The weather might be dark and dreary, but that didn’t keep the BOY and I indoors. Sunday Funday was SUPER fun yesterday because we went into the city to hang with my family!
And had lunch at Revolution Brewery, where the BOY and I have never been, and my Mom has now declared her favorite place to go.
Historically, spring day light savings can be rough, but not this year. This could be because after losing 3 hours coming home from Las Vegas last year, one hour doesn’t seem so bad. The good food, brew, and company didn’t hurt either.
We had an awesome day and I was in bed early Sunday night with my book after an eventful weekend. I had no difficulty falling asleep and only woke up this morning when my alarm started beeping 10 hours later. This morning’s breakfast was a variation of this recipe smothered in almond butter before CrossFit. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this morning’s workout, but the Harlem shake picture definitely had me laughing. And I was excited to wear the new headband that I picked up at Athleta yesterday!
This morning’s workout was 7 reps max weight of snatches with rest in between. We started off by breaking down the motion and then practicing on some light bars. I wasn’t sure what to expect or what I would be able to do, but I ended up in a group of three girls lifting weight, giving feedback on form, and working together to safely add more weight. I was able to lift 55-65-75-75-75-75-75. Not to shabby for my first attempt at snatches.
After CrossFit, I picked up the BOY for this week’s grocery store run and meal planning. I was starving and actually craving some protein with lunch on the brain. Let me tell you…if you are ever shopping at Mariano’s and hungry for lunch, swing by the meat counter and have them grill you up a chicken breast. I finished my shopping and on the way to check out, scooped up my lunch. The BOY did the same with a white arugula pizza.
On the way home, I remembered that I had leftover salad from Saturday night (that my friend made and sent home with me). You can’t see it in the picture, but this salad also has goat cheese, cranberries, pine nuts, and I added chopped chicken and avocado.
The BOY was right when he said that this is a restaurant quality lunch. I totally agree! Thanks to Mariano’s and Dana this is one of the best salads I’ve had in awhile! I only had a short amount of time to eat lunch before it was time to leave again. Although I didn’t know when I made the appointment that today would be rainy, a massage really is the BEST thing to do on a day like today. I had a $20 off coupon to use before the end of the month, and I basked in the 60 minutes of relaxation while hands firmly worked out the tension and knots in my back and neck. It was pure bliss and only afterwards did I return home to camp out indoors for the rest of the day. With such a busy weekend, I had a lot to do.
Some of which included getting my food prepared for the week ahead. Nothing says rainy days like chili. One of the things that I love about this new slow cooker book is that it has separate chapters on soup, stew, and chili. They are plenty of recipes to choose from!
I used the Mushroom Chili recipe but added in some eggplant since the beautiful purple veggies was on sale. I ended up with a thick batch of chili, so I decided to stir in a cup of vegetable broth before cooking.
I’m looking forward to digging into this thick and hearty chili soon!
This Week’s Meal Plan…
Monday: Breakfast for Dinner (the BOY’s request)
Featuring Challah French Toast, Eggs, and Potatoes
Tuesday: BBQ Turkey Meatballs
Wednesday: Chicken or Salmon with Veggies
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Trip to St. Louis!!!
Lunch: Portobello and Eggplant Chili (recipe below)
Portobello and Eggplant Chili
Adapted from The Big Book of Slow Cooker Recipes
Ingredients
3 Portobello mushrooms, cleaned well and cubed
1 small eggplant, cubed
1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 28 ounce and 1 15 ounce canned tomatoes, drained lightly (or you can use chopped fresh tomatoes)
1 jalapeno, seeded, deveined, and minced
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup low sodium vegetable broth
Directions
Place all ingredients into a slow cooker sprayed with cooking spray.
Stir well and cook on low for 8 hours.
How do you deal with dreary?
Me? I dream of SPRING!
Seriously . . . enough with the cloudy gloom and doom, right?! I’m ready for spring!! 🙂 Mariano’s is my favorite grocery store. I’m there at least once a week, and it’s basically where I get 80% of our food. I’d say 15% is from TJ’s, and 5% from WF. 🙂
That’s where I shop too (and then throw Costco into the mix). It’s amazing that we haven’t bumped into each other yet…ha ha!
I am so ready for some sunshine but weather.com disagrees. Bummer!
This weekend was the first sun I have seen in MONTHS it was wonderful! SPRING better get here fast!
OMG! So Jealous!
I am desperate need of some vitamin D and the week ahead looks just as cloudy as this weekend. I will have to come up with ways to stay busy until spring!
I also need some sun-especially not being a native of these parts but of the sunbelt! I work in a library and I put flowers all over the walls-9-12 inch flowers in 12X16 pots. One teacher came in and said it looked so cheerful that she was coming in every couple of hours (we have no windows as we are in the middle of the school) to perk up her mood!
That is a GREAT idea! I have a coworker who did that at work as well. I can’t believe there is snow on my car right now. Looks like another blah week ahead.
mmmm! That looks phenom! I hate dreary weather, It is beyond grosso out right now and I’m cringing thinking about two outdoor sports today, woof. I don’t deal, I just whine.
I whine too! This morning, my car was covered with snow which did not make me too happy at all. I had this stew for lunch today and it was INCREDIBLE! It had some great flavors and kick!
[…] smoothie of kale, carrot, and orange for the commute to work. For lunch, I had the fantastic Portobello and Eggplant Chili that I made yesterday. Although I don’t have a picture to share, I will tell you that this […]
OOH, that chili sounds SO delicious – totally my type of meal. I”d love it with a bit of baguette or some cornbread – delicious!
Cornbread would be super with this chili! It is really thick and hearty. Perfect for these late winter days and full of produce.
ah your Sunday Funday looks like so much fun! I do miss those days 🙂 I haven’t even had beer in so long. Looks fantastic. I too am hating the dreary weather but luckily the sun is shining in NJ today! Can’t wait to get out for a walk 🙂
Oh, I hope that you and your daughter were able to get out and explore the sunshine!!! I am still waiting for some nice weather to come our way. I think that beer tastes even better when you haven’t had it in 9+ months : )
That brewery looks like a lot of fun, and I love it when a good salad comes together. A good chili too, for that matter. I also dream of Spring; I can’t wait.
Good salad and chili really are super exciting! Are you guys getting any warmth? Because we are still chilly with possible snow. Yuck!
[…] BBQ Turkey Meatballs just didn’t happen this week. […]
Wow… nice job on the snatches! I CFed 5-6 days a week for a year and a half and never got up to 75#! It’s such an awkward movement. How are you liking CF so far?
That chili looks delicious… I wonder if my guy would notice the mushrooms if I made it (he hates mushrooms!) 🙂
The mushrooms are thick and meaty so he won’t even notice them! The eggplant was tough to sneak past the BOY though…ha ha!
I have only been able to get to CF 1xweek because of my schedule but I like it. The people are so nice and helpful and it feels great to be lifting. The snactch is so odd and I think a little harder being a female!