WIAW: Change of Plans

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Gosh, I wish I had something to say about summer staples that I haven't already said, but I am drawing a blank.

Oh, well.  Just look at my food.  I'm sure you'll get a feel for my staples.

Breakfast Numero Uno: Luna

I ate half of this Luna bar on the way to 5 a.m. boot camp.  We did some killer circuit work and I'm already feeling it.

Breakfast Numero Dos: Egg, Toast, Smoothie

For my sit down breakfast, I had an over easy egg on some whole grain toast with a strawberry, banana, pineapple smoothie.  And coffee, of course.  See my pretty flowers?  My Nana got those for me :)

Snacky Snack: Fishes & Cheese

Oh, I love the fishes...'cause they're so delicious.  Yum, this snack is one of my favorites.  A flavored cheese wedge and pretzel Goldfish.

Lunch: Garbage Salad

Another incredibly attractive salad happened at lunch time.  I had some spring mix lettuce with feta cheese, banana peppers, ground (lean) beef, quinoa and tzatziki sauce.  It was pretty tasty, but not exactly photogenic.

Snack for the P.M.: Grapes

Um, this is my annoyed is-it-time-to-go-home-yet face.  And, yes, I am wearing a Cinco De Mayo t-shirt to work.  Don't hate.

Dinner: Mexican Food

I had no plans to eat out and was going to make lettuce wraps, but we decided to grab some Mexican food after a family photoshoot where my nephew refused to smile.  Sigh.  I split a dish with my Ma and had this corn tortilla tostada and $1 draft beer (yes please!).

Way to wrap up the day ;)

In case you want to see one of the photo masterpieces from our photoshoot, here it is:

such a happy camper

Hope everyone has a great week!

Be sure to check out my Oreo cocktail post on Endless Simmer.

Healthy BBQ Ritz Chicken

 I walk a lot around the neighborhood and I see lots of stuff on these walks.  Mostly, I see discarded stuff.  And my brain is weird.  It always wants to make up a story surrounding the stuff.  Here’s an example, so you don’t think I’m crazy.

Well, you might still think I’m crazy, but at least you’ll get what I’m talking about.

You know Monster energy drinks?  Well there was a crushed can of said energy drink on my walk today.  Here’s the story I came up with.

This guy is just really worn out.  He’s had a hard week and he is dragging his feet, so he buys an energy drink to put some pep in his step.  He did not anticipate the incredible surge of energy that he received from this powerful beverage.  He is so overwhelmed that he crushes the can with his hand, chucks it to the ground and takes off sprinting down the road waving his arms above his head.

I just want to somehow justify this guy’s littering, I guess.

This weird anecdote has nothing to do with this chicken.

Just wanted to make that clear.   

                                                             

So, chicken…it’s such a common thing and I’m sure we’ve all consumed many variations.

I had no intention to blog about this recipe, but I tasted it and I felt like it needed to be shared with the world.

Healthy BBQ Ritz Chicken

Serves 4

1 sleeve whole wheat Ritz crackers

Lite BBQ sauce (like Kraft’s)

Salt & pepper

4 chicken breasts, pounded and cut into strips

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Crush your crackers and lay the crumbs on a plate.

Salt and pepper your chicken strips, then brush them with BBQ sauce.  Dip them in crushed crackers and arrange on a baking sheet.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until done.

I served mine on some roasted asparagus with fresh parmesan.

Have a great weekend, all!

Be sure to check out my cocktail trio at Endless Simmer:

WIAW: Wake Up Call

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Breakfast #1: Toast!

Whooohoo!  Back to regular fitness since my workout injury from last week.  I had a piece of Sarah Lee's 45 calorie wheat bread with a smear of super shiny almond butter on it before heading out for an early boot camp session.

When you have to get up for a 5 a.m. boot camp class, sometimes you get worried you won't wake up on time (even with the alarm).  Well apparently Baby & Boscoe were concerned as well, because they started my wake up call about 30 minutes before I needed to be up.

Little rascals.

Don't be fooled by the looks of innocence.  They will meow their faces off and jump on you when they want you to get up.

 Breakfast #2: Spinach Omelet & Shake

I know that my ability to make the world's most beautiful omelet is intimidating, but I'm a normal person, I swear.  Ok, totally kidding there.  My spinach omelets always look like a hot mess, but they are delicious & nutritious ;)  I used a whole egg and an egg white, along with a cup of cooked down fresh spinach.

I also had a coffee to go & a peanut butter, banana protein shake containing the following: half scoop vanilla protein powder, 1 frozen banana, 1 cup almond milk and 1 tbsp of powdered peanut butter.

Have you guys tried the powdered peanut butter?  It's only 45 calories for 2 tbsp, so that's my only reason for using it.  You can add it to recipes or just add water and make a weird PB like paste.  If you are into it, here's where I buy it.

A.M. Snack: Apple & Nuts

I got an energy pick me up from these yums to hold me over until lunch.  Actually, scratch that.  I cut the apple and it must have been near an onion in my kitchen, because it tasted of onion.  Blech.  In the trash it went.  So I had the almonds, only.

