Memorial Day: Spanikopita Burgers & A Winner

I really enjoyed learning about what ya’ll would do if you won the lottery. Some fun ideas:

Camping Girl would open a children’s bookstore.

Lauren would quit her job ;)

Shannon would open a Bed & Breakfast (and I would visit ;))

And Lindsay wants to open a bakery with me (ok…I added the with me part)

The rest of my Sunday was lovely! I ran some errands, changed up some of my choreography, and went for another run/walk with Josh. Josh had a friend over at night and I used this recipe and the leftover meatballs to make up a mini meatball bake for the boys. My dinner was a bit of a hodge podge, but was wonderful.

Onto Monday! Monday went as follows:

• Taught Body Step
• Brunch with Josh and our friends Jill & Chip

 

• Relaxed
• Housework
• Walk with Frank
• BBQ with Mandi & Bryan

Here is our table setup. I probably should have gone with some red, white & blue for memorial day, but black and white won out ;)

                   

We started with some fresh fruit Mandi brought over and served it up with some of my cool whip dip (1 container cool whip + 1 single serving fruity yogurt):

Mandi and I cooked up the meal together:

                         

which included some Vegetarian baked beans (I cheated and used Bush’s):

                      

corn on the cob (grilled):

 Rachael Ray’s Spanikopita Burgers (slightly modified):

and a cobbler Mandi made based on a Paula Dean recipe (deliciousness):

SUCH a great time! Can’t get enough of Mandi & Bryan ;).

And last, but not least, the winner of Emeril’s Farm to Fork cookbook is….

Biz!!!!! Email me your address (itzyskitchen at gmail dot com) and I will get your cookbook out to you!

What are ya’ll looking forward to this week?

Crock Pot/Baked Meatballs

This long weekend has been exactly what I was needing! The weather has been incredible and I have had a lot of time to simply relax. Frank enjoyed a lot of relaxing:

Saturday was spent as follows:

• Taught Body Step (Lindsay has been coming to some of my classes which has been so much fun)
• Brunch with Josh (I got a blueberry parfait-sorry Dawn ;))
• Lounged in the sun
• Housework
• Laid down grass seed
• Walked with Josh (2.4 miles, he isn’t allowed to do a lot of physical activity (given the elbow surgery), so it was nice to get out and moving with him)
• Dinner, movie & ice cream at home

I had picked up some local grass fed beef at the farmers market a couple weeks ago and finally defrosted it for use. I used the beef to make some Crock Pot/Baked Meatballs:

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1/4 cup panko (or regular bread crumbs)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons tomato sauce (or marinara)
desired amount chopped onion

1 bottle marinara sauce (or you can make your own)
Directions
Preheat oven to 375
Mix all ingredients. Form into small balls (~25) and bake for ~15-18 minutes or until cooked through.

I baked mine on a cooling wrack on top of a baking sheet sprayed with pan. This allows some of the fat to drain out of the meatballs.

Next, place bottle of marinara in the bottom of a crock pot. Add cooked meatballs. Turn crock pot on low and cook meatballs for 4-6 hours.

In total dinner included meatballs (for Josh), giant salads, and great harvest bread:

We also had some ice cream with blackberries for dessert (YUM). Josh’s beautiful meatball bowl:

Salads (spinach, fresh mozzarella, artichokes, raw asparagus, carrots, olive oil and vinegar):

So far today I have enjoyed some coffee and cooking/baking. I made up a loaf of banana bread for a friend’s mom who did a few wonderful favors for me.

I also made Josh a slammin parfait for breakfast. The parfait contained yogurt, Galaxy granola (new flavor-maple pecan quinoa) and blackberries.

Josh really liked the new granola. He said it was a totally unique flavor and loved the addition of quinoa. I think if I were to win the lottery, I would open a little breakfast shop of my own! What would you do if you won the lotto?

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Catch Up!

I apologize for the absence and lack of commenting as of late! Josh's parents were in town until early Thursday and his brother & his girlfriend and sister and her boyfriend were in town visiting until this morning. We had lots of good times including dinner Wednesday at South End Brewery:

A stop at the Vendue roof top bar:

Yogurt at Fresh Berry:

Thursday, they all hit up the beach while Josh and I worked. Thursday night, we went to Liberty Tap Room. A few of the brave ones tried the Oyster Shooters (Pearlz Peppar Vodka, Oyster & Cocktail sauce):

After, we stopped by Red's, so Josh's siblings could see Shem Creek:

Phew! It was really nice to have Josh's family in town, especially since Josh was still recovering from his elbow surgery. I am pretty exhausted and thrilled for a three day weekend! What are you up to?

I didn't post the workout plan this week, but it went/will go as follows:

M: Quick run to warm up, taught Body Pump

T: Taught Body Attack

W: Off

R: 6 mile run outside:

F: Teach Body Attack

S: Teach Body Step

S: Off

This weekend should be pretttttttttty relaxing. We plan to maybe do brunch and a bbq. Can't wait :)

Cookbook Giveaway: Emeril's Farm to Fork

Hi guys! Thank you all so much for the well wishes for Josh. He had surgery on his elbow because he had some floating pieces of bone matter that needed to be removed. His surgery went great, but took longer than expected. He is recovering quickly and I don't mind playing nurse ;).

