I wanted to host a brunch for my mom, my mother-in-law, my Nana, and our families, but just couldn’t fit everyone at our house – so my Mom agreed to host when I said I’d make all the food!

The extraordinary hostess even had a honey bee honey server.  Seriously!

Thanks to Pinterest, party planning in a breeze.  Wish it was around when I was planning our wedding!

Anyway, here’s a recap of the things I made, the recipes I followed, and the modifications! I don’t think anyone knew that any of the dishes were lightened up.

Mimosas with fresh squeeze orange juice (thanks to my juicer!), and overnight peach french toast:

Based on Nicole’s recipe, I made this for Mother’s Day last year, too – I nixed the cream topping, replaced 4 of the eggs with egg substitute, added cinnamon and used vanilla almond milk.

Lemon Cheese Squares:

From Chocolate, Chocolate, and More – the only changes I made were no lemon extract and fat free cream cheese – these were a hit!

For the meat eaters, a sausage/egg/cheese casserole:

Adapted from Bob Evans – I used all whole eggs, 1 cup of cheese instead of two, skim milk for the milk.

Tomato Goat Cheese Quiche:

Recipe from one of my favorite sites, theKitchn.  Again I used 2 whole eggs + the rest egg substitute, and unsweetened almond milk with some half and half instead of whole milk and heavy cream.  The texture of this quiche was so light and airy!

Pineapple upside down cake:

This is my Nana’s favorite, so I didn’t change a darn thing – except I did make it from a box.  Shh!

My favorite part of the meal:  cinnamon chip scones!

Adapted from this Cooking Light recipe.  I used 1/3 cup cinnamon chips and brushed them with half & half and sprinkled with turbinado sugar before baking.

Somehow I forgot to photograph the 5 lbs of red skin home fries with red peppers and onions.  They took forever to cook in my small skillet.

All of this was prepped on Saturday, then Sunday morning I made brown sugar bacon, honey biscuits and re-heated the rest of the hot dishes right before serving.   I’d say it was a success.  Love you, Mom!

The post Marvelous Mother’s Day Brunch appeared first on Live and Love To Eat.

Daily recap of our eats being hosted over @ Peas and Crayons!

Whole wheat english muffin with almond butter, apple slices, and cinnamon.  Soft, crunchy, and warm all at the same time.

Lunch: Part 1, BR (before run):

Leftover veggie lasagna – love the roasted red peppers in this dish!

Part 2, AR (after run):

Cottage cheese whipped with some frozen strawberries and a little stevia + almond milk.  Like strawberry soft serve!

Unpictured snacks: popcorn (Boom Chica Pop, how good is that stuff?!) and handfuls of cereal

Dinner: I planned on going to hot yoga at 7, so I reheated a veggie burger (recipe coming this week!) for an early meal, and crumbled it with a Laughing Cow wedge and some steamed spinach.  I also snacked on a few Wheat Thins with almond butter closer to class time.

Workout:  75 minutes of hot yoga – we did pigeon pose at the beginning of class!  It was so packed in the studio, super sweaty, and exactly what I needed last night.

PM snack: Another Magic Bullet treat – frozen banana “soft serve” with half a scoop of vanilla protein powder and sprinkles

Yes, I clean the Magic Bullet cups multiple times a day.

Are you craving warm or cold foods these days?  I thought I didn’t want cold oatmeal in the morning but ended up with two frozen snacks.  Summer better just get here already.

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This was last week’s forecast:

So I spent more time outside than behind the computer (aside from work).

What I’ve been doing: walking, running, yoga, taking Lexi to the park…

What I’ve been cooking…

These pizzas for lunch, pretty often – I froze small batches of cauliflower to easy whip up the “dough”.

“Mansagna” (aka meat lasagna) for Adam:

Veggie lasagna for me – eggplant, roasted red peppers, spinach, and ricotta/cottage cheese mix (similar to this one without the tofu):

Lots of fresh fruit and veggies!

What I’ve been indulging in: Ben & Jerry’s. Oh my.

My old favorites were Phish Food and Chunky Monkey, but these were both pretty amazing.  Note to self: start picking up Redbox movies from non-grocery store locations.

What have you been up to?  Favorite Ben & Jerry’s flavor?

The post What I’ve Been Up To appeared first on Live and Love To Eat.

Saturday night I was inspired to make a full dinner – salmon cakes with salad and honey mustard vinaigrette (inspired from a pinned recipe, but I changed up the ingredients quite a bit), mushroom risotto (I confess – this was from a box), and roasted tomatoes with mozzarella and herbs (inspired by Ina Garten, without spending $25 on ingredients for pesto).