Um, I also got some fake energy from the new Starbucks energy drinks.  They call them Refreshers and the can is only 60 calories and supposedly has a bunch of natural stuff in it.  Today I had the strawberry lemonade flavor & it was lovely (FYI-I found them at CVS & Walgreens on sale).

This is obviously me before the energy drink, because my hair looks cray cray and my eyes are so tired.  I tried to take an after picture, but it's super blurry because of all my "energy."

 Lunch: Bento Box!

Today's bento box lunch was killer.  I made some lettuce wraps in an attempt to decrease my carb intake.  My wraps have dijon mustard, a slice of turkey, a slice of roast beef and a piece of sharp cheddar all wrapped up in some butter lettuce.  I had some leftover roasted broccoli and some Rainier cherries on the side.

P.M. Snack: Yo

Since I always call frozen yogurt, "fro yo," I thought I'd try calling yogurt "yo."  I'm not sure it works as well.  Ok, so I had this new 100 calorie Greek yogurt & it was pretty bangin'.

Dinner: Veggie Panini & Fruit

I had some errands to run with my mom this evening, so I convinced her to go to Bahama Breeze with me :)  I had the portabella veggie sandwich and some fruit with the most incredible mango sorbet on top.  I also tried their skinny margarita and it wasn't half bad (not enough tequila, though).

Thanks for reading all about my food today!  Have a great week!

The Easiest Bread

Fresh, crusty bread is always welcome in my house.  Well, unless I'm cutting carbs.  Then, keep it away!  Buuuutt, I needed bread on this day.

I have no bread maker or fancy ingredients.  Good thing those things are not required here.  In fact, you don't really need a stand mixer or food processor.  You can just mix the dough with your hands if you like and knead it until it is elastic-y.
That's a word.

In retrospect, I would have brushed this loaf with melted butter and cracked some sea salt on it before I popped it in the oven.  Don't be like me.

The Easiset Bread

makes 1 loaf

2-1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 packet yeast

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup warm water

Olive oil, for greasing

*Optional--melted butter & sea salt for topping

In the bowl of your stand mixer (or food processor, in my case) pour warm water {110-115 degrees} and sprinkle in one packet of rapid rise yeast. Let the yeast bloom for 5 minutes. Grease a large bowl with olive oil.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl measure and mix the flour with the kosher salt.

Stir the flour into the yeast-water until just combined. Using a dough hook, mix until the dough is smooth and tacky.  Or just hit the dough button on the food processor until it forms a ball.

Place the dough ball in the oiled bowl. Place a damp towel (or loose plastic wrap) over top and place the bowl in a warm area to rise for about an hour.

Punch  the dough and form a log of dough on a baking sheet.  *Brush with melted butter and cracked sea salt and slide into an cool, un-preheated oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (while the loaf is in the oven) and set the timer for 30-35 minutes.  The loaf will rise a bit more while the oven is preheating.

Adapted from Simply Scratch

Brie happened.

Wine in my Garfield mug happened.  

Just keeping it classy, folks.

Happy Weekend to ya'!

In case you missed my Endless Simmer posts as of late, check out these bad boys:

Copy Cat Cherry Berry Chiller

Stuffed Pay Day Cookies

Grilled Watermelon & Feta Salsa

WIAW: Down But Not Out

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I love when we get a new theme for What I Ate Wednesday!  This theme has to do with summer staples.  You can talk fitness or food.  I'm gonna stick with food today.

My summer staples are salads, fresh fruits and anything grilled!  Also, copious amounts of mojitos, but that's another story.

So, this week has been tough because I hurt my back.  Long story short (ok, it's not that long to begin with), these plank twists were involved.

not a picture of me, in case you were wondering ;)

I usually rock at these, but I slipped and ouch.  I feel like I'm 80.  It's crazy how I took for granted the fact that I could easily bend (and snap!-Legally Blonde...anyone??) and move my bod without any pain. Now, not so much.

Ok, my point here, is that it would be super duper easy to just throw all healthy behaviors out the window when you are laid up on the heating pad all day, but just keep truckin'.

Breakfast: Spinach Omelet & Toast

Needless to say, there was no boot camp for me this morning, as I can barely drive a car.  So just one breakfast for this ol' gal.  I made a spinach omelet with 1 cup of fresh spinach, 1 egg and 1 egg white. I enjoyed it with a side of high fiber toast smeared with fig jelly and a cup of Trop 50 orange juice.  I also had some coffee on the go, but did not take a pic.

Morning Snack: Yogurt & Granola

Yogurt has become a bit of a summer staple for me.  I really like this caramel flavor.  I topped it with a little vanilla almond granola for some crunch.

 Lunch: Garbage Salad

I know it looks like garbage, but this salad was pretty tasty.  I cleaned out the fridge with this one ;)  It contains: leftover bbq pork loin, leftover mixed veggies, the last of the salad mix with some fresh spinach added to it, a super ripe avocado and the last of the feta cheese.

