I have accumulated a surprisingly long list of meals I like, meals I want to make again, and restaurant dishes worth remembering.

The handwritten version was useful but chaotic. Chicken, pancakes, curry, burgers, pasta, and Jägermeister were all competing for space without much concern for taxonomy.

This is the organized version.

“Light” and “heavy” describe how a meal generally feels, not whether it is good or bad. Portions, ingredients, and what I did that day still matter. A cauliflower crust pizza can become enormous, and steak with vegetables can be perfectly reasonable.

Breakfasts

Three-Egg Blueberry Pancakes

Eggs make the pancakes more substantial, blueberries bring sweetness, and the result works well before an active day.

Keto Muffin With Peanut Butter

A compact breakfast for mornings when I want something quick, filling, and less dependent on a large serving of carbohydrates.

Shakshuka

Eggs cooked in a warm tomato and pepper sauce make this one of the best bridges between breakfast and a real meal. It is especially good with enough spice to wake up properly.

Light Dishes

These are the meals I associate with vegetables, leaner ingredients, smaller portions, or simply feeling ready to move afterward.

• Cauliflower crust pizza: Pizza energy without quite as much heaviness.
• Chicken coconut curry soup: Warm, flavorful, and satisfying without needing to become a giant bowl of rice and curry.
• Chicken tortilla with jalapeño and vegetables: Easy to vary, easy to add heat to, and useful for a quick dinner.
• Chicken with sweet potato and asparagus: A straightforward combination of protein, vegetables, and a sensible carbohydrate.
• Cottage cheese with Greek salad: Cool, salty, fresh, and high enough in protein to feel like a meal.
• Fajita chicken: Peppers, onions, spice, and chicken, especially good when the extras remain under control.
• Lentil curry tangine: Filling, inexpensive, and excellent for making several portions at once.
• Lettuce-wrapped burger: A burger that leaves more room for the filling instead of making the bun the main event.
• Portobello mushroom gluten-free burger: A strong meat-free option with plenty of savory flavor.
• Prawns and sushi: Fresh, varied, and easy to keep light when I do not order as though feeding an entire table.
• Steak and vegetables: Simple food that mostly depends on choosing a good cut, seasoning it properly, and not overcomplicating the plate.
• Beef and beetroot dish from PCC: Rich enough to stand on its own and memorable enough to make the handwritten list.

Heavy Dishes

These are the comfort meals, restaurant orders, cheesy experiments, and dishes best enjoyed with full awareness that a nap may become part of the plan.

• Balsamic flatbread: Sweet, savory, and very easy to eat past the point when it stopped being a light dish.
• Camembert dip: Melted cheese presented as a shared appetizer, which is an elegant way of pretending it will remain an appetizer.
• Clafoutis: Somewhere between a baked custard and a cake, and therefore welcome at almost any time of day.
• Clam chowder: Creamy, comforting, and especially appropriate when Pacific Northwest weather is doing what it does.
• French dip at The RAM: Beef, bread, cheese, and jus working together with admirable efficiency.
• Ground-meat gnocchi from Blue Apron: Soft gnocchi and a rich meat sauce make this a serious dinner.
• Ground meat with tomato pasta: A reliable classic built from onion, minced meat, tomato, and pasta.
• Lemon capellini pasta: Bright citrus does not stop a full bowl of pasta from being a full bowl of pasta.
• Salmon linguine: A rich pasta dish that at least brings salmon along for the ride.
• Tomato and feta pasta: The baked feta pasta formula remains popular because tomatoes, feta, and pasta rarely fail one another.

Dishes at my local restaurants

• Tuna burger at Habit Burger: A lighter burger variation that still feels substantial.
• Bibimbap at Danji: Rice, vegetables, sauce, egg, and protein combined into a bowl that can escalate wonderfully.
• French Dip at The RAM: Tender roast beef piled into a toasted roll, with hot au jus that makes the sandwich richer, messier, and absolutely worth ordering.
• Chicken bowl from Taco Time Northwest: Convenient, dependable, and substantial enough for a post-adventure meal.
• Chicken tenders with mashed potatoes from Popeyes: A meal that makes no attempt to disguise its intentions.

Good Drinks

These are the drinks that generally help the plan rather than quietly negotiating against it.

• Iskiate: Chia seeds, water, lime, and a little honey make a refreshing drink with actual staying power.
• Non-alcoholic beer: The ritual and flavor of beer with fewer consequences for sleep, recovery, and the following morning.
• Water: Not exciting, undefeated.

Bad Drinks :P

“Bad” is being used affectionately here. These drinks can be fun; they simply do not contribute much to tomorrow’s run.

• Jägermeister: A drink with a remarkable ability to turn a reasonable evening into a story.
• Japanese beer: Crisp, refreshing, excellent with food, and still alcohol regardless of how clean the bottle design looks.

The Actual Food Strategy

The goal is not to ban the heavy dishes or pretend that Camembert dip can be optimized into health food.

The goal is to be more deliberate:

• Track meals in MyFitnessPal when I need better awareness.
• Measure portions long enough to understand what I am actually eating.
• Choose more of the light dishes during normal weeks.
• Eat fewer unplanned snacks between meals.
• Keep exercising because I enjoy it, not as punishment for dinner.
• Enjoy the heavy dishes properly instead of eating them absentmindedly.

Food should support health, running, work, and adventures. It should also remain one of the pleasures that makes all of those things more enjoyable.

The sensible plan is simple: eat the chicken and asparagus often, enjoy the Camembert dip occasionally, drink the water, and treat Jägermeister as a plot device rather than a hydration strategy.