Pomegranate Smoothie + Sadie Looks Stressed

This Saturday morning has been go, go, go from the minute we woke up!

We spent the first hour of our day doing dishes and laundry and picking up around the apartment.

After snacking on a quesadilla (Colby jack string cheese warmed on a whole wheat quesadilla), Ryan and I headed to the gym for a fast and sweaty workout.

I did a random cardio hodgepodge that included:

• 10 min. stair master
• 30 min. elliptical
• 1 round At Home Cardio Blast (Same one I did last weekend)

Once Ryan and I were done at the gym, we headed home and leashed up Sadie for a 2.5 mile walk.

Sometimes I get the feeling that Sadie doesn’t particularly enjoy lots of loving cuddles on our walks…

I mean that face doesn’t exactly say “I love you, Mom! More cuddles, please!” 😉

Ryan and I couldn’t stop laughing when we saw her stressed out bug-eyed face in that picture.

In the words of Chandler Bing, she’s a hoot!

Once our walk was over, we ran a couple of errands and Ryan got a haircut. By the time we got back home it was after 11 a.m. and I was more than hungry!

Breakfast

I wanted a F-A-S-T breakfast and thought a cold, creamy smoothie sounded perfect.

I busted out the blender and got to work.

I made a pomegranate smoothie by combining the following:

• 1 c. POM Wonderful pomegranate cranberry juice
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1 HUGE frozen banana
• 1/2 c. cottage cheese

The result was a thick, creamy smoothie with a little bit of tang from the pomegranate juice. It was tasty!

I served it in an adorable wine glass that I received from blog reader Alyssa who noticed that I am a huge lover of Etsy, an online marketplace where artists can sell handmade goods.

Alyssa has a super-crafty shop of her own through Etsy and sells hand painted wine glasses that she creates herself.

How cute is this Wine-O glass?

It’s definitely meant for a true wine-o, because it is huge!

 

It held my entire smoothie without a problem.

Plus, the glass matched my smoothie, and you guys know how much I love matchy matchy things. 😉

I gotta get runnin’ because I have a mani/pedi appointment today and then Ryan’s mom and her boyfriend are heading over to hang out for the rest of the day.

See ya in a bit!

POM Pancakes

Woo-wee! Today is flyin’ by.

Slow down, Sunday!

First thing this morning, Ryan, Sadie and I piled into Ryan’s car and headed to Winter Springs where Ryan had a 9 a.m. soccer game.

Since Ryan likes to arrive to all of his soccer games nice and early to have ample time to warm up, I dropped him off at the soccer field and drove to a nearby dog park to let Sadie run around until his game started.

We ended up staying at the park for a good hour and showed up to Ryan’s game about 10 minutes before halftime.

I enjoyed talking to other spectators while watching the game. Sadie, on the other hand, was all business.

She kept her eyes on the ball… and her dad the whole time.

Ryan’s game concluded around 11 a.m. and we headed home to make a big breakfast.

Since we both only ate a small meal before the soccer game, we were oh-so-hungry when we walked through the door.

I headed straight to the kitchen and got to work!

Breakfast

When I arrived home from work on Friday, a large box of POM Wonderful juice was waiting on my doorstep.

The company sent me a sample of their new flavor of juice, pomegranate cranberry to try.

 

After talking with some of my blogging friends on Friday about POM juice, they encouraged me to try cooking with it, as I’ve never really experimented with the juice in recipes.

On Sundays I often crave a big, substantial breakfast like French toast or pancakes, so I figured I would try incorporating the juice into a batch of pancakes this morning.

After tasting the batter, I could tell the POM pancakes were going to be a success!

I ate two small pancakes right off the griddle before plating the remaining ‘cakes.

I topped the pancakes with syrup and dug in!

The pancakes were light purple in color from the juice which made them look nice and purdy!

Both Ryan and I agreed that these pancakes were pretty fantastic. We’ll definitely be making these again!

POM Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1 c. all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 c. POM Wonderful pomegranate cranberry or pomegranate juice
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Directions:

• Combine flour through baking soda in a bowl
• Whisk together pomegranate juice, egg and oil
• Pour pomegranate mixture into the bowl with the four mixture and beat until combined
• Spray griddle or pan with non-stick cooking spray
• Pour batter onto pan in individual pancakes, flipping after approximately 2 minutes
• Cook until batter is set
• Top with syrup, powdered sugar, fruit or desired toppings

Today

Today’s plans include laundry, cleaning, the Bucs game, trip to the grocery store and JoAnn’s and a frozen yogurt date with my friend Merri.

