another one bites the dust

happy friday to you! this post will not be super exciting, recipe-wise anyway. it's been a fairly busy week, filled with quick meals and birthday celebrations and dining out. overall, i'm still feeling pretty great, and i'm super proud of myself for practicing restraint with my husband's birthday treats. i mean, we're talking about dirt pudding-filled cupcakes and an oreo brownie trifle, people. being self-controlled was by no means an easy feat. yes, i'm shamelessly patting my own back. :-)

 here was this week's menu:

• friday: mini turkey meat loaves with rice and roasted veggies
• saturday: end-of-summer burgers on the grill
• sunday: naked salmon burgers with sriracha mayo and roasted broccoli
• monday: open-faced egg and ricotta sandwich with strawberries
• tuesday: birthday turkey tacos
• wednesday: beer-batter cod (super fancy... straight from the grocer's freezer!) with parmesan roasted cauliflower
• thursday: dinner out with a friend (which included the BEST kale salad i've ever eaten! must try to recreate it. stay tuned...)
• friday: totally excited to try this toasted quinoa and pear salad

last friday, we enjoyed mini turkey meat loaves. i NEVER feel like cooking on fridays, but these little guys came together pretty easily. and they cook much faster than a traditional meat loaf, so it works well for a throw-it-together-after-i-get-home-from-work meal (which is a basic requirement for most of the meals i select). as far as ground turkey goes, this was delicious. steve raved and ate 4 of them. we'll definitely make these again!

they're not pretty. but they ARE delicious!

a weird thing happened this weekend. on saturday, we threw caution to the wind and had a delicious end-of-summer cookout. hamburgers on the grill, topped with sauteed onion, muenster cheese, and sweet baby ray's bbq sauce, all on a toasted kaiser roll. oh man. it was so good. we even indulged in macaroni 'n cheese, seasonal autumn lager, and shared a pint of frozen yogurt on the couch after isla went to bed. just perfect. i only felt mildly guilty about my indulgence, but was worried how i'd feel the next day. i didn't feel lethargic and gross as i was expecting. but i did feel something else -- a craving. for vegetables. it was one of the more bizarre experiences in my food-loving life. i was actually encouraged that maybe i'm making some progress. maybe, just maybe, my tastebuds are taking a healthy turn. maybe my food preference are finally following my actions. maybe healthy eating won't feel like such a chore anymore. maybe. we'll see. :-) in any case, i was super excited for sunday night's naked salmon burgers with sriracha mayo and roasted broccoli. you can read my thoughts on the salmon burger here. it was even more delicious than i remembered! and that broccoli. if you've never tried roasted broccoli, you don't know what you're missing! really just any roasted vegetable. that's my go-to method of preparation. yummmmm.

i had made monday's open-faced egg and ricotta sandwich a year or so ago for dinner with a vegetarian friend. it's easy and fresh and filling. i bought arugula as the recipe suggests, but it was so bitter and offensive! practically singed my nose hairs. ha! so i used romaine instead. spinach would be a good choice too. i used two eggs to make it feel more like an entree and left the eggs just a bit soft in the middle, which normally i don't like, but it works well with this sandwich.

would also be great for breakfast.. or lunch... or brunch... or whatever!

just for fun, i though you might want to know what the rest of my kitchen 
looks like when i'm trying to plate a meal for these photos. :-)

so that's all i have for recipe sharing this week. some weeks are just like that. certainly i'm not the only one who keeps some just-in-case fish sticks or chicken nuggets in the freezer. :-)

and now, the WEEKLY WEIGH-IN... another one bites the dust! i lost 1 pound this week. feeling pretty proud of my slow and steady weight loss. and even more proud of my small steps towards a healthier lifestyle. happy weekend, folks!