Scenes From the Weekend and Swanson 45th Anniversary Giveaway

The weekend was a good one. The Orioles were in town so we mixed in a little relaxing with a lot of baseball fun.

He got the glass. I got the pitcher 😉 Ha! Ready for some O’s action!

Part of our Orioles-watching spread!

My very first banana bread! [say whaaaaattttt?!] Awesome recipe from Ambitious Kitchen.

With peanut butter chips and coconut!

A new favorite snack –> brown rice cake + white cheddar Laughing Cow wedge +
balsamic jelly + salami.

Gloomy but nice morning on a 5 mile run. Whoop whoop!

Bringing Birdland to us!

We played nice. After some words.

Rally glasses since I didn’t have a hat.. and how I felt by the end of that game.
Had nothing to do with the beer…..

After a fun weekend like this, I’m always happy to get back to my normal routine and healthy eats. A bunch of my favorite ingredients that I use everyday, I actually get online, so when Swanson Vitamins reached out to me to help celebrate their 45th Anniversary, I was psyched!

Not only were they were generous enough to give me $45 to spend on some of my favorite items, they’re also giving one of you the chance to win a $45 gift card too!

Enter here for your chance to win!

Need some new fancy nut butters? Protein powder? Coffee? Vitamins? BOOM! It’s a one-stop shop! And don’t forget to check out their 45 Healthy Food Sweepstakes.

Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday – Out!
Monday – Baked turkey Italian meatballs with fresh papparaelle pasta for him/zoodles for me & no-cook tomato sauce
Tuesday – Quick Honey Ginger Pineapple and Summer Veggie Chicken Stir Fry with Caramelized Cashews
Wednesday – Mustard balsamic chicken with potato wedges and roasted asparagus
Thursday – Leftovers
Friday – Out!
Saturday – Leftovers

Food for Thought

What fun things did you do over the weekend?

Surfset, Kombucha Cocktails, and Baseball

More than anything else this week, I’m absolutely most excited about going home on Friday! Since my mom had the chance to play with my niece yesterday, we got to skype and seeing her smiling, giggling, and bouncing around just made me that much more excited to finally get my hands on her. This trip is going to be a short one since we’ll be home for a week and a half at the end of August so we’re not really going to be seeing people other than my family and I’ll definitely be soaking it in. But before I get caught up too much [more] in next weekend, let’s recap this weekend.

Friday night I went to the Summer Solstice event hosted by Sweat Guru and Sweat Republic. It was great to see all of the Sweat Guru girls again and it was a really nice event complete with kombucha cocktails, spray tans, makeup demos, and more.

One of the instructors at Sweat Republic was demoing 15 minute sessions of Surfset. I probably should have laid off of the kombucha cocktails before my turn 😉 And after hearing so many wonderful things about Shauna Harrison in Baltimore and out here, I finally got the chance to meet her. It was her first time on a Surfset board too.. can you tell?

She’s pretty freaking amazing. I’m really good at standing on the board. Ha!

Saturday, Nathan and I went to the A’s vs. Red Sox game and decided to do a little tailgating before.

We picked up some bahn mi for Nathan and I grabbed a grilled pork vermicelli roll. I needed something to wash down the vodka!

One thing we didn’t think about bringing was sunscreen. And you can really tell I was wearing sunglasses. Whoops! Hope it fades soon!

Sunday was a quiet day. We were both busy with work so other than braving the grocery store, we just stayed in and watched the World Cup and some baseball. It was nice to have a quiet day with all of the running around we’ve been doing lately. I rounded off the day with a delicious bowl of baked turkey meatballs and brussels with a little feta. It was pretty perfect.

These meatballs are awesome; I always get 2 lbs of turkey so we have some to throw in the freezer just to have in the house but we always end up eating the whole batch within just a few days. This time I got 3 lbs of turkey.. let’s see how long that’ll last us! Hopefully we’ll be able to freeze some so we’re not completely out of food when we get back after our trip.

Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday – Baked turkey meatballs with honey balsamic roasted brussels sprouts
Monday – Turmeric chicken with grilled veggies
Tuesday – Leftovers
Wednesday – Mexican grilled chicken and cauliflower rice bowls with black beans, salsa, guacamole, and baked tostones
Thursday – Leftovers
Friday & Saturday – HOME!!

Food for Thought

Did you do anything fun over the weekend?
What’s on your menu this week?

