From parsnip hash browns for breakfast, to candied pecans for breakfast dessert, to hot yoga on cold winter's nights, a few things that have been happening on my Live Healthy Iowa Challenge journey
lately
Photo Credit: Pinterest
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Sipping Through a Straw: Kombucha(!) Just a few sips and I'm no longer foraging through the cupboards for chocolate (ps: It's also great for breaking a soda habit)
Latest Amazon delivery: Supplements, including 5 HTP (helps with cravings), B Vitamins, L-Glutamine (for gut health) and a good multivitamin
Biggest Weight-loss Obstacle: Sleep, it's ever elusive. Between us, the kitties, and the puppies, I swear there's a creature in motion at our house 24 x 7. (We'd be good candidates for a funny time-lapse video)
Secret Weapon for Busy Weeks: Meal services. Have you tried one? Admittedly, I was skeptical at first. There are some great ones out there offering seasonal + plant-based meals for ~ $8-$10 per person. A few of my favorites? Freshly, Purple Carrot, and Blue Apron
Remembering As I Reach For a Cookie (and Put it Back): The average craving lasts only 3-5 minutes
Always in the Freezer? Cooked beans + lentils. They add fiber + protein and are a cheap way to stretch main and side dishes. Some ideas? Add them to soups, rice dishes, pasta, and pretty much anything else.
A Few Ideas For Adding Flavor: Fresh herbs and minced roasted garlic .. will liven up just about anything. (The lightly dried and refrigerated tubes of herbs are also great to have on hand and last a few months) Another idea? Citrus .. I always have fresh lemons and limes in the fridge. Bright flavors from the juice and zest help maximize flavor without adding salt. (A little extra vitamin C never hurts)
The Way of Eating That Always Works For Me: Dana James .. When I'm following her philosophies and meal plans, I always feel my best.
A Small Shift That's Had a Large Impact: Drinking more water. A few years ago when I gave up soda and infused water (just water + fruit) saved me. A pretty container in the fridge was a constant reminder. Missing the fizz? I was too; try a SodaStream
Always in My Grocery Cart? Greek yogurt. I've had a sordid love affair with sauces most of my life, so I mix fresh herbs (dill for a quick salmon topper) a little Sriracha for my husband's tacos, and a dollop on soups for creaminess and protein
Guilty Pleasure/Indulgence: My husband and I love driving all over the state to try out Iowa's Best Burgers. So when I'm hungry for a splurge he tells me to pick a nominee, and we're off. (ps: The best burger I've ever eaten? At the Sac City Bowling Alley, Sac City, Iowa)
Photo Credit: Pinterest
Inspired By: The most amazing 98-year-old yoga teacher(!) Let's all live our best lives for just as long as we possibly can
Grab and Go: Snacky produce, like mini cucumbers, grape tomatoes, and snap peas. They're fun finger food and require minimal prep. For the times we're heading out the door or just got home and need something to snack on before dinner (ps: For dipping .. see Greek yogurt sauces above)
(ps: for other snacking ideas see my guide for what to look for at the grocery and a super long list of ideas)
Favorite App: Way of Life – it's great for tracking habits, is really simple to set up, and will even create beautiful charts and graphs. A few in my list? Minutes spent walking, yoga, weight lifting, no sugar, meditation, and “today have I treated myself the way I would a very close friend?”
Favorite Workout: I've been walking for as long as I can remember. As a kid growing up on our family farm, whenever I was bored, I'd walk the half-mile to the paved road and back. It's something I've stayed with my entire life. They're some of the most peaceful and meditative moments in my day
2nd Favorite Workout: Kickboxing – Just making it though feels like a huge accomplishment(!)
Cooking: Buddha bowls (recipes coming soon!) A Buddha bowl is all sorts of healthful goodness, piled in abundance, into a single bowl. They tend to be beautiful and make me appreciate a meal more than usual.
My progress report after week 2?
Total minutes of activity this week = 675 and Overall = 1310
It adds up quick! (a combination of walking, yoga, resistance class, and weight lifting)
Total pounds lost this week = 3.1 and Overall = 7.3
( .. to be continued .. )
This Lemon-Herbed Roasted Salmon with Veggies is exactly the weeknight meal I've been searching for these days. Healthy, light, and easy
As far as dinners go, this one is pretty simple, but with big flavors. Salmon covered in herbs, alongside colorful veggies are roasted together on a sheet pan. The entire dish comes together in less than a half an hour, although the roasting time can vary a little, depending on the size of the cuts.
The dish immediately earned a spot on our regular weeknight rotation. The salmon is flavorful, the veggies perfectly cooked; it’s a complete meal, and all prepared in one pan.
