Category: Dinner

Chicken Sausage & Veggie Quinoa Salad w/Lemon-Basil Dressing

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Hey there! After I made that delicious Caprese Orzo Salad, I knew that more summer salads were in my future, and boy was I right! This past weekend was another hot and humid one, so the last thing I wanted to do was turn on the oven and make a big, hot meal. Not only did I not want to cook that, I didn’t want to eat that; no need in raising the body temperature any more than it already was! I got another craving for chicken sausages, so I picked up a package at Market Basket along with some veggies and quinoa. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do a pasta dish or quinoa dish, but the sale on quinoa made that decision very easy!

I went into the meal with really no recipe but did consult a blog for the “dressing”. Originally, I wanted to use marinara sauce and bake the dish, but once I decided that I would rather have a cold salad, those ideas/plans went out the window. Luckily, I was able to find an easy recipe for the dressing (found it here– I only used the dressing recipe, although the rest of the recipe looks delish!) and the rest I just threw together.

Chicken & Veggie Quinoa Salad with a Lemon-Basil Dressing

  • 3 Chicken sausage links
  • 3/4 cup dried quinoa
  • 1 1/4 cup chicken broth (reduced sodium)
  • 1 cup chopped onions
  • 3/4 cup chopped green peppers
  • 1 cup chopped broccoli
  • Corn from 1 ear of corn
  • 4 tbsp. lemon juice
  • 3 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 tsp honey or agave
  • 1 tbsp. finely chopped basil

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1. Bring chicken broth and quinoa to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for about 15 minutes. While the quinoa is cooking, chop your veggies. Let the onions cook first (about 3 minutes) and then add the green peppers, broccoli and corn. I poured a little of the leftover chicken broth into the veggie pan to help steam the veggies a little.

2. Cut up the chicken sausage and add to the veggies.

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3. Prepare the dressing: combine the lemon juice through chopped basil. Once the quinoa and veggies and sausage are done, combine and pour the dressing onto the mixture. Mix well.

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I put mine in the fridge to cool before eating, but my sister thought eating cold meat was weird, so she heated hers up. I don’t mind eating cold meat, especially on a hot day, so I served mine cool and loved it! Although it seems like you might need something extra on the side to make this a full “meal,” I was fully satisfied with this “as is”. Ok, that’s a lie, Danielle did make garlic bread that was really tasty to eat along side this salad. Everything in moderation, right?!

Questions for you: Do you like chicken sausage? Do you mind eating cold meat or would you rather it hot?

Something Weird is Going On… And, I’m Sick- Again!

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Hey B2B readers- Happy Friday! It would be a happier Friday for me if I wasn’t so sick 😦 On Monday, I started to get that “oh boy, I may be getting sick” feeling and sure enough, I was awake most of Monday night with post nasal drip and an itchy throat. From there, it turned to just a sore throat, to a sore throat with sinus pressure and now I have it all, including a cough that kept me up for 3 hours in the middle of the night last night! Needless to say, it’s not fun, especially since I was supposed to go to a going away party for one of my favorite Dynamax members at a fun bar in Southie that I’ve wanted to go to for ages! And, what was going to make the night even more fun was the fact that I DON’T have to teach tomorrow morning!! This is the first weekend in a while that I have totally off- no teaching, no traveling, nothing. It’s a great feeling, I just wish I felt better! I think my body just decided that since I have a relatively open weekend, it was a good time to get sick- makes sense, right? Who knows!

Anyway! This week has been much less busy than last week! I called my mom when I left work on Monday and said I wasn’t sure if I felt like going to the gym, but it turns out, I must have wanted to go because I went and had an awesome workout! Only 10 minutes of rowing cardio throughout the whole thing- the rest was all weight training-focused and I loved it! Tuesday I subbed for Athena’s class at the Oak Square YMCA; I was finally able to make it for a “two-a-day”, but I think that’s what got me more sick:( Wednesday I taught, but didn’t do much of the workout and yesterday I taught and only instructed in SHRED and taught the low-impact version of kickboxing.

