healthy menu meal plan #28

Welcome! I am so grateful that you’ve joined me on this healthy journey + a big thanks to all who choose to support my work with a paid subscription. This letter wouldn’t be possible without YOU! If you like what you see, it would really help me if you would please hit that ❤️ which helps other people discover my work.

When I look at today’s menu, it’s pretty obvious that I was working with a summer “color wave” of warm beachy shades and sun-drenched days. It’s definitely what’s been happening where I live in Alicante Spain on the Mediterranean coast. Every bit of it done in the palette of the Mediterranean diet.

It’s a wonderful way to remember how important it is to fill your plate with color - AKA the “rainbow” diet - and to eat as many different fruits and vegetables as you can on any given day. The Mediterranean diet guidelines suggest a minimum of 5, but typically 8-9 is more like it. Does that seem like a lot to you?

Even the USDA guidelines suggest at least 2 servings of fruit per day but 80% of Americans don’t get that much. I have to say I’m a little surprised, especially when seasonal fruit is pretty darn affordable. I always thought that it would be easy to hit that goal because who doesn’t love fresh fruit?

Whether it’s adding berries to your morning yogurt like this week’s menu suggests, just grabbing an apple to go, or keeping a hot day’s dinner really light and refreshing with a fruit salad like I did last night - and if you want to add a bit of protein, scatter some cubes of feta or manchego cheese to the top after you dress it.

So today’s tip is to think about fruit this week as you build your menus every day. Set out 2 pieces of fruit on the counter, move the boxes of berries to the very front of the fridge, wash, cut up and prep some fruit like I did yesterday when I got home from the market so it was ready to go into that fruit salad for dinner.

Or even add it to the salsa to top off a fish dinner, like I did with the iconic oranges of Spain!

As always, you’ll find a few extra recipe treats in the menu PDF besides the meal plan I promised you (mostly because I just can’t help myself). Today’s mix introduces you to three classic Spanish tapas - small shared plates - to enjoy all summer long!

If you’re already a paid subscriber then you know these little extras show up almost every week as a small bonus to show my appreciation for your support. If you haven’t yet had the chance to join us, what are you waiting for?

But right now, it’s time to pull up a chair, grab a cup or a glass and join me in my Mediterranean kitchen while we work our way from one flavor-packed meal to another.

If you haven’t done so yet, want to upgrade to a paid subscription so you don’t miss out on anything? Everything you’ll want to know to master the Mediterranean diet including exclusive weekly meal plans and recipes, how-to-guides and behind the scenes are all here waiting for you to spend a few Mediterranean minutes with me.