Tag: taco salad

A busy weekend in the kitchen!

Leave a comment

Hey there! I find that when I’m around on the weekend with some extra time, I tend to spend it in the kitchen. I wouldn’t say that I’m a great cook or baker, but I love doing both and have turned out some pretty delicious meals and baked goods, so I think that’s enough to keep me happy and motivated to keep trying new things.

This past weekend, I had a blast baking festive treats and a Mexican dinner that was super quick and easy to put together. I think it’s probably the cooler fall weather that makes it so comforting to be in the kitchen with the stove going. Whatever it is, I’ll take it, because I love having fun treats in the apartment!

First up, Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread. Sunday morning I woke up and decided I wanted to bake pumpkin bread. I went online and did a quick Google search for “healthy pumpkin bread” and stumbled upon a bunch of delicious looking Cooking Light pumpkin bread recipes. I decided to try the Pecan-Topped Pumpkin Bread, substituting the pecans for chocolate chips. MMMM. A pumpkin bread smelling apartment is a great way to start the day;)

IMG_5078 IMG_5080

Next up, apple crisp. I told Jessi that I would bring apple crisp to her dinner party since I had a bunch of apples from Saturday’s apple picking. I found a great looking Martha Stewart apple crisp recipe and decided to use it! I can’t say I really like to peel apples, but, there was something very soothing and relaxing about peeling and chopping on Sunday, which made for a much more enjoyable process. Could’ve been the glass of wine I was drinking while I peeled and chopped 😉

IMG_5091 IMG_5092

If I thought the smell of pumpkin bread was delicious, the smell of apple crisp was unbelievable! I absolutely love all apple desserts, but apple crisp is probably my favorite. I made a few different size dishes so I could keep some, and share more.

IMG_5093IMG_5094

Lastly, I made a taco salad for dinner! I didn’t want to make anything big this week since I wouldn’t be around on Tuesday and Thursday through Sunday, so using up some frozen chicken and leftover veggies, adding in beans and taco seasoning was the perfect quick and easy dinner!

IMG_5096 IMG_5100

I had been craving Mexican for a while, so this totally hit the spot. The only thing missing was cheese. I bought Mexican cheese and everything… can’t believe I forgot to add it 😦 Oh well. Once I slathered everything in salsa I couldn’t even tell the difference 😉

Questions for you: What’s your favorite apple recipe? What’s your favorite quick bread recipe? What’s the best thing you ate last weekend?

Wait. It’s only Wednesday?

5 Comments

Don’t you hate it when you’re a day ahead?  It’s so disappointing when you realize you’re not as close to the weekend as you originally thought you were. Since I have Friday off, I guess today technically IS like my Thursday, so I guess it’s not so bad that I feel like it is Thursday today. I’ll take it!

I am working from home again today, so you bet I’ll be doing this workout:

WFH workout

I might do it every 60 minutes instead of every 30 minutes because I plan on going for a jog during my lunch break (I think it’s supposed to be around 50 degrees today! and sunny! woohoo!). Has anyone tried this? I made a coworker virtually do it with me on Monday. I would message him every half hour. He may or may not have called me a drill sergeant. I may or may not have loved it.

Speaking of being a drill sergeant… This email made my night!

emailPeople should know that when they send me emails/Facebook messages/texts like this, it only amps me up more! Watch out, Dynamaxers! Speaking of Dynamax, did you guys catch my guest post over at Fitness and Feta? If not, head over and check it out. If you are a new follower because of Athena’s blog, welcome! I am so happy you stopped by:)

This email actually made me feel so much better. As some of you may have seen on Facebook, I just couldn’t pull myself together on Monday once I got to the gym.

FB pull it together

I had worked from home during the day and I was all amped to get in a solid cardio sweat sesh prior to teaching, but between the traffic getting through Harvard Square, the parking nightmare at the YMCA and the fact that there were LINES for every piece of cardio equipment, I totally lost all motivation and wanted to go home and not work out. Now, if you know me, you know this RARELY happens to me. I really do love working out and know that even on the days I am not that excited about it “I’ll never regret a workout,” however on Monday, this wasn’t the case. I tried my best to pull it together for my Dynamaxers (I don’t think that is a word, but I’m going with it), but I still felt like I let people down with sub-par teaching. I know we can’t all be perfect all the time, but with my Type A personality, I WANT to be as close to perfect as I can all the time (I know, this makes zero sense, please tell me I am not the only one). Thankfully, Gregg’s email made me feel much better. Guess it was just another classic case of me being way too hard on myself. #storyofmylife

Phew… enough with the downer Debbie talk!

Did you all see the massive salad I had for lunch yesterday at Papagayo?

001As cool as this salad looked, I think it’s a little silly when restaurants make the “taco shell” so big! I had a few bites, but found the chips and salsa much more appealing.  Regardless, I do love me some Papagayo, just wish I could have enjoyed a marg!

What’s on the agenda for today/tonight? Any good workouts planned? Please share:)