We had rain in the forecast today, so we decided to get up and get some errands done. We went to our favorite pub called the Fat Rabbit for lunch, and stopped in at my favorite consignment shop. There was a pair of sandals I’ve been eyeballing and they were still there so I got them!!
We went to the local running store and all got new shoes, and went to Sprouts for some produce.
The sun finally came out so we finished the day at the pool.
Why do the weekends go by so fast? How was your weekend?
Last week was difficult to get through, to say the least. I think the week compounded by some crazy work drama that I was NOT expecting. You know the old saying, “When it rains, it pours!” right? Well, someone forgot her umbrella last week so I was drenched by the end of the week.
photo cred: tumblrgifs.com
I was completely over myself, so Friday night we had “family movie night” and watched “Raiders of the Lost Arc.” I then proceeded to have an extra couple glasses of wine, LOL, which led to an uninterrupted night’s sleep. Something I haven’t had in weeks. I woke up with a purpose, and that was to SMILE as much as possible over the weekend.
Here are my reasons to smile over the weekend, via photos.
lunch with my daughters
We found a new dress for our Chicago staycation weekend next month. We’re going to see “The Lion King” and S wanted a new dress! 12 bucks at Once Upon a Child! Score!
Because wearing deodorant for the first time warrants a pic, at least according to her, LOL!!
Back at it with my planking after a few days off.
And this:
My heart is full, indeed.
My new wrap bracelet, and daily reminder.
Thanks to my friend Teri for getting me up and out the door on Sunday morning. We ran at a nice easy pace and both got a lot off our chest. Having felt pretty alone the last few weeks this is JUST what I needed. 6 miles later, and we were both smiling.
How was your weekend? What do you do to make yourself smile during tough times?
My weekend was all over the place in regards to emotional highs, lows, and everything in between. Although I’ll keep the reasoning behind my roller coaster a bit vague, I will say I have learned from the events and feel better for it. It’s all about moving forward, right?
Friday night was a quiet night filled with Netflix and relaxing after a yummy night of sushi. (Sushi is carbloading too, right? lol). It would be an early night for both the hubby and I as he had his reserve duty weekend and I had a long run in the wee hours of the morning. I got all my gear set out, battled with some tummy issues, and drank some water before bed. I woke up at 5:45 am, battled with some more tummy issues and finally got dressed and headed to run club. My friend Deb agreed to slow her pace and run my scheduled 13 miles with me. YAY!
The first half of our run was pretty uneventful despite me having to stop several times to stretch out my ITB that was pulling hard on my right knee. We laughed, talked, and laughed some more. Halfway through we stopped to take a selfie with the Fox River in the background.
LOVE ❤
The second half of our run was a bit tougher with some really strong winds on our faces, but we kept pushing forward. We finished strong, and celebrated with coffee (her) and pomegranate lemonade for me. I even splurged and had a breakfast sandwich on an ‘everything’ bagel. YUM.
I spent the rest of the day with my daughter’s, and we shopped til we dropped at “Once Upon a Child, “Plato’s Closet,” and Clothes Mentor” stocking up for our warmer weather wardrobe. We all found some really cute items, and everyone came out with smiles, especially my bank account. Gotta love consignment shopping!
Today was chores, food prep and Sunday Supper. I made my own protein smoothies and stored them in previously used water bottles! Recycling=Winning! The smoothies were simple.
Berry Mocha Smoothie
1/2 cup of blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries
3 scoops of chocolate protein powder
16 ounces of water
Liquefy in a blender, and strain out the seeds. Transfer to the bottles and refrigerate
Banana Strawberry Chocolate Smoothie
1 cup of strawberries
2 bananas
3 scoops of protein powder
16 ounces of water
Liquefy in a blender, and strain out the seeds. Transfer to the bottles and refrigerate
I also spent time organizing my groceries after shopping, getting everything prepped and ready for the week. I am battling the scale and my marathon weight gain, NOW.
I’m ready for the week!
Tonight’s Sunday Supper was a simple pork roast in the crock poat with roasted veggies.
Pork Roast in a crock pot
Season pork roast with kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder and season salt. Sear the roast on all sides in a cast iron skillet and set aside.
