Diet is a Dirty Word Summer Edition

Back in January, I spent a week focusing on clean eating and getting back to the basics of eating whole foods. As I said then, diet is a dirty word. Instead, it's much healthier mentally and physically to focus on a lifestyle of enjoying healthy, whole foods.

Yet if you've noticed that your healthy mindset is taking a summer sabbatical, you're not alone. John and I have been traveling a lot this summer (Bahamas, Colorado, 1 wedding in Orlando, 2 weddings in Kansas City, the beach for July 4th, and Boston up next). Travel makes it challenging to stay healthy because you're often trying to eat in between sightseeing or layovers. Plus, it's easy to justify a vacation from healthy eating in favor of a tasty poolside drink or ice cream for dessert.

Now that it's mid-summer, I am realizing the need to shape up my summer meal plans. It can be difficult to plan for meals in the summer because you don't want to stock your fridge if you're leaving on vacation or going on a weekend getaway.

So this week will be dedicated to the summer edition of clean eating. You can expect yummy recipes that are quick to prepare and require little cooking - who wants to be sweating over a stove in the summer? You can also expect to see a lot of the same ingredients in multiple dishes, which will prevent you from having to throw away unused food before you leave on vacation.

Here's to healthy, resourceful eating this week! To get you started, here is a recipe you can make for dinner tonight.

Seared Tuna with Avocado Quinoa

 Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, cooked

1 avocado, chopped

3 green onions, chopped

1 tomato, chopped

2 jalapenos, diced

Juice from half of a lime

2 Tbsp. olive oil

Black ground pepper, to taste

Sprinkle of salt

4 tuna fillets

Preparation:

1. Combine quinoa with avocado, onions, tomato, jalapenos, lime juice, olive oil, and ground pepper. Stir together so that the avocado is creamy. 
2. Coat both sides of tuna with salt and pepper. Heat grill or grill pan to medium heat and cook fish 3 minutes per side, or until desired degree of doneness.