Welcome to Summer...

Hi everyone!  Hope you guys had a great holidayJ  We capped off our great weekend yesterday by officially welcoming in the summer season with all of your picnic basics:

Complete with the first corn of the season!  (and it was actually good!!)

I rounded out our picnic (HELD INDOORS!  I am NOTTTT a fan of picnics when it's 400 degrees out!side  Who thought those were a good idea anyway, huh???  400 degrees does NOT make me want to eat a cheeseburger.  Hold picnics in the SPRING & FALL, folks!) with a patriotically blue blueberry pie with crumble top...

This recipe seriously could not be easier!  I didn't have a piece, but I heard it was really goodJ.

Because I spent MY "dessert budget" on a slice of Pioneer Woman's "Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever"...

That's all American, right???  I think I let it sit in the fridge a bit too long, as it was SUPER thick & tough to cut into...BUT the result was a brownie/chocolate bar hybrid.  Can't go wrong there, no? J  (My friend said it was definitely better than the self proclaimed NYC "Best Chocolate Cake in the World"J) 

Annnyyyway...after pancakes, ice cream and chocolate cake and one too many bites of frosting, it was back to the grind today!  Here's how I wrapped up my week's workouts:

Monday:   Weight Loss Yoga- Yoga 1

Tuesday:  Bethenny 40 minute Yoga + Weights x 2 + "Booty Blast" x 2

Wednesday:  30 minutes dance + weights + 45 minute lunch walk

Thursday:  30 minute Power Yoga

Friday:  Yoga Meltdown-Level 2 + 2 1/2 mile (33 minutes) treadmill walk/jog  (walked 1/2 of a quarter mile and jogged the other half...x 10:)

Sunday:  1 hour boxing class

Now boxing class was an interesting one this week.  What you usually do in class is pair up with someone on a punching bag, so while one person gets a turn doing the punching combinations, the other person is holding the bag for you and then you switch places.  But sometimes when the class is crowded, it becomes 3 people to a bag, so you punch, hold the bag and then shadow box or jump around while the last person goes.  So LAST Sunday, that was the case...and I was all like "ohhhh...this is gonna be too easy.  I'm not gonna get a good workout in."  WRONG-O!  Last week, for whatever reason, KICKED. MY. ASS!  I almost didn't think I was going to make it through class!  Completely dead tired when it was over.

Soooo imagine what I thought when I walked into a LESS crowded class this Sunday and ended up at the bag BY MYSELF!  You know what that means??  That means no "break" of getting to hold it for someone, you are just going straight through the combinations going for a minute to 2 straight (which is a LOOOOOONG time when you're swingin at full power!)  I nearly walked out!  I thought FOR SURE there was no way I was going to make it through the whole class.  So imagine my shock when I didn't collapse after  class!  I actually had more energy the enttirreee time!  I certainly PACED myself better, but I made it through and I was SUPER proud!  Again, proves the point of 'you never know what you can handle unless you try!"

And just to tie everything together:  I though my "back to normalcy" breakfast & lunch for today looked perfectly patriotic for the seasonJ

I stocked my fridge all up this week with tons of Chobani yogurts and LOTS of fresh fruits & veggies.  My goal is for NONE of it to go bad....which means we'll be reaching for the healthy stuff a lot quicker than anything else in the kitchenJ  hahahahhahahaha...

Alright, you've heard enough from me.  Have a great day and remember:  It's TUESDAY already! J

Foodie Road Trip Through Jersey...

So in what is quickly becoming our Memorial Day weekend tradition, we hit the road yesterday to head for one of those foodie spots that we had been interested in trying for awhile.  And yesterday's destination led us up the turnpike to Ridgwood, NJ for a little stop at...

One glance at all of the awards, articles & Zagat ratings gracing the window and we knew we were in for a treat...

The Country Pancake House's speciality is obvious.  But the SURPRISE is in just how many pancake OPTIONS you get to choose from..

How many, you ask?? 

Yep...that is 9-0!!!J  Any combination of cakes and fillings, they had!   

Needless to say, it took awhile to narrow it downJ 

And along with the extensive pancake menu, they also had a pretty large JUICE menu... 

And in an attempt to try something completely different and out of the ordinary, I sampled the Cantaloupe & Carrot juice... 

What did it taste like??  Pretty much EXACTLY like what it sounds likeJ hahhahahhaha....different for sureJ

And while we waited for our pancakes to arrive, we got to sample a little of this beautiful basket that arrived at our table... 

OK, I normally wouldn't sample ANYTHING from a bread basket when PANCAKES were on the way...butttttt the combination of being starving while sitting in traffic on the turnpike ANDDD flipping over the cornbread and finding CHOCOLATE CHIPS melted on top...well, that's just too much temptation for a person to take!  SOLD!

However, the cornbread was a second thought once our main course arrived at the table = Pancakes as large as the pancake menu itself!!

And these were the four MEDIUM pancakes!  Can you believe that???  I don't even want to know what the LARGE ones look like!!!!!

Scott made the appropriate pick for him of the Coffee Lovers Cakes:  Cappuccino pancakes packed with chocolate chips... 

