Summer BBQs and Light Workouts

Thursday brought one of my best workouts in a while! I started off with 20 minutes on the row machine. Then I did 2 sets of 30 speed squats and 15 upward rows with a 15 lb free weight. Then I jumped on the elliptical and cranked it for 20 mins, repeated the 2 sets of squats and rows, jumped back on for 20 more minutes on the elliptical and did one more set of squats, just to torture myself.....I crawled out of work that day! So amazing.

Starving from my workout, I was glad that Thursday night my family took my little brother out for his 16th birthday. (Can I mention how old this makes me feel!!). We went to his favorite restaurant, Mandarin Court. Usually, the food is amazing. Unfortunately, things didn't turn out all to well this night. So the only thing picture worthy was my vegetarian sushi. Cucumber, carrot and avocado. Drizzled in soy sauce. Delish.

Friday afternoon baby girl and I packed up and headed up to SoMD to spend some time with the boys:-) Saturday was a relaxing day. My body was SO sore from my crazy workout on Thursday that I decided to take it easy. I did 60 minutes of Jillian Michael's Power Yoga. I felt better as soon as I was done. All stretched out.

Then the BBQ started! I prepped and the boy cooked. We make a damn good team if I do say so myself. We marinated that pork tenderloin for 6 hours, seasoned the sweet potatoes with a sprinkle of brown sugar, cumin and cayenne pepper and tossed the squash in seasoning salt, onion powder and garlic powder. Everything was SO good. (Especially topped with Cholula!)

For dessert, I tried my hand at a Boston Cream Pie. Pretty tasty! (PS - Has anybody ever made one of these?? 5 egg yolks and 5 whole eggs. Holy cholesterol. I had no idea. Luckily, for my wheat-free yet-I-splurge-for sweets-self, there was only a 1/2 cup of flour.)

Making breakfast for my family is one of the things I love to do most. This baby was an oatmeal pancake (No flour, just egg whites, oatmeal, baking powder and cinnamon. Especially great if you had 1/2 a mashed banana) topped with Greek yogurt and some amazing nectarines and strawberries I picked up from the farmer's market on Sunday.

Unfortunately, my family won't eat that. lol. So I made them scrambled eggs, sausage and croissants. Baby steps. lol.

After heading back to VA and doing my normal errands, cleaning (Being an adult is the breaks sometimes...) I headed out for a bike ride. I got sprinkled on for a few miles and that really gave me a kick. (Cannot wait to start running again! Running in the rain is incredibly exhilarating. I feel like the "Rocky" theme song is playing while I am...) I knocked out 11 miles and came back to this...

I liked the sweet potatoes from Saturday night so much I did them again. I also made a cucumber and tomato salad...Chop and mix with chopped red onion, basil and black beans...tossed in red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil....so good. Especially with those slices of avocado on the side. My mom made the yummy chicken and pepper kabob in the middle.

I love summer BBQs with loved ones. I wish winter never came.

I should be stretching right now....why is it I ran spend hours running/biking but can't stretch for more than 5 minutes afterwards. Must work on this.