{Tasty Tuesday} Spring Shrimp and Cilantro Salad

Happy tasty Tuesday!

Today I’ve got a fresh, bright, and flavorful salad coming to ya! I got inspiration from Kristin’s recipe and from here a while back! The biggest change to my initial salad is the addition of quinoa! I am so glad it was in the mix!

I did a huge shopping haul at TJ’s last week and I got a bunch of fresh avocodos, limes, and cilantro! My favorites! I chose to add steamed shrimp to mine but you can totally keep this veggie if you’re going to savor this on a meatless Monday!!!

There is crunch from the fresh salad greens and onion, sweetness from the corn, and a creamy texture from the avocado!  This recipe is sure to please any palate!

Spring shrimp and cilantro salad

Serves one

Ingredients:
Heaping 1-2 T chopped cilantro
3oz steamed shrimp                                                                                                            1/3 cup cooked quinoa
1/3 cup sliced cherry tomatoes
2 T blackbeans
2 T diced red onion
2 T corn
Juice from half a lime
1/4 chopped avocado
Dash of lite Italian salad dressing
Salad greens/spring mix

This salad was so healthful and nutritious! It kept me full and satisfied for hours! I loved it! It was great to enjoy it while the days are slowly warming up here in Baltimore!

Nut Crackers!?!?!?

First of all, holy cuteness! I love coming home to my main man!!

On my way home yesterday I got a lot of my errands done!

Got gas. Check

Got Groceries. Check

Elliptical. Check

I even managed to prep the food I bought! Not bad for a Monday night!

This morning I had a yummy egg burrito! I topped 2 eggs with a slice of fat free American cheese on a flat out wrap!

It was mighty tasty! (But, secretly I was so bummed I forgot ketchup and hot sauce!!)

My lunch today was a delicious shrimp caesar salad. I had a bed of fresh spring mix, 3 ounces of shrimp, some tomato, light caesar dressing, and 2 T of shredded parmesan!

 

On the side of my salad I had some almond crackers… wait what! almond crackers?!?!

 

Yep- another impulse buy at the grocery store despite my list.

For 130 calories you can have 16 crackers. These are actually wheat and gluten free and have 3 g of protein per serving. I really liked the wafer texture! I think I would definitely buy these again!!

During my lunch break I completed 45 minutes of steady state cardio according to my workout plan! Love it!

Off to have dinner with Mike tonight, he leaves for the beach (work trip… lucky duck!!) tomorrow until Sunday! I will miss him!

Shopping Mission!

After a lovely steak dinner with Mike’s family last night, we came home and fell onto the couch. We were exhausted after such a fun filled weekend. We ended up rounding out the Sunday night hanging with his roommates and watching the football game on TV.

I got a great night’s sleep and decided to swing into Dunkin on my way to work for some iced coffee… I have tons of gift cards! When in doubt, this is my favorite gift ever! It keeps me caffeinated, which means everyone around me is happy!

When I got to work I had some more oats in a PB jar to finish out another straggler that I have been keeping at my desk… mmmm…. good!

During my lunch hour I did some steady state cardio on the elliptical to begin week 2 of the Summer Shape Up from Gina. Tonight I am going to do the weight circuit at home soon!

I came up to a lovely lunch full of veggies and lean protein! Looks good, right?!

 

My lunch dessert came in the form of a greek yogurt parfait topped with sliced almonds and shredded coconut. So fancy and so filling!

 

Tonight I am on a mission to finish up Mike’s birthday shopping since the big day is Friday!  I want to get it all done tonight so that I can spend the rest of the week wrapping and prepping!

What are you doing tonight?

Any special ideas of things I can surprise Mike with to make his birthday extra special?

Soup and Salad!

TGIF!! Seriously! I am so happy it is Friday! I have so much fun to look forward to this weekend!

First, a recap!!

Last night for dinner I was craving BRINNER! Woo! Haven’t had this in a while so I cooked up some eggs and had some PB toast! Perfection!

I had planned on renting Sliver Linings Playbook and even got it from Redbox… only to find it scratched and unusable. Bummer! But I got 2 free rentals for the future and just watched some crap reality TV to relax… guilty pleasure! I went to bed early and woke up so refreshed!

I knew it was going to be a great day when Sparks Fly by Taylor Swift came on the radio this morning.. I had a minor jam session and sang out loud like a fool!

Today’s breakfast was a repeat of every day this week so I am going to spare the picture of that one for ya… how kind.

Lunch was soup and a salad while I worked!

I had Progresso Light Chicken Pot Pie soup that was 200 calories for the can and I also had a salad to boost the nutritional value of this lunch! I really liked this soup and I will definitely get it again. It’s base was far creamier and more flavorful than some of the other “light” soups. It was actually very satisfying!

I only took a 20 minute lunch to do some arm weights to break up the day.

Tonight a great friend is coming over for dinner! She is having a baby and I can’t wait to spoil it rotten! I may have already bought the little guy 2 outfits… he is due in November! 🙂

I really hope the weather stays as nice today as it was yesterday! I would love a night on the patio!!

What is your favorite kind of soup?

Shrimpy salad and I did yoga!

Hi Friends! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend! Mine has been awesome so far!

Last night I had a realxing night in! I made a delicious salad to go with my dinner!

Spring mix and spinach for the greens! I topped this with 1 oz of shrimp, cherry tomatoes, lite caesar, and the star of the show- CILANTRO!! I am so glad I thought to add that at the last minute, it was a wonderful addition and extra level of flava!

