Return of the What I'm Craving Post

I haven't kept up on my "What I'm Craving this Month" posts recently, but with our garden produce coming soon I figured I would start back (we have already harvested spinach)!  I have also been eating much healthier now that I am running and it is not winter.  Is it just me, or does anyone else crave crap food when injured and/or when it's freezing outside?

Fresh fruit:  always a favorite.

Blueberries and beets make for a pretty smoothie (plus almond milk and blueberry yogurt).

This is $1 at Aldi!  Spaghetti is a family favorite in my house and so easy to prepare.  I usually make a package and then make meat sauce with ground beef for Jon and Albani, then save some plain sauce to use on mine along with cottage cheese (I dislike beef and haven't eaten it since I was 14).

Random super healthy snack bowl of an avacado, cuties, and a pear.

Yellow potatoes, steamed broccoli and carrots, and cottage cheese, all topped with chives and nutritional yeast.

Recovery smoothie with almond milk, frozen mango, beets, spirulina, ashwagandha powder, cinnamon, and snicker doodle protein powder.

Roasted portobello mushrooms and zucchini, baked sweet potato with cinnamon, hickory smoked flavored tuna.

Hard boiled egg, sweet and sour flavored tuna, steamed yellow squash, steamed baby carrots, baked sweet potato with cinnamon and coconut oil.

Similar to the previous photo, except garlic crusted salmon instead of tuna.

Super foods crock pot (lentils, kale, onions, tomatoes, garlic + lots of seasonings).  I have the recipe memorized because I've made this one for years.

Fruit bowl: cuties, an apple, and a pear.

Avocados with garlic salt are always winning!

I've tried a lot of protein bars that I didn't like, but this one was good!  I was missing part of the wrapper when I remembered to take a photo, but the flavor was vanilla coconut and it had coconut chunks in it.

Speaking of protein bars I didn't like...

Spend the extra money and get this one!

Veggie burger, roasted broccoli, baked yellow potatoes topped with chives and black olives.

Chickpea curry prepared in the crock pot.  I use dried chickpeas, frozen spinach, frozen chopped onions, canned tomatoes, coconut milk, minced garlic, and a whole slew of seasonings (curry powder, turmeric, garlic salt, ginger, garam masala, cumin, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and plain gelatin for tendon strength), but as long as you get curry powder in there it would come out well.  Also make sure to use full fat coconut milk - it's so much tastier, plus the fat it contains is healthy for you.

In case you didn't notice from my dinner plates, I've been really into flavored tuna pouches lately.  I like tuna salad, but it requires preparation (I usually make mine with Greek yogurt, a crunchy veggie finely chopped, and a sweet addition like raisins, craisins, apples, or grapes).  These only require opening a package!  They also travel really easily since they don't require refrigeration like most protein sources.

I am a big fan of olives.

I found this 12-pack of Quest bars on sale for $5.99 and couldn't pass them up - after I checked the expiration date about 5 times because I thought they just had to be expired to be so cheap (normally a 12 pack would cost over $20).  Clearly it's a seasonal flavor, but they don't expire until August, so I snatched them up.  They aren't my favorite Quest flavor (I think cookies and cream takes that), but they are good and I love a good sale price.

I randomly saw this at Big Lots and tried it.  I've heard a lot of people enjoy this type of seasoning from Trader Joe's, but we don't have one in my area.  This is good on about anything, but especially on avocados!  I also like it on cottage cheese and on baked potatoes.

This was the best meal ever after my 22 miler on April 27, and I finished every bite!  Veggie omelet, hash browns, and a biscuit.  I try to eat whole grains, but biscuits are probably my favorite item made with white flour.

This one loves pancakes made with white flour...and she and my husband used this entire bottle of syrup on their brunch!

It should go without saying by now that I am always craving peanut butter!

My nutritional goal for the month has been to always eat something within 5-15 minutes of finishing my runs.  It's so important to refuel after putting in miles, especially with higher mileage and doubles.  A lot of the time I have a bar because I can keep them in my car to grab right after I run from where ever, but if I run from home I usually have fruit or string cheese - or sometimes random things that sound good like almonds or pretzels.  I have breakfast generally 60-90 minutes after my morning runs, but having something sooner seems to make a positive difference in my recovery (also science tells us this is true)!