I lied…

When I said I was taking a break this week… well sort of, I said I was taking a break from the gym.  I didn’t say I wasn’t going to go running. I got home from work and marinated the Fish for the fish tacos:

Then put it in the fridge and took Ella for a run:

Then did Ab Ripper.  By body was telling me all day to workout, so I listened. But let’s backtrack a bit, this morning’s breakfast was cereal combo with bananas:

I am trying to finish this Fiber One cereal, because Fooducate told me it was really bad for me. I won’t be buying it again.  A lot of low sugar “healthy” cereals have bad ingredients in them.  I will be checking my handy dandy Fooducate app next time I buy cereal, or really anything that isn’t fresh. Speaking of fresh:

More fruit salad morning snack! YUM. The flavors are starting to marry together and it gets better and better everyday! Lunch was leftovers from last night’s dinner:

This also tasted a lot better today than it did last night, not saying it wasn’t super delish last night, but for some reason it was better today.  It could have been because I was STARVING.  I was so busy with work today that I didn’t get to my lunch until 1:30. Which is ok because we finally got DROOLS to run a rule! YES! (nerd). One of the show stoppers today (foodwise) was this little cup of heaven:

My absolute favorite flavor of Chobani, Pineapple.  I couldn’t even wait for it to freeze I had to eat it right away!

*insert fish taco marination and 2 mile run here*

When I got back from my run, Ella collapsed

and I started to put together the rest of the ingredients for the tacos:

And when Erik came home he grilled the fish:

And then we ate!

Oh man this was so amazing, perfect summer dish,  I used Tilapia instead of Mahi Mahi and we grilled it:

Mahi Mahi Soft Tacos
Course: main meals PointsPlus™ Value:    6 Servings:  4 Preparation Time:  12 min Cooking Time:  13 min Level of Difficulty:  Easy
Ingredients 1/2 tsp table salt, or to taste    1 pound(s) mahi mahi fillet(s), rinsed and patted dry    1 1/2 Tbsp ginger root, fresh, finely minced    1/3 cup(s) fresh lime juice    1/2 Tbsp dark brown sugar, packed    2 Tbsp scallion(s), finely minced    1/4 cup(s) cilantro, fresh, minced    8 small corn tortilla(s)    8 spray(s) cooking spray    2 cup(s) lettuce, any type, shredded*    1/2 cup(s) peach salsa, or mango salsa    1 medium lime(s), cut into 4 wedges    Instructions ·         Rub salt into fish; set aside.  ·         In a glass or ceramic baking dish, combine ginger, lime juice, sugar, scallions and cilantro; mix well. Add fish; turn to coat. Cover fish and marinate in refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes.  ·         Preheat broiler to high. (If desired, line a broiler pan with aluminum foil for easy clean up.) ·         Remove fish from marinade and place on broiler pan; brush with marinade. Broil for 6 minutes; flip fish and brush with marinade again. Cook until fish is no longer translucent in middle, about 5 to 7 minutes more depending on thickness of fish. Remove fish immediately; cut into 8 large pieces. ·         Divide fish, lettuce and salsa among tortillas; fold in half and serve with lime. Yields 2 tacos per serving.

That is all for me today! I hope everyone had a great day!

Doggie Play date!

Hello friends! As you might have guessed I am taking a break from the gym this week.  My body is tired and it is telling me to take it easy, so I listen!  To make up for my lack of exercise I have been eating really well and doing a lot of house work.  Today I folded more laundry and picked up around the house, tomorrow I might brave the elements (humidity) and mow the lawn!

Last night’s fruit salad made a wonderful appearance in my lunch/morning snack today:

We are most definitely making this every week. For lunch I had some leftover spaghetti from last week and the rest of the broccoli from last night’s dinner.

 I really love broccoli, Erik hates it (hopefully our kids will follow in my broccoli loving footsteps).  Later in the afternoon, I decided to change up my chobani snack and stick it in the freezer for some delish peach Fro-Cho:

Spectacular!

One of the main reasons I didn’t go running today was because Ella had a play date and I just couldn’t wait for Lejia and Logan to come over:

Logan and Ella ran around the yard and played while Lejia and I enjoyed a nice cold beer and some girl time (Erik was at the gym).

