Tis the Season of Salads

It's officially summer in Seattle! We have had almost an entire week of sunshine and tank tops. :) So I have been enjoying lots of different salads that are light and filled with fresh produce. Check them out below I promise you won't be disappointed.

I love having a light and healthy lunch and salads are usually a pain to make in single servings. I found the perfect solution to this problem... Trader Joes! They have the best premade salads I have ever seen. They are the perfect portion, fresh ingredients and healthy!

Chopped Italian Salad

This salad is super filling and delicious. I love all the ingredients especially together. I think my favorite part of this salad is all the protein mixed with the fresh produce.

Crunchy Slaw w/ Chicken & Peanut Sauce

This salad is to die for.. I love the cilantro, crunchy noodles and creamy peanut dressing. This salad has quite an asian flavor to it that makes you want more.

When I get home from work and the weather is super nice, I just want to enjoy it! So salads for dinner are the perfect meal. Below you will see some of my favorite with links to the recipes.

Grillled Scallop Salad

I found this recipe in my newest Cooking Light! I absolutely love scallops, watermelon, mint and avocado I just never thought of adding them all together. Once I did mix them altogether and added the lemon vinegarette it really was the perfect summer salad. I completely recommend this salad to everyone that loves trying new flavors!

Massaged Kale Salad w/ Apples and Gorgonzola

I never thought I would say this but I really do enjoy kale and massaging the kale really makes a difference. By massaging salt into the kale, the bitterness disappears the leaves become tender. The dressing is super simple just combine apple cider vinegar with EVOO and salt and pepper and you have your dressing. Add apples, currents, toasted sunflower seeds and gorgonzola (I omit because I am not a huge fan) to the kale and dressing and you have a nice, fresh and light salad that will hook you on kale.

Asian Chicken Salad

 I found this premade salad kit at Costco and it is simply amazing. All you do is mix the dressing, almonds and crunchy noodles to the cabbage mix and top with the salad packet. I add chicken to it to make it more filling and add a little protein. This salad is super easy and idiot proof! Check it out at Costco and you won't be disappointed.

Herbed Shrimp and White Bean Salad

This salad is another Cooking Light gem! I used raw red peppers instead of roasted and it turned out spectacular. The arugula, white beans, shrimp, basil, parsley and lemon vinegarette really make this dish tasty. I never was a huge fan of arugula until it was mixed with all these ingredients.

Tasty Beet Salad

My beau created this recipe and I love it. The ingredients of this salad are 1 avocado, 1 grapefruit, packaged beets (already peeled) and goat cheese to taste. The grapefruit really sweetens up the beets and the goat cheese brings all the flavors together. This is a perfect side or main course!

I hope this post makes everyone want to make more salads. Get creative with the them and put together ingredients that you would never think of and you will never say "I don't want another salad!"

Grilled Salmon with Mango Coconut Salsa

I am excited to say...Friday Happy Hour has returned. Today I decided to meet up with a fun couple for a quick drink and snack. Happy Hour destination was John Howie Steakhouse...check out my previous post to see my first review Ritzy Steakhouse for Happy Hour...Yes Please. I had been thinking about this happy hour all day and wasn't sure what snack I was going to order because they are all so GOOD. I decided on deviled eggs...topped with bacon truffle! Seriously the best deviled eggs I have ever had. I paired my snack with John Howie Amber Ale and it tasted pretty darn good.

Bacon truffle = amazing

This was a quick happy hour because I promised the beau that we would have a Friday Date Night. On tonight's menu was Grilled Salmon with Mango Coconut Salsa courtsey of Cooking Light of course. I prepared the salsa earlier in the day because you are to broil the poblano better, take the skin and seeds out and then dice. I am such a slow chopper that I decided to just make the entire salsa less the mango. It saved me a ton of time to prep it before dinner.

The salmon was prepared the grill and was paired with grilled zucchini! Check out how color is on the -plate...the salsa was really tasty. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was sweet with a touch of spice. I wish the coconut was a more dominant flavor but it was over-powered by the mango and poblano. I would still recommend this meal for a nice summer dinner on the patio.

Off for a short walk because the weather is so wonderful...summer in Seattle in the best!

Lots of GOOD Home Cooking

Today I woke up to chirping birds and I sort of loved it...I wasn't mad at all. I got out of bed headed to an early breakfast meeting at Whole Foods. Who knew that Whole Foods had an incredible breakfast spread. They have everything eggs galore, fresh fruits, crepes, quiche etc. I settled for a breakfast burrito and some fresh fruit. I did do some research when I got home and found out my breakfast burrito had over 500 calories...yikes. I am so glad I didn't eat the wrap I may have saved myself a few hundred calories. The breakfast was delicious and the meeting was even better. :) FYI be careful this can get very spendy after all it is Whole Foods!!

