MIMM: Family Visits

It's Monday....whoo? I'm not exactly excited because Monday equals work and work equals an unhappy Brittany. But since it is Monday I can enjoy Marvelous in My Monday

This weekend Cody's aunt came in from Texas so we had a fun weekend visiting her and I got to meet her finally. We had dinner Friday night at the Seabright Brewery and I forgot to get a picture of my dinner. I got a veggie burger with cheddar and avocado and it was freaking delicious. I promised myself I wouldn't eat out much, but I couldn't say no to eating out with a family visit. After dinner we went back to her hotel and relaxed in the hot tub and then Cody and I went home to pass out to go out Saturday morning for breakfast.

Saturday we met up to go downtown for coffee (tea for me) and breakfast.

Irish Breakfast Tea with soy milk & sugar in the raw

Whole wheat bagel thin with reduced fat strawberry cream cheese from Noah's Bagels

While downtown we saw this guy beatboxing with this instrument (no idea what it's called) while drumming at the same time. It was pretty awesome

 

After we walked around downtown for a bit we headed to Margaritaville for lunch

Vegetarian enchiladas with ancho chili sauce, pinto beans, and rice

We also enjoyed the view of the beach

It was pretty gorgeous

After we relaxed in the hotel for a bit we headed downtown to see Magic Mike. The plot was horrible, but the dancing was definitely nice :) Cody and I headed home after the movie to sleep and get up extra early for breakfast Sunday morning.

Sunday morning we headed to our favorite breakfast spot to show Cody's aunt some good home cooking. My stomach hadn't been feeling well all weekend so I didn't want to order anything extravagent.

 2 scrambled eggs with whole wheat toast

Fresh fruit & french vanilla tea

After breakfast Cody's aunt headed back on the road and Cody and I went home to nap before he headed to work. I didn't feel like making anything for dinner so I pulled out a serving of mac & cheese from the freezer and heated that up. For dessert I had this tasty "ice cream" that I heard about from Kammie at Sensual Appeal

It's freaking delicious and it's basically a protein shake that's been frozen as an ice cream. I topped my bowl of ice cream with hot fudge cause I just love me some chocolate.

I'm very behind in my 30 day blog challenge so I'll have to do a post to catch up soon.

Anyone try the Arctic Zero frozen dessert yet?

4th of July

I was originally supposed to spend my 4th of July morning walking in a parade with my cheerleaders, but considering my car was dead I wasn't going anywhere. So instead I woke up to finish the fruit tart I had started making on Tuesday. Unfortunately when I pulled out the pint of strawberries they were all molded...not the best way to start things off. Thankfully I live around the corner from Whole Foods so I walked over to Whole Foods and got the best damn pint of strawberries I've ever had. I finished putting together my red, white, and blue fruit tart...but you'll have to wait a bit for the pictures, I've got to keep my eats in order here!

Cody came over to spend time together before he had to go to work and he got a yummy breakfast out of it.

 My plate of eggs in a basket with whole wheat bread and 1 egg. I had a huge cup of strawberries on the side

 A cup of vanilla chai tea with a splash of milk and sugar. I got about halfway through before I realized I hadn't taken a picture. Whoops!

Cody's breakfast, my man is so silly

After breakfast we curled up on the couch to watch Gnomeo & Juliet. Personally I think it was my favorite adaptation of Romeo & Juliet. I actually understood what they were saying and it had a happy ending. We watched How I Met Your Mother until Cody had to head off to work so I spent my afternoon watching Gossip Girl. It was freezing and foggy outside so I spent all of my 4th inside where my heater was keeping my house nice and toasty.

Once my parents got home my dad fired up the grill to make us dinner

 

Naked juice, grilled veggie burger w/ mayo & ketchup, white corn with butter and salt

Let me just say I love love LOVE these Morningstar griller burgers. They come out super yummy and much better than if they were microwaved. Plus I discovered whole wheat buns at Safeway which makes having a burger at home much better.

