so please leave me alone.

Recent Meals:

I ordered my usual Chopt salad order from the Chopt app. And while I like this salad, I do wish Plant Wise was opened on the weekend. I would likely go there to grab lunch while running errands instead if I had the option.

I haven’t had the whole wheat vegetable pizza from Villa Monte in a few months.

It’s like this — I want to love this beautiful vegetable slice like used to but I just don’t. However, sometimes I want to eat it like old times because it’s such an easy dinner decision. It’s so big and so complete with so many vegetables.

I tried it again (with a side of sauce) and did like it. But I don’t OMG love it. It’s good enough on occasion.

I made this stir fry for dinner and really enjoyed it. I had leftover roasted sweet potatoes which I added to a pan of broccoli, chickpeas, Trader Joe’s multigrain blend (from the frozen section), and sweet chili sauce.

I had never tried the multigrain blend from Trader Joe’s but I think it’s excellent! I had originally bought it for my son but I think it’s going to be something I eat on a regular basis.

Surprise, surprise. More pizza.

We decided on La Piazza over the weekend and I chose two grandma slices. One traditional, one with vegetables.

I restocked our supply of the cute little chocolate-covered strawberry and banana bites from Trader Joe’s. I can totally make these bites myself but why bother — Trader Joe’s does a good job.

What I’ve Eaten Lately

Time for recent meals again!

I had a vegetarian salad bowl from Maoz over the weekend.

Maoz has always been a favorite of mine – especially back in the day when I could load the toppings myself into the bowl at the city Maoz locations.

For this Maoz salad bowl, I had them drizzle tahini rather than order it on the side. It’s worth noting that the roasted broccoli from MAOZ is still the best around.

Another week, another bowl from CAVA.

It’s just so convenient to my house that it’s hard to not pick up a bowl instead of making lunch or dinner at home.

My stomach was slightly bothering me very briefly a few days ago.

I’m not really sure what felt wrong but something was a little off in my digestion I think. This is not typical for me – I never have stomach issues, bloating issues, or any issue related to digestion. To be honest, I think I did experience more of those types of issues when I ran more – running less is so much better for me.

I decided that a bagel could help my slight stomach situation so I was very excited when I remembered that I had bialys frozen in the freezer. I toasted a bialy and topped it with mashed avocado and a sprinkle of everything but the bagel seasoning.

Such a perfect meal.

I’m very happy to report that I roasted a pan of vegetables again on Sunday.

This week’s roasted vegetables were broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, and mushrooms. I really like having the roasted vegetables on hand for quick lunches and dinners during the week.

I’m also happy to report that my salad from Chopt this time around was much better than last week.

In my salad:

• Romaine
• Spinach
• Corn
• Beets
• Hearts of Palm
• Pickled Onions
• Crispy Chickpeas
• Avocado
• Lemon Tahini

One random night for dinner I made Banza Mac & Cheese. I always like to add roasted broccoli to the mac & cheese – it’s such a good combination.

And just a quick little note unrelated to food! Stoney Clover will be having a sale tomorrow which is extremely rare. Be sure to check the Stoney Clover website tomorrow to see what you can grab!

Whole Foods Stop + Roasted Vegetables Routine + Mallomars Season!

 

Time to talk food!

Here’s another salad bowl from CAVA.

I really like how many toppings they have to offer although the black lentils freak me out when I look at them – they remind me of caviar and I don’t like caviar.

I had a not so great salad from Chopt. I’m not sure how it happened but it felt like more spinach than anything else this time.

I’ve been shopping a little more frequently at Whole Foods lately. Trader Joe’s has been annoying me with their lack of organic romaine lettuce and organic apple variety, as well as their overall lack of nice looking produce. Even when they have organic romaine lettuce in stock, it doesn’t look good enough to purchase.

I’m trying to find a balance between shopping at both Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s because there are things I like at both stores that I can’t get at the other.

Whole Foods sells CAVA hummus and oh, I ordered half a pound of the roasted butternut squash from the prepared foods counter two weeks in a row. While I used to make my own roasted butternut squash, I have no problem getting it already made for me, especially when it’s this good.

I am, however, very proud of myself for roasting a big pan of vegetables again over the weekend. It seems so silly, especially considering how I was the queen of roasted vegetables for so many years. I had fallen out of the habit/lost my interest in roasting vegetables for a while there…but I’m back.

My goal is to roast vegetables on Sunday’s to have for the week. It’s not like it’s complicated! We all know that.

It’s nice to have the vegetables ready to add to salads and power bowls for lunches and dinners.

The above pan of roasted vegetables contained tomatoes, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, and mushrooms. I’m going to try to rotate the vegetables I buy each week so that I eat a wider variety again. We will see how that goes though – I tend to choose the same few every time.

I also roasted sweet potatoes while I was at it. These potatoes in particular are organic sweet potatoes which were definitely a brighter orange than conventional sweet potatoes. While it’s technically not necessary to eat organic sweet potatoes (they are not on the dirty dozen list), I bought them at Whole Foods simply because I was standing by the potatoes, needed a few, and put the organic sweet potatoes in the bag.

Last but not least, it’s time for Mallomars!

While everyone else is all about pumpkin spice lattes, I’m over here excited for Mallomars season. I get so excited at night when I remember that I have a fresh box of Mallomars in the pantry!