By the sea...

Morning, everyone!  Did I just mention yesterday that we're in the 'low-humidity' blissfulness which would hopefully bring the normally dreaded August right into a cool & crisp Fall-like September??  Well, I think I spoke too soon as Mother Nature decided to turn on the humidity machine to medium this morning reminding me JUST ENOUGH of why I'm not a fan of summerJ  She just wanted to go out with a bang, I thinkJ  She better cool it off soon cause if there's one thing I dislike more than summer it's a...EEEEKKK...HOT FALL. (oh, I dread even TYPING THOSE WORDS!!)

Anyway, we weren't feelin the heat & humidity TOO much yesterday since we spent it down another blissful day at the shore....

8:00am: Coffee with creamer & pumpkin pie spice (yep, I went there!J)

11:00am:  Breakfast- Banana on the goJ

Thought I'd pack something light since I knew the rest of the day was going to be really anything butJ

Oh yeah, and I also packed my library book...considering I remembered it's due back on Friday and now I have to power read to get it back on timeJ 

Which, thankfully, hasn't been too hard of a task since I think it's a really fun read (despite all those negative reviews!).  I loved the "Devil Wears Prada" though and will watch the movie EVERY time it's on (just ask ScottJ)  It's my one "chick flick/book moment."  

OK...that and Twilight.  

OK...Now I'm doneJ

12:30pm:  Lunch- Cheeseburger and...

For 'lunch dessert' we cracked into the SUPER DENSE but creamy & dreamy Coconut Cream Pound Cake I had brought along.  We just could not wait another moment to try itJ

And it was oh-so-good!  Lots of coconut flavor throughout AND on top thanks to a coconut-y glaze (ps-I halved that recipe)

After stuffing ourselves silly with cake, we headed out to enjoy the beach for one last time of the "official summer season..."

Even getting Katie in the ocean for her first swim...

And despite it being FREEEEEEZING and her teeth chattering, she NEVER wanted to leaveJ  It was either chasing seagulls or charging for the ocean for the rest of the day for this girlJ

After 4 hours of lounging leisurely chasing Katie, we headed back to the house for some glorious showers (is there really anything better than a shower after the beach??) and sat down for a dinner fit for an evening by the sea...

Which means grilled potatoes, corn & lima beans, shrimp cocktail and LOBSTER TAILS dipped in butter...

They were SO GOOD, I'm only mildly ashamed to admit I had 2!  Hey- it IS the last week of summer after all!

Katie wasn't feeling the lobster, but we all cracked up when she hauled over to my Mother-in-Law's place at the table and just picked up her whole baked potato and shoved it in her mouthJ

She's one classy broadJ

And for SECOND dessert of the day (ahhhemmm...did I mention we chased Katie a LOT??  I HOPE that somewhat balances everything outJ)....

A phenomenal chocolate raspberry crumb cake from Cameo Cakes in Brielle.  That ENTIRE top part was crumbs which is just the way it should be.  It's what's right in the worldJ

And after that day, let's just say we ALLLLL slept soundly last night.  I think Katie nearly fell asleep while I was putting her pajamas on once we got home.  Thanks seagulls & sand for wearing her outJ

Well, it's back to normal today.  Hitting publish and then hitting Yoga!  Have a great one!

Powerhouse...

Morning everyone!  How ya'll doin??  Things are good around here.  Who else can't believe it's the LAST week of AUGUST??  This August has been the mildest I can EVER remember (mid-80 temps/low humidity), that I could ALMOST tolerate another month of this.  ALMOST.  Let's not get too crazy here...my head is already swirling for what 'football appropriate food' I'm going to make on Saturday to kick-off Scott's favorite time of year:  College Football seasonJ

Anyway, to quickly recap our weekend, we have:  

A trip to the farmer's market on Saturday morning where Katie & I shared another bacon, brie & peach quesadilla...(she gave a big "MMMM" when she got a bite of bacon.  I was so proud!J)

A stock up on all of the pretty colors of summer.  My mind ALSO keeps swirling of unique ways to enjoy all this good stuff since the season is going to quickly start winding down.

A dinner Saturday night at Woody's in Seabright (an area still terribly affected by Hurricane Sandy).  I forgot my camera, but my friend caught 1 photo of her husband and I along with our dueling (TO DIE FOR) salted caramel brownie sundaes....which came after our dueling rounds of shredded chicken burritos & Dr. PeppersJ  

We were #twinningJ

And we finished up the weekend on the beach at my Mother-in-law's shore house...

On an absolutely PERFECT day.  Not a cloud in the sky as far as the eye could see.  (I mean, not that we could really see since we spent most of the day staring at this HOT PINK bathing suit running to and fro ALL OVER THE PLACE!J)

And there were lots of good eats in between.  You'll just have to trust me on that oneJ  So I was SUPER ready to get 'back to the grind' yesterday!

