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July 20, 2020

Melting

by Anne Mauney, MPH, RD

22 comments

You guys, it’s SO hot here. We basically spent the weekend melting. 

Anyone else? How is it where you are?

We have had some good eats the past few days, though!

Hot weather calls for tacos, in my opinion… we had some salmon tacos with guac, a black bean and quinoa mix, slaw, and yogurt mixed with lime juice and chopped cilantro. 

salmon and black bean tacos

Speaking of tacos – have you tried my Healthy Breakfast Tacos yet?

And speaking of healthy, a blog reader asked on last week’s Healthy Egg Salad Recipe post why I call some of my recipes “healthy” when I’m a proponent of intuitive eating and the all foods fit mentality.

(See also these recent blog posts: Intuitive Eating While Working From Home and Intuitive Eating for Runners.)

It was a really good question, and I thought it might be helpful to address it here on the blog vs. just in the comments section because I’d hate to be sending the message that all foods don’t fit. 

Here’s the deal: I use the term “healthy” in front of some of my recipes because it helps more people to find my website when they are searching for recipes on Google.

For example, a lot of people search specifically for “healthy egg salad recipe” vs. just “egg salad recipe” which is really oversaturated already. So it’s helpful for people looking for nutrient-dense recipes to find my site specifically. (I wish I could say “nutrient-dense” instead of “healthy”, but sadly that’s not a term people are using in search!)

So, that’s why that term is there; feel free to just ignore the term “healthy” anytime I use it in the title of recipe posts and know that it is just another delicious recipe that I’m sharing because it tastes good and I like eating it. 🙂 

I also figure if people are searching for a “healthy” recipe, it’s better for them to land on my site where they won’t get restrictive/diet-focused advice vs. going to another site that might continue to fuel diet behaviors, you know?

So that’s another reason I use that term specifically, in hopes that people will find my blog and then I can plant the seed for them to try a more intuitive, all foods fit approach. I hope that makes sense!

Anyway – back to the weekend food!

Sticking with the taco theme, we had steak and taco salad with my parents one night:

taco salad with steak

And I had the leftovers from our earlier taco feast in a wrap for lunch. All tacos, all the time, no shame. 

This is reminding me I need to make another batch of my Make Ahead Breakfast Burritos – our freezer has been very sad without them lately! 

leftover taco filling in a burrito

We moved away from Mexican one night in favor of pizza and salad!

The pizza was from Pupatella in Arlington – so good. The salad was homemade and dressed with my usual fave Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette (except with apple cider vinegar instead of balsamic). 

pizza and salad

As for other meals this weekend, Riese and I crushed two of my Flour Free Breakfast Pancakes <– she’s obsessed. 

flour free breakfast pancake

I had some delicious homemade snack balls (the recipe is on Instagram, along with a giveaway!) while Riese scootered around the house…

snack balls

I also had a really fun outing on Sunday – a distanced lunch with friends Mary and Sokphal! 

We originally made plans to do our first run date in many months, but in the end we weren’t feeling great about the idea of sweating/breathing all over each other right now for obvious reasons, so instead we decided to do an outdoor distanced lunch date.

We all ordered food ahead from Virtue Feed + Grain in Old Town, then picked it up and sat super spaced out in chairs by the waterfront.

It was lovely to see them! And my harissa salmon with creamy quinoa was delicious – I’ve missed that meal.

outdoor lunch

I didn’t end up running at all this weekend – too hot!

Instead I did a quick 30 minute online yoga flow one day (Riese did some of it with me which was cute), and I also took one of my sister-in-law Morgana’s live virtual total body workout classes. Matt and I have still been doing his brother Drew’s live fitness classes 2 times per week and really liking them, and I’ve occasionally been doing one of Morgana’s classes on the weekend too if schedules allow. They have an official website now if you’re interested in checking out their class offerings and joining in on the sweaty fun!

I will leave you with a picture of me dressed up with makeup on for the first time in many months – I know, crazy! I barely remembered how to put on makeup. 

I went to a super small, outdoor, socially distanced baby shower for a neighbor and it was nice to have an excuse to get dressed up. I was also excited to finally try out some new non-toxic makeup I bought months ago – really loving my new eyeshadow and lipstick (I’m wearing the Rose color)! They didn’t dry me out at all which was nice because that’s an issue I have sometimes with makeup. (affiliate links)

beautycounter lipstick

The cute lipstick got covered up by a mask for a lot of the event (except for when I was eating/drinking) so I figured I’d get a photo and show it off here instead. 🙂 

I hope you guys have a lovely day and I will see you back here on Wednesday!

p.s. I’m going to work on a Riese toddler update post since it’s been ages since I wrote one (the last one was her 2 year update apparently and she’s already well over 2.5 now – she will be 3 in November, whoa)! Any specific topic requests/things you want me to cover in the post? 

Here are the toddler-specific posts I’ve written recently: At Home Activities for Toddlers and Our Fave Natural + Organic Personal Care Products for Babies and Toddlers. 

I think I’m going to do a separate snack ideas for toddlers post coming soon, too, if that’s something you guys are interested in? Let me know!

I’d also love to know if you have any requests for nutrition-themed blog posts – any nutrition hot topics or myths you want me to analyze/explore?

