Where did the weekend go?!

Have you entered my AMRAP giveaway yet?! The prize was just updated!!

I’m pretty sure I missed the weekend.. is it really Monday already? I’ve been on the run since we got back from Baltimore, weekend included, but at the very least I was able to take some time Saturday evening for a little date. Drinks + dinner + ice cream. That’s pretty much our perfect equation these days.

We had to check out a sports bar around the corner for us to see if it would suffice for Ravens games. It’s pretty tough to get the Ravens out here but there are a few bars that will happily put on any game you request. [We didn’t go for the game yesterday, though based on the way they played, neither of us were too disappointed to have stayed in.] For dinner, we tried a new-to-us Thai restaurant, Sukho Thai [<– $2.50 glass of wine for happy hour!]

If a Fresh Roll is on the menu, consider it ours!

My go-to chicken larb salad.

The winner! Coconut curry beef noodle soup. So much flavor and just so good.

Fun story.. the server brought out the hot sauces and peppers with the fresh roll. Of course Nathan went straight for the peppers and I decided I’d try a small piece of the Thai bird chili. It didn’t start out too terribly spicy, but after a few minutes, both of us were practically sitting in silence trying to figure out how to get rid of the burn. My eyes were tearing, Nathan was starting to break a sweat.. I just kept telling him not to react because the staff would absolutely be laughing at us!

We survived the pepper incident but decided ice cream would be a necessity to really be sure to get rid of the heat. We shared a munchkin-sized creme fraiche ice cream with pear caramel from Smitten. No time for pictures but it was as good as it sounds! We finished the night with a bad movie—Two Guns—at home with some popcorn.

Yesterday was a lot of running around again but we did sneak in a quick lunch date at Gregoire before hitting up the grocery store. The feature item of the lunch? Potato puffs.

Instead of the plain old mashed potato filling that I almost expected, the filling has a really creamy, almost cream-cheesy flavor. Gregoire is known for their potato puffs so we had to try them!

After all of the craziness of the past few weeks, it was nice to have a few quiet minutes to end the weekend and get our lives back on track.

Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday – Lemon herb roast chicken thighs with roasted asparagus
Monday – Feta chicken kabobs with roasted brussels, red onion, and bell pepper
Tuesday – Quinoa crusted chicken strips with buffalo sauce, grilled asaparagus, & roasted wedge potatoes
Wednesday – Trivia night!
Thursday – Leftovers
Friday – Out!
Saturday – Cauli rice salad with chipotle orange chicken, cashews, & feta

Food for Thought

What is the most exciting ice cream flavor you’ve tried?
What’s on your menu this week?

What I Ate Wednesday #92: Breaking the Plan

We’re usually pretty good about sticking to our weekly meal plan even if we do swap a few days every now and then. I’m kind of a stickler for eating at home during the week, but when Nathan walked in after work yesterday asking if I wanted to grab a cocktail, I couldn’t say no. It had already been a long week and it was only Tuesday! It was an impromptu date night and it was just so nice.

[Breakfast]

I’ve been loving a new protein pancake recipe this week—I’m calling them coco-peanut butter pancakes. I’m still adjusting ratios a bit for the perfect texture but I will definitely be sharing the recipe soon.

[Morning Snack]

And because I haven’t had enough peanut butter, this PB&J yogurt “parfait” is hitting the spot!

Ingredients
– 1/2 cup greek yogurt [I use 2% Fage]
– 2 tbsp peanut flour
– 1 squeeze Pure Via [the vanilla is my favorite!]
– Splash of coconut almond milk
– A couple of your favorite berries [strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries are my fave!]
– A few Toasted Coconut and Blueberry Almond Breeze almonds
– 1 tbsp granola [I use Bob’s Red Mill Honey Almond]

Directions
Mix your greek yogurt, peanut flour, stevia, and coconut almond milk together until smooth. Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

[Lunch]

I was loving the smoothies at work for lunch but recently I’ve been in more of a salad mood. Especially with the delicious leftover brussels and sweet potato we’ve had!

[Afternoon Snack]

I pretty much could have eaten a horse yesterday. This was snack #2 after a lemon vanilla Luna protein bar. The gelato is pretty amazing and I’ll be posting a real review soon!

