After our fabu farmers market trip, hubby and I did a little shopping (unsuccessfully) for furniture.

We decided to hit up a new sandwich joint in town – Which WIch.

The ordering style was unique – select a bag for the sandwich group you want, mark the sandwich and all the toppings you want and add your name at the bottom.

They make your sandwich to order and promptly have it ready for you on the other end of the counter.

I really liked the concept and the people there were really nice. I hope they do well.

Hubby and I took our sammies to go.

I got the black bean patty on wheat with provolone, lettuce, avocado and bell pepper, plus salt and pepper.

It was really good! I LOVED how the bread got nice and crunchy since they toasted it.

I really like my sammie but hubby loved his! He kept raving about it. Guess we’ll be back.

Then I was off for National Dance Day celebrations!

I started with a 1-hour hip hop class to learn the Nappy Tab dance (the one I mentioned before). I must say, while I feel comfortable in zumba classes now, I feel so awkward in hip hop classes! I have a hard time remembering all the steps!! As class was beginning, I stood there, feeling a lot like I did in my first zumba class, worried if I was going to make an a$$ out of myself. “They’re all gonna laugh at me!” was my fear. But, I used what I’ve learned in zumba to let loose and enjoy class and that is – dance classes are best enjoyed when you don’t think so much about what other people are going to think about you. Remember to just let loose…and by that I mean really, let loose – let your arms and legs move freely, don’t hold back because you won’t be able to get into the dance as much. Focus on learning the steps, not on what people are going to think about how you do them. HAVE FUN! That’s why you’re there, isn’t it? And if this still doesn’t help, just think…in 20 years, is anyone going to remember that you messed up a couple steps in some hip hop (or zumba) class one time? No. They’re not. So there…let loose people!

Anywho, after the hip hop class, I also did a 1 hour master dance class. Phew! That’s 2 hours of dancing folks and it was freakin fantastic!

I was definitely in need of nourishment post class and just had some Vega Whole Health Optimizer mixed with water. Oh and I had a LOT of water, too! Jeez I sweat a lot today! Great workouts and great fun = the need for major hydration.

Phew! Tired but HAPPY!

Took a trip to visit the new Lululemon store in town and munched on a banana.

I picked up groceries for a little bloggie brunch get-together I’m having tomorrow (can’t wait!) and for dinner tonight. I used this mixed vegetable container from TJ’s in a red sauce for that ravioli we picked up this morning.

Served with Whole Grain Goodness toast with a dab o real butter.

I’m off to hang out with some friends tonight.

Cheers!

Did anyone else celebrate National Dance Day? I’m tellin ya…a dance in your living room would be super fun!

Years ago, I used to like eating unhealthy stuff for breakfast all the time. It seemed like breakfast was when they had the good stuff: chocolate croissants, sticky buns and other delectable sweets. But not just the sweet stuff – Bagels with cream cheese, egg sandwiches.

At some point, I realized that my indulgent breakfasts, while decidedly delicious to eat, were typically not that filling and would often leave me sluggish. So, I cut back on them – a little at first and then more and more. At some point, I fell in love with healthy breakfasts like oatmeal and Power Toast – breakfasts that filled me with healthful food and gave me plenty of energy.

And while I love my healthy breakfasts and truly prefer them over the more indulgent ones, sometimes you just want something a little over the top. Breakfast was pretty indulgent today. Hubby picked up a GH cinnamon roll and I made us fried eggs. I forgot how HUGE that cinnamon roll is! I stuffed myself trying to finish it. Bad idea. The cinnamon roll wasn’t such a bad idea…eating more than I was comfortable with was. Oops. Next time I’ll save some for a snack later.

Lunch = leftover chicken noodle soup and Whole Grain Goodness toast.

And I had some Power Toast for an afternoon snack.

Great Harvest Whole Grain Goodness with:

• Barney Butter
• chia seeds
• hemp seeds
• cacao nibs

Organic cherries, too!

***

Guess who came to zumba with me tonight?!

Check out all my bloggie friends: Irene, (me), Katie, Jen, Jen, and Brittney.

We all had a fantastic hour of zumba tonight – the firs time trying zumba for most of these girls. How did they do? They danced like rock stars, of course!

Thank you ladies for coming to class with me! I hope to see you there again soon!

Oh and random note, a lady in class was wearing some sort of calorie counter and said she burned like 850 calories in class tonight! Whoa! Michelle is giving me her old heart rate monitor so I’m going to be doing my own experimenting with calorie burning. Can’t wait to see what the number is!

