Category: Dinner

Feeling Greek

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Good morning and happy Monday! Did everyone have a nice weekend? I think we last left off with me sharing our girls night, right? So fun! After publishing that post yesterday, I got very busy with my “Sunday things,” including a Target run, cooking, baking and going for a nice walk.

017How nice was the weather yesterday?! I couldn’t get over it! And I’ll tell ya, gabbing with mom for 30 minutes of my walk definitely helped to pass the time- thanks mom:)

Feeling Greek

With a name like Monique Gagnon, you might be wondering how on earth I could ever feel Greek, right?  Well, last night my sister was invited to her study abroad program’s 50th anniversary at Vlora Restaurant which is on Boylston Street in the Back Bay, and she invited me to join her.  We dined there a few years ago for Danielle’s birthday because she was missing Greek food (she studied abroad in Athens, Greece in the fall of 2009) and have always wanted to go back, so I obviously jumped at the opportunity!

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026As soon as we walked in, they showed us where to go and gave us the tip to order the Sangria- twist my arm- I LOVE sangria!

021My intentions going into this were to have a couple of apps and then save myself to have dinner at home since I had made a delicious looking veggie sauce and chicken sausage (recipe to come soon!), but after chatting (so nice to meet you, Rebecca) and enjoying some adult beverages, I decided that I should probably just make myself a plate. I mean, I love the food there so my meal at home could definitely wait!

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I had a chicken skewer, some grilled veggies, an Arancini ball (total splurge, but so worth it!), tomato and feta skewers and some goat cheese/honey mixture.  Not pictured were the watermelon and feta bites- holy yum! The most refreshing little treat! Definitely check out their menu because if you like Greek/Mediterranean food, it’s totally drool-worthy!

We got home just after 8:30, meaning we were able to catch Revenge! Anyone else following that? Anyone else think that it’s getting a little twisted now?

Social Media

Are you guys following and “liking” me? If you are- thank you!!! If not, check me out:)

Instagram- @burpeestobubbly

Twitter- @burpeestobubbly

Facebook- facebook.com/burpeestobubbly

I hope everyone has a great Monday! I am working from home which always makes Monday seem a little better. I plan on getting my own workout in this morning/today and then teaching Dynamax at the YMCA.

Questions for you: Are you a fan of Greek food? What’s your favorite non-American style food? Do anything share-worthy over the weekend? I love to hear from you!

Girls Night!

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Good morning, everyone! Going into the weekend, I had anticipated that I would wake up today feeling like I had had too much to drink. Lucky for me, last night ended up being much more laid back than I had thought and we were all home and in bed by 11:15!

For those of you who do not know me on a personal level, I live with my sister and our long-time friend from home, Amy. Only 2 miles down the road, lives our other long time friend from home, Rachel (she lives with her husband, but Rachel and I were roommates for the first 3+ years that I lived in Brighton). Sara is the last piece of the “Shapleigh Girls” puzzle, but she lives in NH with her husband (she is expecting a little baby boy on May 30th and we are all SOOO excited!!). Here’s all of us together at Rachel’s bridal shower back in December of 2011:

IMG_0893(From L to R: my sister, Danielle, our roommate, Amy, Sara- who is Amy’s sister- me, and Rachel)

Anyway, Danielle, Amy, Rachel and I try to get together for a “girls night” every month or every month and a half.  We all have very busy lives, so it’s nice to get a night on the calendar where we all go out and catch up for hours!  It’s always fun to figure out what restaurant we are going to go to, as well.

For Danielle and Amy’s birthdays back in December, we went to Sip which was amazing. The wine options and food options and prices were on spot and perfect for our ideal night: order lots of different apps to share and keep the wine coming!

SipLast month (I think?) we went to Gem which is in the downtown crossing area of the city. Amy randomly found this restaurant on a Groupon offer and we LOVED everything about it. The atmosphere and the service and the food were all perfect… and of course, the company was even better. I always feel bad for the people around us because we are SO loud and talk so much. Whoops! This was a super fun night because we went out to Brahmin after.

rachel and me

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shap girls 2Last night, we ended up going to Scollay Square, which is on Beacon Street.