After kickboxing, my friend Meaghan and I met for sushi at Yoki in Cambridge since it’s only a block from my gym. I thought about cancelling because I had no voice, but we were so long overdue for a sushi date that I decided to keep the plans. So glad I did! It’s always so nice to catch up with Meg, especially since she had so many fun wedding updates to share! Thanks for a fun night, Meg!

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Something Weird is Going On…

So, as I said in my title- something really weird has been going on: I haven’t had dessert in over a week! I know, if you’re anyone who knows me and knows how much I LOVE sweets, you know that me going even a day with no dessert is unheard of! Now, I’m not saying I have a huge ice cream sundae every day, but I’ll have a few bites of a cookie after lunch and dinner and always a couple bites of ice cream at night.

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Last week I had a weird stomach thing going on all week, so the thought of sweets created a huge aversion for me. This week, even though I don’t have stomach issues anymore, I still haven’t craved sweets and therefore, haven’t eaten them. And, you know what? I have survived!!! It’s so interesting because I always said that I could never give up sweets- like ever! But, it turns out, I never really NEEDED those sweets after every meal. I think it had turned into a habit, thus making me think I wasn’t satisfied until I had a bite of something sweet to finish off my meal.

With this being said, I am by no means “swearing off sweets”, I am just going to be more mindful of eating them. I think I’ve made it clear that I am not one for diets or restrictions or anything like that; I firmly believe in the saying “everything in moderation” when it comes to food. But, with that said, I never needed as many as I ate, so it actually feels good to not crave them all the time. I am a little nervous, though, because what if as soon as I have a bite of something sweet, I revert back to my crazy sweet-tooth ways?! Has anyone else ever gone through anything like this? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Questions for you: Have you heard of a lot of people getting sick this time of year? Have you ever given up food that has been hard for you to give up? Do you have a big sweet tooth?

A Regular Ol’ Southern Meal

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Hey friends! I don’t know about you, but hot, summer weather just screams BBQ to me. Since I have yet to buy a grill, I thought of other ways I could achieve the feel of a summer BBQ meal. Enter: pulled chicken. After 7 summers working at Shaw’s Ridge Farm with some of my favorite people (Meredith, included!), I’ve developed a very soft spot in my heart for all things BBQ: pulled chicken, pulled pork, ribs, baked beans, coleslaw… you get the idea. On Sunday, since the weather was so hot, I decided to put my Shaw’s Ridge BBQ Barn skills to use and make myself a Southern Meal!

I found this recipe over at Eat Live Run and have made it a bunch of times. Every time, without fail, we all rave about about how GOOD it is. And, my favorite part about this recipe is that it is really easy. Although it is technically a crock pot meal, every time I’ve made it I do it on the stove and let it simmer for an hour or so and I think it’s probably just as good!

I copied Jenna’s recipe exactly, except I added 1/2 cup minced onions and I did not cook it in a crock pot.

BBQ Pulled Chicken- recipe from Eat, Live, Run

Serves 4-6

  • 1 and 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (dark meat has the most flavor!)
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped onions
  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 T Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 T Apple cider vinegar
  • 1 T yellow mustard
  • 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 tsp garlic salt

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1. Chop onions and cook until they are clear. Add in the remainder of the ingredients (ketchup through garlic salt) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let the sauce simmer for an hour or two, depending on how much time you have!

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2. While your sauce is simmering, cook your chicken. Normally, I would boil it or bake it, but the pot was dirty and it was REALLY hot, so I cooked it in a pan. When it was cooked through I removed it from the pan, let it cool and then shredded it.

3. When the sauce had thickened and reduced, I added in the shredded chicken and stirred to combine everything.

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I served my BBQ pulled chicken with baked beans, rice and corn on the cob; the only thing missing was coleslaw. Next time!

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This meal totally hit the spot for a hot, summer night and I am already looking forward to leftovers! I bought some wraps so I may make a BBQ pulled chicken quesadilla or wrap later in the week.

