Bits & Bites_7.12.14

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Happy weekend, everyone! I'm heading off to boxing soon (I'm finally back - yay!) and then the beach with the girls! Can't wait! It's another beeeaauuuutiful weekend! 

But first, here's bits & bites of the week!

-BITES-

Easy dinner on a 90 degree day.... Simple caprese with 2 hard boiled eggs.

This was another 90+ humid day where I refused to put on the oven or even the stove.  This was so easy and so delish: homemade hummus, caprese with feta, cento olive oil tuna, olives, and artichokes. It was actually extremely filling. (My mom's hummus recipe: here)

This smoothie was made for breakfast last week... (strawberries, banana, ground flax, chia, water, cinnamon). Rob thought he'd be funny by sticking a bunny in it...........

Saturday morning breakfast; ezekial english muffin, avo, fresh local strawberries, and scrambled eggs. This was actually Rob's plate... min was sized down a little. 

Quick caprese with feta and avo (noticing a trend of my favorite summer dish?). I am pretty sure I ate my fav Ian's fish sticks with this.

Salad from whole foods: spinach, quinioa, shredded beats, olives, sweet potato, green chickpea cake, edamame, olive oil, and lemon juice.

Another lunch: GMO free popcorn, organic cottage cheese with pineapple and blueberries.

Hope that gives you some good ideas - especially for cooking in the hot weather!

-BITS-

This article quickly explains the most common GMO foods and why it's important to avoid them. 

This article talks exposes baby carrots.

This is a cool little infographic that Caroline wrote for Boston Inno gives a few great tips on beating stress.

K gotta hurry on my way! Have an awesome weekend and enjoy the sun! xo

Indoor/Outdoor Workout & What to do with Leftovers

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I've been mentioning that I'm nursing a neck pull. It's going on two weeks, but, I'm finally feeling better! YAY! Guys, besides a couple of long walks, I took 5 days off from working out... FIVE... FIVE!!! Good thing it was 4th of July weekend and I distracted my urge to workout with sunshine, yummy food, and delicious bevs. Not exactly the healthiest way to take a break, but, it is what it is! 

Anyway, yesterday I went for a nice rainy run and did some minor lifting in the living room. Today, I'm still not 100% ready to go back to boxing :(. And, it's too damn hot and humid to just run for miles so I improvised with the following workout that I created and want to share since I think it's good for anyone looking for a solid indoor/outdoor body weight workout without any equipment.

Improvise as needed. You'll notice that the lower body work is heavier than upper body. As much as I hate taking a break, I KNOW that in order to get my neck back to 100%, I have to give it a rest.

After my workout, I still had those chicken thighs and a bunch of tomatoes/avocado/mozz leftover from last night so I chopped everything and put it on a brown rice tortilla and made it into a Mediterranean quesadilla! Mmmmm....

How have you all been handling workouts in this heat? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a great rest of the week xo

Chicken Thighs & Summer Salad

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How was everyone's 4th of July weekend!? Mine was fantastic - sooo relaxing and fun. Exactly what I wanted. The rain didn't bother me one bit. Plus, I've been nursing this dang neck injury and have been fighting a mild cold so keeping it mellow was perfect! We did everything from go out here in Boston to beach to pool. Lots of variety and fun!

Moving on to tonight's meal.... I often find myself getting sick of chicken... pretty sure I've mentioned this before.  Boring white chicken breast. I can't remember the last time I cooked any other part of the chicken so today at Whole Foods, I picked up some chicken thighs. Dark meat got a bad rap back when 'fat free' food came into style so I'm making a decision to add it back into my diet since its fat is what makes it healthy. It has more nutrients than its white counterpart - it is higher in iron, zinc and selenium, as well as vitamins A, K and the B's — B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin) B6, B9 (folate) and B12 (cobalamin). You might think it has a lot more calories than white meat, but, in actuality, it only has a few more. There are about 46 calories for an average sized breast and about 50 calories for an average thigh. Not too shabby. Plus, as you add it back into your diet - you'll remember what you've been missing all these years - FLAVOR!

For the marinade I mixed the following ingredients:

-4 organic chicken thighs
-quarter cup of extra virgin o/o
-couple tablespoons of rice vinegar
-tablespoon of organic low sodium soy sauce
-a few pieces of chopped Italian flat leaf parsley from my garden
-tablespoon or so of whole grain mustard
-1 clove of garlic
-tsp or so of salt

Put the chicken on a grill pan (or grill) over medium heat and flip them when they are cooked halfway through. Don't play with them or press them or move them (that goes for all meat grilling ok?!)

While the chicken is grilling, chop the following:

-organic heirloom tomato
-avocado
-smoosh up a couple pieces of buffalo mozzarella
-a few basil leaves
- and throw some zucchini on the grill then take it off and add it to the salad
- drizzle w/ extra virgin and salt

Once the chicken is cooked through and has rested for a few minutes - plate it all and serve! Easy peasy!

A nice, light, summer meal idea for these hot days when the oven is too hot to put on! I really enjoyed this tonight. Chicken thighs have soooo much more flavor than the breast so I didn't even make a dipping sauce - didn't need it! Enjoy and have an awesome week! xo