GRILLING!!! Filed under ( Frank, fruit, grill, Healthy, Seafood, Vegetables )

Hope you all had a nice Wednesday. My Wednesday started out as it usually does- a mile and a half run and body pump! A busy work day was followed by taking my car into the shop and a few other errands. When I got back, Josh and I turned on our new Weber for the first time. Frank was super excited...he couldn't even stand still:

For dinner, we cooked up shrimp (marinated in olive oil, garlic, fresh lemon juice and shallots), artichokes tossed in a bit of olive oil and chili powder, my veggie mix (peppers, green beans, onion, white beans tossed in a little olive oil and chili powder), and pineapple:

Love our new baby!

Josh's dinner plate (including a grilled lemon):

And mine (I had another equal sized serving of cantaloupe after this):

FABULOUS dinner! And now we're off to take the Frankster for a walk :)

Do you guys have weekend plans already? I am going to a sort of exercise convention for the Les Mills programs. I am very excited :)

POMx Iced Coffee, Sunday Filed under ( Frank, Healthy, Vegetables )

Hey All! Hope you had a nice weekend. Here is my Sunday:

My day started off early! Josh had to get up to draft his fantasy football team, so I put together a nice breakfast for him of peanut butter puffins and a side of a new product, POMx Iced Coffee. The wonderful people at POM sent me two of the new flavors to try, Café au Lait and Chocolate:



According to POMx, these products are, “Made with premium, all-natural ingredients, POMx Iced Coffee is a delicious blend of antioxidants, caffeine and rich coffee.” Josh tried the Chocolate (190 calories, 0 g fat, 10 g Protein):

Josh thought the iced coffee beverage was just ok. He liked that it was a little thicker than your usual iced coffee and enjoyed the gentle chocolate flavor. However, he was a little disappointed in the coffee flavor itself…he said it just tasted a bit off. I am excited to try the Café Au Lait and will let you know my thoughts.

After I gave Josh his breakfast, I headed out the door to Hot Yoga!!! I treated myself to an awesome 90 minute class- it was incredible. I took it at Blue Turtle Yoga which is inside Eco Fitness.

I ran to WFs after to pick up some 3 for $5 cantaloupes (what a great sale). I got home and ate some brunch. Then Josh and I headed to the pool for about 45 minutes (between his drafting sessions ;)).

I did lots of work around the house and walked through some new tracks for Body Attack next week. I also spent some time with these two cuties:

I took the Frankster for a walk, showered, then made myself some din din. Cantaloupe:

And baked jicama rounds with a side of salsa and white beans:

Now I’m trying to figure out what I want for dessert ;) Did everyone catch the new Top Chef?? What do you think?

Post Pregnancy Update & (Not My) Auntie Pearl’s Chocolate Chip Cookies Filed under ( Dessert, Family, Frank, pregnancy )

Sorry for being MIA yesterday! We had lots of family in town and it left for very little computer time. You can find my post pregnancy update at the bottom of this post!

With the new baby at home, we have had so many friends and family members in and out of the house. One night, Josh was having the guys over to see the peanut, and I decided a batch of chocolate chip cookies was in order. Luckily, it was Secret Recipe Club time! This month, I was assigned Sweet As Sugar Cookies. Lisa seems like a total sweetheart! She has been baking since she was 12 and loves to bake and cook for her family. Since Lisa has such a tight connection with her family, I knew I had to make one of her “family” recipes- Auntie Pearl’s Chocolate Chip Cookies. I made a half batch of the cookies and made a few other minor adjustments:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup AP flour
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 5 1/4 Tbsp. Smart Balance
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tablespoons egg beaters
• Desired quantity chocolate chunks

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the flour and baking soda, and set aside.

Cream butter and sugars. Add vanilla and the egg and mix to combine.

Add the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

Mix in the chocolate chips.

 

Drop by tablespoonful's onto a cookie sheet:

and bake for 10-15 minutes (took ~12 minutes for me) or until cookies turn golden brown and are set in the center.

Post Pregnancy Update: 2 weeks post partum

No VLOG this week (didn't have time!). I am continuing to feel better and better! Breast feeding made me very sore at first, but is getting easier as the days pass. Kaylin is a great eater and usually eats every 2-3 hours (except at night when she goes longer between feedings). She has been a pretty good sleeper too. The only issue is that she wants to sleep on my chest and not in the bassinet. We're working on this...

A lot of you asked how Frank was doing with the new baby. When we first brought her home, he would go CRAZY every time she cried. He has gotten use to this and is adjusting. He definitely has a little sibling rivalry....but I think it will go away with time. He now lays next to wherever she is sleeping/sitting.

A few people also asked how long I am on maternity leave- I will be out of work for about 8 weeks (maternity leave+vacation). My company has been absolutely wonderful throughout the whole pregnancy and said they would be flexible to me coming back as well (i.e. I can take more time if I need it). I feel VERY lucky!

As I mentioned earlier, Josh's family was in town this weekend. We had an absolute blast with them and did a mini photo shoot:

On the exercise front, I did about 30 minutes of low to medium impact exercise each day this past week. On Sunday, I went for a jog for 30 minutes. It felt a little awkward at first, but I got into my grove pretty quick. I came home with the biggest runners (Joggers?) high ever! Love! Did I mention I signed up for a 10K the first weekend in October? Gulp!

How was your weekend?

