A full day of eats + how I make my cheese boards
This post is sponsored by my friends at Lorissa’s Kitchen. Be sure to check out an awesome giveaway at the end of this post!
Hi friends! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! We’re here in San Diego enjoying some time with friends, hanging at the beach, and eating at all of our favorite places. I’ll be back soon with a recap.
In the meantime, I thought I’d pop in and share a whole day of eats. I frequently receive WIAW-style post requests, and I totally get it because I love getting new ideas for healthy meals and snacks. Here’s what a full day looked like recently and it was a pretty *normal* day. It was a teaching day (barre and Zumba), and I spent the rest of the time chasing the girls around, blogging, and the usual to-dos.
Here we go!
7:20am I have a mug of herbal tea to-go as I take Liv to her doctor’s appointment. I’m usually not hungry first thing in the morning, but the tea is just enough to wake me up and get me going.
9:30am: I’m back from the school drop-offs, and have some time to grab a quick bite before teaching. I make 2 eggs with 2 egg whites, scrambled, and serve it with my favorite green salad, and a big piece of homemade sourdough.
Perfection.
I head to teach an intense barre class before picking up P, putting her down for nap, blitzing on work and chores.
1:00 pm: Lunch! We usually have leftovers from dinner on hand, and they’re often the bulk of my lunches, unless I make a smoothie. I’m excited that we have some leftover rice and sauteed rainbow chard, so I heat those up and serve with some tuna tataki. This tuna is one of my favorite recent Whole Foods finds; you can find it over by the sushi counter in the freezer! Just defrost and eat.
During naps, I like to prep dinner if I have time. Since I’m caught up on work for the most part, and dinner will take about 10 minutes to put together, I spend some time assembling a cheese board. We usually keep all of the fixings in the fridge, just in case friends decide to pop by, or we want a fun afternoon snack.
So many friends have asked about how I put the cheese boards together, and while they’re a mix of things in the fridge, there is a bit of a method behind the madness. I make this particular cheese board with all of the usual suspects (different types of hard and soft cheeses, almonds, charcuterie, berries, pickles, olives, fruit and honey) and add a little something extra to the mix: Lorissa’s Kitchen meat snacks.
Here’s what I do:
-Start with a large wood cutting board. You can get fancypants and get a large marble slab or unique tile, too.
-Make piles of cheese, evenly spaced around the board. I like to use a mix of different types of cheese (cow, sheep, goat), flavors (spicy or herbed) or textures (soft, creamy, hard) so everyone has something they like.
-Add the charcuterie. I’ll usually do prosciutto and some type of salami, also in piles, spaced around the board. To take things to the next level, I add piles of my latest fave high-protein snack: Lorissa’s Kitchen.
I don’t eat pork products, and the usual meat that I’ll add to the cheese board is often pork-based (like prosciutto or salame). I LOVE the Lorissa’s Kitchen protein snacks, especially the Ginger Teriyaki Chicken and Korean Barbeque Beef. They’re the perfect size for a cheese board; the super soft bite is the perfect stacking size with a piece of cheese! Liv was PUMPED when she saw these on the cheese board.
A little bit about Lorissa’s Kitchen:
-They were created with a health-conscious, on-the-go person in mind. Lorissa wanted to create a snack that was based on her values on sustainability and good ingredients, and something that was easy to take with you. The chicken cuts are antibiotic-free, the steak strips are 100% grassfed, and all of the ingredients are things you can pronounce. 😉 They use 100% grassfed beef, and there are no preservatives, no added MSG, gluten, added growth hormones, or added nitrites. Just sustainably-sourced meat + seasonings.
– They’re different than jerky. The texture is softer with a nice chew to them. I don’t usually love traditional jerky because it’s too dry and chewy for my taste; Lorissa’s Kitchen products are soft, tender, and beautifully-flavored.
I LOVE how portable these are, and have a bag stashed in my gym bag and in my tote for a quick high-protein snack. They’re the perfect “running around” snack.
-Fill in the gaps! I’ll fill in the gaps on the cheese board with a mixture of tastes and textures: briny (olives and cornichons), sweet (dried fruit), crunchy (crisp apples or pears, sliced), and salty (salted or herbed nuts, or parmesan crisps).
-Crackers! I’ll serve a couple types of crackers and some jam in a little bowl. When I’m feeling extra extra, I’ll add a bowl of tapenade or pesto, too.
That’s it! Cover and keep in the fridge until an hour or so before serving. (I like to set it out a little bit before parties so the cheese can come down to room temperature.)
5:15pm: Cheese board time! I’ll occasionally make these when I know the Pilot will be home from work at a normal time. It’s fun to surprise him with a cheese board. #truelove
Ok, I make it for myself, too. 😉
We devour the cheese board, and I snack on bites of it while I prep dinner: shrimp and veggie bowls with peanut sauce.
I start a large pot of water to boil, salt it, and add some spaghetti noodles. Next, I sauté some frozen mixed veggies in a large pan with avocado oil, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper. (I skip out on the onion so it’s a bit more mild for the girls). When the veggies are soft, I stir in a pound of fresh shrimp (tails removed), and season well with salt and pepper.
