Happy Sunday!

This weekend has been oddly productive!  Not only did I spend a good 5 hours getting homework and to-dos done yesterday (after a 4 hour nap, of course), but I was awake at 7:30 this morning!  Since I was feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I used the extra time for some food prep.  I’m trying to get a head start on a healthy week of lunches, so I prepped a few things to add to salads and such, and organized the fridge so it’s easy to find healthy ingredients and put together meals.

Chopped romaine // hard boiled eggs // sliced strawberries

• Romaine– I washed and chopped the romaine and put spinach near the front of the fridge.  I didn’t want to wash the spinach because it tends to go bad faster than romaine.  The hardest part of making salads is the leafy part, right?
• Eggs– We only had a half dozen eggs, so I boiled them to be added to salads or eaten on their own.  Don’t mind the chunks in the water..that’s avocado.  I used the same spoon that I scooped an avocado with to stir salt into the water. (I have the eggs in salt water because I peeled them ahead of time and want them to stay fresh)
• Strawberries– I love fruit in salads and these strawberries are starting to go bad, so having them chopped and ready to go will encourage us to use them in the next day or so.
• Other foods to prep– grilled chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, grains (barley, rice, quinoa)

Roasted Spicy Chick Peas

I saw these for the first time on Iowa Girl Eats and knew I wanted to make them.  I didn’t follow her recipe, but used it as inspiration.  I’m planning to add these to salads for some crunch / protein / spice.

Directions:  Either rinse chick peas from a can or soak raw chick peas overnight until they’re soft.  Preheat the oven to 450* and while it heats up, toss the chick peas in olive oil, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.  I didn’t measure anything so…just do it however you want.  When the oven is ready, roast for 35-45 minutes until golden brown and slightly crunchy/ chewy.  You don’t want them to be soft, but they shouldn’t break your teeth either.

Enjoy!