Weekend Rundown

Happy Monday! Did you have a wonderful weekend?

Despite the gray and rainy weather, our weekend was pretty great. It started out on Friday night when we headed out for drinks and a little karaoke. After a bit of "liquid courage", I might have sang a little of this.....

....and this...

I'm not exactly Sara Evans or Sheryl Crow, but I can hold my own :)

Derek and I headed out bright and early on Saturday morning and went for breakfast at our favourite greasy spoon. I was hurtin' just a wee bit from Friday night and I totally indulged in a greasy breakfast that included homefries and an egg & cheese wrap. It was soooo good and I devoured it like a person who'd been starved for a week. Derek got pancakes and they were awesome! I ate part of his and most of mine and was STUFFED! I really think we need to make some homemade pancakes in the near future --- it's been way too long since we've made them at home and I have an awesome recipe from scratch {I'd forgotten all about that recipe until today. I'm thinking that I'll have to share it with you very soon!!!}.

After breakfast, Derek headed down to the baseball field to do some work because their home opener was scheduled for yesterday and I ran around and did the usual errands and groceries. Other than that, the day was pretty relaxed....I cleaned the house, finished reading Catching Fire (the 2nd book in the Hunger Games series) and hit the sack by 11 p.m. which is fairly early for us on the weekend.

I didn't get groceries last week after our weekend away, so we had alot of re-stocking to do...

Sunday was a super relaxed day. I slept until 9 a.m. --- I felt amazing! I lounged around drinking coffee and watching made-for-TV movies.

I am LOVING the new Starbucks K-Cups! Starbies at home = Sunday morning bliss :)

Derek's baseball game got cancelled because of  rain, so we ended up being able to veg out at home all day long. I made some dog treats, finished laundry and watched lots of TV :) It was wonderful!

The rain stopped in time for us to barbecue for dinner. As you can see I'm still doing well at the Salad a Day challenge. I've had one everyday so far!

Dinner last night was a veggie burger on a flat bun and

a grilled veggie salad with black beans & quinoa.

Delicious!

Every now and again it's  nice to have a nice relaxing weekend, wouldn't you agree? I feel refreshed and rested and am looking forward to a very productive week....my workout schedule is planned and so are my meals, so I'm confident that this week's going to be a great start to meeting all of my June goals.

Here's a peek at this week's menu:

Breakfasts
Mango or Berry Smoothies
Egg White Scrambles
Greek Yogourt with Fruit

Lunches
Lots and lots of SALADS!!!

Dinners
Make-Our-Own Pizza
Grilled Vegetable Salad with Quinoa (& Beef Tenderloin for Derek)
Burgers and Homemade Fries/Sweet Tater Fries
Mexican (not sure exactly what this will be yet)
Quesadillas with Black Bean/Avocado Salad
Steak (Derek)/BBQ Tofu (me) with grilled  veggies

Have you ever been out for karaoke? If you have and you had the nerve to sing, what song did you choose?

What is your favourite day of the week and why?

Have a great day,

Andrea
xo

Challenging Myself and an Awesome Broccoli Salad

Happy Friday my friends! This week was a short one for me and it's flown by. Life/Work continues to be crazy busy, so I'm looking forward to putting my feet up and doing some relaxin' this weekend. Hopefully the weather is warm and sunny (they're calling for rain, but I can always hope!), so that I can finally pull out our patio furniture and soak up some rays.

Yesterday I saw a post by one of my bloggie friends, Kelly. She did a recap of some challenges that she set for herself at the beginning of May and then updated us on how she did. I like the idea of putting my plans in writing, so that I can keep focused on the things that I'd like to accomplish. To keep myself on track, I'm going to share my June goals with you.... 

source

Ahem, obviously there a couple of reasons why I'm drawn to this image ;-)

Here goes.....

1. Eat a salad a day. Angela has started this challenge and I intend to eat my greens every.single.day. If you think this is a challenge you'd like to do, check out Ange's post and join in the fun! It's always more fun to do a challenge and get healthy with friends to encourage and support you. Follow My Salad a Day Pinterest board for some ideas too!
2. Practice using my new camera - you may recall that Derek got me a new Canon Rebel T3i for Christmas. For some reason, using it intimidates the hell outta me. I took it with me when we visited my family last weekend and some of my pictures are phenomenal. My goal is to use it everyday, so that I can get more comfortable with the settings and create much better photos for the blog.
3. Create a vision board. Listen, I have been trying to do this for months but I just never get around to it! I have the board and I have some images, so all I need to do is put everything together.
4. Implement a weekly workout routine that I can stick to that incorporates both cardio and weights. Another thing that intimidates me?? Using the weights at the gym. This is one of my 'issues' that I'm determined to overcome. I'd also like to get into the habit of working out before work at least 3 days per week.

So there you have it....easy peasy right?! I'll keep you updated on how it's going and then make sure you check back at the end of the month to see how I did.

...Are you guys still with me???? I know this post is a bit on the lenghthy side, but I hope you're still here because I also have an amazing broccoli salad to share. If you think you're going to participate in the salad a day challenge, this will definitely help you to start off on the right foot.

Mediterranean Broccoli & Chickpea Salad

Serves 4 to 6

6 c chopped broccoli

2 c chickpeas

1/3 c sliced black olives

1/2 c thinly sliced red onion

1/2 c of the best dressing ever - recipe here

sundried tomatoes & goat cheese (or feta) for topping

Add the broccoli, chickpeas, black olives & red onion. Toss with the dressing and refrigerate for at least one hour. Top with a sprinkling of sliced sundried tomatoes and cheese.

This would be great to serve at a barbecue with family & friends.

For a total 'party in your mouth' experience, chop your broccoli into quite small pieces so you can get a taste of everything in each and every bite :)

This is a great salad to make ahead and take for lunch or serve it as a side.

Last night I had it with the best quesadilla combo on the planet.

(Patience peeps...quesadilla recipe to come)

Do you have any goals or challenges this month?

Do you have any newbie photographer tips? All of these pics were taken with my Canon --- I love using it and can't wait to get better!

T.G.I.F.! 

Andrea

xoxo