Moving Past May
Hey 👋🏾 Hope all is well in your world. We have made it through another month and are running into the summer time. Most schools have been released for the break and if not, the time is approaching. The point of the year where the sun is dancing on the equator, most people are extremely hot, and the main arguments in homes are based around the thermometer is pretty much here. Let the majority celebrate the upcoming season that is summertime.
I have a peculiar stance at this time being a substitute teacher as my time in the classroom has officially come to an end. This is my annual season to focus on more of my creative endeavors and take time for self reflection. At the beginning of the month I began a another dietary/physical challenge and I did fairly well with sticking to the guidelines. I’ll share the results and criteria below.
-The black wall background was taken at the end of a 21 day challenge on April 23rd, and the orange wall background featuring Peanut Butter was taken on June 1st after a challenge started on May 1st. My intention was to learn discipline and add protein into my life naturally and it was accomplished.
I made 5 critical meals and snack combos that really kept my protein count high and my carbohydrates fairly low. I like to keep my grocery list short and fairly repetitive throughout the month just as a personal preference. I focus on keynote ingredients and think of meals that are made with those. I tend to eat chicken heavily and manipulate it into almost all of my meals. It can be seen as a bad or good thing, I’ll share a little bit of my method below.
1) Pineapple & Cucumber Salsa
(My personal preference of pico de gallo)
-This particular mixture is a current addition for me and so simple to make. I use it as a topper on my pizza, filler in my breakfast burritos, and I often just eat it on top of crackers. It’s such a good filler to a lot of meals.
2)Beet, Sweet Potato, Carrot Mix [ savory & sweet]
This boiled and blended mixture is one of my absolute favorites because it is so flexible and nutritious. I want to to give a little insight. Having carrot and beetroot juice daily helps improve stamina and performance over time. The fiber present in carrot and beetroot juice helps improve digestion. They also help remove toxins from the body. Carrots and beetroots are rich in beta carotene, a precursor to vitamin A, which helps improve eyesight. Sweet potatoes are considered a superfood, one of the most nutritious packed with antioxidants and more, that includes vitamin A, B, and C. Combining all of the veggies with tomatoes and garlic in a blender and adding herbs like basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme and marjoram which comes in a typical dried Italian blend will give a great savory pasta sauce. I use it on my personal pan pizzas and in all of my pasta dishes.
On the other hand if you take that same mix and add a half an apple, half a cup of watermelon, and ginger to taste you will have a lovely juice alternative. This is something you can adjust the consistency to desire, as well. Adding water will have you with a more fluid consistency juice like drink, and you can add ice to turn the drink into a smoothie. Honey and agave would be the most healthy sweeteners.
I make both savory and sweet options and place them in mason jars for about 7-10 days.
3)Banana, Peanut Butter, honey flatbread
I use naan bread in a lot of my meals, because they provide a little more protein than tortillas and tend to be more filling for certain dishes. I had a hard time replacing candy in my daily life and a favorite of mine is a Reeses. I mimick that often in my healthier snacks. A little chocolate and peanut butter mixture with a banana tends to keep the sweet tooth at bay very often.
On this same plate I have a breakfast mixture of an egg and pineapple salsa with the chicken sausage and spinach meal prep on top of the naan bread. Both options are very high protein and decent in numbers when it comes to carbohydrates.
4)Eggs and Chicken Sausage Breakfast burritos with spinach
Pictured below is the favorite breakfast mixture for me. I tend to eat this with or with a tortilla as a burrito or straight out of the pot.
5)Chicken, Rice, Veggies
The actual most flexible meal prep option for me is the open to interpretation chicken and vegetables meal. The switch up lies in the seasoning and vegetables. My favorites are the taco bowl with chopped chicken thighs, and the spinach and cheese stuffed chicken that’s beef bacon wrapped and is pictured below. I tend to take the assistance of prepackaged seasonings and marinades. I follow the instructions from everything from a taco night to an Asian themed dinner and have my way because at the end of the day all it is, is rice, protein, and vegetables. I prefer to stay in the fresh vegetables like broccoli, green beans, and zucchini; however, I will venture into the freezer isle of any store for replacements when necessary.
I am very far from a chef but these are a few meals that helped me out over these past few weeks. I was able to drop a total of 17 pounds in 6 weeks and establish some new norms for myself. I’m fairly happy with how everything worked out overall for me, results may vary.
As of today my latest exhibition will be viewable throughout the summer at Parc Village. There will be at least 2 closed door opportunities to grab prints, gear, and exchange in conversation centered around the pieces. The dates and times will be announced for the event in July, but below is the flyer for first one in June. It’s a great outing for all ages and should provide exposure to clean music, refreshments, good vibes, and custom art.
Below is the full interview of what inspired this exhibition and a peek into the process into how it all came together. I’m super grateful for Doc Lamar and O.p.r.e Tv for capturing this amazing footage and putting it together so nicely. This whole exhibition was about healing for me and I’m very pleased with what I was able to leave on the canvases.
June is upon us and the summertime is right around the corner. The first official day of summer is Thursday on the 20th. May you enjoy the last moments of spring and grab ahold of some healthy past times as the temperatures rise. I hope that any eyes that fall upon this blog are met with nothing but prosperity this month and beyond.
Comments