WIAW: Sweet Potatoes & Kale

Hey y'all! How are you today? I hope you're well! Today is a hurts-so-good kind of day for me and I'm trying to get up and move around the office as much as possible to keep my muscles from getting stiff. I made it to Body Works last night and the soreness has set in! I love it. After the class, I even squeezed in a quick one mile run just to prove to myself that I could still do it.

Project "Back To The Gym" is on a roll! My goal is to make it to the gym a minimum of four times a week. Spin class, weights sessions and Body Works are going to be my focus in the gym, and I want to run outside whenever I get the opportunity. Treadmill running isn't my favorite, but I will likely be squeezing in some *very* short runs (1-2 miles at a time) on the treadmill every now and then while I'm already at the gym. I'm quite worried that the running abilities I worked so hard for over the past few years are going to slip through my fingers if I put it off much longer, so it's time to start training again.

Bails has about two more months before she can start running without damaging her growing joints and it is important to me to keep her healthy and strong, so I won't be pushing the limit with that. I know if I wait long enough for her to run too, I will probably lose everything and have to start back at square one. So, for now, quick post-workout runs are my plan to combat declining running abilities (aka: couch syndrome). Do any of you fitness experts have an opinion on this?

Alright, enough about that and onto the food! I've been trying to do a What I Ate Wednesday post for ages now, but I kept forgetting to photograph all my eats! Yesterday, I finally did it and though it isn't the most versatile of WIAWs, it was quite delicious, so I hope you'll enjoy the "recipes"! (I put that in quotes because truthfully, these are too easy to be called recipes.)

My vegetarian eats were perfect to round out the last day of the WIAW Love Your Veggies theme!






Breakfast: 
I begin nearly every morning with a glass of lemon water and a piece of fruit. Pink Lady apples are my favorites lately!

With my apple, I ate a whole wheat bagel from Publix smeared with a wedge of Laughing Cow spreadable swiss cheese. Yuuummm!

I enjoyed the banana as a snack around two hours later. :]

Lunch: 
I threw together some leftover sweet potato and kale hash and topped it with two fried eggs and half an avocado for lunch. If you follow me on Instagram, you know how obsessed I have been with the sweet potato/kale combo this week. If you don't, you'll see the obsession when you scroll down to dinner. :]

To make the Sweet Potato & Kale hash:
Ingredients:
1 raw sweet potato
1/3 vidalia onion (or other sweet onion)
2-3 leaves of kale
1 tsp salt (optional)

1. Peel and then chop a raw sweet potato into 1/2" square pieces. Chop onion too.
2. Bring a tablespoon of olive oil in a medium skillet to medium heat and add the sweet potato pieces and chopped onion. 
3. Cover and let it cook for about ten minutes, stirring every 2-3 minutes to prevent burning. 
4. While the sweet potato & onion cook, prep your kale. Wash 2-3 leaves of kale and then remove the stems and tear into bite-sized pieces. 
5. Once the sweet potatoes & onion are nearly done (test a SP out to see if it is soft after about 10 minutes of cooking), add the kale to the skillet and cover for about two minutes. 
6. The kale will turn bright green when it is perfectly cooked. 
7. Top with fried eggs, avocado, or any other topping you enjoy! Also can be served as a side dish. 

This should make enough for two servings- as sides or as a main with eggs, tofu or another kind of protein mixed in. It keeps well in the fridge overnight and probably would be fine after 2-3 days. This is what it looks like without the toppings:

A little bit after lunch, I had a three of my Guilt-Free No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bites as a snack!

Nom.

Dinner
Dinner was pretty similar to lunch. Monday night, I baked a gigantic sweet potato in the oven and let it sweat (the secret to delicious sweet potatoes!) before putting it in the fridge for later use. When I finally got home from the gym last night I needed something quick but nutritious to fuel my body. Here's what I came up with:

That, friends, is a Loaded Baked Sweet Potato with Kale and Brie.  The brie really got on there for a little bit of protein but it ended up being the most amazing thing I've ever had, ever. The creaminess was an unbelievable compliment to the texture of the kale and the sweet potato and I cannot wait to eat the second half of this baby for lunch in a few minutes.
To make the loaded sweet potato:

1. Bake sweet potato in oven for 45 minutes - 1hr depending on size. 
2. Remove from oven and allow it to "sweat" for half an hour. 
3. Do a "quick cook" on your kale by broiling it in the oven for 1 minute 
4. Slice sweet potato in half and top with kale and brie cheese. 
5. Microwave for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is fully melted and enjoy!

Complex carbs and veggies are great, but let's be honest- after an hour and a half in the gym, a few ounces of brie aren't going to cut it for protein.

"Dessert" came in the form of dates dipped in plain greek yogurt (13grams of protein- yay!).

Between my greek yogurt and the brie, I got about 25grams of protein post-workout. Not too bad! I realized my diet was entirely vegetarian yesterday and it made me curious about how much protein I managed to get yesterday... Here's the breakdown:

Bagel: 9grams
Laughing Cow Cheese wedge: 2g
Kale (lunch): 2g
Sweet Potato (lunch): 2g (about 4oz)
Eggs (lunch; 2): 12g
Avocado (lunch; 1/2 an avocado): 2g
Snack (3 PB Bites): 5g
Kale (dinner): 2g
Sweet Potato (dinner): 4g (about 8oz)
Brie: 12g (about 2oz)
Greek Yogurt: 13g
Total: 65 grams

Not bad for an all-veggie diet! Laura puts me to shame, but I'm also not a figure competitor. :]

Sooo, that's What I Ate Tuesday Wednesday. Thanks to Jen for hosting! If you want to join in, click here to find out more.



Off to walk a few laps around the office and then chow down on my leftover loaded sweet potato!

What was your favorite thing you ate yesterday?!