Mexican, Beer, and Baseball

Have you entered my Bob’s Red Mill giveaway yet?

Hi friends! I hope you had a wonderful weekend; we took advantage of the weather and spent a lot of time outside.

Friday night we hit up a Mexican joint for dinner called Cancun. They, as with many restaurants in the area, pride themselves on their local, organic ingredients. I got a humungo salad that puts Chipotle to shame!

They also have a ridiculous salsa bar.

Photo Credit: Yelp

Saturday we played in wine country. Though we didn’t go for any tastings, we just spent the day walking around Healdsburg and Santa Rosa; they’re such cute little towns. We stopped at SHED for lunch which was such a fun place! Not only do they have a small cafe and take out food, they also sell kitchen, gardening, and other home goods plus they have their own fermentation bar. You know I got their home brewed black tea ginger kombucha.

I loved how colorful the salads were! My favorite was on the left; golden beets, watermelon radish, asparagus, and lima beans in a light vinaigrette. It was a bit pricey there for what it was, but everything tasted great.

On our way back home, we hit a ton of traffic. Luckily it was as we approached Petaluma, so we took a detour a grabbed some beer while we waited for the traffic to die down.

Not a bad way to pass the time 😉

Yesterday was for baseball. We opted for the Giants’ opening weekend instead of opening day and the weather was amazing!

The game started off pretty slow but the Giants’ ended up pulling out a big win in the bottom of the 10th with a walk off home run! Funny story.. I was at an Orioles game with my dad and Nathan 8 years ago. My dad and I almost never left games early but Nathan had to get up real early so we made an exception. We ended up missing a walk off home run which, at that point, my dad had never seen. To this day, he still won’t let Nathan live it down, even though he’s seen quite a few! It’s been a running joke ever since.

At least he’s happy 😉 Seeing the walk off definitely made me miss my dad. I wish that he was there with us! With that, I leave you some Orioles lovin’.

Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday – Leftovers
Monday – Passover Seder [we found one to go to! Yay!]
Tuesday – Mediterranean smothered chicken over zucchini noodles
Wednesday – Balsamic grilled flank steak with roasted carrots
Thursday – Margarita chicken with lime cauli rice  and guacamole
Friday – Out!
Saturday – Leftovers

Food for Thought

What did you do over the weekend?

Five Things Friday: Family Edition

For my list of things that are important in life, family ranks #1. And maybe I’m biased but I’m pretty sure mine takes the cake.

1. Waking up to pictures like this one make my day.
   

   She really is the cutest.

   Don’t you just want to squeeze her?!

2. I have the best husband. Honestly, I know everyone feels that way but anyone that will drop anything to come be with you—without you asking—is someone worth holding onto. I’m a lucky gal.
   

   He’s cute too.

3. I’m missing my family right now. I wish it were easier to go home but the reality is that it’s pretty darn pricey. Skype is the best and I love that I can see my parents so often.
   

   This was nice too though.

4. I can’t wait till we go home in August. I’m already planning so many fun things.. my parents don’t even know! Labor day cookout? Orioles game? Let’s get to planning 🙂
   

   O-R-I-O-L-E-S!

5. Speaking of baseball, Nathan and I are headed to the A’s game on Sunday. We got some new gear to sport and it’s definitely going to be a good time. Definitely looking forward to the weekend with my best friend.
   

   Hopefully it’ll be a little warmer 😉

Food for Thought

What are you looking forward to this weekend?

Link Love #30

The Orioles won yesterday! And that’s not an April Fools joke 😉 Excuse me while I bask in the glow of of a perfect record right now. I’m also super excited because Nathan decided to surprise me with tickets to the A’s game this Sunday. I think watching the Orioles game yesterday really got us extra pumped for baseball season. We have a couple fun things planned for the weekend so I’m already psyched for the next few days to fly by. In the meantime, let’s play a little catch up.

