This weekend was spent dog-sitting for both my parents and sister and husband.  Busy weekend but full of dogs, so I really can’t complain.  Plus the weather was absolutely FABULOUS.  Hopefully, you got the chance to get out and enjoy it!

Before I get into my meal prep stuff (which is a little sparse on account of me being away all weekend), I just wanted to talk about labels.  Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be preachy or ranty, just a general observation and reminder for myself. 

We assign a lot of importance to labels sometimes.  Actually, most times.  What do you do?  What do you like?  What’s your faith?  What’s your family dynamic?  How do you dress?  What music do you listen to?  How do you eat?

They’re all labels of some sort and to a certain extent, they help us fit in.  They give us a group that understands us, that makes us feel a little less alone.  Labels aren’t necessarily bad.

But often we let labels trap us.

This past week, I had someone on my Instagram comment on my meal prep picture.  I had included hashtags (another form of labeling) that included both vegan and paleo specific categories.  Because my food prep had both paleo (and non-paleo) and vegan (and non-vegan) items.  I’ve always done this.  The commenter seemed a little perturbed that I had put vegan hashtags on a picture that included eggs, a decidedly NOT vegan food.

I kindly explained that I often included all relevant dietary/eating habit hashtags so many people can get some inspiration for their own meal prep rather than just a select few groups.  After that, I kept thinking about this person’s comment.  Was I wrong to include those labels?  Was I being deceiving?  Should I stop?

Truth is, there is no one perfect way to eat.  Everyone has different needs, tastes, beliefs, routines, and it is NOT my job to dictate to people what they should eat.  I’m just here to provide insight to healthier habits and people can take it or leave it.  I can’t force anyone to eat or not eat anything and I don’t want to do that.  I just want to share what’s going down in my kitchen and life and hope that it helps in your own kitchen and life. Whether that includes a paleo, vegan, low-carb, Whole30, high-fat, Mediterranean, and any other eating style out there that might exist out there.

You’re all welcome at my table.

As for what’s on my table this week?  A lot of simple meals.  Because I was gone the majority of the weekend, I had to jam as much meal prep stuff in a few hours on Sunday when I got back.  So I’ll be leaning heavily on old standbys along with a few easy dinners like sheet pan meals (working on a post for those soon) and stuffed sweet potatoes. 

• Just like every week, all the vegetables including orange AND purple cauliflower, graffiti eggplant (I like to think this is the more street savvy of the eggplants. Like they’ve seen some stuff, man), carrots, bell peppers, and parsnips.
• Baked sweet potatoes to stuff with delicious things such as….
• Asian inspired broccoli hash with bell peppers, coconut aminos, and cashews.
• Leftover soup and roasted squash which will make lunches easier.
• Egg wraps for breakfast.
• Sweet Potato Toast forever and always.
• Pesto of sorts.  I put this on my Instagram but basically, once my fresh herbs start to get a little wilty towards the end of the week I blend them together with olive oil and seasonings and use it as a sauce/dressing/marinade.
• Satay sauce… sorta.  Trying it out with cashew butter instead of peanut butter and no sugar.  We’ll see.
• Hardboiled eggs for Adam’s lunches.