[Happy Hour]

Prizefighter is known for their cocktails. I’ve only been there once before but Nathan never had before and it was such a gorgeous night; perfect for a drink outside! My drink was the Tennessee Rye – rye, orange bitters, lemon, and soda. His was the Reconquista – mezcal, punt e mes, and aperol. They were both perfectly balanced and hit the spot. We’ll be back for sure!

[Dinner]

Dinner was an early one at Jasmine Blossom. They have an awesome happy hour—$3 drinks and $5-7 appetizers.

I got the fresh roll filled with beets, carrots, vermicelli noodles, mint, and lettuce and served with the most delicious peanut sauce I’ve ever tasted! Because clearly there’s never enough peanut butter in my life. I might have been nice enough to share the roll with Nathan too. I also got the ginger chicken salad which I love—it’s light and super flavorful. Nathan ordered the chicken pad kee mao which is essentially drunken noodles and again, delicious.

[Midnight Snack]
Dinner actually kept me full longer than I expected but my stomach was grumbling before bed so I grabbed a spoon, a jar of PB, and a little granola. Mmmmmmm.

And now it’s just a few more days till we’re headed home 🙂

Food for Thought

Do you stick to eating at home during the week or do you go out?

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary shipment of Toasted Coconut and Blueberry Almonds from BlueDiamondTasteMakers.com. All thoughts and opinions of the product are my own.

Link Love #26

Another Tuesday already? The days seem to be flying by lately! There were so many good posts from this past week that I had a hard time choosing my tops, but as usual, these are not to be missed. I also realized that a lot of my favorite recipes were snacky kinds of foods.. seems to be where my mind is recently. I’m headed to the store to pick up some popcorn and Puffins. One of my favorite snacks this week has been broken up rice cakes with a little coconut oil, cinnamon, and salt. I figure I’ll do the same with some popcorn.. or a lot of popcorn 😉

Health

Life Lessons: Counting Ingredients Not Calories – The Hummusapien

Life Lessons: On Counting Ingredients, Not Calories – The Hummusapien
How You Can Have The Confidence To Increase Your Strength – Lifting Revolution
5 Untraditional Ways to Expedite Fat Loss – Trainer Paige
Demystifying Health Food Labels: What do they all mean? – The Picky Eater
Evening workouts don’t disturb sleep – Yahoo! News

Fitness

TRX Circuit Workout – Peanut Butter Fingers

TRX Circuit Workout – Peanut Butter Fingers
High Rep Workouts – Are they Beneficial? – Cotter Crunch
Knock ‘Em Down, Build ‘Em Up Workout – Carrots ‘N’ Cake
10 Ways to Pushup – Fitnessista
5 by 50 bodyweight purely training workout – Purely Twins

Food

Spicy Thai Carrot & Kale Salad – Running to the Kitchen

Spicy Thai Carrot & Kale Salad – Running to the Kitchen
Roasted Garlic Parmesan Brussels Sprouts – Jessie Loves 2 Run
Whole30 Day 27: Paleo Chips (Including a New Recipe for Crispy Mushroom Chips!) – Nom Nom Paleo
One Bowl Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies – Oh She Glows
Honey and Mustard Roasted Cashews – Joy the Baker

Food for Thought

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

What I Ate Wednesday #75: We Did It Right

I think in the process of running my parents all around the bay area, we ran ourselves into the ground a little too. Unfortunately, they’re heading back home today and as much as I may need a little more sleep, I don’t want them to go. It has really felt so much more like home with them here. If I had my whole family with me, I wouldn’t think twice about where I was. Anywhere. I miss ’em already but Nathan and I both made sure we did it right!

There was some healthy food…

…some home cooked meals…

…some brunching…

…a little pizza…

…more than one ice cream/gelato trip…

…LOTS of Asian food…

…a few drinks all around…

…and so many incredible memories.

I absolutely cannot wait to see them again. It’s been such a great week. Cheers!

Food for Thought

Where is your favorite place to take out-of-town visitors?

Will Run for Beer

Have you entered my Peanut Butter & Co. giveaway yet?

Well this was another relaxing and fun weekend! Friday night I met up with Kara for a drink at Prizefighter. I hadn’t been yet but heard that they were known for their cocktails. Since it was rainy, I was feeling something nice and warming and opted for the Nuevo Viejo.

I could use some help on my cropping skills.

