Boating to Breakfast

Oh the joys of living on the water.

Just before 9 a.m., my mom, dad, Ryan and I headed out on my parents’ boat. We cruised around for a bit, enjoying the water and the sun, before docking near The Sea Horse, a local hole-in-the-wall restaurant that serves the most delicious breakfast.

Fortunately we didn’t have to wait more than a minute, and were directed to a cozy table.

Yep, it is that kind of place. 😉

While perusing the menu, one item jumped out at me.

The Baby Ray sandwich just called to me. I blame the cheese. 😉

We didn’t have to wait more than 10 minutes for our meals and before I knew it, my mouth was watering at the ooey-gooey cheese on the sandwich placed before me.

My mom was also kind enough to share her home fries with me. Yum, yum!

We left The Sea Horse feeling sufficiently stuffed and piled back into the boat to cruise around for another hour before heading in.

On the ride inland, I ended up falling asleep at the front of the boat. The sound of the sea and the warm rays of the sun were relaxing and simply soothing.

Plans for the rest of the day include running to JoAnn’s and Michaels for fabric and frames for the escort boards for our wedding. My mom and I are having so much fun being crafty!

I hope you are enjoying your Sunday. I’ll be back in a bit!

Sandwiches Don’t Need Meat. Who Knew?

Growing up I used to think that a sandwich had to include meat. (Unless, of course, it met one of two exceptions: It was a peanut butter and jelly or grilled cheese sandwich.)

Today I often make meat-free sandwiches, letting nut butter, cheese or hummus do the talking.

If cheese and meat got into a flavor fight in my mouth, cheese would win every time. I love the strong, creamy taste of a good slice of cheese.

My lunch today featured a smoked Provolone cheese and tomato sandwich, made on a toasted Toufayan everything flavored Smart Bagel.

'Maters

Tomato + Provolone Bagelwich

Cheese, you are delicious.

On the side of my tomato and cheese bagelwich, I enjoyed cucumber slices and a crisp apple for some sweetness.

Cukes

Do Apples Even Have a Nickname? Apps?

Aaand, a little slice of birthday cake may have made it into my mouth as well.

CAKE!

This cake was leftover from a coworker’s birthday yesterday (I pretended it was for my blog’s birthday).

I enjoyed it so much the first time around that I just had to experience its deliciousness again today.

Growing up, marble cake was always my birthday cake of choice! 😀

Winner, Winner, Cookies for Dinner

Thank you to everyone who commented on my one-year of blogging anniversary post. You guys sure know how to make a girl blush!

The winner of the homemade batch of cookies giveaway is…

Number 64, Come on Doooown!

Andrea: Congrats!! I love your blog and can’t wait to see what the next year has in store!

Hooray, Andrea! Please email me at pbfingers@gmail.com with what kind of cookies you would like and your mailing address.

Of Possible Interest

• Your Healthy Fall Food Plan (FitSugar.com)
• Dos and Don’ts of Dining Out (FitBottomedGirls.com)
• How to Create Positive Goals (lululemon.com)
• Chocolate Coconut Biscotti Recipe I’m Dying to Try (HeathersDish.com)

Question of the Afternoon

Pick one: Meat, cheese, veggie, or nut butter sandwiches?

Caramel & Chocolate Showdown (+ a Giveaway!)

Woohoo for yummy lunches!

Today I enjoyed a PBF favorite… a noodle bowl!

Noodle Bowl + Cheeeeeese

My bowl o’ pasta was a bit different today, as it did not include my beloved red sauce. Instead I opted for a cheesy sauce made with melted Laughing Cow light original Swiss cheese wedge and Babybel cheese.

Laughing Cow + Babybel

The combination of the two cheese flavors was delicious and definitely stood out against the chopped spinach and lightly steamed broccoli I also included in the bowl.

Lunchtime!

Though my bowl of noodly goodness was pretty darn fantastic, something else managed to steal the show.

Oikos Caramel Greek Yogurt

So stinkin’ good!

Last week Stonyfield (the company that makes Oikos organic Greek yogurt) sent me some coupons to sample their new caramel and chocolate Greek yogurt.

If you read this blog with any regularity, you know I am basically in love with Greek yogurt for its creamy texture and fantastic protein content, so naturally I jumped at the chance to try the new dessert-like flavors.

All I can say is hoooooooly (organic) cow! 😀

Both flavors were incredibly delicious, though I think for the first time in my entire life I preferred the caramel variety to the chocolate.

