A colorful wrap up...

Soooo....mornin, folks!  Sorry I've been a bit MIA the past couple weeks, but roll insanely busy mixed with feeling LOUSY almost all of last week and the days just get away from me.  And on top of that, I wasn't very diligent with taking photos the past couple weeks or even remembering what the hell I DID each day, let alone what I ate...hahahahahaha😉. Lately anyone asks how I'm doing and my response is "Just swingin from vines", since that's EXACTLY what it feels like day-to-day😉  I'm sure, um, ALL OF YOU understand that feeling😉  Sooooooo...instead of a weekly recap, I'll just share some of my favorites from the past couple weeks and maybe a few I'm REALLY excited to try as Summer is quickly approaching.  Which...

A.- 'scuse???  How the hell did THAT happen??

and

B.- I'm FAIRLY excited for.  Double 'scuse.  I still don't even know who I am anymore...but we've already been to visit the beach a couple times so far this spring and I. JUST. CAN'T. EVEN. DEAL with all the gorgeousness and how happy the kids are just to BE there.  

(and humidity, if you could stay away the ENTIRE time??  THAT'DBEGREAT)

Some of my fav meals:

Quickest dinner that felt 'fancy':  One-pot puttenesca

Throw everything in one pan and end up with a dish where each bite brings a new taste of ZINNNNNNGGGGGG???  Yes, yes and yes please.

The 'pardon the photo on my stove grate' meal:  BUT this picture makes me super happy because Katie was SO EXCITED to invite a couple of friends over for our first cookout of hot dogs of the season that she actually helped me clean almost our ENTIRE back porch (all while singing "I just can't wait to be King"...which was ADORABLE)...weeeeee!  Not to mention:  CLASSIC summer fare...

Pasta salad recipe from Pioneer Woman, which I made last summer and have thought about ever since.  It's THAT perfect😉

We also made THIS PIE for the cookout and um, also PERFECT...

What will probably become a staple recipe:  Lauren Conrad's Easy Enchiladas

My love for all things Lauren Conrad and her perfectly filtered life runs deep, so it was no shock that her absurdly easy enchilada recipe was not only easy but PERFECTLY DELICIOUS.  Poaching the chicken in the salsa kept it super flavorful and extremely tender.  I upped my game just a bit by finding a small loaf of premade cornbread in the freezer and stuffing it with said enchilada chicken.  My photo does NOT do it justice for how PHENOMENAL THAT was😉

My current breakfast & lunch obsession:

(photo source)

+ strawberries + chopped almonds (or peanuts) + ground flaxseed + a sprinkle of granola.  This used to be my spring-y/sunshine staple (how is that blog post from SEVEN years ago???), but haven't really had it in YEARS.  And, just like most things, I get reacquainted and then get re-obsessed and have it a million times a week😉  I've had both the nonfat & whole milk variation of the yogurt and honestly can't say I notice much difference once you add all of those toppings.

Other meal-prep lunches:

Our FAVORITE couscous salad

BBQ Chicken, roasted sweet potato & broccoli bowls

Both made on Sundays, portioned and set for the week ahead.  And BOTH were delicious!

Healthier indulgence:  Chocolate Orange Chia seed pudding

So ya'll know my LOVE of chocolate on MOST days of the week, which I obviously think is FINE...BUT here's a great way to satisfy that craving while staying a LITTLE bit more on the healthy end of things.

Favorite Workout:  Tone it up Sandy Sweat HIIT

I'm so obsessed with this one at the moment that I COULDN'T WAIT to get back to it after recovering from feeling lousy.  15 quick minutes + I'll throw in 15 minutes of dance and it feels like a full body, excellent muscle/cardio combo.

And a few things I'm excited to make with the Summer on the way!

Firecraker Cake

This picture makes me straight up giddy.  

Further making me question who I'm becoming😉  But it's just so purty!

Red, White & Blue strawberry cheesecake bites

How perfect are these??  I might just be able to get behind the whole 'fruit for dessert' thing with these adorable little babies!  Plus, I'd love giving these to the kids.

Summer Sand Pudding

I can't even DEAL with how adorable this is...PLUS we are a dirt cake lovin house and Katie will FLIP for this adorable variation, I'm sure😉

Pioneer Woman BEST Macaroni Salad

So while Googling the above recipe for Pioneer Woman's macaroni salad, I also stumbled on THIS one...and if she's saying THIS is the best??  Well, YOU KNOW it's worth trying!

Well, that's a colorful wrap!  I'm planning to DEFINITELY be back on Wednesday since I have two current 'mental weight loss' topics that I'm dying to discuss.  Here's to finding time to bang out these keys😉 (hold me...😉)

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An Easter wrap-up...

Morning, everyone!  Hope you had a BEAUTIFUL weekend.  I have to say ours was pretty awesome from start to finish, starting with a totally impromptu first trip to the beach this season...

I couldn't even handle the bright blue skies without a trip to see that beautiful blue water for one more day.  There was still a cold chill in the air, but who even cares?  Not these kids, that's for sure...

Sandwiched in the middle of the weekend was some Easter fun at Nona's house, where 1st Easter treats were eaten...

...and traditional Pastia was made.  98% made by Katie, which was pretty awesome to say the least.

...and of course rounding out the weekend was hunting for eggs (at, ahem, before 7am👀  That even beat Christmas morning!)...

...treat sampling...

...church going...

...and spending most of the rest of the day wrangling the kids in the yard since it was a warrrrrrrmmmm, high 80's Easter in NJ this year...

...and eating.  Oh gosh and EATING.  So much so that I barely want to talk about food this morning...buttttt we must press on.

Weekly recap:

Monday:   Sheet pan Sausage & Peppers with Parmesan Garlic Cauliflower Rice 

  

More 'real life' vs awesome Internet photographer pictures comin at ya😉  And don't let my sub par photo stop you!  This dish was absolutely PHENOMENAL.  Not to mention, SUPER HEALTHY, EASY AND PHENOMENAL.  What a great combo.  

Tuesday:  Kale Chopped salad with Maple-Almond Vinegarette

  

Hahahahaha...I can't EVEN with that 'comparison photo', or LACK there of in the comparison department😉  But again, don't let that stop you from making this recipe.  We've made it a zillion times and it never fails to impress.

Wednesday:  BBQ mini meatloaves + lightly glazed roasted carrots

I didn't even get a photo of this meal given that, after wrangling 2 kids to see the Easter bunny and some playtime at the mall, we got home and made dinner and ate like starving zombies😉

Thursday:  Dinner at Chickie & Pete's

Another photo I completely forgot about, as I got swept up chatting with my fabulous cousin.  We, of course, split some of their famous fries and I spied a new menu item that I loveeeed:  Caesar salad with meatballs!  I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeee meatballs (and pizza crust!) with salad...so this was RIGHT up my alley, and quite delicious!  We also split an order of ricotta donuts, because FUN.

Friday:  Nachos + Salad + 1/2 bacon cheeseburger at Frankie's Bar & Grill 

So not only was the blue water calling me to head East on Friday, but also the prospect of visiting one of our VERYFAVORITERESTAURANTS down Point Pleasant.  We found this place a few years ago when a beach picnic plan was foiled by a rainstorm and we got drawn to this place from the INSANE aroma of charcoal grill being shared throughout the town😉  I have a sweet affinity for 'set plans' that change to be even more memorable and this night will always be one of my favorite "beach memories."

And on top of that, the food and the atmosphere of this place is always just kinda shore perfect.  Sorta loud, sorta cozy and ALL sorts of delicious.  We didn't want to go TOO crazy, so we went about splitting their nachos and their salad (even this SIMPLE SALAD is just SOOOOGOOD!)

 

...and we also split a bacon cheeseburger.

Not NORMAL "Good Friday/Lent" fair...but I kinda resided this year to the fact that there are a lot worse things I can do in life than eat meat on a Friday during Lent.  But who knows?  Maybe next year I'll want to observe, but this year I felt like it was OK to realize it's not THEMOSTIMPORTANT thing I could do for the world during Lent.  

I don't know.  Maybe I'm just explaining my Catholic-guilt away😉

ANYWAY...

We also had to make our inaugural trip to Hoffman's of the season...

...where Katie got into the fact that she & I could get 2 different flavors of ice cream and we could swap and share😉  

Sharing to get to try more??  That's my girl!

Saturday:  MORE Sausage & peppers with cauliflower rice

YEP.  THAT'S how much we loveeeeeeeed this dish!  So nice, we had it TWICE.

Sunday:  EASTER

Which was not just ONE course of homemade ravioli, meatballs, salad & fresh bread...

(here's Katie & Lils making the ravioli since I didn't get a picture of them at the table!)

...but a SECOND course of ALL this deliciousness...

A fun combo of efforts of my Mom & Mother-in-Law's traditional Easter dishes.  VERYYYYYYYY delicious!

I also held off allllll day from eating any treats to save room for dessert, but had a few bites too many (of rice pudding, pound cake with strawberries & chocolate cream pie...yum) and felt STUFFED by the end of the night.  Not surprising since everything was just plain DELICIOUS.  But definitely ready to jump back into a SUPER healthy day today!  Weeeeeeeeeeeee.  Thankfully I had gotten my 'healthy lunch food prep' done on Saturday, so we're all set for a strong week ahead.

Andddddd the exercise to wrap it all up:

Monday:   Jillian Michael's Yoga Slimdown-Level 2

Tuesday:  Taught Vinyasa yoga + 2 mile Walk  with mixed weights

Wednesday:  Taught gentle (my hip hurt this day, so I took a rest)

Thursday:  Taught Hatha + 5K Walk

I did the walk when I came home from dinner.  I was tired when we were leavin the restaurant and as I was walking in the door, realized that I had enough energy to bang something out and this particular workout was calling my name.  Felt sooooooooo good that I got that done, even when I thought I was too tired!

Friday:  Dance + weights + planks

Saturday:  Taught Hatha + an insannnnnnne amount of running around😉

Sunday:  Body slimming yoga

Had to laugh that on a rare Sunday that I had off from yoga, I STILL found myself doing it😉  This was just the one that was callin out to me.

LOTS of WORDS.  TOO many words from me, I'm sure.  So have a great week!!

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No Regrets...

Um...how's this for a start of a "No Regrets" post??

First of all:  HI!  How was your weekend??  Mine was a crazy/wild/busy mix of lots of family fun and a crazy amount of yoga, which was both relaxing, overwhelming & intense.

In short:  A complete mess of emotionsJ

But I guess I should back-track back to Friday where I said "there weren't going to be too many zucchini noodles" involved & I was right about that one!  Especially when a trip to Uncle Dood's Donuts in Toms River is how you start off the day...

photo source

We had full plans to 'just get a few to sample,' but after the INCREDIBLY FRIENDLY staff led us through all the donuts + a few 'menu additions,' we were pretty much dying to get on our hands on as many as possible.  So we ordered up our box of (COMPLETELY OBSCENE FOR 2 1/2 PEOPLE) NINE donuts (EEK!) and headed outside for the benches to give em a sample...

"Only a bite or 2 of each" was my mantra as we sat down:  Till I took my first bite.  HOLY SHMOLY these donuts were OUT. OF. THIS. WORLD!  Crispy, hot & fresh, HAND DIPPED TO ORDER and not to mention:  light, not greasy in the slightest and WAYYYYY to easy to sneak too many bitesJ  (or at least that's gonna be my excuseJ)

I didn't sample either of the top left ones or the middle one (they were Scott's pick of Twix & specialty coffee/mocha varieties), but I had a bite (or 2...or 3) of the rest.  Including the cinnamon & cream cheese frosted (top right), the blueberry & basil (Katie's pick...TO DIE FOR!),  the samoa (bottom left...do I even need to tell you how much I liked that one???) and the two biggest surprise favorites:  The peanut butter iced/chocolate sprinkles one ("you're gonna die" was my preceding bite warning for Scott) and the FRENCH TOAST...

