I share fast and easy recipes for busy people. Subscribe to receive my weekly newsletter for easy recipes, fun finds and cozy stories that'll have you excited about the weekend!
Recipes that give you energy...here's to the weekend
Published 3 months ago • 6 min read
Hi Friend,
There’s nothing quite like starting your day with that perfect cup of coffee. For me, that’s a nespresso(this machine has changed my life, it brings me so much joy), with homemade creamer. With 4 kids it’s more in the ‘necessity’ column lol.
Unfortunately, caffeine can be a short lived energy boost. When you’re looking for sustained energy or even a pick-me-up in the afternoon, you want to opt for energizing foods - such as lean sources of protein, high fiber, grains and natural sugars.
Theme of the week: recipes that give you energy
Energy bites: they contain oats and nuts (and natural sweeteners like dates or honey)
Energy balls without dates
Looking for a quick, healthy snack that doesn’t require dates? These no-bake energy balls are exactly what you need! Made with simple pantry staples like oats, peanut butter, and honey or maple syrup, they’re the perfect blend of chewy, sweet, and satisfying.
These are a huge favorite of mine. I make them all the time. They don't have any dates in them, and I love to put collagen protein powder in them! You can customize them by switching out the nut butter. They're super good.
These naturally sweet no bake coconut date energy bites are sweet little bites of absolute deliciousness, and just so happen to be gluten free, vegan and whole30 compliant!
Next we're moving on to lean protein meals, with shrimp or salmon
5 ingredient sheet pan salmon
Are you looking for a quick and flavorful dinner that requires minimal effort and ingredients? Look no further! This 5-Ingredient Salmon Sheet Pan Dinner is not only easy to make but also incredibly delicious.
A lovely reader subbed broccolini for the tomatoes and said it turned out great.
Let’s learn how to make perfectly baked salmon! Salmon is one of the tastiest (not to mention one of the most healthy) kinds of fish that one can enjoy at home, all thanks to knowing how to bake it perfectly!
This roasted kale and salmon detox salad recipe is amazingly delicious, healthy and Whole30 compliant! The salmon sits atop a bed of kale and cherry tomatoes, and beautiful blood oranges add a hint of sweetness.
These 5 ingredient shrimp and black bean enchiladas are such an easy and delicious dinner to make…there’s only 5 ingredients in these bad boys and you’re going to want to make them over and over again (and they’re done in less than 30 minutes!!)
Avocados and eggs - high energy ingredients and great for vegetarian meals
5 ingredient broccoli egg breakfast bowls
This 5 ingredient broccoli egg breakfast bowls recipe comes together super quickly and is a great option for vegetarian breakfast or a fun breakfast for dinner recipe!
Avocado toast with hard boiled eggs and roasted tomatoes
This breakfast is SO GOOD! I love a healthy breakfast that’s easy to put together and this avocado toast with hard-boiled eggs and roasted tomatoes is just that! I was inspired to make it after Nick made these balsamic roasted tomatoes for me for the first time, they make the perfect topping for avocado toast! Please note, this avocado toast recipe assumes you’ve made oven roasted tomatoes prior to assembling the toast- or you could use sun dried tomatoes for a another option.
This weeks Love ListI’m sharing a trick to making better to do lists and my first big purchase of 2025 along with some other gems (like an affordable cute every day purse and lip balms that change color based on your lip PH).
Skillet lamb chops with quinoa salad
I just posted the most delicious skillet lamb chops with a quinoa salad. This meal is quick to prepare and high protein (40gm protein per serving!)
I took Frankie to Target (she had a gift card to use), she's really into Squishmallows right now (she wants to be a Squishmallow for halloween and wants Squishmallow clothes for her birthday, I said great if she still likes them in 6 months lol). She has a bunch but they had some small ones, so she got those. Also, because she's my princess and I can't say no to her, I bought her Squishmallow slippers lol.
I've been trying to grow my hair out for what seems like forever. I had it long for years, but then cut it really really short a few years ago, and I liked it, but then I got pregnant with Sam and missed my long hair (it's so much easier to style long hair than short, just fyi). It was starting to get some length recently, finally, but my hair dresser told me it was kinda dead at the bottom and one side was growing much faster than the other, so I got 4-6 inches (gulp) of dead hair cut off. It'll get there eventually lol. I do take collagen every day and that's seemed to help it grow.
The library has a cozy reading area I never knew about, with a fireplace and all! Ben showed me and we had a lovely time reading together.
I tried a Cortado from Starbucks. Excellent. The brown sugar oat milk cortado is gross, just the plain one with a 1/2 teaspoon sugar is perfection.
Links I'm loving
2 apps I'm loving lately:
I've been using the Lose It app on and off for a few years (Nick and I lost weight...and then I got pregnant with Sam and gained it all back and then some and it's been so hard to lose, Nick has kept his weight loss off for 4 years now). I recently started using Lose It it to track calories for my health goals (like making sure I drink enough water), wow does tracking calories humble you - and it's HARD! It helped me see some not so great patterns I had, like snacking way way too much (the first day I was tracking it was something like over 750 calories in just snacks!) I signed up for the paid version and have been loving it. I have a big goal this year, it's always hard to put it out there, but this is an amazing community. I want to lose 40lbs this year (I lost 30 last year but really stalled in November + December and started gaining again). So it was time to switch it up. I'm 4 down, 36 to go this year. Lose It does this cool thing where it tells you what the weight loss is like, so 1 lb they said is like a book, and 2 lbs is like a pineapple, can't wait to see what 5 lbs is (that's the next milestone). I'll keep you posted.
The other app I'm using is called Workout For Women and I use it for their Daily 7 - 7 minutes of exercises. It's free. I love it, so I started that again this year.
Reader Comments and Recreations
I love seeing your recreations and hearing your feedback, thank you for taking the time to comment on the recipe - it truly helps it get seen by others!
“OMg this one made me tear up! I made this recipe tonight while in a pinch and needing something quick, with ingredients I already had, THIS WAS THAT! I'm a single parent so always searching for quick, relatively "healthy" meals. My 2 & 4 year old FINISHED their bowls! And anyone who has picky kids or kids that just don't eat know what a big deal that is. THANK YOU!!!! I WILL BE MAKING THIS AGAIN!!”
I share fast and easy recipes for busy people. Subscribe to receive my weekly newsletter for easy recipes, fun finds and cozy stories that'll have you excited about the weekend!