After my dinner I got to baking! I made 2 kinds of muffins for a family friend. I baked savory cornbread muffins and sweet pumpkin muffins! The pumpkin ones smelled so good!!

After all that baking, I was glued to my TV. I am so relieved for the citizens of Watertown. May Justice & Peace prevail!

After a great night’s rest I got up bright eyed and bushy tailed to start my day!

A little preworkout fuel:

An arnold sandwich thin topped with peanut butter and banana was the perfect quick breakfast! ALWAYS have my coffee too!! 🙂

I headed to the gym by 735 to get a head start on spin! I warmed up nice and long before class started, and it was a great class too! Endurance ride with TONS of hills! It was hard!

I decided to switch things up today and go to Yoga since my core class has changed. I am so glad I did! Especially after reading yesterday about all the benefits! I was so relaxed and stretched after that hour long class! My core was definitely working!

I really would like to go do yoga more and get in a better habit with it. However, I always feel like I need to be sweaty and out of breath to get a good workout, that is simply not true! 😉

This sweet little guy was waiting for me to come home!

He makes me so happy!! 🙂

Mike and I just grabbed Subway for lunch so that we would have an easy and healthy option. We are going on a dinner date tonight!

…yes I am boring and always get the 6″ turkey with veggies! Whoopsies! I told you guys I am a creature of habit!

Have a happy Saturday everyone! 🙂

Question of the day:
What is your favorite kind of muffin?!

-Mine is a close tie between blueberry and pumpkin!!

Strength, Awesome salad, and Award!

Happy Hump day friends!

This morning I started my day off with a delicious bowl of oats and peanut butter. It was so creamy and filling with the addition of chia seeds!

I worked the morning away and was very busy after being out yesterday!

When lunch time rolled around I biked for 35 minutes and did a leg workout with squats and calf raises. I came back from working out and enjoyed a delicious salad!

Yesterday I cooked up some chicken breasts in the crock pot for a few hours so that I could use them for my lunches this week.  Colors on my plate make me so happy!

I was able to use a lot of the food I picked up at the grocery store this week!

I really miss running and as soon as my foot is well again there will be a slew of running posts to get back to Nacho Average Runner. Currently it’s been mostly Nacho Average complainer/biker, ha!!  The bright side is that since I have had less time to run I have been strength training a bunch!

I even did the Shape DVD 10 minutes of arms workout! Tone those shoulders!!

Hopefully I will be back to running in about 2 weeks (YAY!!!!!) So let the countdown begin! I have officially not run at all for 2 weeks and I am losing my mind. I miss the burn and sweat and tears and soreness and runner’s high!!!

Today was a very exciting day at work! I got a special award for outstanding achievements!  “It’s a Major Award. I won it!” NAME THAT MOVIE!!! 🙂   (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085334/quotes )

Not that anyone works to get recognition or awards, it is certainly not the best reason to work, but it is a great reminder that if you work hard, people notice! Just do your best every day and good things will come to you! Made me very encouraged!! I can’t wait to use my Barnes and Noble gift card!!

What should I get?! I saw on (http://www.pbfingers.com/) Julie’s blog there is a new book for the PBF Book club. Maybe I will get that!!

What are you all doing on this Wednesday night?

-Catching up on TV (Is Modern Family new?) and hnging out with Mike!!

Lazy Monday

How has everyone’s MLK Day been?(Shout out to Mike- MLK!)
Mine has been so nice, I am really glad I had the day off! Especially since I was cheering on the Ravens all night now that they are going to the SUPERBOWL!! WOO!!

Last night’s dinner was really great! I made Rotel dip for the appetizer. Mike grilled up some burgers and his brother made awesome mac and cheese. I also had a salad to add in nutrients.

Here is my din!

Burger, Mac, Salad

I decided to forgo the bun to save on calories and filled my plate with veggies. Turns out by doing that I had hardly any room for mac and cheese! Success!

The rest of my night was spent on the couch waiting for this…

Player’s Celebrating!

SUCCESS! RAVENS ARE GOING TO THE SHIP! WOOP!!

This morning I got up around 730. I had some coffee and breakfast. I had about half a cup of Honey Bunches of Oats mixed into Greek yogurt. Love this stuff!

Yoplait Greek!

With no real plans for my day off (yay) I got gas and swung into the grocery store for more fruit and yogurt. I luckily found out my favorite show had a marathon on today… Bethenny Ever After! This is where my day went. I am not proud.

I took a break for lunch and made myself a healthy southwest salad!

Lunch

I topped my salad with some crushed tortilla chips and Perdue short cuts chicken.

The salsa stole the show… I bought it yesterday at Mom’s Organic Market.

Mmmm…

It was Black Bean and Corn Salsa. Delish! I loved every bite.

Fast forward more TV watching and laundry… I decided to try a run on this chilly afternoon.

My gear!

My foot has been making steady progress and it didn’t hurt while I was going! My total time was 24:23.3 with a total average pace of 8.08.Here are my splits:

1	8:12.7	1.00	8:13
2	8:10.6	1.00	8:11
3	8:00.1	1.00	8:00

I am looking to a relaxing night with my family in! Spaghetti is in the crock pot for dinner. I can’t wait! I am going to try it with my rice pasta! Have a very happy start to your week everyone!

What did you all do today?!