What a Full-Time Cooking Blogger Eats for Lunch & What I Cooked Last Week

My Weekday Routine, Easy Wonton Soup, Creamy Bacon & Greens Ditalini, and Crispy Shrimp Rolls

Happy Friday, folks! I hope you had a spooky Halloween and ate lots of candy. Our costumes turned out just as I had hoped - I was Medusa, Doug was Hades, and Kimchi was a Beanie Baby. We had a fun evening with friends and stayed up past our bedtime :)

I added 13 new recipes to the recipe archive this week, including some of my all-time favorites: Chicken Taquitos, Creamy Veggie Stuffed Shells, and Flourless Avocado Brownies. 

As you can imagine, I cook a lot these days! Between my Instagram and cookbook, I average 7 to 8 recipes a week (or more when my mom is in town, lol), and that doesn’t even take into account the ones I have to remake when they don’t come out perfectly the first time around. When cameras aren’t rolling and I’m just cooking for Doug and myself, I usually make something quick and easy, so I thought I’d share a bit about my weekday routine, specifically lunch, aka my first meal of the day.

I used to be a big breakfast person, but during the pandemic, around 4 years ago, I started fasting until lunchtime on weekdays. I didn’t think I would like it as much as I do, especially since I can get pretty hangry, but overall it works really well for me and makes me feel super clear headed. This is not a fast and hard rule, some days Doug and I go out for croissants and coffee, but when I’m on my normal routine, I’ll start with a matcha that I make with a splash of whole milk, then I’ll take Kimchi for a walk, either alone or with Doug—we switch off during the week. A while back, I learned on the Huberman Lab Podcast how important it is for your happiness and circadian rhythm to get sunlight in your eyes within an hour of waking up. So I always try to get outside early, which is easy since Kimchi needs a walk then anyway. Back at home, I’ll do 20 minutes of strength training with the Peloton app. I like Ben Alldis, a British trainer, and rotate various workouts, followed by a 10-minute jog. After my workout, I sit down for a 10-minute meditation using the Calm app. (I love The Daily Calm which has a mindfulness teaching at the end of each session.) This helps me start the day feeling energized and grounded.

After my workout and meditation, I’ll shower, do my gua sha beauty routine, and get to work. Mornings are for editing posts, recording voice overs, writing out recipes, and sharing with you all on Instagram, whereas afternoons are mostly reserved for cooking. By 11:30 or noon, I’m ready to make myself something to eat. Since I know I’ll be cooking a lot in the afternoon, I want to make the easiest, simplest lunch that requires the least amount of “cooking” energy. Lately, that means an egg sandwich. I toast two slices of Food for Life Ezekiel 4:9 bread. It’s a hearty sprouted grain bread packed with barley, spelt, beans, lentils, and other nutritious ingredients. It can taste a little like cardboard, but I kind of love that, and I think it’s the perfect healthy vehicle for eggs and cheese. I’ll spread some butter on the bread, then I’ll whisk two eggs and cook them in a skillet, almost like an open-faced omelet that I fold onto itself so it’s about the size of the bread. I top it with a slice of Swiss cheese and wait for it to melt (I will never say no to a cheese pull) and sandwich it between the pieces of buttered toast. Sometimes I’ll eat it plain with a dash of green tabasco or some ketchup, a nostalgic combo for me. When I have greens in the fridge and extra time, I’ll add arugula or spinach along with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of Maldon salt. I also make one for Doug, and we try to enjoy lunch together if he has a break between meetings, since he works from home most days.

The lunch crew :)

My mom used to make a fancier version of this sandwich when I was growing up. We had it for breakfast right before going to school, and it was usually an open-faced omelet with cheese, spinach, sometimes crispy bacon, on buttered wheat bread that was pressed into a panini on a George Foreman grill (remember those?!!). My grown-up version is so much simpler, it’s a “feed myself before work” kind of sandwich that barely requires a recipe, and always keeps me full until the afternoon when I’m tasting and adjusting the recipes I’m developing. (If you do want to follow a recipe, you can find it here!) 

Here’s the super plain and boring version when I’m short on time and don’t have greens in the fridge hehe.

And here’s the jazzed-up version with arugula!

I’m gonna be honest: Sometimes I’m so busy I can’t even muster the energy to make this egg sandwich, let alone turn on the stove… On those days, Sweetgreen comes to the rescue. Lately I’ve been loving making a custom salad with romaine, kale, chickpeas, cabbage, cucumbers, spicy broccoli, tofu, their spicy cashew dressing, and a lime. At home I’ll add sriracha (you know I love heat), season with salt and pepper, and mix it up. So delicious.

As you can see, there’s nothing fancy over here for lunch. And I’m sure many of you are busy during the workday and don’t have time for an elaborate meal. If that’s the case, I highly recommend this easy egg sandwich. It has plenty of protein and is highly adaptable—toast your favorite bread, swap out the Swiss for cheddar, add whatever salad greens are in your fridge or a little hot sauce, and enjoy! 

Love,

Maxine

What I Made Last Week! ↓

Easy Wonton Soup 

A warming soup for when the temperature drops. Use your favorite frozen wontons or dumplings (such as gyoza) and feel free to switch up the vegetables to make it your own.

Easy Wonton Soup

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Ingredients: 

• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil, divided, plus more for drizzling

• 1-inch piece ginger, cut into matchsticks

• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 3 scallions, sliced

• 8 cups chicken stock

• 5 shiitake mushrooms, sliced

• 1 (8-ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained

• 1 (8-ounce) can bamboo shoots, drained

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 3 baby bok choy, cut in quarters

• 8 ounces large shrimp, peeled and deveined, halved

• 12 ounces frozen wontons, such as Trader Joe's Chicken Cilantro Mini Wontons or any frozen wonton or dumpling of your choice

Make it vegan: Use vegetable stock for the chicken stock and frozen veggie dumplings for the chicken wontons.

Instructions:

1. In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon of sesame oil over medium heat. Add the ginger, garlic, and scallions. Cook, stirring, until fragrant and starting to become tender, 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Add the chicken stock, shiitake mushrooms, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, soy sauce, salt, pepper, and the remaining 1 tablespoon of sesame oil. Bring to a boil over high heat, and then reduce to a simmer over low heat and cook until the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the bok choy, shrimp, and wontons. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the wontons are heated though and the bok choy is tender but still bright green with a little al dente bite, 3 to 5 minutes.

4. Divide among 4 bowls and drizzle with a little more sesame oil if you please :) Enjoy!

Prep time: 10 minutes | Total time: 30 minutes

Recipe serves 4

You can watch the video here :)