Friends! How are things?

It's been sunnier here the past couple days which is such a game changer. Jeff and I try to go on walks in the morning to start our day on a nice refreshing note. The sunny walks give me life! Anyone else?

On Meditation

I'm really liking my mornings lately. I wake up (without an alarm!) around 7am and go downstairs for water and coffee. Then I read on the couch for about 20 minutes. Then I head upstairs and meditate for 12 minutes, and ideally this is the first time I'm looking at my phone.

I thrive on productivity and distracting myself with busyness and chaos; so naturally I struggle with simply sitting in silence with my own thoughts. I think of meditation like I think of working out.

It's not going to be easy. I won't always want to do it, but I know it's good for my mind and body. Meditation isn't necessarily fun; it's a workout for your brain.

I just started meditating regularly a couple weeks ago but I really love it. I turn on this Spotify playlist and just sit there on a pillow. There's no wrong way to do it, so don't let that stop you from starting. I was doing guided meditations for a while but I found I'm able to be much more present listening to calming music.

Then I eat breakfast, get ready, and start working. I'm digging not waking up stressed by my phone first thing and having a bit more time to dedicate to clear headspace in the morning.

Meals and Snacks I'm Loving Lately

Weekend whole wheat pancakes with bananas + peanut butter and scrambled eggs with micros on the side. Sweet and savory always wins!

Lemon Chickpea Rice Soup! It's so fun to see so many of you loving this recipe already.

Homemade whole wheat bread! I was so proud of this and it could not have been easier. I used this recipe.

I had an oatmeal bar and some strawberries before my awesome virtual Corus45 workout and then followed it up with this egg and toast beauty. Avocado + tahini = magic.

Falafel burgers with grilled sweet potatoes, veggies, and salad. I made a tzatziki sauce by mixing together yogurt we got in our CSA with diced cucumber, parsley, garlic powder, salt, and olive oil. Delish!

One of my favorite Alchemy Meal prep lunches: buffalo tempeh with massaged kale, cabbage slaw, and herbed cashew ranch. Crazy flavorful!

Lavva yogurt bowl with berries, almond butter and cacao nibs.

Trader Joe's brown rice penne with Rao's marinara and bean balls. Epic.Taco night with plenty of chips and homemade guac!

A big salad with leftover chickpea walnut taco meat, avocado, tomatoes, red cabbage, lime juice, olive oil, tortilla chips, and plenty of salt and pepper.

My lovely quiche with arugula, mushrooms, and goat cheese. This was a fun change of pace for brunch.

Saturday night Jett's pizza with banana peppers. SO GOOD.

Another Alchemy Meal Prep winner: Mediterranean cod with lemon pepper relish, broccolini and lemon potatoes.

Overnight steel cut oatmeal, savory style! Topped with guac, salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Alchemy's peanut butter cacao bites that we made on Instagram live last week. Get the recipe here!

Amazingly huge drinking glasses

I just got these hella durable 21oz glasses and I LOVE them! I take one upstairs with me when I work for water and I don't have to refill it as much. They come in a set of four with lids so you can store dressings and such in them as well.

We also have a set of these 17oz everyday glasses that we're obsessed with. They're good looking, stackable, and they don't break.

Other inexpensive kitchen tools I couldn't live without lately: this garlic press and this peeler.

Pantry Storage Tools I'm Loving

I've been working on taming this situation and it's been a real life saver. We have cabinets versus a traditional pantry, so this photo is one of three cabinets (plus a coat closet where I store lots of backup).

Another cabinet holds all my baking needs and the last one has oils, vinegars, spices, and some appliances.

It's crazy how these seemingly simple tools can make such a difference. I'm writing a blog post on this but I thought I'd give you some tid bits. It's definitely still a work in progress!

I got this nifty storage container to house all our Tupperware lids and it's been a game changer. I have the medium one since we don't have much space but I wish I got the large one!

I use these bins for bags of granola, lentils, quinoa, rice, dried fruit, etc. It's the perfect size for those kinds of pouches. You can see it one on the top shelf of the photo and one on the middle left shelf.

I use this smaller container to store energy bars and chocolate so they're not randomly strewn all over the cabinet.

Getting a few lazy susans was life changing. I store our nut butters on this 10-inch one, canned goods on another, and then I have a 12-inch one where I keep our most-used oils, vinegars, and large spices in the other cabinet. It makes finding things SO much easier.

Have a great week, friends!