Monday Recap:

8:00am:  Coffee with creamer & cinnamon

10:00am:  Breakfast- Apple Crumb Vitatop

Which, I also shared along with Katie...who enjoyed being fed while watching Sesame StreetJ  Ahhh...the life!

12:30pm:  Lunch- Pineapple Chobani

3:00pm:  Snack- 1 small bowl Hummus chips

5:30pm:  Dinner- Kale salad with peach dressing

Yep...being the last week of August, I wanted to go FULL BLOWN summer with this salad, right down to the dressing.  Which I got a little help from one of the gems from this time of year:

• 3/4 diced peach (I saved the rest from the top of the salad)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• salt
• Enough water to create a smooth consistency

Whip all the ingredients together in a mini food processor until smooth.  (ps-I added fresh basil, mainly cause it was staring at me from the counter, but I didn't really think it enhanced the dressing too much...so it's an easy 'skip'.) 

I diced the kale VERY finely, mixed in the dressing & piled on the rest of the ingredients...

• Grilled chicken, coated in Montreal Steak Seasoning
• Grilled corn, 'de-eared'
• Leftover diced peach
• 1/2 diced avocado
• Shredded Cotija cheese

Smokey chicken & juicy peaches, salty cotija & sweet corn, creamy avocado & sturdy kale and a sweet-ish & fresh dressing to tie it all together makes this salad a taste & texture POWERHOUSE!

Not to mention delicious and SUPER healthy.  Scott requested MORE kale salads after trying this one.  They just feel 'extra hearty' compared to light & water-y lettuce.  Try out these tips and THESE toppings you'll have no problems!  

6:30-8:00pm:  Beginners Power Yoga

I was Capital B- BEAT UP last night!  Not sure if it was from helping my cousin move on Saturday, getting beatin up by the ocean or chasing Katie in sand all day on SundayJ  Or all of the aboveJ  But we went to simply STAND UP after our warm up last night and that ALONE was...CHALLENGINGJ  

Well, as soon as I hit PUBLISH on this post I'm off to pack up Katie for another day at my MIL's shore house.  Leave it to me to pack in ALL of the summer funness into its LAST 'official' weekJ hahahahahhaa

Have a great Tuesday, everyone! 

Can't beat that...

Thursday Recap:

8:00am:  Coffee with creamer

10:00am:  Breakfast- Cherries

Random, I know...but it was the only thing that sounded appealing at the moment.  Although not NEARLY as appealing as...

12:30pm:  Lunch- Low-cal Mac & Cheese

Oh man, was this good...AND low-cal.  How can you beat that???

• 1 handful pasta, cooked (preferably wheat, but we'll all survive if it's whiteJ)
• 2 wedges laughing cow cheese
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 2 tablespoons 1% milk
• Sprinkle of Parmesan
• Another little *touch* I added was a little sprinkle of garlic powder, which REALLY put the P in POW!! 

Cook & drain the pasta and add all of ingredients back into the hot pot to help melt the cheese along.  You could also add anything GREEN to this (spinach, arugula, broccoli) to bump up the volume AND the nutrition (I just didn't have anything on hand or arugula would have been my mac & cheese BFF!!)  This was SOOOOOOOOOO creamy & dreamy and a low-cal way to enjoy one of your favorites.  Some days nothing will do but creamy carbs.  (and it must be that kinda day for Scott, who requested leftover Bove's lasagna for dinner tonight!)

8:00pm:  Dinner- THE BEST

Yep...good thing that mac & cheese was filling, as my Austin buddy was in town and just KNEW I had to introduce her to Delorenzo's pizza as a thank you for my "intro to Austin."  Only bummer?  An HOUR+ wait on a Thursday night. (although still not as bad as that FOUR hour wait that one time!)  But of course all negative thoughts are pushed aside once you get ONE BITE of the good stuff (in this case- a red clam, my FAVORITE & a artichoke, red pepper & olive pie)  Thankfully Delorenzo's is ALWAYS worth the wait!!  It really is THE BEST PIZZA EVER.  (seriously, just search it on my blog...my amount of mentions is almost shamefulJ)

And we just so happened to have an awesome follow-up by way of cupcakes that our "Philly friend" brought from Whipped Bakeshop.  So we split these babies in quarters and sampled away!