After a great meeting I headed home to go for a 4 mile run and it was awesome. The weather was perfect and it felt good to get moving and get rid of most of those calories I just put into my body. :)

The remainder of the day was spent organizing my kitchen. I was so happy my mom was able to come over and help me organize because she has this ability to calm and focus me. It is super strange but true...I just love my mama. She also surprised me with a veggie patty sandwich from Subway which made me smile because she knows me to well.

After we organized the kitchen my mom had to leave and I was faced with what to make for dinner. I had seen a recipe in my Cooking Light Cookbook that sounded super interesting: Lemon Garbanzo Salad with Feta. I had trouble finding bulgur at the store so I simply substituted quinoa for bulgur. This salad turned out so tasty and light. The lemon dressing with the dill and quinoa was so flavorful and all the veggies added lots of amazing textures! I totally recommend this salad for the summer and even a great dish for a BBQ or potluck. I paired this salad with leftover halibut and I couldn't have been happier with the outcome.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1/3 cup uncooked bulgur
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
• 1/3 cup canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
• 2 tablespoons chopped peeled cucumber
• 2 tablespoons chopped celery
• 2 tablespoons diced red onion
• 1 1/2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried dill
• 2 teaspoons extravirgin olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1) Combine 1/2 cup boiling water, bulgur, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a medium bowl. Let mixture stand for 15 minutes. Add chickpeas, cucumber, celery, diced red onion, 1 1/2 tablespoons feta cheese, and dill; toss gently to combine.

2)Combine 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle over bulgur mixture, and toss gently to coat. Cover and chill.

Tonight I got caught up reading tons of blogs and I came across a post from one of my favorite blogs Peanut Butter Fingers. She posted a shockingly easy Peanut Butter Granola recipe that I couldn't resist trying. It seemed to easy to be true...so I tried it. Julie doesn't lie...that woman knows her peanut butter.

The granola turned out the perfect golden color and made the house smell delicious. I was so excited about it I had it for dessert. Dessert included a small scoop of frozen vanilla yogurt, small handul of peanut butter granola and a handful of fresh blueberries. It was soooo good...I had to restrain myself from going back for more. I can't even wait for breakfast tomorrow because that granola is going to make my tummy so happy!

Isn't my dessert BEAUTIFUL???

Best dessert since Barcelona!



I have to be honest that I am really loving trying new recipes and cooking at home. I have been doing a lot of it lately and it feels so good to be making wonderfully healthy meals!! Nighty Nighty...

Easy Creole Haddock

This morning was a tough morning, there was no way I was even going to contemplate working out. I decided to just skip right to my breakfast. On today's menu was oatmeal with blueberries & bananas topped with strawberries! I paired this delicious breakfast with some coffee.

I think I could eat this every morning.

Kelly and I ran a few errands this morning for Lily's upcoming 2nd birthday. I just have to say that party stores are sooooo overwhelming, I don't enjoy them at all. I think the main reason is because I feel like I am getting ripped off. :)

Our last errand was to Old Navy and they had an awesome Clearance Special on their jewelry. All clearance items were an additional 30% off. I just love this place, I was able to get two necklaces and 2 sets of hoop earrings for $12.62. 

When we got home I made myself get in my workout clothes and drink some water. :) I went outside to do the Tone Up Anytime, Anywhere. This workout kicks my booty every time but I do always feel better after I sweat it out! After I completed this workout I headed in to make a Green Monstah in honor of being in Boston.

Pretty tasty!

After cleaning up I told Kelly and my brother that I would cook them a fish dinner. I went to my go to my cook book, which is CookingLight.com. I found a Creole Cod recipe that looked quite tasty. I headed to the store to grab some fresh cod but when I got there the haddock looked much better. Here is the recipe for Creole Haddock, it's so easy:

1) Make the marinate

    2 tsp dijon mustard

    2 tsp olive oil

    1/2 tsp creole seasoning blend

    1/2 tsp salt

2) Get out two long pieces of aluminum foil to place

haddock on

3) Coat the haddock with the marinate and wrap in foil

4) While haddock is on grill cooking (10-15 minutes)

start steaming the asparagus. 

5) Serve a piece of haddock with 5-6 asparagus spears

and some lemon wedges.

This recipe was delish and I think you could use the same marinate for chicken. It was wonderful, light, fresh and idiot proof! :)

Now its dessert time....my favorite watermelon sorbet with chocolate sprinkles. It never lets me down and it makes me sleep like a baby. :) 

A tiny piece of heaven!

Shrimp Cobb Salad!