A few notes:
One of the many things I love about this kind of recipe is its ability to take on different flavor profiles. A few other herb blends you might enjoy? (keeping the proportions the same)
Dill, parsley or chervil
Olive oil (instead of butter), thyme, basil or marjoram
Peanut oil (instead of butter), cilantro or mint
Different veggie combinations? Definitely, equal baking time veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, squash will work without any adjustments. Veggies that would take a little longer (ex: potatoes), start them 10-15 minutes before adding the salmon
Enjoy!
xoxo
ps: I'm participating as part of the Iowa Food and Family Project‘s blogger team in this year's annual Live Healthy Iowa 10 Week Challenge. More stories from the Challenge can be found here
— — —
~ Adapted from The New York Times
Sheet Pan Lemon-Herb Roasted Salmon with Veggies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ - 2 pound skinless salmon fillet, fresh or thawed from frozen
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 2 Tbsp rosemary leaves, chopped fine
- 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped fine
- 3 Tbsp garlic, minced, divided
- 2 lemons
- fine grain sea salt + freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- olive oil
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil (optional, but it really makes clean-up a breeze)
- Prep the Salmon
- Rinse salmon and pat dry. Place salmon on baking sheet, leaving room around each piece for the veggies
- In a small bowl, add the rosemary, parsley, garlic, juice of 1 lemon, and a pinch of freshly ground black pepper. Combine
- Brush the melted butter on top of each salmon filet.
- Divide the herb mix and spread evenly over the tops of each fillet
- Prep the Veggies
- In a medium bowl combine tomatoes, broccoli, 2 Tbsp garlic, a small glug of olive oil, and a pinch each of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toss to coat.
- Arrange the veggies on the baking sheet around the salmon
- Bake and Serve
- Roast 15 to 18 minutes, or just until the salmon flakes
- While the salmon is roasting, in a small bowl add the lemon zest and ¼ cup juice from the lemon and honey. Whisk to combine
- Spoon over salmon and vegetables before serving.
59 Comments
Great recipe. I have tried making salmon at home only once. and using dry rosemary ( we don’t get fresh ones easily in India) left a rather bitter taste. but this looks refreshing. Will try it this weekend. Also thanks for the HTP suggestion. going to read more on it and probably try.
This looks so delicious!!! I think I’m going to try this tonight. I love salmon and am always looking for new ways to make it.
Oh my this looks amazing and healthy. I must try and make it!!q
What a delicious meal and it all looks so fresh as well mmmm. Do you take all the photos of your food?
Ana .. thank-you! I do take my own pictures 🙂
This is perfect for my Whole30 diet this month! Thanks for the inspiration. I have frozen salmon defrosting as we speak!
Salmon is my favorite fish. I tend to love anything with a citrus flavor!
I enjoyed reading all of those facts about you! It’s always nice to get to know fellow bloggers. I think it’s great that you’ve been following your diet, 7 lbs is not something you can lose easily! Good job. That herb roasted salmon is just lovely! Thanks for the tips on the herb combinations!
Your herb-roasted salmon looks tasty! It would be something I could make for dinner this weekend. Thanks for sharing all those bits and pieces of information about yourself. I find myself in so many of those things. 🙂
This looks like such a healthy & light dinner! I never combined salmon with lemon juice before but it sounds delicious!
Salmon is one of my favorite meals and this looked delicious! Thanks for sharing – But can we just appreciate the 98-year-old yoga teacher please?! How fabulous! X
What a delicious, fresh, and easy dinner! Putting it on my list to make!
It looks so yummy and delicious! Thanks for sharing that inspiration with us! I love salmon!
You always have lovely photos! So colorful and eye-catching. Looks delicious.
I love fish and especially salmon. The fish and veg combination I adore. This is one of my favorite types of dishes.
Beautiful! I’m crazy for salmon 😀 Super healthy, super tasty and you can prepare it many ways. Perfect.
Love your recipe, can’t wait to try it 😉
That looks yummy. I will have to try that. Thanks for sharing.
Looks all fresh and healthy. I am a vegetarian but my roommate would love this recipe
This Salmon looks incredibly delicious and colorful. Veggies makes it look quite refreshing!
This looks scrumptious and one I make often, but never thought to roast broccoli with it, it’s my daughters fave veg so may give his a go on our fish Friday xx
Goodness does that salmon look absolutely incredible! I’ve just bought a few salmon steaks and this recipe is just perfect one to make this coming week. I just love lemon and herbs.
Anything salmon I’m game for. This’ll also help me on my mission to eat healthier.
