Did anyone else feel like if January felt like 50 days long, February was more like 2.5? Seriously, where did the time go in the past month?!!?

To be completely transparent, as weird as it is to say but recently it seems like food is becoming more a chore for me. In this point in my life, this is not necessarily a bad thing. I've been busier. I feel like I am living more. It's almost refreshing. Just different. More meals spent out, less time in the kitchen. In fact, my dietician and I even experimented and I had a break from logging my meals for her. It was so great to not have another thing to add to my to-do list every day.

No themes again really this time around my meals; just sharing the food. Like in past recent eats posts, I will throw this caveat out that this is just a snippet of what my meals have looked like in the past 4 weeks. You have to find what works for your lifestyle and your body. And I hope to inspire you to do so even in the slightest.

• Sandwiches on repeat! Like this eggplant bacon BLT or a grilled cheese sandwich with this Naturally Ella-inspired chutney. 
• Also, as I mentioned last month, been digging having some wine with dinner a couple of times a week. 

• Delicious soy braised sweet potatoes served with cold tofu and sauteed kale. Had it another time for lunch with avocado, roasted eggplant and asparagus. 
• Another meal in was green fettuccine with asparagus, tomatoes and pesto. Pretty simple but tasty nonetheless.

• If we haven't already established my love of eggs, February had them on rotation in the form of..
• A hybrid recipe of fried tumeric eggs on a a layer of yogurt with crispy kale, eggplant and cherry tomatoes (based on this and this). Obviously I am not very good at following recipes... Also had pretzels on the side for extra starch. 
• A classic breakfast nachos with eggs, kale, tomatoes and cheese. Used these sweet potato tortilla chips from Naturebox

• Apparently even when eating out I gravitate towards them. Went for a late lunch with my mom and got this delicious quiche that came with a side salad that included pickled veggies.
• To end things on a sweet note again and on the topic of eating out, I visited my sister at her campus earlier in the month. She took me to this shop called the Back Dough where they serve late night doughnuts exclusively on Friday and Saturday evenings (11pm-1am!) at the back of a nice steak restaurant. I chose the chai flavored one, which tasted like an even more spiced cinnamon roll. Totally not complaining.  

One item on my summer to do list is to finally weed through or tackle my many must-try recipes. My recipe searching is like the hydra: Cut off one head (recipe) and three more grow in its place. I have accumulated literally hundreds of recipes saved to try. Having way too many tabs open is honestly one of my biggest bad habits. Even with this magical Chrome extension, OneTab, that I stumbled upon years ago, my browser's a mess. Thus, here I am trying to knock sone off.


I was able to get two birds with one stone with this meal! I de-veganized Minmalist Baker's naan recipe to utilize in my take on Immaeatthat's black bean naan bowls. Mine lacked avocado because I didn't have avocado (a huge first world problem), used up the remains of some store-bought salsa instead of making my own, and was served on a plate. So I guess they weren't so much "bowls" as they were "plates."

• Said naan recipe, using Chobani full-fat yogurt instead of coconut milk yogurt
• Black beans, or any legumes really
• Salsa
• Fried eggs
• Brussels, or again, any other vegetable

1. Make the bread as directed on Dana's blog
2. Add all the components listed above (or more if your heart desires) onto a bowl (or as in my case a plate). 
3. Dig. In. 

As I may have illustrated on You've Got Kayl in the past, I am not a patient person especially when it comes to baking/cooking. This is unfortunate because I love homemade breads. For someone who plans a lot, I often don't think far enough ahead to proof dough. So when I was wanting the satisfaction of making a personal pizza crust but in under a couple hours' time, using this super dee duper easy recipe for the crust, I got the best of both worlds! Minimal kneading required and a 10 minute rise using baking powder--what more could I have asked for? I went with the water & oil route.

This is less of a recipes post and more of an ideas post. The magic of pizza is that you can be as free and creative with toppings as your mind allows. Another everything in the kitchen sink, err fridge, type of meal. And because I am an incredibly indecisive person, I made it two ways:

Pizza A - pesto base + tomatoes, kale, fried egg + garlic

I grated the garlic on top--raw!!! It added a delicious bite to it. I'm a garlic girl.



Pizza B - yogurt base + peaches, corn, kale, fontina + a little bit of balsamic glaze.

If those ingredients are any indication, I am obviously ready for the summer season to begin!



Have a splendid and scrumptious weekend!

Questions:
What are you favorite pizza toppings? Least favorite? No pineapples for me!
Are you a Spring or Summer person?
How patient are you?

1. A warm collards salad with tasso, pecans and a fried egg at a BBQ place over by Ft. Worth-- split with my mother for lunch as our app. 
2. Hopped on that tumeric poached egg train with this panzanella salad with beets
3. Made with my own veggie broth with all the scraps I had saved. Served it with barley and more poached eggs.
4. Gotta post this again because it was just that good--bacon, egg, avocado and black bean toast. Can I get a hell yes? 👏

1. Frozen veggie burger with a carrot & feta slaw
2. Hot sauce glazed tempeh with a quick savoy cabbage slaw
3. Hummus, carrot and cilantro pesto sandwich

Even made a pancake-apple-prune-AB sandwich stack for breakfast one morning. Can't forget about the sweet side of things!!
















Questions:
What are some of your go-to foods as of late?
What is your favorite memory from March?
What are you looking forward to in April?  

I bet you completely forgot that at one point there were recipe posts on You've Got Kayl. Trust me, I almost did myself. I mean, the last one was almost a year ago.

Crazy.

I've come to realize what might be the case is that I'm not a recipe person. As much of a planner/Type A/perfectionist personality I have, I  enjoy experimenting when I'm making meals. I barely ever make a recipe twice so there's not "perfecting" a recipe for me really. I like to mix things up. Even when I'm out at restaurants, I am constantly ordering something different.



However, something that I could have on constant repeat are eggs especially at breakfast. If I had to pick my fave ways to enjoy them, it would be a tie between scrambled and poached. I would put omelettes up there on the list but most of my omelettes end up as scrambles in the end anyway. If you are still aren't convinced of the magic of eggs,  maybe this Bon Appetit article will do the trick.

And that’s the thing about eggs—if you ask enough questions, man, will you get a lot of answers.

The allure of eggs for me comes down to their versatility. I could easily go the Asian route with kimchi, Southwestern with beans, salsa and cheddar, Greek with feta, olives, artichokes and spinach. When thinking up a name for this dish, the only word I could come up with it was "bed," which actually describes the texture pretty well. Partially inspired by the deliciousness that is shakshuka, this "bed" of yogurt-y and egg-y goodness was born. Baking the yogurt in the oven for a bit gives it a different texture, almost melding together with the drippy eggs. It also looks resembles the mess of my own bed and sheet situation I've going on at the moment tbh.

But seriously, this was as simple as 1-2-3.



Ingredients:
Eggs, how many you're craving at the moment
Yogurt, eyeball it
Any greens, about a handful, chopped (I used beet greens)
Toppings, again of your choosing
What I used:

• Feta cheese
• Roasted beets
• Pickled onions

Questions:
Do you like following recipes or do you freestyle it?

What's your favorite way to to eat eggs?
Do you make your bed every day?