I really liked how the caramel and chocolate “topping” was located at the bottom of the cup, because it allowed me to enjoy as much or as little of the sweetness I wanted to at any given bite. Gotta love a healthy way to satisfy that sweet tooth!

Caramel Heaven

Eat Up!

Now that I’ve all but professed my love for these new flavas, it’s your turn to give ’em a try!

Oikos is offering one reader a Chocolate Indulgence Giveaway Package that includes:

• 1 coupon for a free Green & Black Organic Chocolate Bar
• 1 sample of Numi Organic Chocolate tea
• 1 Dagoba/Eco Lips Organic Chocolate chapstick
• 1 Skinnyskinny real cocoa organic soap bar
• 2 free coupons for Chocolate and Caramel Oikos multipacks
• Recipe card set featuring Chocolate Cheesecake, as well Oikos spatula

To enter this giveaway, simply comment on this post, telling me what dish that involves chocolate or caramel is your favorite. For additional entries follow Stonyfield on Twitter or become a fan of Stonyfield on Facebook and comment back telling me you did so.

A winner will be randomly select a winner tomorrow afternoon. Good luck!!!

Of Possible Interest

• Article I wrote for dailySpark.com about my transition from eating for my weight to eating for my health (dailySpark.com)
• 6 Essential Post-Workout Stretches (FitSugar.com)
• Yummy Low-Calorie Summer Drinks (Health.com

All-Inclusive Honeymoons

Today’s lunch was suuuper simple.

I’m a huge fan of fruit, bread and cheese platters at parties, and recreated a little platter for myself for lunch today.

I made an apple and cheese quesadilla on a whole wheat tortilla.

Apple 'n' Cheese Quesadilla

Hello 'Dilla Insides

On the side, I had a mini-fruit salad with chopped apple and strawberries.

Apple and Strawberry Fruit Salad

Dessert included two pieces of Easter candy.

Dessert

Post Suggestions

Thank you for your post suggestions! So far on my “to do” list for posts I have:

• BodyPump Overview
• A Day in the Life
• Songs of the Day
• Wedding Posts (This should really pick up soon as I have quite a few wedding planning “to dos” coming up!)
• Tips for New Runners

Feel free to send any more suggestions my way at pbfingers@gmail.com or comment on this post. 🙂

All-Inclusive Honeymoons

Ryan and I are in the process of selecting our honeymoon destination. We’re really intrigued by the all-inclusive resorts since it makes vacation planning easier and can help save money on food and drinks. We don’t want to go on a cruise since we live in Florida and can do that anytime for pretty cheap, so we’re looking into Caribbean all-inclusive resorts.

Have you ever stayed at an all-inclusive resort? Thoughts? Recommendations?

At my Invisalign appointment this morning, my orthodontist recommended Excellence Resorts with locations in the Dominican Republic and Mexico. The website sure makes these resorts look breath-taking!

Excellence Playa Mujeres Resort and Spa

My main concern with all-inclusive vacations is the added fees associated with activities or spa services. Both Ryan and I like to explore on vacations, and I know we’ll want to do fun activities like scuba diving. We don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for the added adventures.

Decisions, decisions…

Overflowing

Not only were the empty boxes we brought to fill up with the stuff remaining at our old apartment overflowing (We need more boxes!), but so was a toilet at our new apartment! Gaaah.

Our new landlord is amazing and got a plumber out to our place within 20 minutes. Apparently roots grew into the pipes, causing the water to get backed up and the toilet to overflow. Luckily we already moved all our towels, so we had a bunch of old towels on hand to contain the water.

The plumber arrived quickly, and our toilet is back in commission! Phew.

While the plumber was working away, Ryan and I took a break from loading and unloading the car to enjoy a yummy lunch.

Taco Meat + Cheese

I made us a big quesadilla to share using leftover taco meat from Wednesday’s dinner and mozzarella cheese.

'Dilla

I also enjoyed a big ol’ veggie wrap with roasted red pepper hummus, portobello mushrooms, yellow squash and broccoli.

Hummus

Veggies

Lunch Time

I was really hungry and we both polished off our respective lunches quickly.

We weren’t quite ready to get back to work, so we hung out in the backyard, enjoying the sun for about 45 minutes.

Mission

The mission for the rest of the day is to get every last thing out of our old place.

Where is all this stuff coming from!?!?