While I went the savory route with cornmeal pancakes filled with cheddar cheese, onions, corn, ham and green peppers.... 

And I mean FILLEDDDDDDDDDDD!

These were some of the FLUFFIEST pancakes I've ever tried.  Every forkful nearly burst open with fluffy pancake and textured fillings....oh my!

And the side of sour cream just somehow made these babies even better....although a few forkfuls of pancake did manage to find the maple syrup and I must say it was quite yummyJ  You know I love my sweet & savory mix!

2 thumbs up:)  I wouldn't say they were the best pancakes ever (that title still goes to either Clinton Street Baking Company in NYC or The Brownstone Diner in Newark, NJ...which I believe I need to pay another visit so I can blog about it.  Yeah, that needs to happenJ)  But Country Pancake scores big for originality, options, good prices and the "Pancakes the size of my head" award...

 Take home containers are a MUST!  Scott has breakfast for nearly a whole week nowJ

After our lunch/dinner we walked off our pancakes with a little stroll through cute Ridgewood... 

Where we just hadddddd to make one little stop: 

Cupcakes by Carousel has been featured on "The View", Oprah's "O List" and Runway magazine.  So yeah, we weren't skippin a trip hereJ 

Alas, I have no review for you at the moment as all of our selections went promptly in the freezer when we got home to enjoy later...but let's just say Carousel had a pretty awesome selection!  Cannoli, Smores, Key Lime??  Our eyes got bigger and bigger the more we stared at the caseJ  I'll be giving a full review soon since I know it wouldn't be long till we hit the DEFROST on these babiesJ

But back to yesterday...and the reason we weren't noshing on cupcakes was because we had ANOTHER dessert stop in mind for the day.  After a quick Google search of "Best desserts in Ridgewood"...one of the places that kept popping up (aside from Carousel) was Van Dyk's Homemade Ice Cream... 

This was a TRUE "local" experience.  A place slap dab in the middle of a neighborhood that serves both RC Cola AND Bosco Chocolate Soda on TAP, Van Dyk's has been around for over 100 years and makes it ice cream on the premises where the whole neighborhood sits around and noshes on ice cream on a hot day = Totally in loveJ

If I wasn't so stuffed from the pancakes, I would have loved to have tried their Bailey's Irish Cream or Peppermint with White Chocolate Chip ice cream.  But instead, I narrowed it down to one HUGE scoop of Milk Nestle Crunch... 

Oh man...the best way I could describe it was almost like a solid, ice cream version of a milkshake.  It was THAT light & airy, while still being super smooth and creamy.  This was some TRUE ice cream LOVE right there!!  Van Dyke's is a GEM!   

After we polished off our ice cream, we said farewell to Ridgewood and headed for home.  The rest of the day was spent "summer-izing" my whole house.  From decorations: 

 (weren't the Christmas ones up 4 seconds ago???)

...to my closet: 

And even my kitchen shelf stocked with magazines packed with summer recipesJ

So now were officially ready to get this season startedJ  Summer fruits/veggies, tank tops & flip flops = Me likes.  Excessive heat & humidity = Not so much....but I'm TRYIIING to embrace the season as best as I canJ  (but truth be told, I'm happiest that FALL is only THREE MONTHS AWAY!!!J)

So alright, I better get a move on to get my grilling on today AND do the one thing I said I was going to do ALL weekend = Finish my book... 

hahahahaha...almost there!!!!

Have a WONDERFUL holiday everyone and don't forget to be thankful and grateful to ALL of the people who allow us to celebrate today:  Our service men & women!  God Bless & Happy Memorial Day!

Joining the angel & devil....

What do you get when you combine decadent gooey pizza along with a healthy crisp salad??

Answer:  Pizza Salad! 

For real!

Isn't that a beauty??  It's super easy AND soooooooooo delicious!

First I took some baby tomatoes, coated them in olive oil, salt & pepper and popped them in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until they went from this....

...to this...

I'm not a fan of raw tomatoes...but sweet roasted ones?  Now we're talkin!

Next, after rolling out and grilling the 99 cent TJ's pizza crust, I covered the dough with the tomatoes, pieces of mozzarella and shreds of basil before popping it back onto the grill...

While the cheese was melting away, I got started on the 'salad' part of the deal.  I mixed 1 bag of spicy arugula, with 3 chopped pieces of prosciutto, a teaspoon of grated cheese and a drizzle of olive oil, lemon juice and a little salt and pepper....

Once the pizza was all melty and gooey...

....on went the arugula salad to seal the deal!

Want to talk about textures and layers??  This baby has it ALL!  Crusty whole wheat crust, tangy tomatoes, gooey cheese, sweet basil, spicy arugula & chewy prosciutto= DYNAMITE!!!!!!

And even though I try my best not to drink soda or flavored 'nonsense,' pizza (like sandwiches) is one of those things that I just looooove to have along with something sweet, so when I spied this Trop 50 Raspberry Lemonade at the store, I snatched it right upJ

Only 50 calories a cup and contains no artificial sweeteners?  Me likesJ

And to fix our sweet tooth, our dinner guest (who is accustom to our little "ice cream socials"J) brought us a little buffet from Trader Joe's to sampleJ

First up were the chocolate & vanilla macaroons....(ahhhh...sweet Paris memories!)