Post class it was time for a protein shake – Vega Whole Health Optimizer.

Yay zumba! I always feel like a million bucks after class.

Post class hubby and I headed out for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant – 1900 Mexican Grill. It’s probably our favorite Mexican restaurant in town because the food is good, the drinks are awesome (especially the dirty margarita), and the owner is sooo nice. I love to support his local business.

The weather was too gorgeous to not eat outside.

I started with a dirty margarita – made with tamarind!

We started with some cheese dip (starting to prefer guac over cheese dip…who am I?) and chips and salsa.

We shared a combo – beef burrito, chicken enchilada, and rice and beans.

My portion – I barely finished.

Post dinner, went over to hubby’s bacherlor-friends’ apartment to chill out. We ended up watching a lot of Terminator Salvation before heading home. I’m pooped but I have a big day of dancing tomorrow!

What are you up to this weekend?

After my healthy breakfast-on-the-run, I had some good lunch eats.

Leftover Cozy Chicken Noodle Soup and GH Whole Grain Goodness bread.

Plus a banana.

I had kind of a crappy afternoon and wasnt feeling much like cooking, so hubby and I had a pizza night. We started with salads to get a veg serving. They were a mix of spinach and baby greens with organic red pepper, sunflower seeds and more yummy Girard’s Champagne dressing (*).

Pizza! I had 1 slice of pepperoni and 2 slices of cheese from this fabu NY-style, thin-crust.

I tried to cheer up with a baking experiment.

Any guesses what I’m working on?

And check out this maze I drew. It’s not very difficult. Anywho, when I was a kid, I used to draw mazes all the time – especially when I was in class at school. They kind of help me concentrate. I used to draw HUGE mazes on 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper. I just doodled this one at random. Guess I should try to make them more challenging, eh?

What’s your favorite thing to doodle? Want to share it? Email me your doodle (or maze if you want) at thechiclife at gmail dot com.

It was humid and rainy here, so I thought the weather called for cozy food.

First up – OATMEAL! Plus nice, hot coffee, of course.

Pre-cooking:

• 1/3 cup coconut milk
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 1 tsp chia seeds

Cook stove top till thickened.

Post-cooking:

• handful of blueberries, stirred in at end
• flaxseed on top
• sliced almonds on top
• cacao nibs on top (so glad to have these back in the rotation!)

Remember you can get cacao nibs (or anything else in my OpenSky shop) either 20% off or with free shipping with these codes (july20pct or julyfreeship) in my OpenSky shop. Click here for details.

Lunch was sort of random.

Chips and salsa

Giant salad:

• baby spinach/lettuce mix
• organic celery
• organic red bell pepper
• organic baby carrots
• farmers market cucumber
• sunflower seeds
• TJ’s balsamic

I got stuck in meetings and didn’t get to the rest of my lunch till 4pm. Luckily (or not so luckily), I had a 5-6pm meeting. So, I used my snack tide me over till dinner.

My snack was related to a recent package I got – Barney Butter!!!! Yes! Barney Butter sent me some individual packages of almond butter for me to enjoy! Woohoo!

Yep…Barney Butter + Whole Grain Goodness = fabulous-o snack!

I toasted the bread and spread the BB on top. Love the way the heat makes it nice and gooey.

And for a little something sweet – organic cherries!

***

No workouts for me today. I worked out Sunday, twice on Monday and taught zumba on Tuesday. I think it’s time for a rest day.

Like I mentioned before, I’m still working on cooking more recipes from my cook books, starting with the 3 Ina Garten cookbooks my mom got me recently.

Since declaring my desire to try some of Ina’s recipes, I’ve already made one recipe – Ina’s Strawberry Country Cake – a real winner!

One of the recipes I selected was Ina Garten’s chicken noodle soup.

I used parsley from my garden in my soup.

And to save time, I roasted extra chicken breasts when I made dinner last night and used the leftover chicken to make tonight’s soup!