In your crock pot, add on can of tomato puree, 2 cups of unsalted chicken or veggie stock, roughly chop 1 carrot, 1 onion, 2 stocks of celery and 3 cloves of garlic. Also add in 2 bay leaves (remove later) and Italian seasoning to taste. Add your roast to the crock pot, and cook on low for 6 hours.
While my roast was making magic in the crock pot I decided to go for a walk to stretch my legs. My daughters even joined me, YAY!
Winning!
Roasted Veggies
1 cup string beans
1 shallot-sliced
1 sweet potato-julienned
1/2 cup of Shitake mushrooms-sliced
2 cloves of garlic finely sliced
Place in a bowel, and toss with 1 teaspoon coconut oil, 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and chives. I also added some grated parmesan cheese for a little bite! Roast at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes.
DELISH AND Healthy!
Now after a weekend filled with more time on my feet than I care to admit, I am going to retire to my couch!
How was your week? Do you food prep for the week? What’s your favorite smoothie flavor?
Sundays are always usually a good day in my household when I am not scheduled to work. I think because of a few reasons. Some of which being, I normally do most of my laundry Friday night, and spend the majority of Saturday trying to get the chores done around the house. I do this, so I can at least have ONE day to have some fun, be it relaxing, shopping, what have you. I also almost always cook Sunday Supper, even if it’s something simple. But I’m jumping ahead…
Every few months the girls and I love to head out to our local consignment stores to pick up a few things. I LOVE clothes, always have, but I don’t love paying full price for anything other than a new pair of running shoes…you just can’t buy those used. My youngest, S, loves ‘Once Upon a Child’ and will spend quite a bit of time going through the leggings, skirts, and shirts to create the perfect outfit. Today we got her several outfits to include a handful of skirts, a couple pairs of pants, a dress for spring, 2 pairs of tennis shoes and several shirts. We walked out of the store with a large garbage sized bag of clothes for $88 and change. WINNING.
Next it was my eldest daughter J’s turn to shop. She isn’t as big on the whole consignment shopping gig, but realizes it gets her more clothes, more often, so she is pretty good about being thankful. She ended up with 8 or so shirts, and me with a running vest, two running tanks, and a pair of Converse along with S getting 2 work out T’s for just over $100. If you would have paid retail for these clothes between both stores (name brands included Hollister, Forever 21, American Eagle etc) we would have paid at least 2-3 thousand dollars I am guessing. Yet we paid 200 bucks. More WINNING.
That got J and I talking as we drove to a running store for me to test drive some shoes. Even if we HAD the money, would we pay full price for something as silly as clothes? We agreed, nope…All 3 of us love getting new items, and tire easily of our wardrobe so it’s awesome in my eyes, that we can share our bargain shopping together. ❤
Pic credit: retailmenot.com
I also, test drove these bad boys that I think are the winner winner of my marathon training’s chicken dinner. Hope to have time to pick them up tomorrow so I can give them a test drive on Tuesday. (I need a neutral running shoe that still provides cushion and stability-these seem perfect!)
Brooks Launch 2’s
Since the hubby is home briefly for his drill weekend (his first weekend as the Commander I might add, woop woop so proud!) I jumped at the chance to make our traditional Sunday Supper. I kept it simple as J had Badminton practice tonight. (She’s super excited to try out for the HS team, and it’s nice to see her excited about, well, anything other than locking herself in her room to read).
Tonight we have for you, a stuffed chicken tenderloin served with roasted fingerling potatoes and sautéed cauliflower and red cabbage.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Chicken
1 package of tenderloins, dried and pounded out with a tenderizer. Season each piece with kosher salt, and pepper.
Place on a cookie sheet that has been lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray.
Layer each piece of chicken with one piece of prosciutto, and one piece of mozzarella cheese that have been cut 1/8 inch thick. Top with another chicken tenderloin. Repeat until all tenderloins have been “stuffed” and topped. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, and season lightly with Italian seasonings. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. (Don’t worry when you see a lot of the cheese oozing out, it’s magic happening!)