The chocolate tasted most like the beauties I remember; a chewy, yet airy chocolate cookie filled with creamy chocolate center.  But the vanilla ones knocked it out of the park!  The cookies just dissolved on first bite leading way to a glorious sweet, custardy center....SO GOOD!

And since it was 482 degrees out and my friend proclaimed it "TOO HOT FOR CAKE OR PIE!," she thought this Vanilla Ice cream Bon Bons would hit the spot...

And did they ever!  A chocolate cookie topped with vanilla ice cream and enrobed in chocolate....oh my!  These got even BETTER once they started getting a little melty...mmmmmmmmm...bliss!

After our little pizza & chocolate fest on Friday night, I woke up Saturday to a healthy and filling breakfast by way of whipped oats with peanut butter...

(I know...not exactly an ideal summer breakfast but I can't help myself!  I'm still obsessed with this stuff!)

And to keep it a little on the lighter side (and bring us back to summer!), for dinner we had one of my all-time favorite salads: Grilled Chicken Club Salad with Guacamole Dressing

In the mix:

• Lettuce
• Chicken (coated in Montreal Steak Seasoning)
• Carrots
• Scallions
• Bacon Crumbles
• Guacamole dressing:

Made with:

• 1 avocado
• 1 clove garlic
• lemon juice
• salt & pepper
• 2 tablespoons Fage nonfat yogurt
• Drizzle of olive oil

Cool, crunchy & refreshing...this salad always hits the spotJ  Definitely perfect for this weather we're heading in to.  And if this past week is any indication:  It's going to be ONE. HOT. SUMMER! (bleh)

Hope you guys are having a great weekend!  We finally finished "The Roommate" last night (decent...typical horror movie scare business) and today we're heading off for a little 'foodie adventure'!! 

But first:  Getting myself to boxing classJ Gotta earn those treats, right??

Stay tuned and have a relaxing Sunday!

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Dinner by Trader Joe's....again...

Well...after both of us had weeee bit extended work days yesterday, it was a good thing that a "Trader Joe's Night" was on the menuJ  I actually beat Scott home and dinner went from this:

To this in about 20 minutes:

After perusing the aisles aimlessly, I came across these few items for a little Italian feastJ.  Our "main course" was the little stacked eggplant Parmesans...

Hahahahahha...the "done" version isn't quite as pretty as the box, but it was sooo delicious.  It was layers of lightly breaded eggplant, ricotta, pesto, roasted red peppers and...well, I'm not sure what else...but it was GOOD! J  And half of the tray was around 230 calories.  Not too bad for cheesy, melty, comfort food!

And on the side...mmmmmmmmmm, the highlight of the meal:

Frozen polenta??  how do they come up with this stuff?  And it's even funnier when you open the package and find THIS:

Little polenta kisses! hahahahahahha...Trader Joe's has the quirkiest ways of packaging their food sometimesJ  I love it!  And sure enough about 5-6 minutes on the stove and the kisses...

...turned into creamy & dreamy polenta!

Studded with carrots & spinach, this stuff was just soooo creamy & tasty.  It was TOUGH to stick to that 1 cup serving, but I tried my bestJ

And finally, my total impulse purchase...

Sometimes life just doesn't get any better than salty, cheese, crusty garlic bread.  Popped in the oven for 15 minutes and we were golden...

...literally!  I can't even lie...another piece of this found its way to my plate.  It was just SO GOOD.  This was definitely Scott's favorite part of the meal!

So another successful dinner by Trader Joe's.  It was a lot of decadent items that were a bit of a treat, but I tried to keep my portions on the smaller side so then I can enjoy without the guilt!

And speaking of treat...we had one more in store for the evening.  Since Scott had the pleasure of working outside for most of the day yesterday in NJ's lovely heat and humidity (ummm...spring??  Thanks for the ONE WEEK you were here!), we made a little trip to Dairy Queen for some cooooool Blizzards...

We both tried the "Blizzard of the Month":  German Chocolate Brownie.  Vanilla ice cream swirled with pecans, chocolate brownie chunks and coconut...this baby was super rich and the mini was JUST ENOUGH! J

While we enjoyed our blizzards, we settled in to watch "The Roommate"....

...Which is never good for a Thursday, since around 8:30 (yes...we're old!) we decided that we were too tired to pay attention anymore and headed to bed.  (not even kidding...it was still legit LIGHT outside!  How sad is that??? J) hahahahahhahaha....

Anywayyyyyyyy....I'm just jumping up and down, spinning all around happy that it's a LONG WEEKEND FRIDAY!!!! My big goal for today is to hit the gym for a treadmill seesh  (8:30 bedtime or not, I was STILL tired when I did my Jillian Yoga Meltdown this morningJ) and FINISH MY DAMN BOOK!  I have been reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns" (follow up to my beloved "The Kite Runner") for WAY to long...plus I think it's due back to the library on MondayJ hahahahahhaa.....

I should have a few things to show you over this weekend, so I'll be around!  But in case I don't see some of you until Tuesday:  Have a great weekend!