Monday Funday

This has been the best long weekend in ages! It has had the perfect mix of friends, outdoors, indoors, to do lists, and relaxation. In case you missed it, here are the posts!

Crazy Friday and YogaWorks

Extreme Team

Happy Fourth

Today was all about checking off our to-do list. It wasn’t a bad task since there were lots of fun items on it!

Bake vegan macaroons

Workout

Toy Story 3

Organize the fridge

Clean the house

Whole Foods

It’s 8:15 and I’m excited to say we accomplished everything on the to-do list!

As always, we ensured that Whole Foods was the first thing on our to do list as the lines get crazy the later you wait. We were in and out pretty quickly as we had a list put together ahead of time and have leftovers to enjoy tonight. We’ve even gotten in the hang of bringing our own bags which makes it 10x easier! No more breaking paper bags on our walk home!Blog Pictures 2010 455

All of these groceries meant that our tiny fridge had to be organized. This is a weekly task that Bo has down to an art!

Before:

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After

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After that we made a quick lunch before heading out to the movies! We heard great things about Toy Story 3 from our friends and decided that a fun, mindless movie was exactly what we needed on this hot day.

Blog Pictures 2010 456 Blog Pictures 2010 457   The movies always mean a Coca Cola Zero treat! Blog Pictures 2010 459Blog Pictures 2010 460Kettle Baked chips provided the perfect salty crunch in between sandwich bites!

Blog Pictures 2010 458Delicious sandwich made from Whole Foods Sourdough Whole Wheat bread, lettuce, tomato, Annie’s Naturals Honey Mustard, and Whole Foods deli balsamic turkey.

I love using large purses to bring lunch and snacks into the movies. I figure that the movies make enough on ticket prices.

The movie was exactly what we expected though it was a bit shorter. With the extra time we decided to take a stroll around the East Village. It was hot but bearable for two people from South Georgia.

Blog Pictures 2010 462       Cute stores abound throughout this area including a Meg, a boutique sharing my friend’s namesake and a sake specialty store, Sakaya, the size of a normal wine store. 

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We discovered I Coppi Italian restaurant just begging us to return!

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Love the reflection in the window!

We had a blast looking at vintage glasses and clothing though we were surprised by the prices! Most of the clothing was over $50!

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After our hour long walk home, we quickly changed clothes and heading over to Equinox for a swim. We decided to run there, using the camel bak sans water holder, to hold our goggles, caps, and suits. We completed the 1.3 mile run in 99 degree heat in 12 minutes! I had NO back pain.

Unfortunately, upon arriving at Equinox we found out that they have a 6 person maximum for the 3 lane pool. Therefore, there was a line 5 people deep waiting for the pool. We decided to head upstairs and pound out a few more miles instead.

We had an exciting treat that made our miles go by faster. This friendly face was enjoying a run and incline walk workout next to Bo. Actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson arrives at the 27th Annual PaleyFest Presents "Modern Family" on February 26, 2010 in Beverly Hills, California.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson happens to play Mitchell, Bo’s favorite character on Modern Family. I’ve never seen Bo so excited.

I did 2 miles on the treadmill (6.2 pace) before completing my arms and abs workout followed by back stretches.

The last item on the to do list was finished just a minute ago as I took out the last batch of my Vegan Macaroons. Unfortunately, the original winner from Bobbi’s bake sale never received her package I sent last time. I made a double recipe for her tonight and will ship them out tomorrow morning!

According to my taste tester, Bo, these are the best yet! I highly recommend this recipe as it is quick, easy, and never disappoints!

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Blog Pictures 2010 473  Combine dry ingredients and mix.Blog Pictures 2010 474 Combine wet ingredients and mix.

Blog Pictures 2010 476  Mix wet and dry ingredients together.  Blog Pictures 2010 477Shape into balls and then bake on a tin foil lined sheet at 350 degrees for 11-13 minutes.  

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Let cool and then enjoy!

Hope you enjoyed a wonderful long weekend and have a great start to your week! At least a 3 day weekend always means a 4 day week. 🙂

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Weeknight Dinner Recipe for Success: Black Bean Burgers

Tonight I was a single lady again as Bo is away on business. This immediately made me crave a girls night filled with laughter, conversation, and a healthy dinner enjoyed in the comfort of a warm home.

Enter my lovely dinner date Rebecca. I was lucky enough to meet Rebecca, a local reader, at Jes’ Fly Wheel event on May 15th!

Blog Pictures 2010 231Our friendship started with a sweaty spin session one lovely Saturday morning.

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On National Running Day we realized that we’ll be great training partners for our October half marathon as we’re a similar pace and love chatting during runs!

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We did downward dogs with less than 10,000 other New Yorkers in Central Park.

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Tonight we enjoyed some quality girl time over a healthy dinner and great conversation.

This morning over BBM and gmail we decided that the main course would be Black Bean Burgers compliments of Emily, The Front Burner.

Our Menu:

Black Bean Burgers

Arnold Sandwich thins and burger fixings (lettuce, tomato, salsa, bbq sauce)

Salad (lettuce and salsa)

Sparking Water

Garlic Sweet Potato Fries

After a quick post work grocery trip, I started on the prep work. First task, get the sweet potato fries in the oven.

Garlicy Sweet Potato Fries

2 small sweet potatoes

salt and pepper

Olive Oil spray or Pam

garlic and onion powder to taste

I chopped the potatoes into small slices then placed in a large bowl. After coating them with spray, I sprinkled garlic, onion powder, salt, and pepper on them to taste. Then I spread them on a non-stick cookie sheet and placed in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Place them in the broiler for 5 minutes at the end so they reach a crispy goldness!

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Veggie Bean Burgers

I followed Emily’s recipe to a tea except I substituted sunflower seeds for pumpkin as my grocery store didn’t have pumpkin seeds. In addition, I added a dash of BBQ sauce as my batter seemed very dry.

Ingredients: (makes 6 burgers)

  • 2 cans black beans (rinsed and drained)
  • 2 carrots, grated
  • 1/2 cup dry rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp bbq sauce
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp coriander
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper

To Prepare:  Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Next, add the oats and sunflower seeds to your food processor and grind until coarsely chopped (they will still be a little chunky). 

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Let it run for roughly 10 seconds.  Grate the carrots,

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and then add to your mixture in the food processor.  Add 3/4 of the beans, all spices, and the olive oil.  Once all of this is in the food processor, give it a whir and mix it all together.

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Spoon mixture into a mixing bowl and then fold in the rest of the whole, reserved beans.  Wet your hands and then form into 6 medium sized patties. 

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Place patties on a non-stick baking sheet or into a baking pan, and bake at 300 degrees for 40 minutes, turning once in the middle.

Pair these delicious burgers with your sweet potato fries and a salad for the perfect week night dinner. The best part? You’ll have leftovers for the rest of the week and they pack/transport easily for lunches!

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Thanks Emily for a great recipe and Rebecca for the great company!

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