Health

Benefits of Strength Training – Slim Sanity

Benefits of Strength Training – Slim Sanity
8 Tips to Have a Positive Body Image and Stop Obsessive Eating Habits – Trainer Paige
My Addiction to Exercise Permanently Damaged My Body. But It Also Taught Me How to Love Myself – Tara Fuller via Greatist
Antioxidants 101 – Nutritious Eats
How Rigid Diets Threaten True Digestive Healing – Mind Body Green

Fitness

A Core Workout for Runners – Crazy Running Girl

A Core Workout for Runners – Crazy Running Girl
30-Minute Bodyweight AMRAP Workout – Pumps & Iron
10 Advanced Ab Exercises for the Summer – Lifting Revolution
7 Boredom Busting Treadmill Workouts – Run to the Finish
Leg Burnout Workout – Blonde Ponytail

Food

Sushi Salad with Carrot-Ginger Dressing – The Healthy Maven

Sushi Salad with Carrot-Ginger Dressing – The Healthy Maven
3 Gluten-Free Recovery Snacks for Coffee Lovers – Cotter Crunch
Lemon Vanilla Brown Rice Pudding with Berries – Edible Perspective
Microwave Breakfast Berry Crumble – 24 Carrot Life
Black Pepper Rub Chicken Fingers with Greek Yogurt Ranch – Half Baked Harvest

Food for Thought

What was one of your favorite posts from the past week?

It’s Baseball Season!

BASEBALL!!!!! I’m not at all excited though. I so wish I was going to the Orioles opening day game today against Boston. I’ll definitely be missing my O’s this year but I’m hoping to make it to a good amount of A’s and Giants games. And I’m pretty sure we’re going to spend the weekend at the A’s stadium when they’re playing the Orioles. Cannot wait!

I will miss having one of my favorite baseball partners with me this year!

Go orange or go home!

This past weekend was kind of bizarre. I finally caught up on all of my missed sleep [naps were involved.. and quite possibly alcohol-induced] so I’m actually feeling like a real person again. We did have a nice theme going throughout the weekend though.

Beer.

Beer.

Beer.

Yep. We enjoyed our beer this weekend. I had some pretty notable brews too; Tahoe Mountain Brewing Auld Bitch Barleywine, The Rare Barrel Shadows of Their Eyes & Sourtooth Tiger, and Dieu Du Ciel Herbe a Detourne [the Grande Noirceur was awesome too!]

Yesterday morning we went to breakfast. Usually when we go out I’ll opt for eggs benedict because I don’t make that at home but the Cuban breakfast caught my eye.

Black beans, braised kale, eggs, brown rice, shrimp, plantains, & tomatillo salsa.

It was the bomb diggity. Went there. Completely different from anything I’d ever normally order but it totally hit the spot. And the plantains were like dessert! I always forget how much I love plantains. They might pop up again in the kitchen soon..

Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday – Wing it!
Monday – Basil lime chicken with Green Goddess Cauli Rice
Tuesday – Emeril’s Caribbean Chicken and crispy brussels sprouts with creamy dipping sauce [going to change the spices to go with the chicken]
Wednesday – Leftovers
Thursday – Chili chicken and basil stir fry
Friday – Out!
Saturday – Leftovers

I’m starting to get much better about planning out how much we actually need and not planning a recipe for every single night since we do end up with so many leftovers. Practice makes perfect, right? If you’re looking for meal plan help, shoot me an email.

Food for Thought

What’s your favorite sport to watch and/or play?
What’s your favorite breakfast to order when you go out?

MIMM Weekend Photo Dump

Is it just me or do weekend days go much faster than weekdays? I feel like Monday always sneaks up on me.. 26 years and I’m still not used to it! We had a fun, pretty relaxing weekend that we kicked off with my cousin at the Orioles game. Always fun to be at the park, especially for a win!

Pregaming for the O’s game! They poured my beer twice so I got a freebie.. hate when that happens! 😉

HeyOOOOOOOO 😉 [Too much?]

Brian Matusz and Jim Johnson warming up in the bullpen. Fun to be so close to the action!

My cousin Nicole, Nathan, and me. We had a terrible time!

Lunch on Saturday. I added mango and avocado to my chick pea tuna salad and it was delicious! I love all of the colors.

Hit up our favorite bar in Baltimore, Max’s, for an evening brew on Saturday. They have a crazy long list and I decided to go for some samples instead of 1 full beer.. I just couldn’t decide!

Nathan made a killer dinner Sunday. Herbed chicken over pasta with a light tomato, vegetable, white wine sauce. Yum!

Hope you had a great weekend too! Back to the daily grind..

Food for Thought

Are you a baseball or football fan? Or neither? 😉

Do you prefer to get one large drink or a sampler?

Marvelous Weekend Recap and Monday Meet Up!

Monday already? The weekend always flies, but it was another good one. Yet again, I failed at taking many pictures, but I do have a little bit of a recap..