Saturday was absolutely beautiful and sunny, so I spent most of the day (after hot yoga) outside with Lexi, but decided on a last minute trip to the outlets.  Old Navy has a 30% off promotion right now, and I had $30 in rewards from my credit card, and we have an outlet near by (but you can save more with cash back from Ebates – affiliate link).  I ended up with 2 pairs of pants, 2 tanks, 2 tees, and a long-sleeved Pitt shirt for less than $8 out of pocket.  And a free tote. I like their basic tees and tanks and this was a great way to stock up.

I wanted to stop and get coffee on our way home from 8 am Mass yesterday, but Adam decided we should also get breakfast.  He really had to convince me.  It was a place we’ve been before, and their breakfast menu is kind of limited and not too vegetarian friendly – so I went with the waffle.

I think I was craving one since the delicious blueberry version at Penelope in NYC, but this just didn’t live up to it.

Last night I made shrimp tacos, using this recipe (minus the ginger) from one of Kristin’s Friday Favorites posts.

Complete with homemade pineapple salsa and guacamole!

For the salsa: 1 can drained diced tomatoes, 1/4 cup pineapple, chopped into tiny bits, 1/2 red onion, 1 minced jalapeño.  Turned out great!  The shrimp were extra garlic-y, so I didn’t add any to the salsa.

What was the last Pinterest recipe you made and loved?  I’ve been lacking in the inspiration department (Adam last night: “Mexican, again?!).

The post Weekend Highlights appeared first on Live and Love To Eat.

Friday

After the 6+ hour drive (unpictured Chobani and almonds on the turnpike!), we wanted a snack before our 9:30 dinner reservation.  We stumbled upon this place near our hotel:

Called Dig Inn Seasonal Market, it offers smoothies, and vegetarian and vegan friendly soups and hot meals – similar to Whole Foods hot bar, you choose proteins, salads (like my lentil, edamame, and raisin salad), grain/greens… whatever your heart desires! I love the mix-and-match aspect.  I’d definitely go to this place for  a quick lunch or dinner, or even post-workout refueling.

Dinner: The Mermaid Inn, East Village – Bad lighting because I didn’t want to be that person using their flash in a restaurant.

This was my first time ever trying oysters or clams on the half shell, so it was a new experience!  I preferred the oysters to the clams, but only tried one of each.

My favorite part of the sampler platter was the incredible raw tuna, avocado, and jalapeño mixture in the middle bowl.  So incredible! For dinner, I ordered a crabcake.

One of the best I’ve had.  They also brought us fortune telling fish and complimentary chocolate pudding – perfectly portioned!

Saturday

Two of us went to the NYSC for a quick workout – free passes from the hotel – then grabbed Starbucks for the other girls on the way back.  Then it was time for my favorite meal of the day – BREAKFAST!  Or, at 11:30, I guess it was brunch @ Le Parisien, Murray Hill.

The coffee was really good, the fritatta exceeded my expectations – with red peppers, olives, goat cheese and whipped pesto, the texture was amazingly light and the salad and fries were the prefect complement.

Since this was brunch, our Chobani visit and a stop for 5pm coffees held us over until dinner.  We had reservations at the Wythe Diner location of Cafe de La Esquina (Brooklyn), and it exceeded expectations.  Thanks to two bottles of Rose’ in our room before we left, this night I didn’t care about being that person using their flash inside the restaurant.  Oops.

They have their own brand of salsa, so we had to try that along with guacamole (the whole point of Mexican food, right?), and it complimented the sangria perfectly.

For dinner, even though fish tacos sounded great, I went with the chile relleno – stuffed with quinoa, manchego cheese, almonds, squash.  Definitely a dish I’d like to recreate!

Sunday

Oh, the beauty of brunch – this time, at Penelope, a place I researched before our trip.  We tried it on Saturday (but it was a 2 hour wait), so on Sunday we planned ahead and put our name on the list before going to get coffee.  Success!

The food was so decadent, from the mango flavored OJ to the varied menu options.  I made my friends snap photos of their dishes too, so I could share all of them!

Rachael ordered the Nutella stuffed brioche french toast – and let me have a bite!  Just as decadent as it sounds:

Jess had the BBLT – a BLT with extra bacon!

Kait ordered the salmon wrapped poached eggs:

Even though their veggie burger got amazing reviews, I skipped the veggie burger salad and went with sweet instead – sweet blueberry waffles with blueberry compote, citrus butter, and fruit:

Can we just talk about how DELICIOUS real maple syrup tastes?

I’m usually too cheap to buy it, but you need so little because it’s so perfectly mapley and sweet – will someone please smack me the next time I buy the sugar free stuff?!

