Weekend Recharge!

photo

Excuse me for being crass but it needs to be said: My refrigerator is giving me a boner. Can somebody tell me why every weekend isn’t a 4 day weekend, because in my mind a 4 day weekend is BLISS!

I basically prepped all breakfasts and lunches for the week as well all of the main proteins for dinner Monday thru Friday. WINNING IN THE KITCHEN! And I did it little by little, so it hardly felt like I was in the kitchen. Here’s what’s on the menu:

photo

It’s not life changing, but it’s prepped, cooked and packaged and READY TO EAT, which: yesssssssssssssss!

Aside from tinkering in the kitchen, I also got to do some hanging out with my mom on Friday. I had a bunch of mundane errands to run and she joined me, which made them 900 times more fun! I’m so grateful that she lives so close to me and we can just hang out on a random Friday and A to Z all the aisles at TJ Maxx and Costco. My mom is a great shopping enabler! 🙂

I got home on Friday night in time to workout and let me tell you, it was a heinous workout in the heat. Friday was the first “cool” day in over a week but it was still 97 degrees outside when we worked out and the UN-air conditioned gym felt about exactly as you would imagine.
photo
Upside, after 6 weeks of programming I increased my Push Press 1RM by 10 lbs and I got to hit a tire with a sledge hammer — which just isn’t your average Friday night workout. We came home and had a really relaxing evening and then the REAL weekend started.

I really didn’t have any plans at all for the weekend and I wanted to use the time to just recharge. Obviously that meant sleeping in on Saturday morning and lounging for as long as possible with a cup of coffee and a good book. And then because it was so cool outside, I dared to turn my oven on for the first time in over a week.

It's cool enough to roast vegetables again. Day: MADE!

While I roasted a bunch of vegetables, I ended up plowing through Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In and I found it super engaging and full of a surprising amount of personal detail about her experiences not only at Facebook, but in her personal life as well. I appreciated her perspectives on balancing responsibilities with your spouse and just her overall candor. It was a perfect read for me at this time in my life.

Saturday afternoon I decided I needed to get a little Vitamin D action so I took Buster out for a walk. We made some new dog friends and walked about 3 miles and when we got home the doggie was POOPED! So we both took a nap 🙂
photo
Honestly, I’m so glad my dog is a cuddler! Garrett watched some Formula One while we snoozed and when I woke up it was time to grill up some Raspberry Chipotle Pork Chops and some Zucchini that Sarah had kicked down since she felt sorry for me being completely garden-less and all. We are a little obsessed with this sparkling white wine lately so we may have polished off a bottle of that as well.

Sunday was another sleep in/food prep/lounge kind of day and this is what Buster looked like for most of it:
photo
I think that walk really tired him out or something because he was napping like it was his job! I read a bunch of magazines and then I ventured out to do hot yoga for the first time in a few years. I used to do it very regularly and loved it, and I’m trying to find a little more zen in my life ya know, so what the hell? It was fun (and sweaty) and relaxing and I will definitely be adding that into the rotation.

It was a nice way to wind down the weekend, and when I got home we decided to have appetizers for dinner, which is basically the best kind of dinner. One of the things I cracked open with our appetizer tray was a can of Mediterranean Style Sardines. They are sourced from Scotland but are tossed in olive oil with red pepper, basil, oregano and black olives and you guys, THEY WERE SO DELICIOUS! I can’t even believe I’m saying that because I’ve always thought of sardines as so super gag-worthy, but they are really tasty. If you’ve been trying to figure out a way to squeeze some into your rotation because of all of their health benefits but can’t figure out how — pop them on a cucumber. DELISH!

After four days off, I am actually 100% ready to start the week. Completely Unrelated: I am also 100% ready for Breaking Pointe to come back on to the CW on July 22. I just saw the commercial for it while writing this post and I am kind of ridiculously excited about it!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

11 Responses to Weekend Recharge!

  1. Arika says:

    This prepping is inspiring!! 🙂 Would you share your zucchini boats recipe? I have them on my list to make this week for dinner!

  2. Califia says:

    Actually, your fridge is kind of giving me a boner, too! 😉

    I aspire to fridge-organization like that. You’ve inspired me to stop being such a lazy ass about it.

    • Holly says:

      Don’t worry, sometimes my fridge looks like a ransacked grocery store. 🙂 It’s only when I have 4 days off in a row that it looks like this. And since that is only like twice a year… 🙂

  3. Danielle says:

    Totally boner-worthy. Sounds like a great weekend! Sometimes I can’t believe that cooking and meal prep is what ranks up there on my “what I want to do this weekend” list. My 22 year old self is laughing.

    • Holly says:

      I know, right? It’s nuts. My 20 something self would also be very embarrassed. 🙂

  4. Jess says:

    I’m always afraid to ask when I see things like this, but what do people make for breakfast that will keep through the whole week? In general for lunch and dinner, the meat and veggies hold up over 5+ days? I grew up with a family fearful of food poisoning so we only keep leftovers until the next day…so I’m never quite sure how to tackle the pre-cooking like this. Posts like this are so inspiring though and make me want to do it. It’s the bump I need to kickstart my healthy eating again.

    • Holly says:

      HA! Well to put it into context, I am the exact opposite about food poisoning — not freaked out about it at all — so not sure if you want my advice. But I usually make hard boiled eggs and either a roasted veggie or sometimes sausage with fruit. It kind of depends what I have on had. But hard boiled eggs stay fine for a while and generally the veggies hold up and still taste good by the end of the week, so that works for us!

      • Jess says:

        sounds good to me. sorry to talk about that grossness on your awesome food blog. thanks for all of the inspiration, info, and laughs!

  5. savychacha says:

    My goodness – that fridge is so pretty! Although my husband would hate the use of all that tupperware…just because he hates having to wash it all out again 🙂

    Just a quick aside though – when it’s that hot outside and you take Buster for a walk, just be careful of how long/far the walk is. Being close to the ground makes it even hotter for them, and the hot asphalt (if he’s walking on asphalt) if it’s over 85 degrees, can literally burn the pads off of his feet. Heat stroke comes on really quickly and you may not notice it until after you get home long after the walk is over. I know you love that little guy, and wouldn’t do anything to harm him, but I just needed to put that out there…I hope I’m not being to forward or offensive! I’ve just heard a few stories recently from friends/acquaintances about this type of situation because it’s been so hot here too, and it’s on my radar. Glad you all got to enjoy the long weekend!!

    • Holly says:

      Great advice, not forward or offensive at all! We generally walk him in a park with decomposed granite, so it’s definitely not as hot as asphalt, but I totally get where you are coming from and I am NEVER mad at dog advice. I love that little pooch like crazy, so I will soak up any and all unsolicited advice if it helps me take the best care of him possible. Thanks!