This Week’s Nutrition Adventures

Happy Friday, y’all! Ready for the weekend? I started mine a little early by taking the day off and am currently hanging out in Memphis! It’s a quick trip but still fun to get out of Nashville for a bit.

Oh, and did I mention they have an IKEA? Not like I have any room for new furniture but it’s always fun to browse 🙂

This is not a picture of IKEA, btw. This is the beautiful bar at Sea Salt. Last Friday, I was invited to happy hour at the newest restaurant in downtown Nashville and asked my friend Holly to join me. We had an amazing time meeting the owners and chefs and trying some of their best dishes. The back of the bar is an incredible wall of Himalayan sea salt bricks that have been back-lit with LED lights. I want to recreate this in my future home!

I’ve been thinking about this smoked marlin the chef brought out to us ever since last Friday. This is something that never would have crossed my mind to order (it was a special for the evening) but I am SO glad he let us sample it. This marlin was swimming in the ocean just 10 hours before it ended up in front of us—that’s as fresh as it gets in Nashville!

The chefs at Sea Salt really know what they’re doing when it comes to smoking fish. The Smoked Trout Rillettes, which are a staple on the menu, uses trout from Bucksnort, Tennessee.

And it wouldn’t be a French-inspired restaurant without mussels & frites! The cool thing they do at Sea Salt is let you choose one of four local beers to have the mussels cooked in and each beer is paired with ingredients that complement it and the mussels. We went with the Red Ale Mussels with bacon, cream, and herbs. You better believe I tried to soak up all of the sauce with bread!

The Happy Hour Platter is a must because you’ll get to sample the Smoked Trout Rillettes plus try Chef’s house-made pickles, rye crackers, and goat cheese Boursin, which I could have ate my weight in if allowed. Even the olives were something to rave about!

Everything at Sea Salt was incredible, including the service. They have some pretty great cocktails too and make their own ginger beer in house, so definitely try the Sea Salt Mule.

On Saturday, I went to a friend’s baby shower. They’ve decided to not find out the gender of their baby until he or she makes a grand entrance into the world! I loved this little set up at the party and the cupcakes were excellent, as you can tell by the few that remain. Can’t wait to meet baby Costner!

I went to a Pilates class Monday and it was my first time using the reformer. Have you done Pilates with the reformer? I felt really awkward trying to figure out the machine for the first time but I’m sure that’s something you get used to after doing several classes. I’m not sure this is a workout for me though—the less equipment for the workout, the better IMO! Anyone else feel the same? 

I had another HelloFresh box come this past week and the Pineapple Pork Chops with Sugar Snap Peas & Rice was a winner! Sugar snap peas are so good but I never think to buy them. I tweaked the recipe a little bit and marinated the pork chops in a Coconut Mango marinade from Sprouts Farmers Market. The pork chops were served with a pineapple salsa so the marinade went well with the recipe. This was the perfect meal for enjoying on the back porch!

What are your favorite meals to make in the summer? 

On the blog this week:

• The Healthiest Salads in Nashville—thanks to the NourishWise app, I gathered a list of salads in Music City that meet the American Heart Association’s criteria for a heart healthy recipe.
• Tropical Chickpea Walnut Quinoa Bowl—this is one tasty bowl recipe! Filled with quinoa, roasted broccoli, chickpeas, walnuts, and avocado, this makes a very satisfying vegetarian meal.

Have a great weekend everyone and as always, feel free to leave me some comments below 🙂