Weekend & Vegan Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Filed under ( appetizer, Beef, Frank, grill )

Friday night: Dinner our with Mandi (with a Martini):

and Bryan at Liberty Tap Room. I got the Hawaiian salad sans chicken plus avocado

Saturday morning: Taught Body Step then off to brunch. J got the red, white, and blue parfait (minus the blue, as he isn’t a blue berry fan) and I got my same old:

Saturday Afternoon: We went to the pool with Mandi & Bryan and then I spent the rest of the day catching up around the house and baking. First up, Vegan Almond Butter Chocolate Chip cookies for my cousins for their birthdays. I used 1 tsp vanilla vs.. 1/2 tsp vanilla & 1/2 tsp almond extract:

So yum. I also made up some granola for my Dad and Mandi & Bryan:

For dinner, Josh & I fired up the grill again. I put some London Broil in this marinade for him and then cooked up some sweet potato & carrot and white potato foil packets. The veggies were covered in a little oil and this spice (disclaimer: Garlic & Herb Mrs. Dash that the company sent me for free to try).

The outcomes: 

We also had big bowls of water melon (I topped mine with yogurt and granola too):

Now we’re headed up to my Aunt & Uncle’s house for a BBQ/Birthday party. I am bringing a simple appetizer, fruit, nuts, cheese & Dr. Krakers:

 

HAPPY FOURTH!!!!!!

I have a feeling Frank, like Murphy, will spend most of today sleeping ;)

The Baby Room Filed under ( Frank, pregnancy )

I know I said I’d only do baby posts on Sundays…….but this deserves its own special post! As I mentioned in my previous post, Josh’s family was in town for part of the weekend. His sister, Jenny, is an amazing artist and offered to paint the baby room as a present to us. Once we picked the beachy theme, she went to work. Check out this AMAZING work:

A large & small Adirondack chair and palm tree with a coconut (the coconut was Josh’s request ):

And on the other side, a bucket, shells, and an umbrella. Underneath the umbrella are little Frank paw prints (hard to see in the picture, but they look awesome in person)!

Just AMAZING! Jenny also wants to paint a sandcastle on one of the other walls and have the baby’s name (uh, once we pick one….) written in the sand! So cool. Thank you Jenny! You are best!

Frank is a little confused as to what this new room is all about…

Are you artistic? I have like zero artistic talent- I’m SO amazed by people that can paint and draw!!

Anything exciting going on for you this week? We have our Body Step launch on Thursday and Josh and I are taking baby boot camp on Tuesday

Asian Black Beans & Rice Filed under ( Asian, Beans, Frank, giveaway, Healthy, Vegan, vegetarian )

Thank you all for telling me about your favorite substitutes. Here are a few of your suggestions:

• Stephanie substitutes white vinegar for traditional household cleaners
• Erin adds turmeric to most dishes to replace or in addition to cayenne or paprika
• Anne Marie likes to replace breadcrumbs with oatmeal
• Winterjade uses banana instead of eggs in her pancakes

And the winner of the Substituting Ingredients book is…Megan D of the Oatmeal Diaries- wahooo! Congrats! Email me at Itzyskitchen at gmail dot com and I will get your book to you.

The rest of my week has been a lot more easy/peasy! I’ve been having to take Frank for his walks early in the morning (5 or 6 AM) due to the heat! Even at that time, its still almost 80 degrees and humid. I love it…Frank does not:

I did manage to get a nice run in on Wednesday. It was cloudy so the heat wasn’t too bad. I set out to do 50 minutes and ended going a bit over, but covered about 6.3 miles:

Wednesday night, I used inspiration from No Meat Athlete to make a new take on beans and rice. The dish doesn’t look gorgeous but tasted great! 

 

  I adjusted Erin’s recipe just a bit:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked brown rice
• 1 15 oz can reduced sodium black beans (drained & rinsed)
• 1 small container pineapple tidbits (juice reserved)
• 1 small container water chestnuts
• 3 large carrots, cut into strips
• 2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice powder

Directions:

Mix 5 spice powder in with cooked rice and set aside.

Heat vegetable oil. Add carrots and red pepper and cook for a minute or two. Add beans and water chestnuts and cook until carrots are cooked through but still crunchy (as Erin noted :)). Remove from heat. Add soy sauce, 1/3 the reserved pineapple juice and pineapple. Place on top of rice.

I’m off to meet my friend Jill for some brunch and then its work time! Weekend plans??

Spicy Egg & Potato Bake Filed under ( Breakfast, Frank, group fitness, Healthy )

Yummy eats always make the work week a little bit better, don't they? I've been enjoying all kinds of good stuff including homemade parfaits with vanilla yogurt, apple chunks and Quaker's Rice puff cereal:

I also enjoyed a great spicy egg & potato bake. I used the rest of my purple potatoes from the farmers market and based my recipe on this recipe from Naomi's fabulous blog.

Ingredients:
3-4 small purple (or red) potatoes
1 egg, 2 egg whites
Chopped pepper & onions (or other veggies as desired)
¼ teaspoon red pepper (may want to try this with 1/8 teaspoon the first time around)
¼ teaspoon chili powder
2 tablespoons shredded cheese
Cooking Spray
Salsa, ketchup, etc to top

Directions:
Ahead of time, place potatoes in a pot, cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook ~6-8 minutes until potatoes are still tender but hold their form. Remove from heat, drain, slice.

Spray a loaf pan. Place cooked potatoes, onion, pepper (you can also sautee the onion & pepper ahead of time for more flavor), and other desired veggies in pan. In a bowl mix egg, egg white and spices with a fork. Pour egg mixtures over vegetables. Top with shredded cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Delicious!

How are your workouts coming this week? My plan is as follows:

• Monday: Quick run to warm up, taught Body Pump
• Tuesday: Taught Body Attack
• Wednesday: Either off or quick run
• Thursday: Teach 45 minute Body Step, 45 minute Body Pump
• Friday: Off
• Saturday: Teach Body Step
• Sunday: Off

Enjoy the rest of your week! Make sure you take some time to appreciate your life and the wonderful people (and animals ;)) around you!