While the shrimp cooks, I whisk the sauce: peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, garlic, honey, salt and pepper. When the noodles are down, I strain them, and add them to the pan with the shrimp and veggies. Next, the sauce goes on top, I stir it all together and serve. It’s one of those quick on-the-fly recipes that the girls love.
8:50: I enjoy my bowl of pasta and shrimp after teaching a sweaty Zumba class, and have another glass of tea before calling it a night.
Now, it’s giveaway time!
My friends at Lorissa’s Kitchen sent me the HAUL of protein snacks to share with two lucky reader friends.
Two winners will each receive an enormous pack of Lorissa’s Kitchen products + whatever fun goodies I decide to throw in the package. 😉
Please enter via the widget below!
Ready, set, go!
xoxo
Gina
201 Comments
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Thanks so much for sharing. Your cheese boards always look AMAZING! Can’t wait to try and recreate! You could have a whole insta just of cheese boards 🙂
Favorite healthy dinner is just a big ‘ol salad. Always and forever.
Following on IG!
That cheeseboard is beautiful! I can’t wait to try the Lorissa’s Kitchen Snacks!
My favorite healthy dinner is chicken tenders with prosciutto wrapped around it, rice and roasted asparagus!
Yum!
Stuffed peppers! Delish!
I seriously need to try making a cheeseboard like this
Favorite healthy dinner is avocado toast – made on homemade bread with Everything But the Bagel seasoning. A close second would be a repeat from lunch, which is roasted sweet potatoes. It’s my go-to meal.
Shrimp and veggies with peanut sauce is my favorite healthy dinner recently too!! So yummy and comes together in a pinch
I make a really yummy “whole 30” (even though I don’t actually follow it…) approved version of one of my favorite take out foods…orange chicken. Served over cauliflower rice it’s quickly become a family favorite!
I haven’t found a jerky-type snack I like yet, maybe this is it!
i LOVE lorissa’s kitchen too! my fav healthy dinner is a rotation between quick shrimp stir fry, salmon and veg, and chicken fajitas. or of course, brinner 😛
Favorite healthy dinner is nomnompaleo’s spaghetti squash pizza pie
the cheese board looks tasty! fave healthy dinner at the moment, would be instant pot broccoli and cheddar soup 🙂
Beautiful cheese board! I need to make one for my girlfriends next time we get together.
My favorite healthy dinner is buffalo chicken burgers.
I love lorissa’s too! Great purse snack. Fave healthy dinner in the winter is always a protein and veggie packed soup!
Can’t wait to look for these at my market. Sound great.
Love stir fry!
That cheeseboard is amazing!!! My fav healthy dinner lately is chicken sausage with roasted sweet potatoes and a spinach salad!
Your cheese boards always look so awesome! Excited to try to recreate one!
Love cheese boards and my fave healthy dinner is spaghetti squash with meat sauce.
Love the cheese boards and the shrimp stir fry!
I was so excited to see this post because I’ve been meaning to comment and ask you how you put together your drool-worthy cheese boards! Can’t wait to try this weekend
I follow on Instagram
Favorite healthy dinner is just basic grilled chicken, green beans and whole grain pasta with parmesan!
Peanut sauce is one of my go-to dinner staples on food!
I must try to recreate the cheese board!
Well this looks yummy! My favorite healthy dinner meal is spiralized noodles!
I’d love to win this giveaway. I frequently make a cheese board and invite friends over for an impromptu happy hour out on the patio.
That cheese board looks amazing and a great idea to do on just an average night versus saving for special occasions, thank you!
Yum, my hubby and I would love to try those out!
Love your cheese boards!! 🙂
Would love to win this one! Wanting to try these!! Love cheeseboards : )
grilled salmon, broccoli, and potatoes (mashed or baked) – yum!
Lorna’s Kitchen bites look yummy. I would love to try them. Gurl….. that cheese board….A+…yum to the O
lol LORISSA’S ktichen (SMH)
Thanks for breaking down the cheese board! I always think they’re so pretty, but never feel like I have the artistic talent to create one myself. Now maybe I’ll give it a try!
One of my fave dinners is scrimp and grits – but these days I make it with cauliflower mash instaed of grits. Yum yum! I also love to make cheese/meat boards for dinner, though the huz always thinks of them as appetizer boards. kekekee.
my fav dinner is baked tofu, roasted veggies, some fresh greens with a sauce and brown rice or beans!
the cheese board looks amaaazing
Love the shrimp stir fry idea!
i follow you on insta!
My favorite healthy dinner is a bunch of veggies, potatoes, and chicken sausage all roasted together with some sort of herb! This is especially true in the summer where I can just grab what is at the farmer’s market for dinner.
spaghetti squash!
My favorites healthy dinner is probably a poké bowl with lots of avocado, ginger, and seaweed salad!
I wonder if Costco has those meat snacks. Yum.
I’m doing a Whole30 (day 22!) so I haven’t had cheese in over 3 weeks, so this looks AMAZING! Strangely I haven’t missed cheese all that much – so weird!
You do make the most epic cheese boards!!
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I’ve really been into roasted chicken and veggies lately! I chop everything up ahead of time so I just throw it all onto a pan and throw it in the oven. I’ll have to try one of your cheese boards though!
Eggs and veggies!