I have been hearing nothing but wonderful things about quinoa. A couple of weeks ago I made a Quinoa Salad that was delish but this time I wanted to try it for breakfast. :) I looked around the internet and made my up by own version after looking at numerous recipes....I came up with this:

Ingredients

1/2 cup of TJ's Quinoa
  1  cup of Almond Milk
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 of a banana



1) Bring the almond milk to a boil
2) Add quinoa, cinnamon, vanilla & banana to milk
3) Stir and reduce burner heat to low
4) Let simmer for 12 minutes or until liquid has evaporated

Scoop 1/4 cup of quinoa into a bowl and enjoy!



The quinoa smelled awesome and even tasted better than I expected. The texture is different so it may take some getting used to but the flavor is to die for. :) This recipe makes 2 servings. ENJOY





I decided to try a new workout class at 24 Hour Fitness today called "Cardio Blast." The class was crazy intense and the instructor Lisa made me laugh the entire 60 minutes. During the class we did bursts of cardio mixed with 100 pushups, multiple abs exercises, lots of squats and free weights to tone our arms. I loved this class and I can't wait to try it again! If you want a cardio and strength training workout I totally recommend this class.

After class I headed home to eat a late lunch that included a ginormous Mango Smoothie and some leftover tuna salad. :) The mango smoothie was amazing and totally stuffed me because it was so large and in charge.

I wanted to make a nice salad for dinner today so as usual I went searching for a recipe on CookingLight.com. I found a recipe called Shrimp Cobb Salad, it looked amazing. Below are the instructions to this light version of a cobb salad:

1) Fry 4 slices of bacon in a skillet

2) While bacon is cooking chop up the tomatoes, carrots, avocado and defrost the frozen corn.

3) After bacon is done chop up into bacon bits

4) Cook the shrimp mixture

5) Prepare the dressing in a large bowl, whisk all the ingredients together.

6) Toss the romaine lettuce in the large bowl with the dressing.

7) Place 1 1/2 cups of lettuce on a plate and add all the veggies, bacon and shrimp!

8) BAM you have a beautiful healthy salad.



This salad was delicious. The dressin had nice tangy flavor and was super light. This is hands down the best cobb salad I have ever had in my life. Definitey two thumbs up. :)

Dessert Pizza is a MUST!

It felt so good to sleep until 5:30 this morning, I even hit snooze once. I never do that but today it just felt like the right thing to do. :) I switched up my breakfast today and made a protein shake with a teaspoon of peanut butter, fat free milk, a handful of blueberries, half of a banana and a scoop of protein powder. It turned out pretty good but next time I think I will add more blueberries. I complimented the shake with a middle eastern whole wheat flat bread topped with a little peanut butter, blueberry preserves and the other half of the banana. This breakfast was a great change.

I love blueberries!

Today was a little hectic at the office I had lots of tiny errands to run throughout the day. So lunch came fast and I was so excited to try another Trader Joe's salad. Today it was a brussel sprout salad with bacon, cranberries, cheese, chickpeas and a dijon vinaigrette (they give you way to much dressing). This salad was so delish and super filling but I still ate a few carrot sticks. :)

Brussel sprouts are actually really tasty!

4 o'clock came super fast today and I was excited to hit the gym with a new interval workout. I found this workout on Fitness Magazine's website. The name of this workout is Burn 400 Calories without Getting Bored. I love love this workout because 40 minutes went by so fast. I have started to love interval training because you can really feel the burn. I totally recommend this workout if you need a change.

I headed home to make Chiles Rellanos Casserole for Mary and I! This is once again a Cooking Light recipe. This recipe took a little bit more prep than I expected so I had Mary dive in and do half of the work. I used ground turkey instead of ground chicken and loved it.

Casserole before!

The casserole takes about an hour to cook so we just chatted and watched some horrible television. Finally the casserole was done and ready to be served.

This smelled amazing and looked pretty darn tasty!

The casserole turned out great! I think next time I may add more corn and a little more hot sauce but other than that this is a great dish. I recommend making this for any occasion even breakfast! If you are only cooking for two you should definitely consider cutting the recipe in half. I think I am going to be eating this for lunch and dinner for the rest of the week at least.

Delish, cheap and healthy (252 calories per servings)

Now it was time for dessert and I wanted to try something new. I wanted to make up my own dessert pizza. I used a middle eastern whole wheat flat bread as the base and topped it with peanut butter, chocolate chips, handful of coconut, half a banana and two large marshmallows. I broiled it in the oven for about 3 minutes (careful not to burn the marshmallows) and it was done and looking real good!

Before.....

After!! :)

This is my new favorite dessert it tasted just like a smore w/ peanut butter. Mary and I split this so it really wasn't that bad for us. This was the perfect ending to a great Tuesday!!

I love Cooking Light because I can be an Indulgent Foodie without feeling guilty!!