Grilled Peaches and Patio Night

Happy Thursday! We’re only 2 days to the weekend!

It is absolutely GORGEOUS outside. Right now we’re enjoying that perfect kind of weather that makes you want to stay outside all day. Yesterday after work I spent some time out on the deck while the pets ran around and I helped watched Riley grill some steaks and shrimp.

The babies LOVE outside play time!

Since it was so nice outside, we decided to eat our dinner out on the deck. We had sirloins, shrimp, corn, and rosemary roasted potatoes.

Not surprisingly, I got full halfway through my steak. My eyes are always bigger than my stomach!

Dessert was definitely the highlight of our dinner. I keep meaning to make some peach scones every time I buy peaches, then they just disappear. Last night, they disappeared for a GOOD reason!

Grilled Peaches with Cool Whip Topping

Before…2 lovely ripe peaches

After: Grilled, peachy deliciousness

Here’s how Riley made them (serves 2):

• 2 ripe peaches, split and pitted
• 4-5 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• Fat-free Cool Whip
• Honey

Melt the butter in the microwave, then stir in the brown sugar and cinnamon. Dip the cut sides of the peaches into the mixture then lay face-down on a grill over medium heat. Cook until grill marks appear and peaches are soft, about 10 minutes.

Serve with a generous dollop of Cool Whip and a small drizzle of honey. Enjoy!

Workout & Breakfast

Today I got up nice and early and made my way to the gym for some cardio and upper body strength. After 25 minutes on the treadmill, I grabbed some dumbbells to do the following workout.

 

Nice and quick! Since I generally don’t love working my upper body, I keep it as short as possible.

At home, I pulled out some overnight oats I’d made last night and topped them with some coconut flavored almonds and dried cranberries.

I’m looking forward to today because we’re expecting some more gorgeous weather. Hopefully I can get outside some during the work day and enjoy the cooler breeze.

Have a great day!

What do you love to grill? Anything beyond meat and veggies?

Chocolate Chip Overnight Oats

Yesterday’s office BBQ was a big hit. There were tons of people from our building that showed up and TONS of food. Apparently we really know how to do a pot-luck!

Clockwise, starting with the food: I had a chicken hot dog with all the toppings, pasta salad with cucumber and peppers, and orzo pasta salad. Lots of carbs, but still relatively healthy. Not pictured is the buffalo chicken dip that I kept re-visiting. The ladies top right are some of my co-workers. The girls at the bottom with me are some of the students who work for me and the grill-masters at the bottom are a co-worker and my boss. I love office get-togethers and we love a good excuse to socialize!

Dinner

Dinner last night was a variation on my giant antipasto extravaganza a couple nights ago. I make a pita pizza with some of the leftovers!

All I did was top a pita with artichoke spread (from Trader Joe’s), roasted red peppers, prosciutto, asagio cheese, parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes. 10-15 minutes at 400 degrees and dinner was super-fast and tasty! I thought of the parmesan after it came out of the oven, otherwise it’d be all melty in the picture.

I enjoyed a bit of the leftover brie while my pizza was cooking and caught up on some of my DVR shows.

Workout & Breakfast

Today’s workout didn’t happen due to me turning off my alarm in my sleep. By the time I realized it, it was too late to get up. It’s probably for the best anyway since I’m going out of town today with the office and had lots to do before leaving.

For breakfast I dug into the overnight oats I prepared last night and holy cow! This my favorite variation by far!

 

Chocolate Chip Overnight Oats

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 container vanilla Greek yogurt
• 2/3 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tbs chia seeds
• 1/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

In the morning I topped the oats with a few semi-sweet chocolate chips. So good!

I’m in a hurry to get to work so we can leave for our office retreat. Have a great Thursday!

How many rest days do you take per week?

Banana Nut Overnight Oats

Hey everyone! Glad Monday’s over? Me too. Yesterday was pretty rough and I think I took about 9 minutes to eat my lunch before getting back to work. Crazy day! I was grumpy about missing my workout and work has been hectic. I was ready to just write the day off as a wash when my friend Danielle texted to invite me over for dinner and Bachelorette. I said no at first, then I heard some magic words: steak and wine. Ok, sign me up!

I’m so glad I went over because it definitely turned my day around. She went all out and prepared a great dinner!

 

Such a great way to turn my Monday around!

Workout & Breakfast

Today I was itching to get to the gym since I missed it yesterday. I got up at 4:30 and got there right at opening time. After 35 minutes on the adaptive motion trainer, I spent some time working on my abs in the free area. I’m still pretty obsessed with the Jock Jams station on Pandora and got super excited when Everybody Dance Now came on. I was that crazy girl mouthing the words to the song and attempting to dance and work out at the same time. Seriously, I try to dance to everything. Tell me I’m not the only one that does that!

When I got home breakfast was super easy since I got it together last night- overnight oats! I just recently discovered this little gem of a breakfast and love how handy it is during the work week.

I used the same basic ingredients as last time with a few additions.

• 1/2 – 2/3 cup oats
• 1/2 almond milk
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1 container Greek yogurt
• 1/2 banana
• chopped walnuts
• 1 drizzle of sugar-free maple syrup

The maple syrup was a nice touch and the walnuts added the crunch I needed. Another breakfast success!

Now I’m off to work for another super busy day. Luckily, I had the good sense to get my coffee pot set before I left yesterday so I’ll be ready to go when I walk in the door. Have a great Tuesday!

What are your favorite overnight oats toppings?

Do you rock out at the gym? Please say yes.

Banana Overnight Oats

It’s Monday! I know most people hate Mondays, but for some reason I love starting a new week. I think it has something to do with being able to “start over” after spending a weekend drinking my weight in Coronas and over-indulging! Not that I regret it…..

Workout & Breakfast

After 5 days off from work (and my early workouts), it was a rude awakening when the alarm went off at 4:30 today! I spent roughly 45 minutes last night not sleeping and making a mental to-do list in my head before I finally just wrote it all down in my phone. Ahh, back to work stress. I was determined to get my week off on the right foot, however, so I quickly got dressed and made it to the gym right around opening time.

I hopped on the adaptive motion trainer for 35 minutes of cardio before grabbing a medicine ball and a mat for some ab work.

 

After getting home I was excited to try my latest creation. I’m waaaay late in trying overnight oats, but I figured better late than never! I’ve shied away from making them before because I kept picturing a mushy paste and it just seemed weird and gross to me. The appeal of being able to make my breakfast night before was too tempting to ignore, however, so I’ve finally gotten with the program and given it a shot.

I made them using these basic ingredients:

• 1 small container of vanilla Greek yogurt
• oatmeal (I eyeballed it, but it was somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 cup)
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds

After letting them sit overnight I stirred them up and added banana slices and some slivered almonds for some crunch. I’m happy to report that I really liked them! I loved how filling they were and the texture didn’t bother me the way I though it would. I feel like I need a little bit of crunch in there to fully enjoy it, but these will definitely be on the breakfast rotation from now on!

 

Now that I’m wide awake at work with my coffee it’s time to go get caught up on work. Have a great day!

Monday Smiles

I’ve read some cute/funny stuff recently that I thought I’d share. Hopefully it’ll make you smile and get your week started off in the right direction!

Buzzfeed- 30 Signs You’re Almost 30

Huffington Post- 21 Reasons A Dog Is The Best Investment You Will Ever Make

Buzzfeed- 9 Signs You’ve Become That Person About Getting Healthy (This is what blogs are for, so regular friends don’t have to hear all about my cardio session, haha)

 

Happy Monday, everyone!!!

Do you eat overnight oats? If so, what’s your favorite way to make them?