Midweek Snack // The Food Rut

Does anyone else get stuck in food ruts? A lot of people I've talked to lately have been asking around for new ideas to get unstuck. Me too!! I definitely get into phases where my food becomes repetitive because it's easy and predictable. The human body does thrive off of a variety of foods, but every so often our lives or environments overcome us and we find ourselves eating the same 4 items for a month.

As long as those 4 items keep us headed towards our health goals and we don't totally overdose, it's completely fine. It's the best in consistency, actually. It's automated. Just like my notion of the breakfast protein shake. It takes the thinking and planning out of one of my daily meals. And one less thing to plan makes the rest of it seem actually doable.

The Food Rut menu over at my house looks like this:

Breakfast: KayShake or Acai Bowl

Lunch: Spaghetti squash or edamame pasta with meatsauce

Dinner: Salad or Broccolini (or other roasted vegetable) with fish

For days. Weeks. Month(s)??

OK well... first of all, this rut at least meets my nutritional non-negotiables. Vegetables or fruit with every meal (spinach & avocado in the protein shake is clutch, folks), protein with every meal, fish as the main protein source at least 3 times a week, and easy to make.

So easy to make why would we bother with anything else? And alas, this is why having a weekly recipe post has been eluding me lately. But, I'm not too worried, with all the grills fired up in the summertime, I'm sure everyone is just happy throwing some marinated meat on the grill with a vegetable of some kind and calling it a day too. No fuss no muss.

I have felt rather obsessed with one dish the past few months. Thai red curry (anything). I had it at a Thai restaurant at the beginning of the summer with an almost rare piece of sushi grade salmon and nearly died of delight. I've had it at least 3 times since. And up until this past week, I've been hesitant to try my hand at it - curries seem so complicated. Perhaps they can be, but I scoured the internet for a recipe that sounded good and looked good (I judge a book by its cover when it's food related) and included only ingredients that I already have on hand, except for Red Curry Paste of course, and had the simplest of instructions.

I'm thrilled to report that it's so freakin good. Pinch Of Yum for the win!!!!! I went ahead and linked the recipe right there. I had nothing to do with that amazingness that resulted. The author humorously quips that the title of the recipe post could also be "I Am Dying Of Happiness" and "How To Crave Vegetables 24/7". Seriously those are spot on.

I set aside about 1/2 cup of the sauce in a mason jar to marinade our fish in. The rest went into a stir fry with lots of veggies including broccoli, snow peas, water chestnuts, red cabbage, and carrots. Any hearty vegetable that won't wilt will do just fine. Pick anything that you like! And any meat that you like, for that matter. Try it! Enjoy! Here's to staying in my fish and greens food rut, but with a twist :)

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