We met up with Nathan at Summer Summer for some delicious Thai food for dinner. And lucky for us, they had a good amount of options on the happy hour menu.. cheap date 😉

Saturday was pretty laid back. It’s been raining constantly since Thursday so that doesn’t really make for fun times outside. We went out again for dinner to get out of the house and revisited The Bureau 510. I got the Mother Nature sandwich that I was eying the first time and it was great.

Grilled tofu, avocado, alfalfa, onion, red pepper spread, butter lettuce, lavash whole grain

I also got an awesome package from Caitlin and immediately had to dig into my goodies!

She’s the best!

Greek yogurt mixed with TJ’s chocolate coconut milk ice cream, topped with a sunbutter GoMacro bar and a few PB M&Ms. Perfect night time treat!

Yesterday I braved the rain and met up with Melissa, another Tone It Up-per, for the Park Chalet Beer 5K. Being sick all week, I considered skipping out because running in the rain may not be the best idea, but I was feeling much better so I decided to give it a go and I’m so glad I did!

We met some friends along the way

I’m usually not one for enjoying the rain, but there was actually something nice about it. Maybe because I was actually treating this as the fun-run that it was so I was just taking it all in. But that definitely deserved a brewski [or 2] afterward!

Cheers to finishing the run!

Those beers really did me in and I was happy to get home and into warm, dry clothes. Nathan took the reigns on dinner and roasted a beautiful bird! I added some roasted asparagus and naan on the side and heated up some korma sauce. Indian in a snap 😉

He knows his way around a bird!

Weekly Meal Plan

Saturday – Went out
Sunday – Roast chicken, asparagus, & naan with korma sauce
Monday – Chipotle black bean burgers, roasted potatoes, & side salad
Tuesday – Healthier Cincinnati chili over zucchini noodles
Wednesday – Leftover roast chicken with panzanella salad
Thursday – Black rice salad bowl with chipotle orange chicken, cashews, & feta [a repeat from last week!]
Friday – Valentines Day! We always work together on dinner and dessert and we’re still discussing our options.

We also have a new addition to the kitchen.. now we just have to hang it!

I could use some help with my chalkboard handwriting!

But now we won’t have to check the blog for reminders on the menu 😉

Food for Thought

Have you ever done a race or fun run in the rain?
What’s on the menu at your house?

What I Ate Wednesday #34: Asian Fusion

If you gathered from my Valentine’s Day recipe roundup, Nathan and I happen to love Asian cuisine. And we really don’t discriminate either.. Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Korean.. you name it, we love it! I would say we have a problem, but in reality, it makes for some fun road trips.

[Breakfast]
Post 7 mile run [mentioned simply because it’s my longest ever!], I had my slimmed down sweet scramble topped with nut butters and Love Grown Raisin Almond Crunch granola. Have you tried their products yet? So good!

Also, every time I tweet a picture of this scramble, people ask me for the recipe! I’ve happily linked it up but always want to make sure to give credit where credit is due. Tina at Carrots ‘N’ Cake is the mastermind behind my daily breakfast and I thank her 🙂

[Lunch]
Pleased that we didn’t have a very far road trip on Sunday, we made our way to Honey Pig, a Korean restaurant where the food is cooked at your table. At your table, they give you a few sides to share: steamed broccoli, egg, pickled daikon, jalapenos, garlic, sweet potatoes [like sticky sweet potatoes.. not like regular orange sweet potatoes], plus a small salad and bowl of rice for each person.

This wasn’t our first rodeo so we knew what we wanted.. Beef Bulgogi and Spicy Chicken. We’ve had both before and they were great. This time, however, the waitress decided we could use a little extra spice. It was absolutely amazing and we devoured every last bite. Extra spicy is the way to go.

*Picture stolen from Mary.

[Dinner]
We were absolutely stuffed from lunch so I opted for a late dinner of coconut oil roasted broccoli and sweet potato with Kasey’s tahini nooch sauce. It’s definitely a favorite dinner of mine! And the picture was so terrible that I decided to spare you. Seriously, I’ve never seen such a terrible picture from a phone!

[Snacks]
Clementine
Apple

Food for Thought

What is your favorite kind of cuisine?

What I Ate Wednesday #14 – Rainy Day Adventures

We had some awesome plans last Saturday to rise and shine super early and head to Rehoboth Beach for the day. We haven’t been to the beach at all this summer so I was looking forward to it all week!

