Lately

It's been quite a while since I've had a "regular" post.  I've returned to the land of trauma for the months of May and June, which translates to not-so-fun times.  Between rounding at 4:30am, watching fellows operate,  unpredictable schedules, and the general unpleasantries of the trauma service, I'm not having fun.  

Tofu over Pad Thai Rice

I spend a lot of time thinking about the things that I am truly passionate about - triathlon, cooking, family, and travel.  Now I just need an easy solution to pay off my student loan debt so that I can stop counting down to my next day off and start loving EVERY day.  Here's where that winning lottery ticket comes into play!

A Random Pile of Veggies, Garbanzo Beans, and Nutritional Yeast.

You'll notice that my meals are turning into a random assortment of ingredients tossed together without any particular rhyme or reason.  Between being out of town for the wedding, a few work dinners, and a weekend of call, I haven't cooked a formal dinner  in a few weeks.  Fortunately, I'm the queen of turning odds and ends into a tasty meal, so I haven't suffered.

Tofu nuggets, corn salad, sliced raw beets, and marinated kale from the Whole Foods salad bar.

Rather than dump a pretty penny on dinner from the Whole Foods salad bar, I instead opted for a small box of ingredients to supplement some salad components I already had at home.

Some nights by the time I get home and squeeze in a workout, it's tempting to go straight to bed and skip dinner.  I'm never one to miss a meal, though, so instead my dinner ends up looking something like this.

Avocado, mixed vegetables, roasted sweet potato wedges 

After racing on Saturday morning, I headed straight for the farmer's market to pick up a bounty of fresh produce.  I typically shop at the Charlotte Regional market due to the size, variety, and lower prices.  Saturday it was completely mobbed and busier than I've ever seen it.  I love the fact that Charlotte has such a strong support for its local farmers!

Naturally, the fresh fruits and vegetables made natural ingredients for a dinner salad.  I harvested a handful of spinach from my garden for the leafy green base.

Check out the huge leaves on my spinach plants.

Sunday morning was finally my opportunity for sleeping in and utter laziness.  I wrote my race report while sipping on a chai latte, and then later made a veggie egg scramble and sliced local strawberries.

Charlotte has seen below average temperatures for several weeks.  Fortunately, the weather took a turn for the better this weekend and graced us with sunny skies and temperatures nearing 80 degrees.  As you might guess, I spent a majority of Sunday soaking up every last ray of sun from the comforts of my deck.

Salads are becoming the theme of my meals.
It must be the warm weather and bounty of seasonal vegetables.

I finally put a little extra time and effort into this dinner - sauteed garlic herb veggie sausages with bean sprouts, roasted kombucha squash, and sliced avocado.  The kombucha squash was rescued from the freezer, and sadly is the last of the batch.  I had never before eaten that particular squash variety, but I'll be roasting a lot more of it in the near future.  Yum!