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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Your cheese boards are epic! Love this! Maybe I will make one for my husband on Valentine’s day… #TrueLove
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Love this giveaway-thank you!
I love a good stir fry with shrimp and tons of veggies. And served with lemon tomato and avocado slices.
I follow on Instagram @thehippiehut32
I also follow Lorissa’s Kitchen in instagram.
Currently, our favorite dinner is definitely chicken ginger miso soup. So flavorful, super good for you, and eaten by my 4 year old, because, rice noodles!
Would love a chance to try Lorissa’s!
Cheese board boss over here!!
My favourite healthy dinner is actually very similar to your shrimp and noodles, just substituting the mixed veg for asparagus, tomatoes and goat cheese. So good.
Follow you on IG
Yum!!
YUM I would love to try Lorissa’s Kitchen!
I love using my Instant Pot to cook up a healthy dinner.
I love some kind of bowl – rice, veggies, and a runny egg!
Oh your cheese boards are amazing!
My fav dinner is stir fry , so easy to make and mix it up!
Followed on IG!
Cheese boards are the best, and that looks like an especially delightful one!
I love cheese boards! We use them to have a “picnic”/movie night at home! My boys love it!
My favorite healthy dinner would be bibimbap – sautéed and fresh vegetables, some protein, a runny egg, and sauce over rice. Perfection.
I’m pinning this for the cheese board! Yum!
your cheese board is amazing!
I love a good pasta dish with whole-wheat pasta and a bunch of veggies!
That board looks amazing! Putting the Lorissa’s on it is a great idea!
Favorite healthy dinners in our house are grilled salmon and Caesar salad or marinated venison steaks with veggies.
We’ve been really into zoodles with any kind of shredded chicken (made in the crockpot typically) and avocado!
My favorite healthy dinner is baked salmon, brown rice, and steamed broccoli. Nothing too fancy, but it always hits the spot!
Must have a cheese board for dinner soon!
I can’t wait to try your method of putting together a cheeseboard!
Love chicken and veggie stir fry!
My kids love a cheese, salami, and fruit snack, so they would love this! A favorite healthy dinner is chicken sausage with roasted broccoli and sweet potatoes… so easy!
The cheese board is so pretty! Love the idea of the meat snacks…would love to try them!
MY favorite healthy easy dinner is stir fry chicken and veggies with pesto stirred in at the end. Easy and so good!
my favorite quick, healthy dinner is some sort of ground meat (turkey, beef, chicken, etc) sautéed with the cruciferous crunch veggie blend from TJs. Top with avocado…yum!
i follow you on IG!
I follow you on instagram
I mix up frozen cauliflower rice, a boca burger, guacamole, pickles, and tomatoes with a little bit of ketchup and mustard and trader joes everyday seasoning. It’s delicious.
Grilled chicken, brocolli slaw, spinach, soy sauce, and cheese-just ate it tonight!!
Is there any talk of tofu jerkey in the works?
Our favorite healthy dinner is homemade margherita pizza. We use whole wheat dough, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and sauce. Hits the pizza craving and the whole family likes it!
I love jerky so I’m interested to try it!
Love lorissa’s kitchen snacks!
I am loving homemade turkey lettuce wraps lately. So delicious and easy to reheat for lunch the next day!
Your cheese boards are a work of art! My favorite healthy dinners are sheet pan ones- put some protein (fish, chicken), some green veggies (Brussels Sprouts, broccoli), and some root veggies (potatoes, butternut squash) on a pan and roast in the oven!
Love this cheeseboard! It’s reminded me that I’m way overdue for one, I love to include blue cheese stuffed olives!
Love your cheeseboards!!! And love the incorporation of Lorissa’s kitchen! Loving this giveaway. Thank u!
Homemade pizza!
Usually some variation of chicken, veggies, and brown rice
We love having cheese boards here…all family members participate in putting it together, so mine are not as pretty as yours!
tuna salad
Some of my favorite girls’ nights involve charcuterie boards!
Go-to healthy dinner is Andie Mitchell’s Cheesy Mexican Quinoa Casserole. I always have the ingredients in my pantry for a last-minute dinner idea, it’s delicious, and the leftovers are great!
http://www.andiemitchell.com/cheesy-mexican-quinoa-black-bean-casserole/