Finding your Happy Weight: Chop & drop + a 4th of July Roundup!

Tuesday Recap:

8:00am: Coffee with creamer & cinnamon

9:30am: Breakfast- Wheat toast with sunflower butter

And about 3 minutes after I scarfed down my last crumbs of toast, the doorbell rang and my replacement lens arrived! Which you just might be able to tell from the rest of the picsJ (ahhh...bright color!)

12:30pm: Lunch- Strawberry salad

So, you can call this a hodge podge of everything that sounded SO good to me at that moment lunch had arrivedJ

Sliced strawberries
Torn basil leaves
Handful of trail mix (walnuts/sunflower seeds/craisins)
Sprinkle of Gorgonzola

Totally hit the spot since it was everything I was wishing forJ

3:00pm: Snack- Handful of peanut butter pretzel nuggets

6:00pm: Dinner- Farmer's Market Pasta (based on this recipe)

So you KNOW I love a dinner that goes from this:

To THIS:

To me, this is the perfect sign of a healthy dinner:

And by that I mean that dinner was made from nearly 95% of fresh and fabulous farmer's market ingredietsJ You can use whatever vegetables you have on hand and just chop & drop everything into the pan as you go along, starting with the veggies that need the longest time to soften. Here's how our dinner went down:

#1- 1 green onion & 3 diced cloves of garlic sauteed in a drizzle of olive oil & a tablespoon of butter

#2- 1 diced head of broccoli

(right about now was when I also dropped the pasta in boiling water to cook for 7 minutes)

#3- 1 pint of diced cherry tomatoes

#4- 1 cup of corn

(which, excitedly, was my first ear of FRESH JERSEY corn this season!)

#5- 1 diced zucchini

And finally, a quick little sauce of 1/4 cup half & half and a few sprinkles of grated cheese....

Toss in the cooked pasta...

...and a added a few cubes of fresh, chopped mozzarella since I had it on hand.

Stir it up and let everything cook together for a few minutes to really get the sauce into those noodles and

WALLAH!

Another tip is to make sure you season the pan every time you add a vegetable. I alternated adding salt, black pepper, garlic powder & onion powder just to make sure the fresh flavors really packed a punch.

And who could deny a little hidden string-y cheese??J

Katie shoveled it in...

...by any means necessaryJ

Super healthy & quick, this is the perfect way to sneak in TONS on veggies in one meal. I only used about 1/2 pound of pasta, which means the dish was about 2/3 veggies to pasta. Can't beat that!

9:00-10:00pm: Advanced Pilates

Hahahahaha...I really waited till the last minute to get my workout in yesterday, huh?? But I'm REALLLLY trying to sneak pilates back into my weekly routine. I've done it 4 times in about 2 weeks and my lower body really does feel a bit more toned. Even the simple 20 minute "circle pilates" is SUPER effective.

JULY 4th Recipe Roundup!

And if you're like me and have yet to make it to the grocery story for tomorrow's picnic extravaganza, here's some recipes you might want to try out for the big day! All summer, patriotic & picnic approvedJ

Triple Onion Burgers: