Weekly wrap-up...

And maybe some dinner/lunch inspiration for you for this week...or at least that's always my hope when I post these😉

Weekly recap:

Monday:   Peanut Chicken Zucchini Noodles

  

My answer to 'we need a lot of veggies, but I don't feel like having salad'😉

Tuesday:  Eating in the Middle Parmesan-Crusted Chicken Fingers + Buttermilk ranch dipping sauce + Kale chips

It wasn't a Christmas cookbook, but Eating in the Middle IS one I just LOVESOMUCH.  Probably because her eating philosophy has been one I've been following since I began this healthier lifestyle journey AND the foods are ones I really like to eat!  I'd say at this moment, it's the book I've probably cooked from the most!

  

Wednesday:  Surf Taco + Coney Waffles, Belmar, NJ

Mmmmmm....a trip down Belmar signified my friend's very 1st trip to Surf Taco and oh yum, was it DELICIOUS!  The highlight is everything tastes SOFRESH!  I had a regular ole beef (I know =boring...but it was what I wanted!) and a salmon taco...but my friend gave me a bite of the Coconut shrimp and mango salsa variation that she ordered and holy hell was THAT good!  Definitely kicking myself that I didn't order it...BUT a side order of shared nachos will make anything better😉

After tacos, we headed down to the Belmar boardwalk and a stop at the Instagram-famous Coney Waffles.  Coney Waffles brings to the Jersey Shore the NYC Black Tap Brewery photo worthy mega-stacked milkshake trend, which are so much fun!  But give me waffles, or give me....well...waffles😉  And if you're offering one filled with cannoli cream??  Well, done deal!

We attempted to enjoy said waffles on a bench overlooking the ocean.....butttttt, it's just not a 'night beach' moment just yet😉  Brrrrrr....

Thursday:  Steak and Sweet Potato Bowls

YUM

Friday:  Brooklyn pizza from Divine Pizza

You know you're livin lucky when you decide to order pizza for the night and there are not one, not two, but THREE places WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE to order pizza that you know will be excellent.  And oh gosh, I forgot how FABULOUS Divine's Brooklyn pizza is.  Chunky tomato, gooey cheese and a thin crust that almost tastes deep-fried (in a good way)...I was so excited to dig in that I didn't even THINK to take a photo before diving in.

And on the subject of ordering pizza- We had other dinner plans, but I could NOT shake my VERY SPECIFIC craving for Brooklyn pizza that night.  So we ordered EXACTLY what I wanted and I enjoyed it SO much with no guilt.  AND I told Scott that I swear pizza tastes better when you order it BECAUSE IT'S WHAT YOU WANT VS. a default 'there's nothing else to eat' moment.  I've been really honing in on how EMOTIONS of food makes things tastes different (example = eating food that you just bought and having it fresh 'in the moment' vs. the food you bought to stash in the freezer 'for later' that sometimes turns into 'let's just eat this to get it out of the freezer.'  One is excitement and one is BLAH.  These things are interesting to me...cause I'm weird.  I'll be the first to admit it😉)

Saturday: 

Sooo, ummmmm, it was a good thing I had a fairly filling lunch on Saturday because I don't think I ate more than 1/2 a meatball (and a slice of cake!) at my friend's daughter's 50's themed 5th birthday.  NOT because there wasn't a TON of delicious food!, but because these party animals were up and attem....and I was either chasin the little one around hoping she didn't run outside😉, or jammin with the older one...😉

SO. MUCH. FUN!

Sunday:  Buffalo Hummus Chicken + Broccoli

We had this a couple weeks ago & I couldn't wait to have it again.  This time with a side of that buttermilk ranch dip (see Tuesday) that was just soooo cool with the mildly spicy chicken.  Plus it's flavored with fresh diced DILL which I just HEARTSOMUCH.

Other yummy bites this week:   

So we've put the quinoa cups aside for a bit and now we're all about the BOWLS for lunches lately.  Last week we had:

• zucchini, tomatoes and diced chicken roasted with PESTO
• a handful of diced fresh mozzarella
• about 1/4 cup of brown rice
• a couple handfuls of torn spinach

Scott ate these cold, while I microwaved them for 2 minutes and they were SO GOOD!  The thing I liked the best was the first bite wasn't really anything exciting, but by the time I took the last bite it seemed to satisfy ANY & ALL cravings and it was just what I needed.  I'll be making these again soon. (Bonus= EASY!)

The week prior we made these Greek Bowls, which seemed a bit more labor intensive....or I just put off making these all day, so rushing to make these WHILE I was making dinner seemed a bit much😉

 

And in the Sunday Breakfast category:  we had THIS Sweet Orange Cinnamon Pull apart bread (OK...not that EXACT one😉  OF COURSE mine was NOT that photogenic😉)

2 things I will admit:  

1. I totally cheated and used Trader Joe's pizza dough (beacuse yeast?  It just exhaustes my soul😉) and I just kneaded in some orange zest to 'catch up' with the recipe😉 and it was still SUPER delicious.
2. I ate a decent sized 'serving' for breakfast...and then walked in the door after teaching a sweaty Vinyasa yoga class and proceeded to eat yet ANOTHER serving cause I was STARVING (ummm...did someone say sugar crash??)  WORTH IT.

Andddddd the exercise to wrap it all up:

Monday:   Leslie Sansone 5K with mixed weights

Tuesday:  Taught Vinyasa yoga and gentle + TIU Full Body + 1 mile

Wednesday:  Taught gentle 

Thursday:  Taught Hatha + Dance & Weights

Dancing courtesy of a wild DANCE PARTY in our house😉  Once I realized how much of a sweat I had worked up, I threw in a set of weights and called it a workout😉

Friday:  Taught gentle + Walk/Jog

Saturday:  Taught Hatha & Vinyasa + Walk/Jog + MORE DANCING (see Saturday)

Sunday:  Taught Vinyasa (and then ate cinnamon bread.  Balance😉)

Have a great week!!

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Weekly recap, March 20-26th...

Monday:  Kale & Wild Rice Bowl

(photo source)

One of our favorites from Iowa Girl Eats, we've had this one a million and one times since she's shared this recipe.  Bonus:  It made enough leftovers for lunches a couple days last week!

Tuesday:  Slow cooker enchilada casserole + salad

Leave it to social media to inspire not one, but TWO meals this week (see Friday as well😉).  I saw this float through my Facebook feed and knew immediately I had to try it.  3 steps & one slow cooker pot to clean?  Sign me up😉

Wednesday:  Zucchini noodles with meatballs + salad

Gravy & meatballs on Sunday = leftover gravy & zucchini noodles on Wednesday😉

Thursday:  Leftover calzone + salad

It was kinda sad how excited I was to finish off my leftover calzone from last week😉  Not only was it DELICIOUS, BUT any time we finish things off in the fridge and it doesn't go to waste? = 😍  Not wasting food is my happy place😉

Friday:  Cauliflower crust pizza

Yet another one inspired from Facebook (thanks, Lori!).  I was in charge of the crust and I left Scott in charge of the cheese.  Who, as you could imagine, was SUPEREXCITED to be eating cauliflower pizza to begin with (😉, he's a good sport)  So I cracked up when I took the pizza out of the oven and it was nearly end to end covered in cheese😉  Can't blame the man...and he ended up liking it to boot😉

Saturday:  2 quesadillas + rice from Cancun

Getting our taxes done over the bridge in PA led us to dinner at this VERY fun & yummy place.  I already can't wait to take Katie back there because I know she'll LOVE it.  That dueling quesadilla smothered in their fabulous cheese sauce was certainly a decadent option...but holy moly was it just delicious.  Super fun.  (I mean, anything's a step up from that cauliflower pizza, AMIRIGHT?😉)

Sunday:  Cheesy Hash Brown Chili

(photo source)

While the chili + hash brown sounds like a no brainer on the 'yum' scale, we actually were surprised just HOW good this really was.  Great for a cozy, drizzly Sunday night.

Other treats this week:

From a cold, drizzly Sunday, rewinding to Friday night where the weather cracked, um 60...and immediately made me crave ice cream (hold me).  And since I told you I am obsessed with ALLTHEMINTOREOTHINGS, that's exactly what I (& Katie!) got...

...in a mini size😉

Sunday morning:

So remember I told you how I can become FASCINATED with recipes in cookbooks??  So I think a Dutch Pancake was one of the very FIRST recipes I found fascinating in my old Kids Cookbook from the 80's😉  I still remember thinking all the 'HOW'S' with this one😉  And after alllllllll those years?  I finally got around to making one on Sunday morning...ironically, the recipe was again from Chrissy Teigan's cookbook and it was just sublime😍  (made in my Grandmom's old cast-iron skillet to boot!)

Sunday night:

So after the Dutch pancake & Cheesy chili, this is how we rounded off our Sunday (thankfully "lunch" for me on Sunday was just a handful of almonds in between yoga classes😉)  My plan was to make the "Truffle Brownies" on the back of my bag of new coffee flour....only to realize the 'recipe' was a box of brownine mix + 3 tablespoons of flour.  HUH???  That's not very exciting.  

So I ended up using a small box of leftover brownie mix from the cabinet and used about a tablespoon of flour to the mix.  OK, so the brownie WAS very good...but is that really that hard of a task??  I gotta figure out something WAY more creative to do with the ENTIRE rest of that bag of flour before it becomes a cabinet fixture for the next...ummmm...400 years😉

But I DID go back to Trader Joe's and ended up getting that Kona cookie ice cream I mentioned in the video and oooooooooooooooooooohhh was THAT good!  Coffee ice cream is not my 1st pick, but this one was EXCELLENT.  PLUS COOKIE PIECES...weeeeeeeeeeeee!

OTHER recipes this week:

So despite those few treats this week, I managed to focus a LOT on healthy items this week.  I even started taking some extra vitamin supplements (calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron & vitamin C to be exact) and feel REALLY good.  MUCH more mindful this week and MUCH more prepared for a healthy week ahead from doing a bit of prep work on Sunday.  I even kept a running list of items in the fridge (ON the fridge😉) to have for healthier breakfasts & lunches this week:

...so then it was right in my face and knew I could have a healthy, quick meal in moments.  Which REALLLLLLLY helps keep you mindful.

Coconut cream pie overnight Chia oats

Eaten, um, in the car on the way to teach😉

Broccoli Cheddar Quinoa Cups

Born out of the facts that:  

A.- I had a bag of riced broccoli from Trader Joe's in the fridge 

B.- Lunch had become SUCH a pitfall for me the past few months that, if I didn't pack a snack to have during all my morning driving arounds, I would come home FAMISHED.  So I NEEDED to recognize that I HAVE to have quick & healthy options ready to go so I can just heat & eat.  

These little babies?  I made a batch on Sunday and they reheat in ONE MINUTE in the microwave.  In that time, I would throw a quick salad together and have lunch in under 90 seconds.  Done & done.

Again, worth mentioning these sugar free/flour free banana oatmeal muffins on the right.  They were perfect grab & go breakfasts or snacks for all of us.  Plus those mini chocolate chips help curb that sweet tooth.

Earthy Chai

I always forget how much I actually REALLYREALLY like this stuff and all you need to do is google 'Golden milk' to find out ALL of the benefits of this turmeric tea.  I also added a teaspoon of coconut oil & a dash of black pepper.  The coconut oil is for, um, every reason Google will tell you that coconut oil is good😉, and the black pepper helps with the absorption of the effective ingredient in turmeric.  I'm trying to have a cup of this a day...normally in the mid afternoon time frame when I'm CRAVING warmth but want to skip an extra cup of coffee.

Add to all of this, plus making sure to have at least one salad a day, but more often two.  Also paying more attention to meal planning and staggering the meals.  As in: one day we have an EXTRA healthy meal (salad/zucchini noodles), in between 'normal meals' (enchilada casserole/chili.)  And being EXTRA mindful for alllll the other breakfast/lunches/snacks through the weeks will help balance out all those extra decadent meals throughout the week.

At least we try our best😉

And on the exercise front, I had to unfortunately cool it a bit last week after pulling my back a bit at the beginning of the week.  Doing what???  OVERDOING in yoga on Tuesday.

AND WHAT DO I PREACH IN EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY CLASSES????

NOT OVERDOING

I told some of my classes this week with that old 'parenting' adage: 'do as I say, not as I do.'😉

Exercise:

Tuesday:  Taught gentle & vinyasa yoga + took gentle yoga (where I pulled my back in a SIMPLE FORWARD FOLD...oy!)

Wednesday:  Taught gentle yoga 

Thursday:  Taught 2 Hatha classes & 1 gentle class

Friday:  Taught gentle

Saturday:  Taught Hatha yoga + took Body Jam class

Sunday:  Taught vinyasa & Power yoga 

So not too much balance on the exercise front but hoping to toss in a few more walks this week now that my back is feeling better.  + my teaching schedule is extra hectic this week, so that'll help get me up & movin.

And on yet ANOTHER front, Scott & I have been EXTRA mindful the past few weekends about really being present & enjoying our time together and the result has been feeling VERY happy and refreshed when Sunday night rolled around.  So many times we all just kinda go through the motions of the day and not pay too much attention or being present.  So we've been making extra effort to just BE MINDFUL of time together and it's been refreshing to the soul.  Now THAT is my happiest of happy places, for sure.

  

It's just always worth taking a sec to realize where you feel like you're falling short or not paying enough attention and to just give those areas of your life a little extra focus.

And I write all of that as much of a reminder to MYSELF as well that it's a simple change of focus to bring more presence to your life vs. just going through the motions...yaknowwhatImean??

OK...I'll shut up now😉

Hope you guys have a great week!

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Holiday balance...

Monday:  1 slice of pizza from Pete's Steakhouse + salad

No irony AT ALL that I'm starting my balance post of the week, particularly a week I really worked on pulling it back together, with pizza.  Salad was my dinner plan, but when some of my family came to visit that day, there was no way I was going to pass up time with them because "I had to go home and eat my salad."  That just seemed so silly.

  In full disclosure, I had ordered a salad for my main dish, but I felt like the pizza looked too good to pass up without feeling deprived with my 'sad salad.'  So I stuck to one piece.  Monday motivation made it a lot easier to stick to itJ

Tuesday:  Skinnytaste Stuffed Cuban Pork with Carrot salad

You know the thermostat is on the rise when dinner is made on the grill in the slow cooker (nope, slow cookers aren't just for fall & winter!  They're also great for not heating up the kitchen in the summer) and when your side dish looks like the one above.  Shaved carrots mixed with lemon juice, olive oil, salt & pepper.  Simple & cool = me likes.

Wednesday:  Cuban paninis with cucumber salad 

Scott & I couldn't wait one more day to try the pulled pork, ham, cheese & PICKLE sandwich at home.  And another cool side dish here:  Cucumbers + sour cream + dill + salt & pepper.  I actually used to have this for lunch quite often back in the day.  I may need to bust it out again in the hot days ahead.

Thursday:  "Naked" vegetable burrito (no tortilla) 

My lunch was so filling on Thursday that dinner wasn't even needed....and I forgot to take a picture, so double whammy.  Lily has a few remnantsJ  Salsa, guacamole, cilantro rice, black beans & grilled vegetables.  Again, none too shabby for the mall food court options.

Friday:  Tortilla-crusted taco chicken + steamed broccoli 

LOVEEEEE this chicken!  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

And with that, I got swept up in probably my favorite weekend so far this year.  I feel like we've all been swirling around in our day to day busy-ness and me beginning my yoga teaching that it felt like a LONG WHILE since we really STOPPED and had some good family time together.  And despite my teaching schedule picking up over the holiday weekend, we had plenty of time to REALLY enjoy the moment.  Only 'blog problem,' I took hardly any food photos...opps.  I honestly didn't even think of it, which is sorta scaryJ  I definitely over indulged a bit over the weekend (particularly when I showed up to a picnic on Sunday STARVING and wanting to eat ALLTHEPICNICFOOD...rookie mistake!) but really just enjoyed myself and knew I'd go back to eating normal once the weekend was all wrapped up.  I have a blog post brewing about this, so I'll share more on Friday.  So, until then, here are so NON-food pics from the weekend....

Saturday night picnic on the beach...

...and our 1st trip to Hoffman's of the year...

 ...a picnic on Sunday afternoon, with Lily's 1st dip in the pool...

...and a Memorial Day trip to Circus Drive-In in Wall, NJ (a FUN, MAJORLY RETRO "ONLY IN NJ" kinda spot!)...

...before heading down to a cold, breezy trip to the boardwalk to take our 1st spin on the rides for the season... 

I can definitely say we kicked off the summer rightJ  We ALL had a blast...and I woke up this morning with no guilt about our indulgences and ready to tackle a healthy week ahead.  More on that later...OH, and at least I balanced with exercise for the week.  Like I said, my teaching schedule really picked up this weekend, so that helped with all my 'reminders' to get my exercise inJ:

Monday:  20 minutes dance/weights/squats/planks + Hatha Vinyasa yoga

Tuesday:  Taught yin yoga

Wednesday:  Taught vinyasa yoga + 20 minutes dance/weights/squats/planks + yin yoga

Thursday:  Taught gentle yoga

Friday:  Taught vinyasa & gentle yoga

Saturday:  Taught 1 1/2 hour vinyasa yoga class

Sunday:  Taught Power & gentle yoga

Here's to all of us kicking butt this week!

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Sorta balanced...

Well, this week definitely tipped the scales in the 'other' direction more often than not.  We just happened to have a lot of 'out' plans that piled on top of each other this week.  Some places I was super conscious and stopped when I was full.  And the other half, I didn't leave feeling gross, but still ate a bit more than I knew was necessary.  Viva la life, amIright??  So this week I feel like the dinners & splurges can just be all jumbled togetherJ


Monday:  Cashew & basil chicken lettuce wraps 

From my current still favorite cookbook:  "Eating in the Middle"

Tuesday:  Roasted Cauliflower Grilled Cheese with garlic aioli

I know you won't believe me, but this was SOGOOD.  Cauliflower + caramelized onions + cheddar cheese + THEBESTPART: garlic aoili.  Yesssss....

Wednesday:  Lunch/Dinner of nachos, fried chicken & ice cream at It's Nutts

I DID pay attention at this meal and had a few nachos, bites of a slice of pizza, 1/4 of the chicken breast with some of the mashed potatoes & cole slaw and 1 scoop of ice cream, but I still left feeling more full than I've felt in awhile and I didn't really enjoy that part....even if that meal was ACES!

Thursday:  Lunch/Dinner of Cuban Sandwich, split disco fries + ice cream sundae at The Pop Shop

Ate half of this sandwich...and then realized I was still hungry and ate about 1/4 more.  And ya know: cheese fries + gravy...

And here's my peanut butter ice cream + peanut butter sauce + Reese's pieces sundae sans the 2 cherries that Katie already plucked off and devoured before the waitress even finished putting this down...J

Kept checking to make sure I wasn't too full again while I ate this, and that day:  I didn't feel stuffed in the slightest...even if I managed to polish off a good 3/4 of that sundae.  No regrets!

Friday:  Chipotle Chicken rolls with avocado dipping sauce + salad

Something about cooking from my old school Rachael Ray cookbooks makes me very, very happy.  I think it will always remind me of when we first moved in together and I got to try all sorts of new recipes and fun things to eat.  This was one of our early favs that I haven't made in at least 5 years!

(and in full portioned disclosure sake, I had another roll!)

Saturday:  Brunch at Agricola- 

Split a cheeseboard...cause there's not much I love more in life than a good cheeseboard.  It's "experience" food, ya know what I mean?  And throw in an actual honeycomb?  Done & done.

1/2 of this fabulous salmon burger & a few fries, pretty much solely to try that beet ketchup... 

...and I may or may not have eaten a few fries with some leftover goat cheese...J  And also a few bites of an un-pictured Almond cake...because LIVING!

Dinner at The Vault-

I'm still trying to figure out how many pieces I actually ate that nightJ  My friend and I swapped pieces of the traditional DOC & this fig jam + prosciutto pie....plus I had 1/2 a slice of Scott's tomato, arugula & avocado pie.  I just know I wasn't stuffed when I left, so = win!  I also had most of a slice of coconut cream pie from Under the Moon, cause who can pass THAT up??

Sunday:  Chicken club lettuce wraps

Before:

And after:

Other fun recipes this week:

Honey wheat bread with strawberry butter

Homemade oat & quinoa granola (I'll share my quick recipe for this soon!)

Had small bowls of this for a snacks on a few days...VERY yummy and filling.

And that brings us to Monday...where the scale, THANKFULLY, was not as cold & cruel as I thought it would be, given all that icecreamcakepieburgerpizza.  So now I'm just ready to attack this week with LOTS of fruits & vegetables!  Oh yeah...and more exercise!  Speaking of...

Exercise:

Monday:  Hatha vinyasa yoga

Tuesday:  Taught vinyasa + gentle yoga classes & tap class

Wednesday:  Gentle yoga

Thursday:  Vinyasa yoga

Friday:  Taught gentle yoga

Saturday:  Taught gentle yoga

Sunday:  "Yoga for athletes" (lots of hips & hamstring stretching) + vinyasa yoga

Ya may notice a theme running here and I actually have a bit of a foot issue, so I'm keeping my cardio + jumpin around to a minimum for the moment.  Hope it heals FAST cause I'm already really annoyed at not getting to dance around as much as I likeJ hahahahahaha

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