For dessert I had a nice slice of my fruit tart

 And the whole tart

I did my best to make this fruit tart healthier than it's original recipe. I used skim ricotta cheese instead of cream cheese and I used whole wheat pastry flour in the crust. I'll post the recipe at some point.

For the rest of my evening I stayed inside and listened to fireworks going off down at the beach. My poor cat hid himself under my bed and refused to come out for 2 hours and everytime a firework went off I could hear our dog Boogie Chewebacca growling from my parents room. Eventually I just crashed once people stop setting off fireworks around 1 this morning.

Exciting 4th of July right?

Now for 2 questions from the 30 day blog challenge:

What was the last movie you saw in theaters?

Cody and I went to see Ted which I wrote about here 

If you could rid the world of one thing what would it be?

There are many things I would get rid of: poverty, racism,  etc.

But in all honesty I'd get rid of selfishness. I could give you so many reasons why, but honestly we'd have very little problems if people gave a damn for other people rather than just themselves. 

So what would you get rid of in the world if you could choose?

Anyone else spend the 4th of July inside?  

Cheating & Car Troubles

Alright, I'll admit it, I cheated on my workouts this week.

I had planned on going to Zumba this morning and then flaked out. I can say my excuse was that Link was acting like a little brat and I took him over to Cody's so Ari could tire him out, which is true. But in all honesty I figured I'd be walking a whole bunch tomorrow that I could take a day off. Which unfortunately is the logic that caused me to not go to the gym for weeks at a time. Bad Brittany! I'm trying not to kick myself too much, but I feel like I've just been so lazy and not being healthy enough that not going today makes me feel bad about myself. 

And tomorrow I had validated going for a long walk to chicken out of Zumba and now unfortunately I won't be going anywhere. My cheer team walks in the 4th of July parade in my hometown and as a coach I'm supposed to walk with them. When I went to run an errand before practice tonight my car decided to not start. I already knew I needed new spark plugs & wires, but it looks like I may need a new battery. So since I was sans working car I couldn't make it to practice nor will I make the parade tomorrow. So now all my screwy logic for not going to Zumba went right out the window. Guess I'll be walking around my neighborhood tomorrow instead. I had also convinced Cody to go for a hike with me on Thursday, but since we don't have transportation that won't be happening either. My car always has troubles at inopportune times...not like there is an opportune time to get car troubles, but you know what I mean.

Sorry for such a whiny post, but it's my blog and I can cry if I want to right?

To make up for a whiny post, here's an adorable picture of my kitty snuggling with my stuffed lion

And finally, the day 2 question for my 30 day blog challenge is:

If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be?

This one is tough for me because I've had so many good pieces of advice throughout life. The one that I think has kept me going through almost everything is that no matter what happens in your life the world will keep turning and you to keep standing and push through.

Any good pieces of advice you've been given?

WIAW: Sticking to a Plan

Happy Wednesday & 4th of July! I hope everyone is enjoying the day and eating some yummy food!

But this isn't a post about 4th of July (yet) so onto the What I Ate Wednesday party with Jenn

I like this new challenge for July and it came at a good time when I'm trying to get myself back to the gym.
And for once I stuck to my meal plan the whole day through, whoo!

Breakfast & Morning Snack: Vanilla Greek yogurt w/ blueberries & granola~~Life cereal with low-fat milk~~a perfectly ripe peach

Lunch, Afternoon Snack, Pre-workout Snack & Dinner:

Spinach & mixed green salad with cranberries, toasted pecans, bleu cheese, and raspberry vinaigrette~~Parmesan & garlic pita chips~~Pure cherry cashew bar, healthy mac & cheese 

Work it Out!