And then the weather forecast changed. To rain. All day. What do you even do when you’re at the beach and it’s raining? Exactly.

Well, fine then! We slept in, had a nice, relaxing morning, and then packed up and headed over to Alexandria, VA for the day! For what, you ask? Wine.

But not just any wine. Trader Joe’s Two-Buck Chuck. Yep. We drove 1.5 hrs each way for Trader Joe’s wine. Don’t worry, we got some good eats on the way too!

[Breakfast]
Cinnamon protein Coach’s Oats, topped (of course) with Earth Balance coconut peanut spread and fig. Naturally, I had my Tone It Up Bombshell Spell and some coffee with almond milk on the side. Perfect way to start the day!

[Snack]
A relaxing morning turned into a very late lunch, so I munched on some baby carrots in the car. Nothing exciting.. or worth picturing.

[Lunch]
Here’s the exciting part. We googled for a good 30 minutes looking for the best place to go for lunch and ended up at Caphe Banh Mi. If you’re in the Alexandria area, definitely go!

We started out with a vegetarian summer roll with tofu, carrots, cucumber, lettuce, and other veggies with a peanut dipping sauce. The sauce made it for me.. anything peanut [butter] related is a big green light! For our meals, we both tried pho (our first time!) Nathan got the traditional and I got the chicken. Traditional is the way to go! The beef was so rich and delicious and I could have eaten all of his! But instead, I ate all of mine. Topped with bean sprouts and fresh Thai basil. YUM!

[Snack]
Old towne is such a cute place! We walked around looking for a place to get a sweet treat and found Pop’s. Peanut butter chocolate pretzel ice cream. This is no joke. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of it (because I ate it too quickly), but that sample picture will do. I would make the drive for the ice cream.

[Dinner]
Late lunch + snack = late [lazy] dinner. Steamed some broccoli in the microwave, topped it with chicken and bbq sauce, and called it a day!

[Summer Staple]
Wine! Yep, I went there. Every summer day is better with a glass of wine.

Trader Joe’s in Maryland doesn’t sell wine and we’ve heard so many good things about it. But the biggest thing is that we’re trying to find every way to cut back on our wedding budget, so when Nathan heard about Two-Buck Chuck taking home a big prize, we knew we had to give it a try.

Results are in! And it was totally worth the drive. Wedding attendants, get ready for some Two-Buck Chuck! 🙂

Speak Up!

Where is your favorite place to day-trip? Have you ever taken a day trip for a meal? … Or a drink? 😉

Tilapia Stir-Fry with Chili Peanut Sauce

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks over here.. planning a wedding is tough! I’ve been busy with caterer appointments, researching bands, and an engagement party (that wasway too much fun!) Not to mention 4th of July fell in there too, so when I finally had time to cook this past weekend, I was thrilled! I grabbed all of the random veggies left in my fridge and got to work.

Serves 2

Ingredients

Stir-Fry
2 4oz. tilapia filets
1 1/2 cups napa cabbage, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 medium zucchini
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 cup snow peas
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 radishes, sliced
1 large scallion, chopped
2 tbsp sliced almonds
2 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tbsp coconut oil for vegetables, 1/2 tbsp coconut oil for tilapia
Salt
Black pepper
Garlic powder

Sauce
1/4 cup PB2 or peanut butter
1/2 cup coconut water
2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp spicy chili sauce
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
Black pepper

Directions
Combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl and warm in the microwave about 30 seconds.

Heat a pan over medium high heat with 1 tbsp coconut oil. Once preheated, toss in your cabbage and carrots. Saute for about 5 minutes.

At this time, in a separate pan, toast the almonds and coconut over medium low heat until a little brown and put it off to the side.

While the almonds and coconut are toasting, add the bell pepper and zucchini to the cabbage and carrot mixture. Saute another 10 minutes and finally add the snow peas and garlic. Saute until

Preheat a pan over medium high heat and add 1/2 tbsp coconut oil. Season your tilapia with salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Once the pan is preheated, add the tilapia. Saute about 5 minutes, then flip and saute another 5-7 minutes until the fish is completely cooked through.

Add some of the sauteed vegetables into a bowl and top with some sliced radishes. Place a piece of tilapia on top and sprinkle the coconut almond mixture, as well as the chopped green onion. Drizzle some chili peanut sauce on top and enjoy!

Speak Up!

What is your favorite way to use PB2?