Fingerling potatoes
Wash potatoes with cool water, and dry on a kitchen towel. Place the potatoes in a bowl and add 2 cloves of minced garlic, kosher salt and pepper to taste, and 1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese. Drizzle in a couple teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil, and mix well. Pour the tots on to a cookie sheet that has been lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Ensure there is an even layer, and place in the oven with the chicken, on the bottom rack. Cooking time is the same as the chicken; ensure tots are cooked until fork tender.
Cauliflower and Red cabbage
Clean and chop one head of white cauliflower, set aside. Mince 1 clove of garlic, and add to a pan that is heated to medium/high heat with extra virgin olive oil. Add in a pinch of red pepper flakes, and sauté for about 2 minutes. (Don’t burn the garlic!!) Add in the cauliflower, and cook until the veg has a bite to it still. In the last minute or two, add in 1/4 cup of chopped red cabbage. Season with kosher salt and pepper. Garnish with a pinch of parsley.
this pic really doesn’t do the dish justice. GREAT comfort food right here. And healthy too!
Questions! Do you try to have one family meal each week? What are your feelings on consignment shopping? What are your favorite running shoes?
With not having much of a break last week, well, no break at all in fact-I realized I’ve been slacking on the blog the last few days. Ack…my bad!
Having had worked New Year’s day, I decided to make the very most of this weekend with my family. I work next weekend, so we decided to do all the fun family stuffs. Friday I came home from work to a wonderfully cooked meal of BBQ chicken and veggies by my hubby, as well as to find all of the Christmas decorations had been taken down and put away. Score. I was ready to move past the holidays. Friday night we relaxed and watched the movie, “Big Night” starring Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub. It is an older film, from 1996, but the story was based on the relationship of two brothers who had moved to the United States from Italy to open their own restaurant. At first, you think the movie is going to be about food but in reality it’s about their passion FOR Italian food, and the relationship the two brothers share. Great flick, and I highly recommend it to any food enthusiast, or movie lover alike.
Rated 5 stars on Rotten Tomatoes!
Saturday we decided to take the family to see MockingJay part 1 at the theater (GREAT movie), and have dinner at a place we haven’t tried yet that is located in Geneva, IL. Local readers, I HIGHLY recommend The Patton house, which is on 2nd street in downtown Geneva. We had bacon wrapped figs to start, and my entrée was a spicy salmon fillet over a sweet potato puree with a maple demi glaze. To. Die. For.
Today was my day to go shopping at my favorite consignment shop, Clothes Mentor, with the gift cards I received for Christmas. This store makes me happy. What can I say…I showed up with a small bag of clothes (they buy back too!) for which I received 15 dollars, as well as had a 5 dollar coupon. At the end of my spree, I bought a cute purse, Franco Sarto shoes, and several sweaters, shirts, 2 pairs of pants and a sweater dress all for $225.00. 18 items, at an average of $12.50 cents each, and keep in mind these are all high end brand names…Ann Taylor, BCBG max, White house Black market, Nike (yes, I had to get workout clothes too!) and Banana Republic just to name a few…yup…this girl came out HAPPY as a clam. I used to love fashion, but found that over the last several years I forgot to pamper myself too…so although I can’t afford these clothes brand new, I sure can bargain shop!
I still can’t run as my thumb is still on the mend, but am praying one more week and I’ll be cleared to run. Starting now, since my marathon training starts in about 6 weeks I will be eating A LOT healthier, and cutting back on my wine intake…scary, I know…but it’s needed. I am going back to my high protein diet, as it truly made me feel healthier and stronger. I’ve fallen off the wagon and have been eating far too much rice/rice pasta. I’ll still have these yummy things once or twice a week…just not daily. I was however able to cook Sunday supper tonight, which tasted great, but didn’t look very pretty…my meal prep looks much nicer…LOL!
My friend posted this on my time line today…LOL
My friends know my weakness all too well!
Salad! yum!
Prime Rib with my red pepper and carrot puree! Plating is sloppy, but hey I only have 9 fingers. LOL
Meal prep for tomorrow’s breakfast and lunch
With no true resolutions this year, I can say I have lofty goals of branching out, somehow…in my career, and in my life. What that means? I’m not 100% sure yet…
What are your goals for the year?? Do you make resolutions? Do you shop consignment?
Movin' it with Michelle 