I adapted Ina’s recipe because I like sauteing my veggies and I wanted to add onion.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Adapted from Ina Garten’s recipe from her book Barefoot Contessa Family Style

Ingredients:

• 1 whole (2 split) chicken breast, bone in, skin on
• Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• dash garlic powder
• dash dried rosemary
• 2 quarts Chicken Stock
• 1 tbsp EVOO
• 1/2 large onion chopped
• 1 cup medium-diced celery (2 stalks)
• 1 cup medium-diced carrots (7-9 baby carrots)
• 2 cups wide egg noodles
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken breasts on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Drizzle chicken with EVOO and rub into skin. Top chicken lightly with dashes of salt, pepper, garlic powder and rosemary. Roast 35-40 minutes (you may need to cook longer if the chicken breasts are really big). Set aside to cool. Note: You can also cook the chicken the night before like I did this week – cook extra for dinner one night and more for the soup – use the leftover meat for the soup.
2. When the chicken is cool enough to touch, remove meat from bones and skin and pull into smaller pieces. Set aside.
3. Heat a medium pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrots and cook till onions translucent – about 3-5 minutes.
4. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.
5. Add egg noodles and reduce to simmer. Simmer for 9-10 minutes or until pasta cooked al dente.
6. Add chicken and parsley and cook to warm through.
7. Serve with crusty bread.

Very easy and tasty!

Hubby and I enjoyed our soup with Great Harvest Whole Grain Goodness toast and a dab of real butter (his had a lil extra butter).

Hubby got his hair did today.

And dessert – hubby picked up 3 mini cinnamon rolls from GH when he was getting bread. They aren’t nearly as good as one large cinnamon roll, which is what he was going to get me until the 2 ladies in front of him ordered the very last 2! Bah! I’m not mad – 3 cinnamon rolls in mini size are way better than none. And they’re pretty darn tasty on their own, too – just not as tender.

***

Remember I scored you guys some deals on my OpenSky shop (20% off Galaxy Granola anyone? What about cacao nibs?) – click for details

And check out my latest recipe – marinated kale! Nommm

Do you like to eat anything in particular when it rains? I always seem to think comfort food – oatmeal, soup, casseroles, cobblers…you?

I’ve owed you guys this recipe for ages now, but thanks to a reminder from reader Karen, I’m actually posting it!

Here it is – my recipe for Marinated Kale! It’s so easy (no cooking!), tasty and healthful – give it a go!

What does it taste like? Well, kale to me, in general, is sort of like spinach except with a much heartier texture. Spinach is tender and bruises easily while kale holds up nicely (which is why a lot of recipes ask you to “massage” the kale – it tenderizes without bruising). Once marinated, the kale will soften up a bit, but it will still have a bite to it, texture-wise. The flavor mostly comes from the sauce ingredients, which end up being salty yet sweet with the lovely flavor of sesame oil ever prevalent and bits of fresh garlic and ginger popping up here and there.

Anywho, I LOVE to make a big batch of this to start a week. It’s an easy side veggie to take to work – just pack some into a tupperware – no re-heating necessary. You just need a fork! Makes a great vegetable serving.

On to the recipe…

First up – some visuals:

Be sure to triple wash your kale – it’s usually pretty gritty when you get it home from the store. I usually tear my kale into smaller pieces with my hands while I’m doing the washing part, but you can also chop it with a knife.

Other key ingredients: Tamari, Sesame Oil.

Whisk up sauce.

Add sauce to kale and massage – preferably with your hands. Why? Well, it seems like you can get away with using less sauce if you just rub it in a little. I believe most people massage their kale to tenderize it, but I just like to ensure my kale is well-coated without being in a puddle of sauce.

Add sesame seeds. Done-zo!

***

Marinated Kale Recipe

Raw, Vegetarian, Vegan and Gluten-Free

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch kale (curly leaves, not dinosaur), triple-washed, cut or ripped into small 1-2 inch pieces (1 inch pieces will be easier to eat later)
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 1/2 tbsp tamari (use wheat-free if you’re going GF)
• 1 tsp minced garlic (you can omit this but it’s so much more flavorful with it!)
• 1 tsp minced ginger (same note as for garlic)
• 1-3 tbsp sesame seeds depending on how much you like them.

Directions:

1. Place prepped kale into a large bowl.
2. In a separate small to medium bowl, whisk together sesame oil and tamari till emulsified/combined nicely. Whisk in garlic and ginger.
3. Pour sauce over kale and massage sauce into the kale (this will help ensure all pieces of kale are covered.
4. Add sesame seeds to the kale (if you’re not sure if you’d rather go 1 or 3 tbsp, I suggest adding 1 and mixing up and checking coverage. You can always add more sesame seeds but you can’t take them back out…not easily at least).
5. Store in an air-tight container. NOTE: You may wish to make your kale the night before you want to eat it so it has time for the flavors to combine.
6. Enjoy!