OK now you have my mouth watering, this sounds absolutely delicious I am such a fan of salmon so I could definitely see myself tucking into this beauty of a dish.
Great recipe. Super easy but looks so delicious and healthy. I can never believe it when people say health cooking is too hard or they don’t have time!!!
Congratulations on all of your exercise and weight loss this week.
I love any recipe that requires a sheet pan, ingredients, and a simple pop in the oven. This herb roasted salmon looks absolutely delicious. I’ve been wanting to prepare salmon lately, but have been a little lost as to how to prepare it.
Just looking at these pictures is making me hungry! I love salmon and roast veg, so this would be my perfect meal x
This looks delicious and so colorful too. I have never really learned to cook with seafood and I still don’t eat shellfish but for salmon or cod, this would be a great recipe
First I have to praise you on the photos. Oh my goodness this plate looks like it belongs framed. I love light and delicious meals, I am going to attempt to make this. Wish my luck 🙂
What an easy way of cooking salmon. I usually bake it myself but I have never thought of adding all the vegetables in the pan as well, so that there is no need for a side.
I love the mix of bold bright colours in this dish. It looks so appealing and has come at the right time as my husband has gone nuts for salmon recently. I must get him to try this as I am sure he’d love it it looks delicious!
Ouh, this looks like such a yummy meal! I am glad that your fitness journey is going so well. I also find it very encouraging that the average craving is max. 5 minutes – I can last that long!
This looks so incredibly delish. I love that this is a super easy to cook Salmon. I am totally going to need to make this for my family!
This looks like a great dinner option for us. So colorful. My son LOVES fish and I do not have many recipes so I love finding new ones. Thank you for this inspiration!
Been trying to eat healthy foods too and I am so glad I head over your blog. So many healthy recipes to try on. Will definitely be back to check for more.
Been thinking of cooking more of healthy foods and glad I came over this blog. Thanks for sharing your recipe. Will definitely be back for more.
Wow! This must be the most colourful dinner I’ve seen in a long time. Love the presentation and a bet it tastes amazing!
Salmon is my FAVORITE food! i used to literally eat it every day for lunch. It’s my favorite with dill.
I’ve just tried a meal delivery service too, they’re awesome aren’t they?! I’m really into seafood especially salmon at the moment so looks yummy x
I really should eat more salmon but I normally never know how to cook it, so thanks for sharing! x
This looks so delicious and very light and healthy. We love salmon and your recipe is one I will have to try…thanks!
This looks so tasty and easy! We have salmon quite a lot at home as it is so light and relatively healthy. Usually with a cajun spice, baked on top of veg and we love it.
I will be trying this one out for a bit of variety
That looks like an easy and delicious meal! I love recipes that can be made in one pot or pan. I was reading through your list and saw you gave up soda a while ago. I just gave it up, too, for the most part (I have many two a week). I only drank diet, but even that was making me feel icky. I am going to try more infused water, since I am honestly not a big plain water fan.
This looks lovely! This could be slimming world too just a few syns for butter and honey so I can do this 🙂
I never thought about stocking cooked beans and lentils int he freezer but why a great way to add bulk to meals when needed.
Looks and sounds amazing! All those colours! So summery!
I love salmon, especially when it is accompanied by lots of vegetables. Yum! 🙂
Less than half an hour to prepare! Great meal idea, I love salmon and the colourful veggies look amazing!
That salmon looks incredible! I haven’t seen a Cathy comic in so long- I used to love them!
Im drooling. Everything looks so well put together omg my stomach is talking to me!!
That looks amazing! My kiddo is a big fan of salmon. Il’ll have to bookmark this for later!
My family love salmon so this is definitely a recipe I’ll be sharing with them. I’m missing sleep as much as you, I never seem to catch up and feel rested. I’m obsessed with Greek yoghurt at the moment but other than that my snacks aren’t exactly healthy, definitely need to sort that out
I’m going to have to give this a try, we rarely eat salmon and we always enjoy it when we have it. I’m going to have to remember to pick some up next time I go to the supermarket x
congrats on losing 3.1 pounds! the salmon is right up my street but I don’t have an oven at mine to make this 🙁
Oh wow this looks amazing and very healthy too! Will have to make this one day
I love cooking fish, it’s my fave. I definitely need to start drinking more water as well. Haven’t tried fruit infused water before. 🙂
OMG that salmon looks absolutely delicious and really easy to make too! Definitely one I’ll try out myself! xxx
It really looks delicious and healthy I would love this for our dinner! I should try this recipe I bet my family would love this too
This is so beautiful! Woah! I can’t wait to try this… keep em coming! 😀
I made it tonight, it was a success! Thank you!