Marvelous is finishing off Friday with another no-grain maple chia cake from the awesome STUFT mama and a going away party for a friend at The Red Star. We’d never been there before, but they had some good happy hour special and the food was good. I, of course, went for a salad which was a bit small, but I should be used to that. Next time I’ll definitely go for one of their sandwiches or the awesome looking fish tacos!

No-Grain Maple Chia Cake a la STUFT mama

Marvelous is driving out to the burbs on Saturday to hang out by my parents’ house. Their A/C bit the dust while they were away and were able to get someone to come out and fix it on the weekend. I made a little day trip out of it and headed over to Target and Trader Joe’s.. wish we had those in the city! I finally found the new flips I’ve been looking for. They’re already gone.

Blueberry yogurt with walnuts, hemp seeds, & chia seeds.

Marvelous is a Saturday night was spent with friends, grilling, drinking [too much] sangria, and playing games. The boys really enjoy video games.. especially Nathan.

Cute, right?

We also played Cards Against Humanity. If you’ve never played, you should definitely get on it.. it’s hilarious! And only made better by sangria 😉 I also made a killer guacamole with a secret ingredient which I’ll be sharing soon. That lasted about as long as the sangria.

Marvelous is Farmers’ Market Sundays. We got there bright and early before the crowd got too crazy and walked away with a nice haul! You have to know where to go and I found a stand where everything is $2. I got 6 zucchini, 8 beets, and a ton of green purple beans. I also picked up some beautiful swiss chard, HUGE blackberries, lemon pistachio granola from Michele’s, peaches and nectarines, and of course, Zeke’s coffee. Totally lucked out with the granola.. last week was supposed to be the final week for the lemon pistachio seasonal and we didn’t make it to the market. I was pretty psyched when I saw that they still had it!

Farmers’ Market haul, huge fruits, and a great run!

Marvelous is a great run after the market. I’ve been trying to do Sunday runday and yesterday I did 10 minutes run, 5 minute sprint HIIT, 5 minute recovery, three times through for 60 minutes. It felt good to switch it up. I also went to the store to stock up on a few more things for the week.. it must be the season for ginormous fruit because these apples were bigger than my hands!

Marvelous is the Orioles sweeping the Rangers. Or really, they can sweep any team and I’ll be happy! 🙂

Marvelous is meeting up with some fantastic Charm City Healthy Living Bloggers tonight. I’m so looking forward to it.. it’s about time I get to meet these ladies!

Food for Thought

Tell me what was marvelous about your weekend!

What I Ate Wednesday #3 – Bar Hopping San Francisco

With an entire week of good eats in California, it’s hard not to feature another day for my WIAW post!

On this particular day, we started with a trek to Liguria Bakery. Featured on Mario Batali’s ‘Ciao America’ for the best focaccia, we knew it was a spot we couldn’t miss! We ordered the pizza focaccia and a rosemary garlic focaccia. We dug in immediately!

Forget anything you ever thought you knew about focaccia. This was the best bread I’ve ever eaten!

Liguria Bakery Focaccia

And because we couldn’t just eat bread for breakfast, we headed on over to The Buena Vista, home of the original Irish Coffee. I ordered a Mexican omelette with fresh made sourdough bread. It was darn good bread, but nothing in comparison to what we had just eating from Liguria!

The Buena Vista Cafe

And then began the bar hopping..

We made the most of our walk to AT&T Park for a Giants’ game by hitting up a few local bars on the way.

Our first stop was Thirsty Bear Brewery, a CCOF certified organic brewery. We got a sampler of all of the beer on tap; it’s really the only way to go!

Thirsty Bear Brewery

Second stop on our bar hopping tour was 21st Amendment Brewery. Again, another sampler of beer because there just isn’t any other way to go!

21st Amendment Brewery

Finally, we made it over near the stadium, but we held out for just one last stop; Pete’s Tavern. I was told this was the place to be before games, so why not do what the locals do?

One (ok, maybe two) more beers and a delicious Big Kahuna teriyaki chicken sandwich with grilled pineapple topped off my bar hopping afternoon.

Pete’s Tavern

We ended the night at AT&T Park with an incredible view! It’s hard to complain about being in the top row of the stadium with a view like that.

AT&T Park

A wonderful ending to another great day in San Francisco!

Speak Up!

Have you ever been to San Francisco? What are some of your favorite places to eat?