When Erik was on his way home I started to make dinner.  It was yet another yummy WW meal:

Angel Hair Pasta with Eggplant-Tomato Sauce

Course: main meals PointsPlus™ Value:    6 Servings:  6 Preparation Time:  16 min Cooking Time:  12 min Level of Difficulty:  Moderate

Ingredients

	1 medium raw eggplant, baby-variety, sliced into 1/3- to 1/2-inch-thick rounds
	1 medium sweet red pepper(s), cut into 8 strips
	1 spray(s) olive oil cooking spray
	3/4 tsp table salt, divided
	1 clove(s) garlic clove(s), minced (medium)
	2 large tomato(es), coarsely chopped
	1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
	1/8 tsp black pepper
	2 Tbsp basil, fresh, minced
	2 Tbsp chives, fresh, minced
	1/2 cup(s) fat-free chicken broth
	8 oz uncooked angel hair pasta, cooked according to package directions, drained
	4 oz reduced-fat feta cheese, crumbled

Instructions

·         Preheat grill to medium.*

·         Place eggplant slices and pepper strips in a grill basket (or place vegetables on a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil with holes poked in it to allow smoke through). Off heat, coat vegetables with cooking spray; season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Place on grill and cook until lightly browned and tender, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Cut vegetables into bite-size pieces; set aside.

·         Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over low-medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and cook until slightly pulpy, about 1 minute more. Stir in vegetables, remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt, red pepper flakes, black pepper, basil, chives and broth; increase heat to medium-high. Cook until broth is slightly reduced and mixture has a sauce consistency, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add pasta and toss to coat. Stir in cheese just before serving. Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving.

This is what the sauce looked like before I mixed it all in:

It was such a hearty but simple sauce.  Next time I will add some zucchini, squash and some more spices, oh yea and more garlic!

Alright folks I am beat, I hope everyone had a great day, see you tomorrow!

Cooking again!

Hello blog friends! Oh man I am so excited I finally went to the grocery store and planned out meals for the remainder of the week!

Thanks to my wonderful friend Erin, who gave me access to her Weight Watchers recipes, I found a whole new world of foods.

Let's rewind to the beginning of the day, breakfast was the usual breakfast combo, forgive the recycled picture:

Snack was the leftover cucumbers from my sandwich:

and my sandwich was a bit lame.  I forgot to defrost the bread I had bought a few weeks ago, so I had to resort to using a hamburger bun today:

It tasted a bit weird, but it was food, and I was starving.

*cue lots of work*

After work, I had planned on going to Giant before coming home, so that I could start cook right away, but the rest of the world had a different idea.  I really thought I was done with traffic, I was wrong.  Apparently there was a huge truck fire on 66 which caused all the back roads in Vienna to come to a complete stop.  I mean they closed 66 down, so no one could get on, hence parking lots.  It took me over an hour to get home and I only have to drive 16 miles! Insanity. But I did get a chance to talk to Bethany on the phone the entire time, so all was not lost *happy face*.

So anyway, I got home and started cleaning the house until Erik got home.  We both decided to go to Giant to make the trip quicker, and thank goodness he came with me. We started multitasking, aka, putting the groceries away and making dinner at the same time.  We were both flying around the kitchen, haha. Dinner turned out fabulous:

Here is the WW recipe:

Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar, Sweet Onions and Thyme 

PointsPlus™ Value:    5 Servings:  4 Preparation Time:  10 min Cooking Time:  20 min Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Ingredients 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour    3/4 tsp table salt, divided    1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground, divided    1 pound(s) Chicken, breast, raw, without skin & bone, four 4 oz pieces    2 tsp olive oil    1 small vidalia onion(s), cut in half lengthwise, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)    1 cup(s) reduced-sodium chicken broth    2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar    1 Tbsp thyme, fresh, chopped, or less to taste    2 tsp butter    Instructions  ·       On a plate, combine flour, 1⁄2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Dredge chicken in flour mixture and turn to coat; shake off any excess. ·         Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, flipping once, until golden and cooked through, about 7 minutes; remove to a serving plate and cover to keep warm.  ·         Add onion to skillet; sauté over medium-high heat until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add broth, vinegar, thyme and remaining 1⁄4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; cook, stirring often, until onions are tender, about 5 minutes. ·         Remove skillet from heat and stir in butter until melted; spoon sauce over chicken. Yields 1 chicken breast and about 1/4 cup onion sauce per serving.

Afterwards, we put together a fabulous fruit salad, Erik's idea. 

I can't wait to go to Eastern Market again and get fresh fruit to make the next fruit salad.

yum yum yum, this will be a great addition to our breakfasts for the rest of the week:

Alright folks that is all for me today! I hope everyone had a great day. I leave you with this

hehe aren't they the cutest?

What things do you put into a fruit salad? 

Happy 4th of July!

I love it when holidays fall on either a Monday or a Friday!  We had another early morning today!  We literally got out of bed, showered, changed, and headed out the door. We headed back to DC to Philippe and Oriana’s house for breakfast:

Oriana made us French toast!  But it was different than any other French toast I have ever had. She used potato bread instead of regular sliced bread. WOW let me tell you, fab! We never make French toast, we are more waffle people, but I will be making French toast like this again!

After breakfast, we headed to the Nat’s game!

