Summer Supper...

This plate could pretty much DEFINE "summer weeknight dinner", no??

We marinated the chicken in this new Thai Peanut sauce I bought at Whole Foods.  And then Scott grilled it up to charred perfection;)  Yum!

OK...I know this isn't the prettiest side, but it REALLY is SO GOOD.  I put to use the rest of my leftover heirloom tomatoes and made Bethenny Frankel's Roasted Zucchini, Corn & Tomatoes...which, the title pretty much speaks for itself;)  This is a simple side with barely any prep time that delivers BIG flavor....DON'T skip the fresh basil at the end!

And of course, what could be an easier way to round out a meal then already-cut-up-and-super-cold watermelon directly from the fridge??  PEERRFECT! :)

An easy & breezy dinner:)  And I even had MORE fruit for dessert, when I whipped up another VERY DIFFICULT frozen banana custard.  But this time I added a small sprinkle of toasted coconut and THIS...

Ok...this peanut butter is REALLY good in general, but mixed in the custard...it was aweeesome!  The coconut and peanuts in the custard made it awesomely smooth and satisfyingly crunchy!  I will definitely be adding this to my 'banana custard' every time! 

Well...I won't be cooking dinner tonight since I will be tailgating before going to see...BON JOVI!!!  How much more JERSEY can I get? ;)  Have a great day! 

Goat Cheese-Part 3....

I was VERY excited to make dinner last night because it combined a bunch of the fresh ingredients I had on hand and my new BFF of the week: Goat Cheese:)  We made a "summer" tomato pasta....

SUMMER PASTA

• 2 containers heirloom tomatoes (or cherry), halved
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 handful of fresh spinach
• 1/2 pound of whole grain spaghetti
• Basil
• Parsley
• Garlic Herb Goat Cheese

1.- Do I need to tell you how to make spaghetti??  Let's hope not:)  So while your making the spaghetti-proceed to step 2! :)

2.-  Heat a pan with a drizzle of olive oil and add the garlic.  Once the garlic starts to brown, add the tomatoes and let cook until soft.

3.-Add the spinach to the pot and allow to wilt for a few minutes...

4.-Drain the spaghetti, saving 1/4 cup of the cooking water and add to the tomato/spinach mix.  Cook a few more minutes to create a "sauce".  Add the tomato/spinach to the spaghetti and mix.  Top the pasta with the fresh basil, parsley and goat cheese crumbles.

Confession: I have a MAJOR heavy hand when it comes to parmesan cheese being sprinkled on macaroni....so this SMALL amount of goat cheese was a PERFECT way to "lighten" up that habit a bit.  With goat cheese, a little goes a looooooooooong way and this garlic herb one was PERFECT for this pasta!  Throw this together the next time you have a refrigerator full of veggies! :)

Goat Cheese-Part 2....

So this morning I strayed from my usual Vitatop breakfast and switched it up a bit...

No, no, no...breakfast wasn't a Venti Vanilla Latte!  It was a banana smoothie...

• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze
• 2 teaspoons peanut butter
• 1 banana
• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder

This kept me full for HOURSSSSSSS...I actually don't know if I was REALLY hungry for the rest of the day!  Me likes;)

And since it cracked over 80 degrees again today:  Another meeting of the 'Sassy Salad Club' was in order;)  And since I was able to check off every item on this ingredient list as items I already had in my fridge, today we had this cool and refreshing Watermelon-Cucmber Salad. 

The only change I made was to make about a QUARTER of the dressing that was called for and added a tablespoon of honey. But honestly, you didn't even need dressing. It had ENOUGH flavors already.  It was a perfect and refreshing use #2 for the plain goat cheese of my trio!

I also packed this for snack.  And even if I didn't end up having it because I was still SO FULL from my smoothie...I still must brag about the fabulousness that is:

4 cups for 120 calories???  You can't beat that!  And this stuff is goooooooooood!

If you are a salty snacker...this is THE snack for you!  It's like light air-popped popcorn, but with a touch of salt and a little taste of olive oil.  Sooooooo perfect!

I usually do a pretty standard repitore of breakfasts and lunches every day, but I'll try to post when I do have things out of the ordinary or a little special.  I love 'grab 'n go' as much as I love 'prep ahead' :) hahahahahahahha

Anyway...I'll post my dinner tomorrow...for now, I'm exhausted after staying up for the BIGGEST LOSER FINALE!  I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee that damn show!!!!!!  The top 3/4 looked AMAZING, but no one can make me smile & SOB like O'Neal this season!! :)  Can't wait for "Losing it with Jillian!"

Mooooosley....

Seriously, the best word ever, no??  I couldn't stop saying it all...well, I STILL haven't stopped saying it;)  (Much to Scott's SUPREME delight!)  But these Muesli (MOOOSELY!) Parfaits were sooo good!  I've been wanting to try 'overnight oats' for awhile, and when I found this recipe flipping through my Ellie Krieger cookbook: I was signed, sealed, delivered! :)  And aren't they oh-so-pretty???

I topped mine with some awessommme strawberries and toasted almonds and Scott had his with blueberries.  (And, as you can imagine, I'm SURE Scott always dreamed of the morning he would wake up to be eating OVERNIGHT OATMEAL out of wine glasses for breakfast ;)  ahhhh..he LOVES marriage ;) hahahahahahhahahahhahaha

Lunch was a Sugar Free Vanilla Carnation Instant Breakfast with Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze and a Banana Bread Lara Bar  (soooooooooooooooo good!  You were right, Aim!)  But an hour and a half later, I was STARVING!!!!!!!!!!!!  And I was only salvaged by this lovely apple and a tablespoon of almond butter.  HIT. THE. SPOT!

For dinner, we decided to make a steak stir fry and it became quite a production, as we had DUELING sides of the cutting board chip-chopping away....

To create these two mountains of vegetables!  How pretty are these??!!!

We had:

• Red & Yellow Peppers
• Broccoli
• Bean Sprouts
• Celery
• Snow Peas
• Carrots

Scott (being the resident stir fry master) sauteed the steak strips with the onions for a few minutes.  Then added allllll of those beautiful veggies, and let it cook up with this DELICIOUS (and very appropriate for our household) sauce:

He let everything cook together for about 10-15 minutes, and I was so surprised when I lifted the lid of the pan and found the most PERFECT looking steak stir fry! 

Those mounds of veggies sauteed down perfectly and mixed so well with the garlic sauce and the brown rice.  This was a total winner and a good way to sneak in a bunch of different colored vegetables!  The perfect way to end a weekend as far as I'm concerned!

And look at that...it's already Tuesday;) hahahahahahhaha....Hope you have a good day!  It is getting H-O-T in NJ!  (AND HUMID!  My hair won't be right until October! :)