Good afternoon, friends! It’s been a busy one over here – I’m sure it has been for you guys, too! For lunch today, I whipped up one of my standard favorites – a grain/bean/veggie/salad explosion. The star was this package of pre-cooked lentils, which is one of my favorite Trader Joe’s products.
They are so good I’ll eat them directly out of the package… but they also make an excellent protein and fiber-packed salad topper. I started with a base of arugula, then added some chopped mushrooms and green pepper, some leftover toasted almond quinoa from Tuesday night (which is buried under the lentils), and the lentils.
I topped it all with homemade balsamic vinaigrette (balsamic vinegar + macadamia oil + dijon mustard + lemon juice) and enjoyed a juicy nectarine on the side, too. Loving all the summer produce lately!
While I threw it together, I snacked on these peanut butter filled pretzels, which are my other favorite product from Trader Joe’s. I think these would make excellent fuel during a long run, too… hmmmm.
Speaking of long runs, I’m traveling again this weekend – my fellow Brooks Run Happy blogger ambassadors and I were invited out to Seattle to check out the Brooks headquarters and to run the Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll race, which is on Saturday morning. I’m so excited and grateful for such a cool opportunity! Seattle is such a beautiful city – can’t wait to explore it via my running shoes. Hoping the weather will be good for us!
I’ll be running the half marathon – I’m not running for time, so I’m really looking forward to enjoying the views and taking lots of pictures for you guys. As always, you can see what I’m up to before I post again here via Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. 🙂 Have any of you run the Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll half before? Any tips?
I’ll be back tomorrow from the plane to share an awesome new recipe, and will also share the Summer Shape Up week 2 meal plan so you can grocery shop over the weekend. You’ll be able to find the meal plan linked to here once it’s up, or you can click the Summer Shape Up graphic on my right sidebar!
Have a great day!
