Kiddo & Cookies

Happy Friday! I’m so glad its the weekend. Josh has been on travel all week and we cannot wait to have him back home. Few pictures of the kiddo from this week:

She decided she loves cauliflower & carrots-

and Daddy (Happy Father’s day Josh!!):

 

our new favorite snack is rice cakes and peanut butter. When Kaylin gets bored of the rice cake, she licks the peanut butter off ;). Rice cake cheers:

After being awesome while I was getting some shopping done, I decided Kay deserved a new toy, pooh ball:

This week has been a little non-stop. I taught 7 classes between Monday-Friday, worked, and had the usual at home responsibilities (baby, dog, cleaning, etc). Kay also had her second gymnastics class. She did much better this week (she was super scared the first week). Her favorite thing to do is “cartwheels” over the mat.

We also got in some great time outside. I love SC:

and of course, baked! I made Maria’s GF vegan banana peanut butter chocolate chip cookies:

  

and I picked up a few new-to-me Quest products:

  

Off to prep dinner then go swimming. This weekend we have brunch and BBQ plans to celebrate Father’s day. A big happy father’s day to my dad and Josh’s dad too! What are you up to??

48 Hour Trip

Phew! I’m exhausted! We just went on a 48 hour trip to Philadelphia to watch Josh’s amazing brother graduate from medical school.

Traveling to a northern city threw us outside our comfort zone, but we had an absolute blast.

Kay was a total trooper. She slept through the plane ride on the way there and back, and went all day Thursday without a real nap.  

She was a little confused by the whole graduation process:

 

and was proud (as we all were) to see her Uncle Jer graduate:

she passed out right after he walked across the stage for about 10 minutes:

  

Go Jer!

 

Then we had an amazing lunch at Maggiano’s with friends and family to celebrate the big guy:

 

and then drove a bit:

  to have a family dinner at Elizabeth’s:

 

 

 

Congratulations to Jer!! Medical school is a ridiculous amount of work (I had no idea how intense it really is). Words cannot express how proud we are of him.

And now- weekend time!!! What are you up to? After we flew back in this morning, Kaylin and I went for a run and went food shopping. Tonight- easy dinner! Tomorrow, teaching and time with Josh and Kay. Sunday, probably a run and dinner with friends.

Strawberry Shortcake Bake

It has been such a fun weekend! Ours has been filled with family, food & fitness. On Saturday morning, I taught step and then we met out-of-town friends for brunch. After a walk & nap, we headed to Josh’s parents for a yummy dinner. I made Maria’s chickamole dip as an appetizer:

We swam, ate & enjoyed time together. It was just wonderful!

Sunday morning, I got up early to put together a dessert for a party at my parents house. I wanted to make a strawberry shortcake bake. I sort of “winged it” and it turned out pretty darn good (recipe below):

I also made a batch of cookies:

  We spent lots of time outside at my parents, it was such a beautiful weekend:

What have you been up to this longgg weekend? I am off to teach pump and then am hoping to get in more time outside!

Strawberry Shortcake Bake:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs strawberries (cleaned and quartered)
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
• 1/4 cup almond milk (or any other kind of milk)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 3/4 cups oats

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 F

In a large bowl, mix together strawberries and sugar. Let mixture sit while you prepare the “cake”

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter and brown sugar. Add the egg, flaxseed, milk, and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Stir in AP flour, baking soda & oats. Mix until combined.  Press 2/3 of the dough into the bottom of a 9x 13” pan sprayed with non-stick pan. 

Bake for 8 minutes.

Remove base from oven, top evenly with strawberries. Drop remaining bits of cake over berries. Return to oven and bake for 20 minutes (until lightly browned). Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

My Favorite Breakfast & Meal Plan

OK! I swear, I’m getting back on track with blogging this week! Did you have a nice weekend? This weekend was almost completely unplanned for us…which was amazing! Friday night, we went to dinner with friends and did a little shopping.

Saturday morning, I had step and then went to the farmers market:

 

Saturday afternoon, we got a bundle done around the house and then went swimming at Josh’s parents house:

 Saturday night was an easy dinner/relaxing at home. 

Sunday morning, we went to my favorite breakfast spot.

  We hadn’t been there in a while and I was missing it! We started off with coffee and then Josh/Kaylin/I split a fruit parfait & oatmeal. SO yum. I didn’t get many pictures because we were balancing the toddler zoo:

Sunday afternoon, I went for an easy run and then got a few more things done around the house. It was a perfect weekend!

This weeks meal plan:

• Friday: Out with friends
• Saturday: Salads with shrimp
• Sunday: Maria’s smashed chickpea and avocado salad (I followed Maria’s recipe except I subbed in chopped red onion for the green onion):

   

   Josh and I are huge fans of this recipe! I cannot wait to make it again! Thank you Maria!!

• Monday: Pineapple black bean burger bowls (recipe to come)
• Tuesday: My take on Ree Drummond’s seafood pasta in a foil pack
• Wednesday: Mish Mosh meal (leftovers, this and that) including healthier spinach and artichoke dip
• Thursday: Brinner! Probably pancakes

Tell me something you’re planning to eat this week.

Happy Mother’s Day & Meal Plan

Hope everyone is having a great weekend & a happy Mother’s day (to all the Mom’s out there). A very SPECIAL Happy Mother’s day to my Mom & Josh’s Mom!! Our weekend has been just perfect:

 

And my Mother’s day has been a joy:Words can’t describe how much joy my peanut has brought to my life.

I wanted to share with you our meal plan for the week:

Friday: Kabobs, green beans & pineapple

Saturday: Spicy turkey burgers (I added panko, diced jalapenos, diced pineapple into the burgers), cauliflower, more pineapple

Sunday: Out- Chipotle!!

Monday: The burrito filler was such a hit, we’re having it again

Tuesday: Work dinner

Wednesday: Stuffed potatoes

Thursday: Omelets

What is on your menu this week?

Easter Weekend

I’ll try to be mostly wordless. The weekend was great: I ran, relaxed, and spent lots of time with family. Easter brunch Saturday with my parents:

 

 

Neighborhood Easter egg hunt:

Sunday Easter Brunch with Josh’s side. My “big” contribution ;)

Kaylin got a tent!

Love of my life:

Happiness is:

Kaylin and her "Aunt” and Aunt:

How was your weekend?

Beach, More Ellie & Ellie Giveaway!

How was your weekend? We had a family filled weekend and it was great. After teaching Step on Saturday, Josh and I headed to the beach with Kaylin:          

 

She loved being near the water, but wasn’t too sure about the sand:

 

She also liked the swings:

 

Are you a beach fan? I love listening to the ocean- so peaceful! But…I prefer swimming in a pool.

Outside the beach trip, we went to dinner with Josh’s parents, and went and visited my parents for lunch on Sunday. I also fit in a nice outdoor run on Sunday.

I’ve said it before, but I really like the new Ellie clothes (disclaimer: I received these for free!). They wear and wash great! The customer service with the company has been amazing. The first top I received was a little too large, so they sent me two tops to replace it. Here is the first, the first with my Ellie capris (notice Kaylin running around like nuts):

and my second top:

I wore the top again for our Attack launch this morning:

Giveaway time! I am giving away the first top I received that was just a bit too big for me. It fits like a medium and you can see it here on Annette’s blog. If you’re interested in the top, just let me know in the comments! I’ll leave this giveaway open until Friday, March 15 at noon. You DO NOT need to have a blog to enter!

Also- I will be having a second giveaway on Wednesday to celebrate my 5 year blog birthday!