I hope your Sunday is going by nice and slowly. 😀 I’ll check back lata!

Reader’s Recipe: Rosemary Chicken

Thank you to Kelly for submitting a recipe for rosemary chicken from Real Simple magazine, which I selected as my first Reader’s Recipe!

*Don’t forget to comment on this post with a recipe or key ingredient you think I should try next week!*

I was intrigued by all the yummy veggies in Kelly’s  recipe, but what sealed the deal for me was the ease of the recipe. You guys know I love easy, peasy dinners!

After work, I swung by the grocery store to pick up the necessary ingredients as well as my weekly essentials.

I arrived home to my sick fiancé and crazy dog. Poor Ryan stayed home from work today because he’s not feeling so hot. This dinner seemed like the perfect dish of comfort food for a sick boy and I figured it was  good night to try out this warm and nutritious meal. Let’s hope it helps him get healthy fast!

Dinner came together quickly, and after a few minutes of slicing and dicing, the chicken and veggies were a-roastin’!

Rosemary Chicken + Roasted Veggies

Rosemary Sprigs

My favorite part of this dish was the roasted zucchini. The combination of the veggie with the olive oil and sweetness of the rosemary made it taste phenomenal.

Chicken

My Plate

Ryan and I both enjoyed second helpings of this dinner. Ryan said we should make thie recipe again if only for the smell. The rosemary made our whole apartment smell fantastic!

I also enjoyed a small bottle of POM Wonderful pomegranate juice with dinner for some added sweetness.

POM Juice

I’m off to unpack from our weekend in St. Pete before climbing in bed early. I’m tiiiired.

Rosemary Chicken with Zucchini

Serves 4, Hands-On Time: 15m Total Time: 1hr 15m

Ingredients

• 1 pound new potatoes
• 2 carrots
• 2 small zucchini
• olive oil
• whole-grain mustard
• 1 bunch rosemary
• kosher salt and pepper
• 4 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 4 1-quart resealable plastic freezer bags

Directions

1.  Heat oven to 400° F. Quarter the potatoes. Peel the carrots. Cut the carrots and zucchini into 2-inch sticks. Mix them in a bowl with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons mustard, 1 tablespoon rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Season the chicken with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
2.  Roast for 25 minutes. Toss the vegetables, turn the chicken, and continue roasting until the chicken is cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes more. Divide among individual plates.

Reader’s Recipes

I arrived home today to one of my favorite things in the entire world: packages!

One of my packages was a big ol’ box from POM Wonderful.

Me 'n' Pom

I’m a lucky lil’ blogger! Though I am excited to enjoy several bottles of this 100% pure pomegranate juice, I think Ryan was even more excited. He’s been quite the POM fan for several years.

Juicy Julie

The bottle shape is quite funky and inspired Ryan to do some POM presses and POM curls.

POM Workout

Clearly our entire family had a little extra energy today, so we leashed Sadie up for a romp at the dog park.

Funky Sadie

 I took what may be one of my top five favorite pictures of Sadie as she was spitting out leaves and dirt. Her jowls got all caught up in her mouth and she looked like such a goof.

My Lil' Goofball

We could not stop laughing at this picture! She looks ridiculous! 😀

Dinner

Tonight’s dinner was another simply delicious simple meal!

Chicken prepared in the ol’ crocker with BBQ sauce and roasted veggies on the side. Mmm, mmm good!

My Plate

BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwich

 I also had a small bowl of artichokes on the side.

Artichokes

Reader’s Recipes!!!

I think one day you guys are gonna find me and throw all the meals I make week after week in my face. I hope you’re not too sick of them(!!!)… Buuut, just in case you are…

I’d like to reach out to all of you for your help! I’m going to try out a new READER’S RECIPE each week in March.

I’ll make a recipe based on a recipe submitted by one of you, or I’ll create a new recipe using key ingredients you guys suggest. Fun, huh?

Please comment on this post with a recipe (or a link to a recipe) you think I should try. If you don’t have a specific recipe in mind, simply comment with a key ingredient you think I should incorporate into a meal.

Feel free to submit recipes for any meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner) and baked goods as well! I don’t discriminate.

(Please do not suggest catfish or any catfish-based recipe because I can 100 percent guarantee your suggestion will not be selected… I have my reasons. 🙂 )

Woohoo! I’m already excited to try out some new delicious dishes!!!

I’ll select a recipe to try tomorrow and then after I make the recipe and post about it, you can comment with more recipes for me to select from for the next round. Sound good?

Let’s get cookin’!!!