Sometimes life gets slammed.
There can be family emergencies, new deadlines from left field that shouldn’t exist, new happy events that just take up time and adjustments into a new routine. But – for whatever reason life feels more complicated and we need to cut ourselves some slack…
And here comes boring food to save the day!
I often recommend a few ‘backup’ balanced meals that work for crazy days.
And yes – some people are able to have incredible backups that take 15 min of prep (food goals for the future) but there are days – at least for me – that throwing a few items in a bowl and calling it a meal feels like an accomplishment – even putting one foot in front of the other can be an accomplishment! – and on those days for me anyways I just am happy for the simple win of boring food.
Here is my ‘comfort’ boring go to a few times a week. Sometimes for breakfast, a speedy lunch when I haven’t packed it the night before and even occasionally dinner if I’ve been out all day and had a large lunch. And then occasionally I get sick of it for a little while and avoid it like the plague for a good chunk of time. This is actually how I measure 🙂
– a fist of yogurt
– 2 spoons of hemp seeds
– handful of oatmeal
– if I’m feeling snazzy I might add 1 or 2 capfuls of vanilla extract.
– typically I try to put a cut up apple but on the days where that feels too much I may put dried fruit, have the apple on it’s own, or skip it since I know I get enough at my other meals.
Can balanced food taste good? Absolutely! Can it look really beautiful? For sure! And sometimes can it be a bit boring? Yes 🙂
In all of the excitement and stunningness of glorifying the world of food that is exists – it is ok for food to be maybe a bit boring and to focus on fast simple nourishment every once in a while. There is a time and a place for everything and there is a simple beauty about boring food’s ability to be a hero – when everything else just all feels like too much.
Plus – then if you are an avid foodie like me – oh wow do I exclaim over the amazingness and effort of a dish 🙂
What are your boring food heroes? I can’t wait to hear about it!
Hi Irena,
My boring breakfast food hero is 2 slices of toast (Sliver Hills Sprouted Power Big 16), natural peanut butter & sugar free jam – and coffee of course! (boring as it gets I know).
A relatively new boring lunch food hero for me is a tuna melt sandwich. I have tried them in the past but have never been a fan and/or found a good recipe for one until now.
Method: turn the oven on to Broil. Place buttered bread (both sides) on a foil-lined cookie pan in oven for 4 -5 minutes; remove and flip over. Sandwich filling: tuna, red Thai chili sauce, pepper, crumbled mozzarella and a very small amount of mayo (too much mayo ruins it). Many recipes will call for minced onion, minced celery and/or capers but you can substitute with diced olives, diced pickles, diced jalapenos etc. Mixed together and place evenly on bread. Top with a strong aged cheddar (ideally) but you can you use whatever type of cheese you have on hand. Broil for 9-10 minutes. Sprinkle on some cayenne pepper if you like things a bit spicier. Enjoy. If you time things properly this can be completed in about 15 minutes – very tasty.
Boring dinner food hero: cheese omelette & mixed green salad w/ Italian dressing. Quick and easy.
Cheers
Stefan
Thanks so much Stefan for sharing your boring food hero! Glad to know this makes sense to you! 🙂 Appreciate that you made mention of all meals as well! Hope all is well!