As well as Santa Claus & the Easter bunny...

*PS- My "Journeys Near & Far" page has been completely updated...mostly with Jersey eatsJ 

Morning, ya'll!  How are ya guys doin?   Like I said, Monday snuck up on us so quick that I didn't even get my bearings to be able to post yesterdayJ  I can't even believe that this summer is winding down already and that FALL is flyin right at us.  It's almost too fast for ME, and that's sayin A LOT!  Summer used to be a complete DREAD, with my counting down the days to FALL as soon as spring/April hit.  August was actually spent going "This time NEXT MONTH we can be apple picking/sweatshirt wearing/crisp nights loving."  Sighhhhh.......so much has changedJ

MEMORIESSSSSSS....

Let me digress before I summon the humidity gods and have them give me a reminder of my non-favorite summer attribute and why I'd be happy to see summer on its wayJ  (I should mention that those gods have been staying FAR away from us, which is 99% major reason for this 2-year old love of summerJ) 

BUT ANYWAY, back to the weekend and back to the 'so much has changed' comment, given that THIS was how we spent our Saturday morning:  

Thomas the train is one of Katie's absolute favorite...people...things?? on the planet and YELPS in happiness every time she sees him....

....buttttt, unfortunately, the 'visiting' with Thomas proved to be too much reality and he went about as well as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny...

...would now be a good time to mention that I waited in line over an hour for us to get up & close with Thomas????     

Nah...I won't even mention it.

...at least the rest of the Please Touch Museum went over a little better, preventing the day from being a total bustJ

And after 4+ tiring and LOUD hours at the museum (which was CRAZY busy on a Saturday, obv!), neither of us felt like fighting Philly/weekend traffic and decided to head out of the city for dinner.  And when we got home, I just wanted SIMPLE PIZZA.  NOT thin-crust, fancy toppings or any of those things I usually ADORE.  NO, I wanted OLD SCHOOL pizza and I got just that at Scotto's Pizza in Yardville.  

I hadn't been to Scotto's in YEARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRS, but it was everything I wanted at that very momentJ  SIMPLE, CLASSIC and PERFECT.

Plus it helped that Scotto's shares a parking lot with Carvel, where we were finally able to try their Nutella ice cream...

Which, as you can imagine, was simply divine.  It tasted like frozen chocolate milk kissed with hazelnuts...and let's not even discuss the level of YUM that those CHOCOLATE CRUNCHIES addedJ  

And then it was back to my 'reasons I love summer' when we packed up Katie, our niece and about 85 bags to take down to my Mother-in-Law's 2-week beach house rental in Manasquan on Sunday...

And it was actually the FIRST time all summer that the ocean was slightly warm enough to take a swim.  Emphasis on the SLIGHTLY, cause it was still pretty darn cold!  I guess here's the only place I can chalk up a 'bummer' in the 'nice & cool summer' department.  Not that Katie cared...she was out of the ocean for about 20 minutes the entire day...

And when we got back to the house, it was time for our 'classic shore dinner':  Lobster tails, baked potatoes, salad & 'corn & beans'...

Katie even sampled some shrimp tails, like the proper summer-lover that she isJ

So yeah...usually after an indulgent weekend, Monday is usually met with a 'clean sweep' of health.  This was NOT so yesterday, folks (sometimes the call of a tuna hoagie is just too much to take...even on a MondayJ), so I'll try to clean it up today in the attempts to have a healthier recap for you tomorrowJ 

Have a great Tuesday!

Hole in the liquor store...

THURSDAY RECAP:

9:00am:  Breakfast- Rice cake with peanut butter

11:00am:  Snack- Peach

12:30pm:  Lunch- Smoothie bowl with Coconut butter...weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

You know I couldn't wait to have another one of these babies with my new jar of coconut butter!  

In the mix:

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• Frozen cherries & blueberries
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1 scoop protein powder
• Toppings:  Coconut butter & Caramel sea salt Coconut chips

3:00pm:  Snack #2- Watermelon & Feta

Mmmmmmm...and then it was time for the funJ  We were headed down to Point Pleasant last night (for Katie ScottJ) and decided to try out a new place:  The Hickory Hog BBQ in Point Pleasant Borough...