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We had to wait a little bit for our table to be ready, so we grabbed a drink at the bar.

002Shortly after we got our drinks, our table was ready. In typical Shapleigh Girl fashion, we got a bunch of different things to share.  As we finished one item, we would put in an order for something else. I like doing this because it’s so easy to over order when eating out.  By taking it slow and enjoying the things we order in a spaced out time frame, we can gauge our hunger and stop when we are pleasantly satisfied.

We started with the oven-roasted goat cheese and the guacamole (sorry for the dark photo’s…my iphone didn’t like the lighting in the restaurant).

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003Both of these were delicious, but I have to say that the oven-roasted goat cheese was out of this world!! We were just talking about how we needed to try to re-create that in our own home ASAP.

Next up was a Grilled Pear Salad with Chicken

005Our final course was a hamburger (so random), which I failed to get a photo of.  Overall, the food was really good, although we all agreed that it wasn’t our favorite restaurant that we’ve been to.

Post dinner, we decided to grab a quick drink at Mooo, which was right next door. Anyone ever been? It’s a bit on the swanky/upscale end of Boston restaurants, but definitely a fun place to grab a drink!

As you can see, these girls are my everything! We always miss Sara, but when we are all home in Maine together, it’s like nothing has changed. The best part, is that our moms are best friends, too. I mean, look how fun these two are!

IMG_0949(Christine, on the left, is Sara and Amy’s mom, and our mom is on the right)

We are all so lucky that we have remained such good friends for SO long. We were telling the waitress this last night because she was totally getting a kick out of how we were ordering and how much we talked and finished each other’s sentences. What can we say? We are besties!

Questions for you: Do you have any friends like this? Do you try to do a “girls night” every month or two? Any good restaurants to add to our lineup?

I am not sure what the rest of the day entails, but I am hoping some type of physical activity (probably keeping it light since today is supposed to be an active rest day) along with a Target trip and a Sunday meal! Also, my sister studied abroad in Greece at CYA and they are having a get together in Boston tonight, so I told her that I’d join her. Looking forward to it!

Is the Weekend Already?

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Hey there! Anyone else doing the happy Friday dance? Actually, that’s a lie, I haven’t done the dance because today feels like anything BUT a Friday.  With all the travel I have been doing lately, I can’t seem to keep my days straight, and the fact that I had to get up, straighten my hair, put on a suit and go into the office (I work from home on Fridays so my dress code is generally nothing more than pj’s or Lulu) was what really threw me for a loop.

interview(old pic from last year, but I looked exactly like this today… except I wore a skirt because I am ALL about the skirt suits lately! Also, pardon the mess in the background. I swear I am neater than that!)

I had a meeting with a prospective client today, hence the need for going into the office and dressing in non-Lulu attire.

Speaking of Lululemon, has anyone else seen that they have expanded their bathing suit line?!?! Ugh. This is not good for me! But, to be honest with you, the prices are actually more reasonable than I expected, and these ones have SPF50+ protection built into them. I would like to find a store to try one on before I buy one- has anyone seen these at the store lately?

Lulu top lulu back

source, source

(for anyone who is taking notes- I’m probably a size 2 or 4 on the top and a 4 on the bottom… any color is fine… 😉 )

And, I think I finally found the gym bag I have been looking for!

lulu bag source

I’ve been on the hunt for something that is durable, stylish, and can handle a heavy load (laptop, lunch bag, gym clothes, workout binder, etc), and I think this could be it! I need to check it out in person, though.

Back to yesterday… I get so side-tracked when I talk about Lulu!

My friend JP and I went to lunch at Papagayo yesterday and I had forgotten how good it is there! The only unfortunate thing about going there for a work day lunch is that I can’t enjoy a tasty margarita! (ok, I guess I could have one, but I would not feel right about it- Catholic guilt!) My meal made up for it, though.  I got the Veggie Enchiladas and was really impressed with the amount of veggies in them!

papagayo

Not long after lunch, I had to leave for the day to take care of this:

ticketUgh, What a thing to find when I walked to my car yesterday morning. It was my fault that I forgot to get my car inspected, but I mean, I was PARKED… how can they ticket for that?! And for $50? Common, City of Somerville. The only plus side of this is that the Acura dealership waived the inspection fee for me since I bought my car there last year.