Again, back to that friendly staff:  the guy convinced us to order 2 French Toasts cause they were his favorite and they did NOT disappoint.  Maple frosted, dipped in cinnamon & sugar...they probably were actually the family favorite of the whole box.  Can't say enough great things about this place, the staff and those CRISPY (yes, I'm gonna emphasize that again cause it's a FAV) donuts.  We left with....um, not as many as we thoughtJ), but some of them DID INDEED survive our on slaughter and made it home somewhat in tack.   ...till Saturday.  More on that laterJ

After stuffing our faces, we headed over to (the original plan from my birthdayJ) the Popcorn Zoo,  in Forked River.  

The zoo is actually an animal sanctuary for abandoned or injured animals.  So on top of it being a fun place to visit with kids, it's also nice to see these animals being SOOO well loved & taken care of by the friendly staff.   A very sweet experience.

And the place gets its name from being offered popcorn to share with the animals throughout your visit...

...even if someone snuck in a few bites of her own.  OY!

I'm not sure I've ever seen some of these animals as up close as the Popcorn Zoo is set up....

...which may or may not have been a good thing, considering this tiger was eyein Katie up like a nice steakJ

But needless to say my little animal-lover (except for Polar bears!  She DOES NOT like polar bears for some reason) had an absolute BLAST at this place and couldn't run around fast enough to make several visits to ALL the animalsJ

Only "problem" with this place??  It felt like it was built on the surface of the sun.  ...or at least that's what my 8-month pregnant self felt:), so after our visit, Momma needed to sit down and RELAX for a sec!

So we headed over to Point Pleasant and to one of our all-time favs:  Frankie's Bar & Grill for some of thier AWWWWWWWWWESOME nachos and a salad with ranch that sounded like THEGREATESTTHINGONEARTH at that momentJ 

And in an effort to, ahem, keep it SOMEWHAT together, we split one of their PERFECT burgers, complete with fire-burnt edges on a poppy seed bun.  Oh the joy of it all... 

And of course, after we had to head East.....where we went from 'the surface of the sun,' to a cooooooooool & breezy beach.  Scott deemed the ocean 'like ice'...

...but that didn't stop SOMEONE from headin in!

....which lead to a SOAKED dress, a lack-of change of clothes and THIS LOOK (in one of Daddy's shirts) on a traditional stop at Hoffman's on the way homeJ

#WAYMOREMEMORABLE!

And after 2 LONG, INTENSE days filled with yoga school, we headed out to Mafalda's restaurant on Sunday night to cap off Mother's Day weekend with a fine dining bang.  Starting with these sausage & cheese filled "Italian Spring Rolls" (which Katie HOUSED!)

...a blue cheese, walnut & strawberry salad... 

...and even though they had an exquisite Mother's Day menu of delectable & unique treats, I ordered what just sounded like THE most scrumptious and delicious choice at that moment:  The classic Vodka Rigatoni.  Momma needed some comfort after a loooooooonnnnnnnggggg day. 

Creamy, comforting and delivered to our table PIPPING HOT, I honestly couldn't have enjoy this more at the moment.  A fabulous night out with my Mom, Scott & Katie to end a wild weekend.  (we also had a round of dessert, but I was too exhausted to even reach for my camera again at that pointJ)

Of course, these weren't ALL my eats of the weekend....just the more decadent onesJ  I can't say I always made the SMARTER choices (ummm...9 donuts??), but I never really got overly full and enjoyed ALL my splurges VERY MUCH and I don't have ONE ounce of guilt this morning.  Just ready to get back to our Bikini Series:  Week 5!

I'll have my more VIRTUOUS selections from my weekend of EdoFoods eats, as well as my healthier Monday recap for you tomorrow!

For now, I'll leave you with my hilarious dinner selection from Saturday night...where I walked in the house and realized NOTHING ON PLANET EARTH was going to sound better (or be any more or less caloric, really!J) than the last few bites of the remaining donuts.  And I sided up those bites with my EdoFoods green juice (more on that tomm!) and called it a day...

 

If THAT is not THE portrait of balance, I don't know what isJ

Hahahahahaha...here's to a healthy Monday, everyone!