This place was not really a hole in the wall as much as it was a hole in a liquor store...literallyJ  They shared an entrance with Buy Rite liquor and you would miss it if you didn't know it was there.    ....NOT that any of the locals missed it.  We walked into a clean & quiet dining room, and by the time we left, EVERY table was occupied and calls were coming in left & right for take out.  You KNOW that's a good sign!

And here's why:  Their menu was soooooo good, we had trouble narrowing down our choices.  Lots of unique items including the BBQ Pulled Pork Nachos (fresh chips smothered in pulled pork & cheddar = impossible to be bad!J):

...and "Hog Rolls"

Spring roll wrappers stuffed with pulled pork, cole slaw & cheddar, these made for some unique & interesting bites!

And since we attacked the appetizer menu full-throttle, we decided to split an entree in the hopes of not going OVER-the-top-FULLJ  Scott chose the tender steak tips tossed with BBQ sauce, as well as baked beans, TOTS and corn bread...

...NOT that I got any more than a BITE of my share of cornbread, since Katie decided she LOVED "corn cake" and proceed to eat nearly all of my share and MOST of Scott's tooJ  But EVERY bite of this ENTIRE dinner was delish...a definite 'return to' contenderJ

And after dinner, we walked off our meal by heading to the boardwalk for all of Katie's favs, including the rides:

...and the Thursday night FREE fireworksJ

And not 3 minutes after the last firework exploded in the sky, we felt rain drops which quickly escalated into a full-blown rain storm.  Would now be a good time to mention that someone so kindly left us their parking spot, which still had four hours left on the meter, so we scored free parking last night (SO NICE!  THANKS, KIND PEOPLE)...which was SO GREAT until the storm intensified and we had to walk the looooooonnnggg walk back to our car in the soaking rain since it was a little hike away from the boardwalk??J  Ehhhhh...but what's a little rain compared to saving $10+ on parking, AMIRIGHT?  It was just a funny timing coincidenceJ

We made an attempt to go to Hoffman's, but everyone ELSE must have had the same idea and retreated there as wellJ  That place was STILL packed to the gills on a Thursday night at 10pm!  And waiting 30 numbers + wet clothes didn't seem like too thrilling of a prospect, so we called it a night...and I don't think Katie minded one bitJ

Well, hope you guys enjoyed another 'Jersey shore' recap and have some FUN plans for the weekend!  We definitely have ONE plan for Katie that should be verrryyyyy interestingJ  I'll explain in one second AKA-how fast Monday is going to arriveJ

HAVE A GREAT ONE!

Grocery haulin it...

Hey, everyone!  Sorry for the delay.  Yesterday totally just got away from me.  BUT I do have something to make it up to you guys:  A NEW VIDEO!  This time about my brief grocery haul from Whole FoodsJ...

Hope you enjoy!

(oh and PS- the entire HAUL was $35...NOT just the jar of coconut butter!  Just thought I'd clear that up in case that was confusingJ)

And without further ado, here's a sorta-double recap for you!

Tuesday Recap:

9:30am:  Breakfast- Almond & Coconut bar

11:30am:  Snack- Grapes

1:30pm:  Lunch- Pretzels & Hummus

Workout:  Zumba class

6:00pm:  Dinner- Leftover Summer Chili over Baked Potatoes

One of our favorite/quick & easy ways to serve leftover chili, not to mention how much do ya love that one pork loin got stretched into three meals??  Can't beat that.

8:00pm:  Dessert- 1 scoop chocolate ice creams

Had to have something while watching Impractical Jokers & Ridiculousness, right???J

Wednesday Recap:

10:00am:  Breakfast-Chocolate Peanut Butter bar

Morning Workout:  Power Yoga Class

1:00pm:  Lunch- Whole Foods trip

No folks, I wasn't just purchasing random coconut products and harassing our table neighbors to try coconut chips (see video clip above), we actually also met up for a quick lunch in the cafe.  My plate didn't look too pretty since I went FULL ON "comfort food" yesterday (lots of little bites of mashed potatoes, beef stroganoff, chili con carne, etc.), so I thought I'd show Katie with her plate since it was so pretty...(well, the plate AND Katie, that isJ)

Not to mention, lots of stolen sips from my bottle of Bai5 Coconut...