I wrote about my recent workout on Monday so I won't bore you with a retelling of that. Instead I want to talk about my fitness goals which I don't think I've ever written about. I used to be a cheerleader back in high school and was incredibly fit. Back when I was a sophomore I had this crazy coach who used to make us run a mile every practice which sucked back then. Running a mile for me was this horrible punishment, but eventually I was running two miles without breaking a sweat. My fastest mile ever was like 7 something and I was pretty damn proud of it. I was the most fit I've ever been during that year and I miss it. I'm not saying I'm incredibly out of shape now, but I could do a lot better. I want to be stronger and tone up more. I want to be proud of my body when I see it in a mirror.

  I really want to be able to do that and feel proud about all the hard work I've put into my body. My only problem is hauling my lazy ass to the gym to achieve it. I'm slowly getting myself there more often, but at least it's better than sitting on the couch!

A New Challenge & Some New Goals

I heard about this new blogging challenge from Kat and thought I'd join in. There are days when I'm not sure what to write about and this challenge gives me something to write about everyday for the month of July. The challenge is originally from Peanut Butter and Jenny

And yeah, there's 31 days in July but only 30 challenges. Thankfully I'm starting it a day later so it works out. On to challenge #1: my goals for July

I was going to write a post about my goals anyway so this really worked out.

1. Go to the gym at least 3 days a week. I really want to aim for 5 days a week, but it's been a miracle when I get to the gym at all so I don't want to set my goal too high at first. Plus if I do make it to the gym 5 days a week I'm overachieving which is good :)
2. Stretch every night before bed. I don't stretch nearly enough and could definitely use it.
3. Organize my recipes. I have 3 binders worth of recipes that are just sitting around in folders and desperately need to be organized
4. Don't eat out more than once or twice a month. I've been horrible about eating out and it costs too much and isn't that great for healthy eating.

 On another note I finally dragged my butt to the gym! I debated with myself the whole way home, part of me trying to find excuses to not go and the other part berated my flakey self for not going. In the end I made it and I'm glad I did. It's always getting myself to the gym that's the problem; there are just days I really don't want to go and those days have been much more frequent than usual. Some of these exercises may not make sense, but it's how I have them written down to remember them

• Cross over hand pushup on bosuball--2 x 10
• Weight assisted pullup with 90#--2 x 12
• Step up bosuball on box to lib--20 each leg
• Leg extension with 75#--2 x 12
• Crazy Ivans with 4# ball--2 x 10
• Stability ball elbow plank

Tomorrow is my day off which I plan on going to Zumba and making dessert for the 4th of July. 

Anyone else joining this challenge?

Mac and Cheese (that's actually healthy!)

 Happy Monday!
It's time for Marvelous in my Monday with Katie

I love me some mac and cheese. Oh boy do I.

But mac and cheese is notorious for not being that good for you so I was super excited when my favorite healthy chef, Ellie Krieger, had a recipe for mac and cheese. The secret? Squash to replace most of the cheese. It's aaaaamazing.

Macaroni and Four Cheeses

Recipe by Ellie Krieger from The Food You Crave

Serves 8--serving size: 2 cups

One 16-ounce box elbow macaroni

Two 10-ounce packages frozen pureed winter squash

2 cups lowfat milk

1 1/3 cups grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese (4 ounces)

2/3 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese (2 ounces)

1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons plain dry bread crumbs

2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Coat a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray

2. Cook the macaroni according to the package directions. Drain and transfer back to pot.

3. Meanwhile, place the frozen squash and milk in a large saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally and breaking up the squash with a spoon until it is defrosted.

Turn the heat up to medium and cook until the mixture is almost simmering, stirring occasionally. 

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cheddar, Jack cheese, ricotta, salt, mustard, and cayenne.

Pour this mixture into the pot with the pasta and stir. Transfer to the baking dish.

4. Combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and oil in a small bowl. 

Sprinkle over the top of the macaroni and cheese. Bake until the cheeses are bubbling around the edges, about 20 minutes, then broil for 3 minutes so the top is crispy and nicely browned.