Questions for you: Do you prefer pulled chicken or pulled pork? Do you make your own BBQ sauce or buy it?

Pedicure, Hair Appt & Christy’s Bachelorette Party in NH

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As I mentioned yesterday, I had a busy weekend! I was literally in bed before 10pm on Friday night since I was so beat from the week and wanted to be rested for my busy Saturday. I slept like a freaking rock and woke up at 8 ready for the day! I headed to Brighton to teach my 3rd week in a row of Kickboxing. The members in that class are SO nice. One lady said that I must teach a good class if she’s made it to a Saturday class 3 weeks in a row- what a nice compliment! Ashley was also there, which was a nice treat:) Hope your dress fitting went well!!

After teaching, I showered quickly and headed to one of my old stand-by mani/pedi salon in Oak Square. Since moving to Somerville, I haven’t been able to find one that I like so I was happy to have time between teaching and my hair apt to get a pedi!

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I didn’t have time for a full mani, but they said they could quickly paint my nails. Talk about being pampered!

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From there, I headed into the city to get my hair cut at Mitchell John Salon. I love Janet, who cuts my hair, but didn’t love that she had gone up in price AGAIN. I’m going to have to start going back to Maine to get my hair done… it’s about a third of the price!

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#selfie 😉

Sheila and I carpooled to NH for Christy’s Bachelorette party. Christy’s fiancé has a beautiful, huge home in Hampton, NH so we all met up there to have apps and cocktails before dinner.

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I tried to stick to the veggies, but Kia brought her healthy spinach dip again so of course I chowed face on that too. Kia, you need to send me the recipe… or maybe guest blog!? Everyone would love it!

After we snacked a bit, we had Christy open all of the lingerie gifts we brought her. This was a really fun idea and it was nice that some people bought practical items and some bought silly ones 😉

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Before the driver came, we took a few pictures. Christy and AJ aren’t technically “SMC girls”, but they’ve been around with us for so long that we have adopted them.

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(Sheila, AJ, Christy, me and Kia)

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(Christy and her Maid of Honor, Kerri)

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(My girls! Kia Amy, Christy, me, Sheila, AJ. Sheila thought a prom pose was appropriate.)

The bridal party organized a lovely menu and dinner at Roberts in Kittery. I have driven by there a million times, but had never eaten there.

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I was happy that they set up a fixed prix menu for us… made the decision so much easier!

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I went with the Haddock and it was delicious and felt really light and healthy. Perfect meal for a night when you’re going out!

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The girls all got fun cocktails, Amy got a fun beer flight, but I was boring and stuck to Chardonnay! We had Margs and Sangria before we left the house, so that was my fill of fun drinks 😉

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After dinner, we headed into Portsmouth to start the festivities. No bachelorette party is complete without fun gear! Look how stinking cute Christy was!

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We started at an outdoor bar that was on a deck on the water. I didn’t know that Portsmouth had a whole line up of places on the water!

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From there, we decided to go to the back patio at Gas Light. My family has gone to the Gas Light so many times, but I had never been outside at night- it was a happening place!

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After that drink, we headed up to the 3rd floor which is basically a club. We went there after Rachel’s wedding and it was so fun… last night was no different!

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Whoops! 😉 No idea how that happened. It may look like we all got crazy, but I think everyone actually stayed in control! Sheil and I drank waters for the rest of the night- best.idea.ever. We couldn’t bring drinks on the dance floor anyway, and that’s where I wanted to be! So fun.

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Bars close at 1 so we had our driver get us around 12:45 and immediately snacked on all the apps leftover from before dinner. I hate drunk eating, but when you’re with all your girls and rehashing the night, it makes it worth it 🙂

Thanks for such a fun night ladies! Christy, cannot wait for your big day… it’s going to be a blast!

Questions for you: Do you have a lot of bachelorette parties this summer? What is your drink of choice when you’re at a bar? Favorite restaurant in Portsmouth?

It’s Been A Busy Week!

