Breaking in Our Grill

Last Saturday, we had a "date night in" and broke in our new grill! We debated what we should make for our first meal on the grill and decided to go with chicken as I needed a protein for my lunch salads.

I often think that grilled chicken can be a bit dry, so I did some research and discovered that the trick to perfectly grilled chicken is to pound it to an even thickness beforehand so it will cook evenly. I think that made a huge difference! I had some fresh oregano that I wanted to use up, so I looked around for a Greek marinade and found this one. It was so good!

Besides the chicken, we also grilled some potatoes and asparagus (not pictured below). We usually grill potatoes in a foil packet but tried a different technique which worked pretty well. I don't think they are necessarily better than foil packet potatoes, but they cook much quicker!

The grill master

Grilled goodness!

It was a beautiful evening so we ate our meal outdoors. Phil had a beer with his dinner, and I had my new favorite mocktail, made with this concentrate that I picked up at the farmer's market:

I love that the brand is "Phil the Shrubber."

I mixed it with 8 ounces of tonic water. You obviously have to like beets to enjoy this drink, but as a beet lover, a drink like this is right up my alley. It was nice to have a fun drink to enjoy so I didn't feel like I was missing out when Phil was having a beer. For any local readers, they have a couple other flavors besides this one. It's made locally (less than a mile from our house!). I purchased it at the Kingfield Farmer's Market.

I'm looking forward to lots of grilled meals this summer and fall! Next up, we'll be grilling brats when my nephew comes to stay with us on Saturday night!

What is your favorite food to grill? I pretty much love all food from the grill, but my favorite thing is probably brats! I also love grilled veggies. I'd like to experiment with grilling an entire chicken this summer. Phil and I are total novices when it comes to grilling but it will be fun to try some new things this summer.

Superfood Sunday

Greetings and happy Tuesday.  4 days until my vacation starts!  :)  Woo hip!  With a vacation in sight, there isn't anything that can bring me down!  Add in the fact that I am going to see "Roman Holiday" on Thursday with The Running Historian, and well, this week is shaping up to be awesome!

You know what else is awesome?  Some of the foods I've been eating lately - especially this past Sunday.  I find that the more active I am, the more my body craves foods that are good for me.  That was definitely the case this past weekend.

Between my gluten intolerance and the fact that I try to avoid dairy most days (I have it about once a week), people often ask, "what DO you eat?"  So I thought I'd share some of what I ate this past Sunday.


1.  Morning Snack:  I used my new magic bullet (purchased with a gift card I've been hoarding for 18 months) to make a smoothie with fresh strawberries, blueberries, banana, OJ, and ice.

2.  Post-yoga snack: A diced avocado with salt and pepper.  This is one of my favorite snacks. Yes, avocados are a higher calorie/fat snack, but I feel justified in snacking on these given the number of calories I am burning!  Plus, it's a 'good' fat that your body needs!
 

3.  Late Lunch:  I grilled salmon for the first time and it turned out great!  I rubbed it with a little olive oil, and added salt and pepper, capers, fresh lemon juice, and a couple of lemon slices, wrapped it in foil, and grilled it on each side for about 3-5 minutes.  It turned out perfect!

The filet was a generous portion so I saved half of it for a dinner later in the week, and pair the salmon with some grilled zucchini.  

In addition to the food shown above, I also had toast with peanut butter, coffee, chips & guacamole, and a lot of pickles!!

So there you have it - some great gluten free + dairy free foods that are healthy and satisfying! 

Do you tend to eat more healthy foods when you are more active?  Have you made any new, healthy recipes lately?  I am hoping to try a few new recipes when I am at my parents' lake home over the 4th!

Productive Weekend

Greetings and Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  Mine was great and it was super, duper productive.

I started the weekend off on the right foot and met Raquelita, her husband, and some of her friends for dinner.  I was supposed to run a half marathon with her on Saturday, but decided to bow out a couple of week ago as I just didn't build my mileage up fast enough after my surgery. 

Raquelita's husband snapped this picture of us at dinner!  What do you know, I'm wearing stripes!  Shocking!  ;)

Besides having dinner on Friday night, I also fit the following into the weekend...

• Shopped for some new spring items (I had a 50% off coupon for Banana Republic, I couldn't resist)
• Bought shoes for Amber's wedding 
• Ran 8 miles with my running club - which went really, really good.  I maintained a 9:30 pace, which I was really happy with.
• Studied a total of 11 hours between Saturday and Sunday
• Baked GF chocolate chip cookies (from a mix, gf baking from scratch is just not for me) to bring to a girls night dinner in on Saturday night.  They were delicious, no one could tell they were gluten free!
• Finished a great book
• Video chatted with this lovely lady
• Walked to the grocery store for the first time in months
• Tried a new recipe
• And ended the weekend doing this...

Yep, I grilled in March.  While wearing a dress.  And sweating.  Minnesota is the new Arizona, people.

I've been in a terrible funk lately (more on that later this week), but this weekend, I took a giant leap towards feeling like myself again.

How was your weekend?