3 Favorite Meals and Healthy Snacks

Now that I have been back at work for 3 weeks now I want to share some of our favorite quick recipes and snacks. We do a lot of meal prepping on Sundays to prepare for our week. I have been following the 21 day fix meal plan in hopes to clean up my eating and drop a few pounds. Before I went back to work I was getting in the workouts on most days. Now, not so much. It is really hard to find time to work out and I'll be honest it is just not a priority right now. Hopefully in the next couples weeks I can figure how to fit a workout in.

Sundays are our grocery shopping and meal prep day. We literally spend all day food prepping. It is pretty draining and some times annoying to spend our Sundays like that but it is so worth it and makes meals throughout the week so much easier. Matt does dinner 3 nights a week alone so it really helps him out as well.

Favorite Healthy Snacks:

• Green, Red, Yellow or Orange Bell Peppers
• Strawberries
• Apple with Peanut Butter
• Cantaloupe
• Peaches
• Baby Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Cottage Cheese
• String Cheese

Those have been my go to snacks. I usually do a fruit and a veggie for my morning snack and then a veggie, fruit and cottage cheese for my afternoon snack. The key is portion control. I make sure I cut everything up and measure it in my 21 day fix containers. It is a lot of work to cut up 5 bell peppers, 3 packs of strawberries, a cantaloupe and what ever other veggies are on the list for the week on Sunday, but when I am able to just grab a baggie and throw it in my lunch bag I am thankful I cut them all up at once. Kinley loves all of it too so it makes it easy to grab her a snack. 

3 Favorite Meals:

• Chicken Parmesan over Spaghetti Squash: I LOVE this and it is super easy and great reheated. I like to do baked chicken breasts and then add some mozzarella cheese on top so I am not eating fried chicken and defeating the purpose of healthy eating. I love the spaghetti squash as a substitute for pasta

• Greek Turkey Burgers: I found this recipe and it has been a favorite for the past few weeks. You don't even need a bun which is a bonus for me since I have been trying to cut down on my carbs. The tomato and cucumber salad its such a great addition. Don't forget the feta! 

• Taco Salad: Such an easy meal to make. Again getting rid of the tortillas. You can have so many options with taco salad. I use ground turkey for the meat but you could use ground beef as well. You could also add in corn or black beans. I love topping it with a little cheese, fresh salsa, avocado and a little sour cream. Though like I said the options are endless.

What are some of your favorite recipes?

Our Weekend In Pictures

We had a pretty great weekend, besides all the working we had to do. We were able to get some family time in as well as hang out with some friends.

Thursday Kinley and I hung out and made a festive fruit salad for the BBQ. She helped me cut the stars and dump the blueberries in the bowl. One star for the bowl and one for her mouth. I really should've put a bib on her because she was a mess after cutting and eating watermelon. Not sure what I was thinking.

While she was napping I was able to paint my nails. They looked cute until they all chipped off.

After nap we decorated cookies. I initially wanted to make star cookies but was only able to get a few stars out of the batch. Oh well they were still festive too. She wasn't into decorating the cookies as much as I had thought she would be, nor did she eat as many cookies as I thought she would. What was she thinking! Silly girl. We had such a great morning/afternoon.

It was suppose to start raining but we had BBQ plans and were really hoping the rain would hold out. And wouldn't you know it did....right up until it was time to leave. It started down pouring and we were all still BBQing at the pool. We decided to use the towels and make a run for the car. Kinley thought it was hilarious and wanted nothing to do with the towel I had on her head. We were soaked by the time we got to the car! Rain and all we had a blast BBQing with friends. Kinley had a blast walking in and out of the pool and making friends with the little girl that was there. It was helpful for us to get some adult conversations in while she was occupied. Of course we were watching her like a hawk being by the water. There is nothing that scares me more than unsupervised children around water. It only takes one second! We had such a fun evening. And we were home by 8:00pm. HAHA we are an old married couple with a kid.

She's totally cheesing in that last picture. It is too cute! When I ask her to say smile she says "CHEESE" and closes her eyes. Too cute!

Friday I worked for half the day but then we went to the inlaws for another BBQ. Kinley hung out with Daddy all day and they went to the pet store to look. Kinley almost had daddy talked into another kitty...almost! She even brought them a toy. Kinley loves spending time with her Nanny and Poppy. Poppy has quite the pumpkin patch growing that she loves to look at. We all ate a yummy dinner and had great conversations. After we got home Kinley got a bath and she went to bed, Matt and I enjoyed some time on the couch while watching Orange is the New Black. And yes again we went to bed early. We really are old...or just really smart :)

Saturday I worked all day and got home in time for dinner. Matt had already left for work so Kinley was enjoying some more time with Nanny and Poppy. We truly are so fortunate to have such wonderful grandparents that Kinley can spend time with. They also brought over a wonderful surprise! A water table. They are so silly though. I had mentioned I wanted to get her a water table when we were there BBQing on Friday and what do you know they show up with a water table. Thank you sooooo much! I am sure there will be many hours of fun with that. She is definitely a water baby.

Sunday we did the usual; grocery shopping and meal prepping for the week. More fun with the water table and some much needed family of 3 time. I promise she had a good time on the dragon. She loves that thing!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July and was safe! Have a wonderful week! By the way, I am loving this pony she has going on. Don't mind all the watermelon on her shirt.

Happy Monday.