The classic red velvet, TART lemony and cinnamon-y cannoli were all delicious, but the jelly filled almond was the clear cut winner.  Pizza, cupcakes and LOTS of laughs...how can you beat that night???J

And there was no exercise to speak of yesterday, but I already got myself to power yoga this morning and headin off for some Body Jam TONIGHT!  Wohooooooooooooooo!!!  Hope you guys have good plans for the weekend.  Ours is shaping up to be busy but pretty fun.  We shall see!

Hope you have a great weekend, everyone!!

The same & different....

Wednesday & Thursday Recap:

Hey guys, sorry for the delay in post.  The good part?  Both Tuesday & Wednesday looked nearly identical, so you weren't missin too muchJ

Both days started with the same breakfast & lunch of banana chocolate chip Vitatops & Blended coconut yogurt...

But I DO have a new snack to share with you.  My Mom gave me these new Kashi Hummus chips to try and they are perfect and tasty snack for when a salt craving hits...

...all with the added bonus of protein from the chickpeas!

And at 120 calories for 27 chips, they are certainly a HEARTY snack.  I had half of the serving amount and it was more than enough for a quick afternoon bite. 

Anyway, back to dinner...and one that was so good that we had the leftovers again last night!  That may look like an ordinary pulled chicken sandwich, but I bet you'll never guess the 'secret ingredient'...

MANGO!!!  

Pulled Chicken with Mango BBQ Sauce to be exactJ

You can buy pureed mango at the store to cut out this first step, but honestly it really only added about 10 minutes to my prep times, so it wasn't too much of a big deal.  A quick way I cut a mango is to first slice off the 2 sides that are around the center pit...

Next, I dice the fruit into segments, leaving the skin in tact... 

...and then just take a spoon or knife and scoop out the segments... 

WALLAH! 

I tossed the mango segments into the food processor along with about 2 tablespoons of water and pulsed until smooth...or at least mostly smooth.  A few chunks of mango in there is no big deal.

2 mangos will produce a little over 1 cup of puree...

Although this may not be all too accurate seeing as how I found out Katie is a REALLY big fan of mango.  She was eating it way faster than I could even chop it upJ

 Anyway, I added the mango puree to the slow cooker along with:

• 1 diced onion
• Juice from 1/2 lime
• 1/4 cup light molasses
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• Sprinkles of salt, ginger, cumin, garlic & onion powder

Mix everything together and add the chicken breast.

I cooked my chicken on low for about 5-6 hours until it was cooked through.  I then took about 1 1/2 cups of the liquid and let it simmer in saucepan on the stove on low heat for about 15 minutes, or until it thickens up. (a good indication its ready is when it coats the back of a spoon)

Let it sit for a few minutes to thicken up while it cools.

While the sauce is simmering, give the chicken a quick shred...which should be super easy since it nearly fell apart with a mere tap of the fork.

Next, pile the chicken on some hamburger buns and top with a cheese of your choice.  Provolone or smoked gouda work great here!

Let the cheese broil for a few minutes to melt, remove from oven, top with some MORE of that great Mango BBQ sauce and DEVOUR! 

A kiss of sweet & smokey from the mango BBQ sauce, gooey cheese and tender pulled chicken and this dinner was ACES!  And it even got better the longer it sat (as evident by our EXCELLENT leftovers yesterday!) 

 I had served it up with a quick 'slaw' made of cabbage, carrots, diced onion and a little vinegar & lemon juice.  I planned on eating it ON TOP of the sandwich...but after a few bites, I decided I liked my sandwich just simple to enjoy all the yummy flavors to the fullest!

However, we did have ONE slaw fan in the houseJ  Katie enjoyed herself 2 servings worthJ 

She also inhaled our 'other' side dish...Corn on the cob!  (I think she even took a few nibbles of the husk.  Opppss....oh well, we've all been thereJ)

Corn made even more awesome by another of our 'great gifts from Austin'.  This special corn salt is made from a mix of chili powder, dehydrated lime juice & salt... 

What is it about lime that just makes the flavor of corn EXPLODE????  This simple seasoning just brought corn from great to reallllllllllllllllllllllllly great! 

So there ya go...a dinner so good that it was enjoyed TWO days in a rowJ  The one BIG difference from Tuesday to Wednesday, though?  My workout schedule!

Tuesday:  20 minutes circle pilates  (and Dance MomsJ)

Wednesday:  1+ hour power yoga (DRENCHED IN SWEAT!), 1 hour Body Jam (even MORE sweat), 1+ hour Kundalini yoga.  That's what I call a full day of body AND mind workoutsJ hahahahahahaha

And speaking of yoga, I had to laugh when I spied Katie watching "Sesame Street" this morning in near-perfect "Cobra pose"...

Point toes and allJ  That's my yoga girlJ hahahahahhaa

Alright, well let me scoot off.  Hope you have a good one (and never fear, the weekend is not too far away!!)