We have a bunch of ripe avocados in the fridge so I make a quick guacamole, adding in leftover lime (from my parents’ backyard), red onion, garlic, hot sauce, a bit of tomato, salt, and pepper. Finally, I prep some pickled red onions—sliced red onions thrown into a mix of red wine vinegar, water, sugar, and salt.
6:20 p.m. Home from a beach walk with the baby, the dog, and my husband, I pull out everything for tacos. I spot frozen Goya platanos maduros in the freezer (my mom must have left these here) and decide this is a necessary addition to dinner. Since we’re short on time, I microwave them to defrost and then sear them in a frying pan with butter.
My husband and I load up the various fixings onto flour tortillas. They are solid homemade tacos, but in L.A., the land of amazing tacos, they will always fall a little flat. The baby gets a portion of the pea protein mixture, flattened black beans, a little bit of shredded cheese blend, guacamole, and leftover roasted peppers and plain farro. The pea protein seems to be his favorite.
I also sip on a St. Agrestis Phony Mezcal Negroni I bought recently from The New Bar, a great non-alcoholic shop nearby. My husband and I got into nonalcoholic drinks when I was pregnant and we still keep them in rotation as our alcohol intake is now rarer. This one is a winner; it’s bitter, floral, and has some depth to it.
7:50 p.m. I end the day with a Trader Joe’s dark chocolate peanut butter cup and reality TV.
Thursday total: $7.35
Friday
6:37 a.m. I’m up nursing the baby and my husband makes coffee. I have a few extra minutes so I drink it at home while reading a book with the baby. Before leaving for work, I make a smoothie with a frozen banana, frozen butternut squash, Greek yogurt, pea protein milk, Justin’s almond butter, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. I love smoothies that aren’t too fruity and this is just that.
10:10 a.m. I’m pumping between seeing patients and nibble on a few Trader Joe’s Turkish apricots. I usually have a bag of TJ’s dried fruit or trail mix in my work bag for this purpose.
1:00 p.m. Morning clinic bleeds into afternoon clinic and I’m eating leftovers from our taco dinner that I’ve reheated in the breakroom. I wish I actually had packed tacos and not just the fillings, but that would have been too messy at my computer anyways.
3:30 p.m. I’m finally catching up in clinic (and pumping) and I crack open another Pop & Bottle cold brew.
5:05 p.m. Somehow I finish clinic on time and on the way out I text my husband to see what he’s feeling for dinner—Indonesian, Thai, sushi, or vegan take out? He votes for Thai and offers to pick up from one of our favorites,