Our seats were high up there, but it was awesome because we were in the shade the entire time! Yes! But of course because it was SO hot I had to cool down with a nice beer.  Towards the end of the game I bought Erik some French fries, but didn’t get anything for myself, so I was starving when we left. We got home and took Ella for a walk before heading over to Erik’s parent’s house for another BBQ dinner! Mmmm summertime is all about using the grill!

We had some amazing burgers, corn, and potato salad!

Sorry for the blurry pictures. We called it an early night and headed home to hang out with Ella for a few hours before heading to bed.  There were tons of people setting off fireworks in our neighborhood, so we took Ella and sat outside and watched our neighbors across the street.  I didn’t think Ella was scared of fireworks, but once they started setting them off, she was terrified *sadface*. She was shaking and trying to run inside.  We headed back inside and veg-ed out for the rest of the night. 

A great end to a fabulous weekend! See you guys tomorrow!

A bike ride and a BBQ

Hello guys! Sorry this is going to be super short.  This morning we got up early and headed out for a bike ride with Sunny and Diana:

Apparently it had stormed last night (I slept through it), so the trails were really wet.  I didn’t take an after picture, because it was not pretty haha, we were covered in mud, but we had a great time!

We did a few loads of laundry and headed to the pool for a few hours with my mom, sister, and Erik’s mom.  I love the sun, and it was so hot out today that the pool felt heavenly! I took a sweet nap, I think it was only for 20 minutes, but it felt so good. 

Afterwards, we went to DC to Philippe and Oriana’s house for a BBQ.  All I have to say is that there was enough meat to feed 100 people, and it was soooooooooooooooo good:

There was plenty of other food there, but I was so caught up in great conversation that I didn’t even think to take more pictures.  If Philippe puts pictures on facebook I will put them up here. But for now here is another picture of the grill:

Alright folks that is all for today! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Uncle Sam Jam!

Hello blog friends! Man after last night’s festivities I am pooped, but I know today is going to be really fun!

We got up early today and headed to the pool to get some sun and hang out with an old friend *happyface*.  After the pool we came home and really thought about cleaning the house, but realized we had ZERO time so we pushed it back (yet again).  We played with Ella for a little while before heading to National Harbor for Uncle Sam Jam.

We had gotten discounted tickets from Living Social a few weeks back, and we were looking forward to hearing Pat McGee Band. National Harbor has this sand area that has a statue of a person buried in the ground with some it’s limbs sticking out, super weird.

This picture has the thigh of the statue in it. We had such a great time,

We went with Sunny and Diana, but I just realized that the picture we took of the four of us is on her phone, so you will just have to trust me that they were also there.  There were TONS of people who showed up,

All these people are waiting to hear Pat McGee Band play! The coolest part of all of this was that, Pat McGee used to be Erik and Diana’s swimming coach when they were little!  

They had lots of food trucks, one of which being Famous Dave's,

Oh man this Pulled Pork sandwich was thebomb.com. I really love this picture, Erik says it looks like a professional picture, and that really made me happy. I am really trying to take better pictures!  Eventually I want to get a nice SLR camera, but I think that is something I will maybe ask for next year for my birthday, hehe.  We also saw this:

Super cool lime green Camaro. It was like the green version of Bubble Bee, haha. It was such a beautiful night:

Alright folks that is all for me. I will leave you with this stunning image

Ben and Jerry’s Double Fudge Brownie kid’s cone! YUM best way to end a great day!

Friday with Friends!

Hello blog friends, this is going to be a quick post with lots of pictures. 

You know that Friday's are lunch dates with my mom, but this week she had to go to Largo, MD for work, so it was just me and my sister at lunch today!  We went to Flippin Pizza:

oh man this pizza was so fantastic. The crust was super thin, and they use all natural ingredients! Can't get any better than that, unless you make it at home, hehe.  Just look at how cute those little pepperonis are. After we ate, we walked down to the lake, where we saw this super awesome floating platform:

This is a genius invention, if we ever buy a lake house I want to build one of these.

We got out of work a bit earlier today, since it's a holiday weekend, so I headed home and got ready for our picnic.  We were going to go eat by the lake near our house, but then decided it would be more of a hassle to move everything down there, so we invited everyone over to our house. Katie brought over the mac and cheese:

YUM. 

We had hot dogs, mac & cheese, and potato salad (from Wegman's):

oh ya and my favorite beer ever, Dogfish head:

After we ate, Erik made a HUGE fire:

and we roasted marshmallows again,

for some life changing smores:

yup this time we used Peanut butter cups in addition to instead of Hersey's chocolate. After that we went bowling! (sorry for the dark pictures)

And as you all know, what happens at midnight, we go to Honey Pig:

oh man I have been wanting to go here for about three weeks now. A little late night "snack". I will need to go for a run tomorrow, that is for sure!

Well folks, that is all for me! Have a great weekend!