Nutritional facts per serving: 

Calories: 390

Total fat: 11 g

Protein: 18 g

Carb: 56 g

Fiber: 3.5 g

Chol: 35 mg

Sodium: 547 mg

How is it:

This mac and cheese is so freaking good. You get a huge portion and it's not bad for you. It's a little sweet form the squash, but it's so creamy and the breadcrumbs on top are nice and crunchy. You don't realize there's only 2 1/2 cups of cheese in this whole thing. Definitely try it, it's delicious!

Weekend Recap

I have a love/hate relationship with Sundays. It's part of the weekend, but it's also the end. I'm not exactly happy to go back to work tomorrow, but hey, at least I had a fun weekend.

Friday night Cody and I grabbed a pizza and watched The Eagle and then 300. We've been going on a Greek/Roman movie spree lately. I was thankful to have him around Friday night since Link is going batshit around my room since his surgery. I haven't let him spend any time out of my room which means he hasn't been able to play with Cody's cat, Ari. I was at my wit's end and Cody was a champ to keep Link in line before I went psycho mom on him.

Saturday we went and saw Ted in theaters. I laughed at some parts of the movie, but it's very much a guy movie. I'm also not a fan of Family Guy and they're both directed by Seth McFarlane so they had a lot of the same kind of humor. Even though I wasn't a big fan of the movie, I enjoyed going out to spend time with Cody. It's been super sunny out so maybe this upcoming week we'll take a break from the movie theater and go out to the beach or go hiking if I can convince Cody to spend his day off trekking through the woods. After Cody went to work I spent my afternoon baking up mac and cheese, which I'll be posting the recipe for tomorrow. I wanted to have some dinners in reserve in the freezer so I'm not scrambling to make something to eat after cheer practice. I also like knowing Cody's fridge will be full of healthy food that's also really yummy. I had a serving of my mac and cheese for dinner and then had the last bit of my peanut butter cup ice cream which I topped with hot fudge sauce. I figure I'll just eat all the bad stuff in my house so I'm not tempted to eat them, logical right? Ha, actually no, I don't do that, except for the gummy worms I had for the movie...

Sunday we relaxed at home and watched the Food Network until Cody went to work. I love watching cooking shows with someone who understands cooking and who will talk food with me. Once Cody went to work I cooked up a pot of roasted tomato and black bean soup to portion up and freeze for future dinners. It's so good I'm sharing the recipe with all of you.

Roasted Tomato and Black Bean Soup

Recipe by Ellie Krieger from So Easy

Yields 4 servings--serving size: 2 cups

7 medium tomatoes, quartered

1 large onion, cut into large pieces (about 1.5 inches)

3 cloves garlic, peeled

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

5 cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth

Two 15.5-ounce cans black beans (preferably low sodium) drained and rinsed

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Toss the tomatoes, onion, and garlic with the oil, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper in a large bowl, then transfer to a baking sheet.

  Roast until the garlic cloves have softened, the edges of the onions are browned, and the tomatoes have collapsed, 35 to 40 minutes, stirring once after the first 20 minutes.

2. Transfer the roasted veggie mixture to a 4-quart saucepan. Add the broth, beans, cumin, chili powder, and the remaining salt and pepper. 

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and blend until smooth with an immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender. Divide among 4 bowls and garnish with a dollop of sour cream or oyster crackers.

 Nutrition facts:
Calories: 178
Fat: 1.25 g
Sodium: 877 mg
Protein: 9.9 g
Carbs: 29.5 g
Fiber: 9.5 g
Sugar: 19.5 g


How was it?

It was delicious! It was creamy and thick from the beans. Definitely a winner

My parents grilled up some steaks for dinner and I had my stepdad grill up a veggie burger for me. Morningstar makes griller veggie burgers which I'm extremely excited for. After dinner my mom and I made smores with our new barbeque:

 My mom got the gigantic marshmallows so they didn't fit on the graham crackers very well.

Now I'm catching up on my favorite cooking show while I wait for True Blood to start.

What's your favorite kind of soup?

Smores yay or nay?