Weekly Eats and Patriotic Treats

Rhyming title… super cool.

Weekly Eats

Last week was a short week to meal plan for, since we only needed a few dinners and lunches before heading away for our weekend plans.

On Sunday night, we made six grilled chicken and plum salads to get us through our lunches until Wednesday.  And we didn’t use just any plums, we used grilled plums!  Grilling the plums brought out extra sweetness in the fruit, which we thought paired well with the greens we used.  I think next time we grill our plums, we’d use an even more bitter green as a base.

Grilled Chicken and Grilled Plum Salad

And here’s the lineup of how our dinners turned out:

Sunday
Grilled shrimp and veggie skewers, with a side caprese salad

Shrimp and Veggie Skewers

Monday
Grilled eggplant and chickpea salad, a nice blast from the past.

Grilled eggplant and chickpea salad

Tuesday
Grilled salmon, with sautéed Swiss chard and grilled garlic scapes on the side

Grilled Salmon and Swiss Chard

Wednesday
A random throw together taco night before heading down to the Cape… leftover salmon pieces, black beans, red onion, pineapple chunks, and bok choy.

Bok Choy and Pineapple Tacos

For the 4th of July, we had plenty of food!  Here are some highlights from Thursday and Friday.

Patriotic Treats

Fun breakfast… plain Chobani yogurt with sliced strawberries, Uncle Dan’s quiche, a blueberry muffin, and some sliced cantaloupe.

4th of July breakfast

The red, white, and blue salsa that we brought for an appetizer…

Red White and Blue Salsa

An assortment of awesomeness for our BBQ dinner…

4th of July BBQ

I also made a red, white, and blue trifle for dessert.

Patriotic Trifle

Another highlight were the steamers enjoyed by the marina at The Summer Shanty, my favorite Cape Cod bar.

Summer Shanty Steamers

Other food from the included various munchies, brownies, sandwiches at the beach, and lots of adult beverages.

Last week I encouraged readers to share their own patriotic treats with me via social media, and I did have a few people send things in.  I figured this would be a good place to share.

–> Kaylin @kaylinberube sent in this amazing looking watermelon fresca cocktail via Instagram.  This is a Tone It Up Girls concoction!

4th of July cocktail

–> On Twitter, Mary @marykcurran sent in a picture of a festive dip her friend made for the 4th of July party they had.  I bet this was delicious (minus the olives for me!).

4th of july dip

–> Amber @amberwilliams76 also sent in a yummy picture on Instagram.  She said her friend baked these beautiful cupcakes!  So colorful!

4th of july cupcakes

And finally, Liz texted me a picture of her white chocolate covered strawberries.  She says they didn’t come out right, but I bet they still tasted so yummy.

White Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Thanks for sending pics of your treats, ladies!  So fun!

Finally, the last meal and treats I want to share with you today are from Jen‘s wedding.  First, lunch from the restaurant at the hotel:

Desmond Hotel Restaurant Lunch

Second, my dinner plate at the wedding:

Salmon from Jen's Wedding

And last, hands down my favorite (of many) splurges from the week:

cupcakes from Jen's wedding

Un-frickin-believable cupcakes.  So good.

Have you ever grilled plums before?  What was the best thing you ate last week?  Anyone else make any patriotic treats they’d like to share?  Favorite splurge?

This week’s meal plan is off to a good start.  We were able to do a lot of Sunday food prep yesterday.  Coming up this week for lunches include grilled beet salads, farro and veggie salads, and avocado egg wraps.  And for dinners, pesto chicken skewers and veggie burgers.

…I just love food so much!

Weekly Workouts {Or Lack Thereof}

Good morning!  I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend.  I certainly enjoyed unplugging and getting away for the weekend.  I had lots of sun and family/boyfriend time down the Cape from Wednesday night through Friday night, and I had a blast at Jen‘s wedding on Saturday.  Both events were definitely too short, but they made me excited for my upcoming week off in just a few weeks.  This vacation can’t come soon enough!

With the holiday week, I certainly had all the best intentions to get five workouts in, but they just didn’t all happen.  It wasn’t a full rest week, but it was still de-loaded.  And that’s okay!  I know my workouts this week will feel just that much better.

Weekly Workouts

Last Week’s Workouts

Sunday
Rest

Monday
Treadmill sprints + 15 minutes of core strength work

20 minute treadmill sprints

Tuesday
Two A Day Tuesday, patriotic style!  Took Liz’s Kickboxing class, then taught my “Red White & Blue” workout.

4th of July Workout

Wednesday
Off

Thursday
Morning run before the beach, followed by some quick lower body and ab work.  I did 15 front lunges right, 15 front lunges left, 15 squats, and plank.  Then repeated for three times total.

Friday
Off

Saturday
Off

This Week’s Workouts

Here’s the plan for the upcoming week!

  • Sunday:  Off
  • Monday:  Core strength class, followed by Cardio Cutz class
  • Tuesday:  Two A Day — I’m teaching both classes this week
  • Wednesday:  Workout TBD or rest
  • Thursday:  Teaching my 6am class
  • Friday:  Cycle + core class
  • Saturday:  Workout TBD or rest

How was everyone’s 4th?  Anyone else feel a bit lax in their workout schedule because of the holiday week?

Before I go, here’s a special F&F birthday shout-out to Tim’s sister Katie!  Hope you have a great day!