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Hey there! Happy Saturday! So, I have a secret to tell you: I wrote all of my posts this week on Sunday. Since I knew I was going to have a super busy week with really no blog time, I spent a few hours on Sunday getting all of the posts set for the week. SUCH a great idea! But, since I didn’t share anything from the week, I figured I’d fill you in now!

On Monday, Jess and I were supposed to get together after work to film “Mommy’s Moves,” but the weather made a big turn for the worse and we were rained out. I had plans with Jess and some other friends to visit Lauren on her shift at Ironside Grill to watch the Bruins, but that wasn’t until 8pm, meaning I had some time to kill after work. I had gotten up and ran a 5K before work, so I figured since I had my gym stuff, I’d head up to the gym at my work and do strength and abs to complete my workout for the day (also, it was pouring rain and thundering and lightening so I needed to wait that out). As I was finishing my workout, Sheila texted and invited me over for dinner prior to the bar- perfect! I showed up and she had an awesome meal all ready to grill!

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YUM! Thanks for a delicious and healthy dinner, Sheil! And, on top of a great meal, there was a double rainbow as we were heading to the bar!

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I seriously love rainbows. They totally amaze me! Anyone else see it on Monday?

I wasn’t able to stay out very late because I knew I had to get up at 5am on Tuesday to head to NYC. I had to go for the day for a client meeting, which is fine, but it makes for a long day! Especially when your 5pm flight gets cancelled and delayed and you don’t leave until after 9pm. Yuck. Needless to say, I worked from home on Wednesday. I went for another run before I started working and boy was it hot! Nothing like sweaty legs, right?

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I’m still amazed every time that happens. It’s so weird! Anyway! I finished up work around 5:30 and walked the 2 miles to get the T at Davis Square since I was meeting work people out in the city when I finished teaching. Tim was up from Florida and Chris was up from Texas, so I promised them that I’d join them for drinks and dinner. We had a blast and I stayed out later than I do on the weekend… I’m getting wild and crazy I tell ya! 😉

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We had dinner and drinks at Remy’s and then went to the Cigar/Hooka bar later on. I hate the smell of smoke so it was a little gross at first and my eyes were burning, but I got over that quickly.

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(Mom- the boys wanted to take that for you since the glass of wine was SO big. They said it was Momma Gags approved!)

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Fun night- thanks guys!

On Thursday, I left work and taught my double and then went BACK into the city to meet up with the whole team for dinner at Smith and Wollensky. Even though I was exhausted, it was nice to have a big group dinner! I had Chris order me salmon, which was just OK. It was too salty!

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Tim wanted me to share a picture of his meal. I can only imagine how awful that rich, creamy sauce was for you, but I love sauces and had to at least try a bite!

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THAT was a yummy meal. After dinner, it was my job to show them a good time again, but the bars we went to were not that busy! Very strange for a Thursday night. As always, it’s so fun when we all get together!

Friday was another exciting day… I signed the lease papers for my new apartment starting on August 1st!

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I am moving to East Boston and I am really excited! The apartment isn’t perfect by any means, but the kitchen and bathroom are recently renovated which is huge for me. Also, the area is really nice! There is a path along the water for walking and running just 5 minutes from the apartment building. I can’t wait to explore!

To celebrate, I made pizza! My stomach has been wacky since Sunday and my appetite has been off, but pizza sounded good so I went for it!

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That’s not even an Instagram photo! So, so good. In fact, it smelled so good that Charlie woke up from napping in his new spot to see what was going on

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Now THAT is a cat after my own heart! Gotta love the Lulu 😉

Today is another busy day. I am teaching Kickboxing at 10, I have a hair appointment at 12:30, I need to get a pedicure and something for Christy’s bachelorette party in NH that night. We are doing dinner in Kittery and then going out in Portsmouth- I can’t wait!!

Questions for you: Did you have a busy week or relaxing week? Where is your favorite bar to watch sports games? Ever been to a hooka bar? Know of any good restaurants in East Boston?

Have a wonderful Saturday!!!