Rest Day + Must-Make Recipes

Yesterday was an impromptu rest day. Ultimately, those are probably the best/most necessary. Agree?

The original plan was to go to the abs + back class at the gym, then get in a few treadmill miles. But it was rainy, and my left knee was aching all day, in a way that it hasn't in a long time (because I am an old woman, and my joint pain coincides with the weather... today all appears to be fine), and some not-very-good things happened at work, and the train was late for the second day in a row so we were 45 minutes late getting home, and Wawa was closed for a "technology upgrade" for the day, so I couldn't even get a Diet Coke to make up for everything else. Blah. (Pardon me while I whine a bit.)

It was was a case of the Mondays Tuesdays - so I took that as my cue. I put on my pajama pants and went to my parents' house, where we made one hell of a delicious dinner and watched Cold Case. Upon returning to our house, I snuggled with my cat and with my husband, and it seemed like all was right with the world. So do what ya gotta do. That's the theme around here these days. I don't hate it. Rest is rejuvenating, and today I will be back into the regular routine with renewed passion.

There are a lot of Rs in this post. Weird.
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Cooking lately has been very successful. Here are four must-make recipes (none of which are my own, but all of which are delicious):

• Sneaky Meatball Subs (Iowa Girl Eats)

I saw this recipe and knew that I had to make it. Then a friend of mine made it first, and tweeted to me how amazing these meatballs were, and I was done for. I whipped up a batch on Sunday night to save for Monday's dinner, and it almost killed me to not eat them immediately. When I did get around to making the sandwiches on Monday night, they were almost too good to be true. We're talking eating-over-the-cutting board, who-needs-a-plate, this-is-burning-my-fingers-but-I-can't-stop good. Do yourself a favor, and make these. Soon.

• Copycat DoubleTree Chocolate Chip Cookies (Iowa Girl Eats)

While I was making the meatballs on Sunday, I went ahead and threw together a batch of these cookies, too, since I'd been promising C that I'd make chocolate chip cookies ever since I made the oatmeal ones a few weeks ago. I'm not sure what I did different, as I followed the recipe to a T, but my cookies didn't end up looking anything like the picture - hers were wide and flat, whereas mine were short, stout, little lumps. Either way, they were amazing. There are two special ingredients in these cookies that make them so good: cinnamon and finely-ground oatmeal. Trust me - those two additions make all the difference. These cookies are killer.

• The Best Summer Salad Ever (Adapted from Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life)

I saw this post the other day, and seeing the words "strawberry" and "avocado" together was like a light bulb over my head. I took my cues from the original salad, but made a few changes, and loved it so much that I ate it Sunday night for dinner and again on Monday for lunch. It's the perfect combination!

Here's what goes in mine:

• Lettuce
• Avocado Chunks
• Strawberries 
• Plain tuna
• Shredded Parmesan
• Low-fat raspberry walnut vinaigrette

Whatever combination and amounts of each ingredient that you like - it's a sensational combination of sweet, salty, and tangy, with healthy fats from the avocado and good protein from the tuna. So good!

• Grilled Blueberry BBQ Salmon (How Sweet It Is)

I discovered this recipe last summer, and we made it a number of times. It's so good! I saw the fresh tuna at the grocery store on Saturday, and this immediately came to mind. The sauce comes together so quickly, and the fish cooks up in no time, so it's great for a week-night dinner. As an added bonus, this is what my mom and I like to call "serve-to-company good" - that's our scale of measurement for recipes, whether or not we would serve them to company. This recipe makes the cut!

Blueberry BBQ Sauce

Good fresh salmon

Doesn't hurt to have a cute husband to man the grill!

Served alongside two of my favorite summer side dishes, which also went on the grill: corn on the cob and zucchini.

C deemed this "possibly the best salmon ever," and I know for a fact that this is one of the best summer dinners ever. Make this. And invite me over for dinner when you do!

Anyone else find any good recipes lately? Please share! I'm always looking for new yummy foods.

Right as Rain.

It has been downright soggy around the DC area the past few days. We have been getting a ton of rain! There was even thunder that was so loud it woke me up around 4 AM this morning – and that rarely happens. Trust me, I’ve been putting my bubble-gum pink rain boots to good use. A number of people in my office have complimented me on them, though – I think a little bright pink is good for improving employee morale. 

In honor of the wet weather, I’ve put together a sweet playlist on Spotify – it’s called Rainy Day Music (so creative, I know) and you can listen to it, too! It’s a collection of songs with “rain” in the title or rain-related lyrics. Even if the weather is foul, we can still jam out! This playlist is a variety of genres, artists, decades, and styles. It’s about two hours’ worth of music, total – pick and choose your favorites, or listen to the whole thing! I believe that you do have to have Spotify to actually use the playlist – but it’s pretty easy to sign up for an account and download the program! Let me know if you have any issues.
 

Rainy weather tends to lead me to one of two mind-sets when it comes to exercise: either I want to do something SUPER active and high-energy to get me out of the funk, or I want to do something calm and quiet. Ok let’s be real – what I really want to do is get into sweatpants, lie on the couch, pile on blankets, and eat comfort foods. That’s the best-sounding option. However, the times when you really don’t want to work out are the generally the times when you really, really should. Trust me – even just 30 minutes makes a difference, and you’ll feel so much better being a couch potato after you’ve been active for a bit! So get up and get out and do something. That’s my PSA for the day, folks.

Back to my options – high energy, or low energy, that’s it. No middle-ground workout for me on rainy days!

My high-energy choice is something like a Body Pump class (which is what I did last night), where the instructor is going to turn up the jams and shout encouraging things and do everything she can to get my blood pumping. I want something to make me forget how gross it is outside, and rev up those endorphins to get me through the grey weather. A group exercise class is a great way to do this, because you get to soak up the energy of everyone else in the class with you!

My low-energy choice is usually a yoga class. There is something so soothing and calming about doing yoga on a rainy afternoon – the gentle music, dim lights, and warm room are like a big exercise blanket, and it’s such a better option for me than an actual blanket (and the snacks that come with it!). After an hour of yoga, I can go back out into the rain feeling refreshed, and I find that I’m able to better appreciate the positive aspects of the rain, like the sounds and the smells. It’s easy to forget how great the rain is when you’re a soggy commuter on a steamy train with a dripping umbrella and frizzy hair (which was me today, obvi). It’s nice to remind myself to look on the bright side!

My plan for today is to try my HIIT workout from last week again, and actually complete the 30-minute version instead of having to cut it short. I’ll probably follow that with the 30-minute abs & back class offered at the gym. I think the HIIT will be just the ticket to get me through the last of the rain that’s coming our way. By the time I’m done, I should be dripping with sweat, rather than dripping with rain. Perfect!

What do you do to get through a few rainy days? Favorite wet-weather workout?  Any suggestions for my Rainy Day Mix? If you’re in the DC area, stay dry!

(Note: OF COURSE, right as I'm about to post this, the sun has come out and is shining brilliantly. Of course! Oh well. Enjoy, anyway!)