I ended up getting to the gym with about an hour and a half to spare before it was time to teach my kickboxing class.  Since I wanted to get some strength training in, I decided to take the TBC class prior to teaching my class. Felt great to have a long gym sesh in after two weeks of travel.  As good as the TBC class was, my kickboxing class was AMAZING (however, eating a Mexican lunch was NOT the brightest idea before a double session workout)… there were 20 REALLY hard workers and I can’t even tell you how happy that makes me.  When I took over this class back in the fall, it was a Cardio Conditioning class and only averaged about 6-8 people per week.  Now that the word has gotten out that it’s kickboxing, more and more people have been coming every week (and, boy does it make it easier to teach when people know how I teach and know some of the moves!). Love it!

Phew! Did you make it this far?

When I got home from class tonight (definitely going to share the workout that we did with you– great mix of cardio and strength and the time flew by!), I made pizza!  My favorite Friday night meal.  I didn’t take a picture, but it looked similar to this.

024Mmm. It’s just so good! And even though it’s pizza, you’re definitely saving calories by making it yourself vs. ordering out.

Tomorrow morning is my first weekend of teaching Cardio Kickboxing at the Oak Square YMCA- can’t wait! The class is packed and the energy is high… get ready YMCA members- we are going to work hard tomorrow:)

Questions for you: Favorite meal to make? What are your weekend plans?

NYC in a Flash

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003Within a blink of an eye, my quick work trip to NYC came to an end. I’ll spare you with the details of what I did for work while I was there because I’d much rather talk about the hotel, the food and, of course, the wine!

We stayed at the Andaz Hyatt on Wall Street and I have to say that I was thoroughly impressed! This part of the city was totally flooded just a few months ago (the gentleman checking me in said the water would’ve been up to my knees!), so the fact that they were open was impressive from the start! I am generally not big into the minimalist/modern style, but these rooms were amazing!!

hotel

Everything was sleek and stylish, but I think the best thing of all was the complimentary snacks and non-alcoholic beverages. The sure way to my heart is a constant supply of treats:)

The runner-up feature for the room was surely the products and the bath tub/shower combo. I mean, look at that thing! I definitely skipped out on the post dinner drinks in favor of going back to my room to take a tubbie (yes, I said that.). When I grow up, I want this exact tub/shower combo. For sure.

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009(Just testing it out)

Dinner, however, was not something to skip over. We ended up going to Harry’s which is right in the heart of the Financial District. My sister was supposed to meet up with me for dinner since she was on site nearby, but unfortunately her flight from Boston was delayed and she had to cancel:( Luckily I had coworkers with me!

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I had a lot of trouble deciding what I was in the mood to eat, but finally decided to go a little on the lighter side. I hadn’t really had any veggies all day (the horror!), so I got a side salad to start and the Short Rib Sliders for my meal. Omgoodness were these good! I don’t tend to gravitate towards beef, but for some reason it was totally calling my name last night. The red onion marmalade and garlic aioli was the perfect addition to these little nugget sliders.

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012Whenever the waiter asks if anyone wants dessert, my line is always “can you please bring a menu so I can just look?”…. probably 7 times out of 10 I end up persuading someone to share something with me. Last night was no exception.

013A “make your own sundae” Ice cream sundae dessert… sign.me.up! There were strawberries, toasted coconut, walnuts, fresh whipped cream and hot fudge- I died and went to ice cream heaven (I only need a couple of bits and am satisfied… that is how I justify having ice cream every day!).

As I mentioned earlier, post dinner, I skipped out on another round of drinks in lieu of taking a bath… great decision on my end, because I was able to get up and do this very sweaty workout

018Perform each move for 60 seconds and do 3 rounds if you have time. I only had time to do 2 full rounds and for the 3rd round, I had to drop to 30 seconds for each move (secretively, I was more than happy with this… I was dead!). Let me know if you try this:)

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After a long day in the office today, I made my way to LGA around 5pm. I totally sound like a loser when I say this, but I LOVE the food/bar at the Delta Shuttle Terminal.  They have this veggie Panini that I am seriously obsessed with. And, what goes better with a veggie sando? Wine, of course.