Then a healthy cookie for dessert! 

I was craving oatmeal cookies the other day and found a great recipe at Chelsea Eats Treats.  I modified it a bit.  Here's the recipe:

Caramel Almond Butter Oatmeal Cookies (makes 1 1/2 dozen)

1 1/2 cup rolled oats

4 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

1/2 cup caramel almond butter (I used MaraNatha brand)

3 egg whites

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Add first five ingredients in a large bowl (through egg whites) and mix until well combined.

Add chocolate chips, and mix just until incorporated.

Spoon cookies out onto parchment paper and bake for 15-20 minutes or until cookies start to brown on the edges.

After eating, I took my broke back self to the store to stretch and walk around...and this jumped in my cart.

Then I went back to work with a blue mouth.

No time for an afternoon snack today...

Dinner:  Salmon, Quinoa, Artichoke

For dinner I made Asian marinated salmon, quinoa cooked in the rice maker and artichokes.  It was my first time trying a fresh artichoke.  I didn't hate it.  An all around good meal :)

Then I had a gin and tonic and watched Baby the Cat waller around in the sunshine (waller is a word in the South, in case you didn't know).

It had been exactly a week since my last fro yo outing, so off to TCBY to load up on goodness!

I had white chocolate mousse and caramel yogurt with some Oreo, sprinkles, pecans and 2 circus animal cookies.  Oh, and a lone, tiny gummy bear.

Alright, guys.  That's it for food stuff.  Hopefully, I can get myself in gear for a Friday post this week...we shall see.

**UPDATE: My back feels about 50% better today, so yay.

WIAW: Fitness Motivation & A Veggie Wrap

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Guys, working out is hard.  If it is not hard, you are not doing it right.

I love fitness.  Well, I love talking about it and how it affects my life, but I really do not like working out.  You get all sweaty and feel like you're going to die.  So, you definitely have to weigh the positives to get the motivation to keep it up.

So, here are my top 5 motivators for fitness.  I'm by no means an expert at all.  Just a normal gal telling you what works for me ;)

1. Think Big Picture Stuff
Obviously the whole reason you are working out is for health, to feel good and possibly just to look hot.  Don't forget the end result of all your hard work.

2.  Get Your Cute On
One way I like to make fitness a little more fun is to jazz up my outfits.  If you have a cute workout outfit that makes you feel good, it makes things a little more awesome.
So, get some good looking shorts/capris, a cute, flattering tank and some rockin' neon shoes and you are on your way.

3.  Have a Buddy
Having a buddy for fitness is a great plan, because it's harder to back out of stuff because they make you feel guilty ;)  Plus, it makes things a little easier to handle having someone fun around.

It's my Mom, y'all ;)

4.  Bump Your Jams
Music is a huge motivator to get moving (even if you are just dancing in the kitchen).  Here's some fun, upbeat songs you might want to add to your playlist to keep things fresh:
Fitness Top 100 Workout Songs

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5.  Challenge to Change or Just Fake It Til You Make It
Setting mini goals works for my brain because I'm a goal oriented kind of lady.  I try to push myself and it is the coolest feeling for your brain to be like, "I can't do this" and for your body to prove it wrong.
By faking it, I mean put on a happy face & pretend you are really excited about working out.  It will eventually change your attitude ;)

This is my most fake smile before heading out in the 100 degree heat.

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Ok, sorry for the long post on fitness.  It's the last What I Ate Wednesday with this topic, so I wanted to fully exhaust it.  Now, to the food!

Breakfast, Part I: Zucchini Bread

Yep, I recycled this picture from Monday's recipe post.  It was great to not take a picture in the dark at 5 a.m.!  I ate a piece of this yummy bread before heading out to boot camp.

Breakfast, Part II: Green Monster Smoothie

Today's smoothie was cold and delicious!  In the mix: 1/2 cup frozen spinach, 1 frozen banana,  strawberries, frozen mango chunks, vanilla protein powder and almond milk.  I also took an iced coffee on the road with me.

Morning Snack: Wasa & Cheese

I've been missing cheese and crackers, so this snack was a welcome one.

Lunch: Super Veggie Wrap

A whole grain (high fiber) tortilla stuffed with spring mix, some leftover fajita veggies, cucumbers, broccoli slaw, feta cheese , tomato slices and red pepper hummus.  Enjoyed with a side of carrots and cherries.

Whoops!  This happened.  There may or may not be frozen yogurt under all those toppings.

Dinner:

My niece got to choose the place for dinner to celebrate her 11th birthday, and she chose this country kitchen type fast food restaurant.  I chose baked fish, turnip greens and black eyed peas and this is what they brought out.  I ate the fish and nibbled on the veggies (didn't touch the rice or dry cornbread), but I was not too impressed.  Oh well.  At least she enjoyed her chicken fried steak.

Alright, that about wraps it up.  Have a super fantastic week & I'll hopefully find some craft motivation for Friday ;)