- anne

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22 comments
  • I'm in Minnesota and it has been HOT! Our heat index was 110 on Saturday which is really high for us. I guess our dew point was higher than it typically is in Florida! We had a socially distanced gathering at a friend's FIL's lake home in the morning. I was all about being in the water as that was the only way I was really comfortable in that heat. We've also been on a tacos/Mexican kick! Last week I made picadillo in our IP and served it with beans and rice (it's Cuban, not Mexican, but kind of similar?). On Saturday, I made tacos using this recipe (https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/chipotle-chicken-kabobs-with-cilantro-lime-dipping-sauce/) but I didn't make the cream sauce because my husband doesn't like cream sauces. I should have halved the chipotle in adobo like she recommends, but I didn't. So it was too spicy for the toddler. Then last night I made lentil enchiladas. We have ground turkey tacos on the menu for this week, too. That's a lot of Mexican for one week but we all love Mexican and I'm all about making stuff I know our toddler (who is SUPER picky) will eat.
    Reply
    • Yum, sounds like some really delicious eats! I'm jealous of your lake swimming - I really want to make a lake trip this summer! We'll see. :)
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  • I was once on a "healthy eating" website and found a recipe that called for 1/2 of a baby carrot in the ingredient list - decided that recipe writer had quite the strange impression of what constitutes healthy eating. I am always trying to bump up the veggies in my recipes.
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    • Haha wow, yes, that is very strange!
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  • Each time I need to google a recipe I’m going to use the term nutrient dense to see what pops up ?
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    • Haha I love it. Let's make it a thing!
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  • I think it is hot most everywhere right now, Anne - except maybe in San Francisco and above 5,000 feet in the Rockies! Good to see the nice week in food! You asked for subjects of interest: one of interest to me is the thinking on when to put Riese in pre-school. Thanks!
    Reply
  • Hi! I'd be interested in a post about nutrition for breastfeeding/pumping moms. I know you've covered this topic before, but I'm not sure if you've done a full post on nutrition guidance. For example, I had a lactation consultant who told me that breastfeeding mothers need 500 extra calories per day, which seems very high to me. I'm not sure if this is a good generally-applicable rule or if the amount varies depending on how much you weigh (and other factors, such as if you are exercising). (And I realize this is somewhat counter to intuitive eating in any event.) Another question is whether you should eat snacks during middle-of-the-night feedings. On the one hand, if you need extra calories, it makes sense, but it could also cause you to not be able to go back to sleep. If you've already done this type of post, and I've just missed it, sorry!
    Reply
    • Hi Ashley! Great question! So, I would honestly focus on eating anytime you're hungry vs. worrying about calories (though 500 extra is definitely not too high - your body is BUSY when making milk!). If you're hungry in the middle of the night, definitely have a snack! Just aim for something with fat and protein as well as carbs vs. just carbs so it will tide you over longer. I had to eat during the night a lot in the early days because I was awake so much more obviously and it just made me so hungry! Eating made it easier for me to go back to sleep because I can't sleep if I'm too hungry.
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      • This is really helpful, thanks!
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    • This blog post may be interesting to see what I was eating in the early days with Riese! https://www.fannetasticfood.com/what-im-eating-postnatal-edition/
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  • I know you're not close to there yet in age. . . but I just turned 50 and would like to hear your suggestions on any nutritional changes I could/should be doing to stay active and healthy. I'm normal weight-not skinny- and active-walk about 7 miles a day and do some 25 minutes circuit type training 2-3x per week with my daughter over zoom. I'm like you in that all foods are welcome in my life at various times for various events!
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    • Love hearing that you are embracing all foods fit! I would encourage you to continue to eat intuitively and if you do make tweaks, focus on what you can ADD (like more veggies, water, etc.) vs. what you should subtract, because trying to restrict/subtract foods from your life will not be sustainable long term. Adding will be, though! I hope that helps - I can't really get more specific than that without knowing a lot more about you. :)
      Reply
  • The DC heat cancelled my weekend running plans, too, womp. Where did you get the corn tortillas in the first taco photo? They look like the perfect texture!
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    • They are Mi Rancho brand!
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      • thank you!
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  • Love the explanation of how you use the term “healthy” on your site! It’s sometimes difficult to wrap my head around all the intuitive eating principles and you do a lovely job of explaining the nuances.
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  • Hi Anne - Thought you would enjoy knowing who was eating your maple energy bites..... See John Kelly's post here. I love them too! https://randomforestrunner.com/2020/07/a-new-pennine-way-record/
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    • I saw that! Thanks for sharing! He's a friend of mine from my old co-working space... we bonded over running although obviously he's wayyyyy better at it than I am. ;) I'm proud that my maple energy bites have made it into his standard go-to fueling plan - he ate them during the Barkley Marathons, too!
      Reply
  • Thanks for passing on the Mauney Fit link! I will try to get in on some of this :) I'd love to try one of Morgana's barre classes, it's been a couple of years since I've done a proper barre class, eek! Cool to have awesome people I've met leading the classes and I'd love to help support talented people during the pandemic!
    Reply
    • She would love to have you!
      Reply