 

I couldn't refuseJ  My heart swells quite a bit when she asks for all things COCONUT, as you could imagineJ

And since my lunch (and 7 zillion bites of coconut chips) was so filling, both Scott & I passed on dinner.  Besides, I just could NOT WAIT to get to....

Evening Workout:  Body Jam
LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE this release!  Love, Love, Love!  It's really exhausting, but sooooooooooooo much fun.  Body Jam is freakin awesome.

Alright...well, I might have some fun things to show ya tomorrow since we're making up for one of Scott's missed 'birthday celebrations' tonight.  If we're being honest, Katie is getting the best part of this deal, but I know we'll definitely all have a good time.

Have a great Thursday, everyone!

Fresh & simple...

Hey, all!  Hope you're having a good week.  Our 'birthday celebration' weekend ended up revolving around Scott resting on the couch and me getting carded while picking him up some Mucinex...

...cause apparently you need to be 18 to buy Mucinex.

I was NOT going to argue with the girl who asked for my IDJ

So the 'food front' wasn't nearly as excited as originally planned.  My dinner Saturday night went from a planned BBQ party to hummus & crackers while reading People magazine on the couch.  Celebrate good times, come on...!J

So with that visual in your head, I present to you a healthy Monday recapJ

Monday Recap:

10:30am:  Breakfast- Coconut Cream Pie Larabar

11:30am:  Snack- Peach

Which I realized, OPPS, was my EXACT same breakfast/snack from Thursday morningJ  Sorry for my duplicate postJ

1:30pm:  Lunch- Pancake with peanut butter

Leftover from Sunday morning breakfast that I could NOT resist once I reheated Katie one for lunch as wellJ  You can't turn her down when she's very enthusiast about telling you "I LOVE PANCAKES!"

5:30pm:  Dinner- "Pizza" zucchini boat

Thanks to our neighbor, I didn't need to do any shopping for last night's dinner since he generously shared with Scott right from his garden.  As I've probably mentioned about 90000000 times on this blog:  I can NOT grow ANYTHING!  But I'm sure a LOT of you have PLENTY of zucchini & tomato laying around waiting to be used up and this is a SUPER QUICK and SUPER healthy way to put all those fresh veggies to work!

Start by slicing the zucchini in half and removing the seeds with a spoon.  Once they are near-hollow, spritz with olive oil and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes...

(PS-I like the tip of baking them face-down over a cooling bakers rack so the veggie's natural water does not collect inside while cooking...cause who likes themselves some soggy zucchini??  Not I!)

While the zucchini was baking, I diced up some Roma tomatoes (complete with a bite from KatieJ) and tossed em in a skillet with 2 crushed cloves of garlic to saute... 

Once the tomatoes were cooked, I added in a dash of salt & pepper and a tablespoon of oregano (to boost up the PIZZA tasteJ)

Add the cooked tomato to the cooked zucchini like so...

...and top with mozzarella cheese before popping them back in the oven until the cheese is nice & gooey.

Top with a little diced basil and VOILA!

Fresh flavors BURSTING at the seams!  And these are totally customization, too.  Toss in a little cooked crumbled sausage or some mini turkey pepperoni for a little more fun on the food front.  But last night, I was going for FRESH and SIMPLE and the results were healthy & delicious.

Workout:  Beginners Power Yoga class

Sooooooooooooo happy to get back to this class after a 3-week hiatus!  Let's not even discuss how mad I was at the dentist last week, where the minutes were ticking by and I walked out at the very moment the class is scheduled to start.  I didn't feel very "Namaste" at the moment since I was ...not happyJ

Alright, well I better get movin since it's already past NOON.  Where did my day go??

Have a great Tuesday!J