Beat the Heat

Who knew when I moved NORTH that I would be living in 120 degree weather?? Not this girl. I woke up with quite the appetite and was craving oatmeal. Really? When there’s a heat wave outside?? I had to talk myself out of it by promising oats in a different version.

Plain Greek Yogurt with fresh blueberries and Chocolate Almond Butter Granola. I had to make more because I’m now officially obsessed with it. Look how chunky it is, it’s just plain perfect.

I walked to the gym (because I’m crazy) and begged them to give me a free pass (because I’m unemployed and can’t afford $100 a month on a gym membership) so I could take a class. They did. I have a charming smile.

See?

I took a new to me class at said gym. It was a Les Mills class (like body pump, body combat etc) called CX30. Ever heard of it?? CX30 is a 30 minute class that targets your core. You do 6 sets – 2 on the ground, 2 standing and 2 more on the ground. I really liked it and hope to one day (soon) be able to join that gym so I can be a frequent CX30 class taker.

After class I got in a quick 15 minutes of cardio and headed home in the heatwave. I was ready for lunch so I whipped up another no oven necessary meal. A quick salad:

Romaine Lettuce, leftover black bean burger, corn, cottage cheese, cucumber and a slice of avocado.

I need to pack because I leave for vacation tomorrow and I haven’t even pulled out my suitcase! Such the procrastinator. Truth is, I work better under pressure! 🙂

Tonight I have a date at Smith and Wollensky’s to spend some QT with this QT before I leave

But first, for favorite Friday I thought I’d do my favorite ways to beat the heat!!

1.) Make a HEALTHY smoothie – Preferably one that tastes like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup

2. Make s’mores ice cream

3. If I’m too lazy to make my own ice cream – I’ll head to my favorite fro-yo shop.

That’s a small. Don’t judge me.

4. Go bowling

5. Get a pedicure/manicure – Being pampered and staying inside seems like a win/win situation

6. Read Blogs (DUH) – A hilarious one I saw Cara post today on her facebook page about picking your battles. SO TRUE.

7. Read about the 50 fattiest Foods in the States

New Jersey is known for the Fat Darrell. What is your state known for?

8. Pick a fun craft off the Martha Stewart Website. Yes, I said fun.

9. Head to the beach/pool and get your tan on

10. Last but not least – Read a book in the comfort of your Air Conditioned home. Right now I’m working on this one

Let’s hope my ADD doesn’t kick in and I can finish it 🙂

I’m off to get ready for dinner and maybe attempt packing. See ya tomorrow!

QUESTIONS: Whats your favorite way to beat the heat??

Healthy Loving Weekend

Boooo, I can’t believe it’s Monday already!?! At least it’s May, right?! Warm weather is here to stay. This weekend was pretty uneventful but I needed it. I have a feeling my life is about to become super hectic so I’m happy with my 80-year-old status weekend.

Friday night I enjoyed dinner with my grandma & aunt at home… We had a SUPER yummy salad that I forgot to take pictures of. It was a “Shrimp Cobb Salad” from the new Cooking Light magazine…. SO amazing.

The dressing was very light and simple to make – You can find the recipe here if you want to have bacon, avocado and shrimp wrapped in one meal. Put any one of those in a recipe and I’m in…all 3? Hellllo perfection. Friday night I was in bed by 10:30, because I’m 80.

Saturday morning I woke up and skipped my normal bodypump/zumba classes because I was extremely sore… Instead I decided to head over to my moms house to use her bike. I rode for a good 45 minutes – It was A LOT  harder than I thought. When I got up I whipped up some healthy muffins. Again, this recipe was adapted from the new Cooking Light magazine. Great investment I’d say.

Whole Wheat Pistachio and Chai Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups of Whole Wheat flour (or all-purpose OR 1/2 AP 1/2 WW)
• 1/2 cup sucanat (or brown sugar)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 chai blend tea bags, opened
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted (i used brummel and brown – yogurt based)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
• 1/4 cup egg whites (or 1 whole egg)
• Cooking spray
• 1/3 cup shelled dry-roasted pistachios, chopped

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375°.
• Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cut open tea bags; add tea to flour mixture, stirring well.

• Make a well in center of mixture. Combine buttermilk, butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and egg whites in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Add 1/2 of your pistachio mixture to batter.

• Place 12 muffin-cup liners in muffin cups; coat liners with cooking spray. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.

• Sprinkle nuts evenly over batter.

• Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in pan on a wire rack.

I decided to top half of mine with PB and I actually preferred it without… Shocker, I know – I didn’t want Peanut Butter on something? Weird.

If you want you could add 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon water & 1/2 teaspoon vanilla to make a glaze as a topping as suggested by Cooking Light.

We replaced our old fridge

With a new fridge

Some organization needs to be done but I’m loving it so far!

We seriously couldn’t ask for better weather on Saturday – I get so much more accomplished when Mr. Sun is showing his face. I’ve been loving my workouts outside so much that I’ve decided instead of using my gym membership I’m going to start sporting these…

MMhmmm. I can already picture myself now.

Ha, I hope I’m kidding.

I enjoyed some more time in the sun while watching my little cousin play lacrosse.

He loves having fans on the sidelines.

The "point" as in I see you

3 goals scored by this little munchkin.

Isn’t he cute?

My grandma, aunt and I enjoyed dinner again out at Woodfire Grill. We all had the Woodfire Salad (Spinach, Strawberries, Blackberries, Sunflower Seeds & Goat Cheese) w/ Grilled Salmon. We are quite the seafood and salad eaters lately.

I went to Tasti D-Lite afterwards by myself (fat kid move) for a little treat.

Caramel with mini chocolate chips and strawberries

Seriously, this is a small. I couldn’t finish it and I think that might be the first time that has EVER happened.

Sunday morning I got up for my spin class and my favorite spin instructor wasn’t teaching. Awesome. Instead I did 35 minutes on the Arc Trainer and did an ab routine. I headed to the mall afterwards and picked up some mothers day gifts! Surprisingly, I only purchased one thing for myself and it was necessary 🙂

Yesterday our farmers market opened! I feel like I’ve been waiting on this for MONTHS.

I picked up plenty of fresh fruit to make my new favorite lunch – Smoothie bowls!

Now I know why Julie loves these so much!

The first Smoothie Bowl is Strawberry Banana – In it goes

• 1/2 banana
• 1cup frozen strawberries
• 1 scoop of vanilla protein
• 1 cup almond milk (unsweetened)
• 2 pinches xanthan gum

The second one is a Chocolate Covered Strawberry Smoothie bowl

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 scoop of chocolate protein
• 1 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 pinches of xanthan gum

These are SO huge and SO filling… I’ve been topping them with these gerber graduates cereal puffs.

So basically if you learned anything from this post it is – I’m now an 80-year-old grandma who likes baby food… Interesting.

I’m off for a run before work. Let’s cross our fingers this week goes by FAST!

Oh and one last thing… It feels good to be an American today! I didn’t find out til this morning when I woke up, but it gave me chills 🙂

Thank you to all our soldiers for their dedication and hard work!

QUESTIONS: Have you ever had chai in muffins? What was the best thing you did/ate over the weekend?