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And here I am, back in Boston and back to the normal grind. I hope I am done traveling for a bit because I miss my members and my classes:(  Can’t wait to be back for kickboxing tonight (hoping my shoulder holds up).

Questions for you: What’s your favorite thing to find in a hotel room? Airport food- love it or hate it?

Spinach & Goat Cheese Chicken Meatballs

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Hi! I’m not sure about you, but getting up on the first Monday after the “spring ahead” daylight savings is just not that fun. Don’t get me wrong, I love the extra daylight at the end of the day, but the first couple of mornings are always hard to adjust to.

Last night I made a delicious dinner, but before I get to that, I have to share how stinkin’ cute my parents are.  It cracks me up because they are SO into my blog, and even though I laugh when they talk about it, it really means the world to me that they take time every day to check it out and that they support me in this. Anyway! My sister was home (so jealous) and I knew my parents were going to cook a favorite meal of hers. As I started on my own dinner, I got the following texts

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I asked for the recipe, but mom said “no no no. This is not a healthy meal for your blog”, so I just have to go by pictures… Looks pretty freaking good to me! Like I’ve said before, mom really does make the best chicken parm!

family meal family meal 2

Onto my dinner…

I was looking through my phone the other day and I saw a picture of a chicken meatball dinner that I made a while back.  As soon as I saw that picture, I knew that I was in the mood to make a similar meal tonight.  I have to admit something to you, though… I totally suck at creating recipes. I hate measuring things out when I am making the recipe up as I go along (heck, I don’t even like to measure when I bake, but I know that I have to), so I tried to eyeball and estimate how much of everything I was putting into the meal. Hopefully you’re a similar “ad-lib” cooker!

Spinach & Goat Cheese Chicken Meatballs (served atop spaghetti squash & sautéed veggies)

Ingredients:

For the meatballs-

  • 1/2 lb. ground chicken (my sister is making chicken burgers tomorrow, so I saved her 1/2 of the package)
  • 1 egg white
  • 2-3 tbsp. bread crumbs
  • 2-3 tbsp crumbled goat cheese
  • 1/2 cup wilted spinach
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp basil
  • dash of salt & pepper
  • 1 small spaghetti squash

For the sautéed veggies-

  • 1/4 cup sliced onion
  • 1/4 cup sliced green pepper
  • 1/8 cup summer squash
  • salt, pepper & garlic
  • 1 tsp EVOO

Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400*. Cut open, de-seed and boil spaghetti squash. Same way that I explained before. This one was so small that it only took about 10-12 minutes to cook.

0252. Mix Meatball ingredients together in a small bowl and use your hands to form small, golf ball sized meatballs. Place on a greased pan (or pizza stone, in my case) and bake for about 20ish minutes (or until they are fully cooked).

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3. While the meatballs are in the oven and the spaghetti squash is cooking, cut up your veggies and saute them until everything else is cooked. I cut mine extra thin tonight so that helped to speed up the cooking process.

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Once the squash is finished, remove from the water and shred some of it into a bowl. Top with veggies, sauce, and meatballs.

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Mmmm! I will say that the meatballs needed a little extra seasoning from what I originally did, so I accounted for that when I was estimating amounts above. The flavor with the goat cheese and spinach, though, was on point! I liked adding the sautéed veggies as they helped to beef up the spaghetti squash.

It’s worth noting that I baked some butternut squash to have on the side as well (holy veggie filled meal!). Nothing fancy, I just cut it up, used some spray Pam, salt & pepper and garlic seasoning and baked at 400* for about 30 minutes.

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I used BBQ sauce as my “dipping” sauce of choice (I LOVE sauces. If I could have a meal with 10 different accompanying sauces, I’d be so happy)… wasn’t sure how that would work out, but I actually loved the combo!

Questions for you: Are you a sauce person? Fan of spaghetti squash and chicken meatballs? Takes a little getting used to, but I’m totally hooked now!