Given this, I have been cooking and baking, but haven't taken many pictures! So instead, today will be a giveaway day. The nice people at Harper Collins Publishers sent me two copies of Emeril Lagasse's Farm to Fork: Cooking Local, Cooking Fresh (disclaimer, I received these for free).

According to Harper Collins:

"In this extraordinary new book, Emeril Lagasse continues his lifelong commitment to using fresh, local ingredients in his restaurants and home kitchen. Farm to Fork is his guide to help you explore the great local bounty through fifteen flavorful chapters. Fill your basket with the ripest ingredients from every season and dig into delicious recipes such as Sweet Potato Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter, Cheesy Creole Tomato Pie, Honey-Brined Pork Chops with Nectarine Chutney, and Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp. "


The pictures in the cookbook are beautiful:

and the recipes sound and look amazing:

I can't wait to make so many of the recipes including the Crostini with Ricotta and Spring Peas, the Corn, Tomato and Lobster salad, Braised Pinto Beans and the Cheesy Creole Tomato Pie. Reviews to come!

Do you want to win this cookbook? Leave a comment on this post by Sunday, May 30 at noon with your favorite farmers market find. A winner will be randomly choosen and announced on Monday!

Weekend of Eats! Grill 225 & Charleston's Cafe

We have been having a blast spending time with Josh's parents. We have spent a lot of time out and about and have enjoyed some very good meals. First, up Grill 225.

As I have mentioned previously, this restaurant is a super classy steak restaurant in downtown Charleston. Josh's parents:

Me & Josh:

We started off with some incredible bread:

And salads (this is Josh's Mom's tomato and mozzarella salad):

Josh's Caesar:

Josh's Dad with his calamari:

I ordered my favorite, six year old inspired dinner. The Yonges Island green salad (greens with chipped pecans, tomatoes, ginger soy dressing):

and steak fries ;)

Everyone else stuck with steak and creamed spinach (sorry for the dark picture):

A fabulous dinner!

And of course, you know we went to brunch this morning:

Charleston's Cafe!! I got my usual apple parfait. Josh tried one of the specials, Peanut butter, chocolate chip multigrain pancakes topped with pecans, bananas and whipped cream:

The rest of the day was been spent running errands and doing things around the house.

This morning, I taught my usual pump class. I have the day off of work as Josh is having surgery on his elbow today. Please send good vibes his way :)

What are you looking forward to this week?

I Love SC & Vegan Coconut Cornbread Muffins

Are you ready for the weekend?? I am especially excited for this weekend because Josh's parents are coming !! BTW- I have a few exciting giveaways coming, including another from the CSN stores!! As you may already know, the CSN stores sell all sorts of goodies including bathroom vanities.

How has the rest of your week been treating you? Mine has been quite nice. On Wednesday, I took advantage of the beautiful South Carolina weather and headed out to the Isle of Palms Connector to do a little walking/running. I ran a race on the connector last October and have been itching to get back out there ever since. Couple pictures taken during my run:

SC is so beautiful! I just love living here. The run/walk was very enjoyable, but HOT! Thank goodness for the heavier winds on the bridge.

I was a hot mess afterwards and decided I needed to share my stinky-ness with the world. I hit up the New Harris Teeter (that I believe is supposed to be "Green") that just opened up this week. We have probably 3 of these already in my town, but this one has a Starbucks inside :)

The store is very nice, but nothing too out of the ordinary (again...minus the exciting Starbucks!), but I did pick up a new hummus to try and it did not disappoint!

With Josh's parents coming into town, I have been doing some baking. I made up granola (2 cups oats, 1 cup coconut, 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, 1/2 cup walnuts, 2 tablespoons flax, 3 tablespoons honey and 3 tablespoons vegetable oil baked at 250 for 1 hour). I also put together some Vegan Coconut Cornbread muffins. The recipe I used before seems to have disappeared, so I went off memory and made a few adjustments:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup coconut
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 3/4 cup almond milk
• 1 tablespoon flax

Directions:

• Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in another
• Combine ingredients
• Spray a muffin pan, divide mixture into 12
• Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes
  
  

These muffins have (according to my calculations) ~ 122 calories per muffin! How fabulous is that? Lastly, I made up a veganized version of these bars. I used 2 tablespoons of flax and 6 tablespoons of water instead of the 2 eggs. I also added in dried cherries instead of chocolate chips.

On a side note, I got a VERY fun package from the people at Galaxy Granola on Wednesday. They are releasing two new flavors (review to come). Any guesses on what the people who promote Fruit Not Fat have put together?

I hope you enjoy your weekend! What are you up to? And now for the Frank picture of the day (yes, his head is really that big):