Speaking of sugar, I stopped at Crumbs Bakeshop before we left to bring home two cupcakes… for Adam, of course!

Left – “The Good Guy”: Vanilla cake with rainbow sprinkles baked in, filled with vanilla buttercream frosting and topped with vanilla cream cheese frosting covered with rainbow sprinkles and white chocolate drizzle.  Right – Cannoli cupcake!

I feel like so many gourmet cupcakes are so darn dry, but these ones were perfectly dense, almost creamy in texture.  Totally worth the calories!

If you’ve been to NYC, what are some of YOUR favorite spots?  I feel like it’s hard to go wrong!

The post NYC Eats appeared first on Live and Love To Eat.

I spent this past weekend in New York City with three of my best friends, celebrating my friend Rachael’s bachelorette weekend.  We rented a room at the Kitano in midtown, a Japanese hotel with a weird heated/electronic toilet system, and enjoyed a weekend of shopping, eating, and wine.

The room even had an Empire State Building view if you looked way to the left and squinted your eyes.

I’ll share more about the restaurants we visited tomorrow, but today I want to highlight one of my favorite parts of the trip – the Chobani yogurt shop in SoHo!

Of course I love frozen yogurt, but this was even better!  Just classic, perfect greek yogurt, with a variety of delicious mix-ins, made to order.

See the yogurt chefs in the background?

You place your order with a friendly salesperson on a PDA, then minutes later they call your name and present you with your treat.

Luckily, we all ordered different things and got to try each other’s!   Here’s the sign describing the options (both sweet and savory!), and what we ordered:

I chose the fig and walnut, which I loved – I think I picked the best!

You can either keep your adorable glass cup, or recycle it for a coupon toward your next visit!  Very green, efficient, and adorable all at the same time!

If there was one of these near by, it would definitely be my choice instead of frozen yogurt!

Have you been to or heard of the Chobani shop in NYC?

The post CHO love in SoHo appeared first on Live and Love To Eat.

Send some love to Jenn for hosting our weekly linkup! xox

Breakfast:

The return of my favorite breakfast cookie – carrot cake!

Topped with some cottage cheese + vanilla stevia “icing”.  Kept me full for hours!

Lunch:

Black bean “taquitos” that I made this past weekend – they cracked and flattened out and ended up more like enchiladas, but they were delicious!

The filling was black beans, green chiles, cumin, hot sauce, and chili powder.  Smeared with plain avocado.

Workout:

3 very hilly miles with Lexi!  I wasn’t planning on running yesterday but I liked the idea of putting in a few miles in honor of Boston.

Plus an arm and ab circuit at home.

Post workout snack:

Possibly my new favorite Cho flavor.  1 hr in the freezer before eating = perfect semi-frozen status.  It tastes like a protein packed lemon bar!

Dinner: Half leftovers – using up the last of the burgers I made last week for Adam, and a frozen Dr. Praegers veggie burger for me…

Plus grapes, carrots, and this baked cauliflower recipe I found on Pinterest.  Complete with a gouda/fontina cheese dipping sauce following this recipe.  Pretty darn delicious.

After dinner we headed to the movies to see “The Place Beyond the Pines”.  Adam has a thing for motorcycle movies (and Ryan Gosling, if you ask me), so we had to see it.  Is it me or is Ryan Gosling choosing more and more creepy roles?  The movie was kind of a downer, but the popcorn (maybe my most favorite unhealthy indulgence) was amazing.

As much as I can recommend plain air popped corn to my clients, nothing steals my heart like the fat and sodium laden movie-theater stuff.  Mmm.  At least I don’t add the extra butter topping!

How about you – how do you like your popcorn?!

The post Eats & Exercise appeared first on Live and Love To Eat.

WRC graphic I saw on Ashley’s blog.

So I was planning on posting my MIMM post yesterday afternoon, but hearing the news about the Boston bombings made it seem trivial.  A friend of mine linked to these stories of people helping out in Boston, which can be a sort-of silver lining.  Check out Julie’s blog post from this morning about things we can all do to help – and most all, just say a prayer for the victims and their families.

I barely even consider myself a “runner”, but know the thrill of participating in a race and the sense of community you feel at those events.  My brother and I ran the Pirates Charity 5K this past weekend (the same one where I tore a tendon two years ago), and had a blast – I didn’t take any photos other than one the warning track dirt from the field in my shoes.  My brother finished 4th in his age group with a time of 20:25, and waited around to re-cross the finish line with me at 25:50.

I’ve been running in Asics GT2000 series shoes since I had a stress injury from unsupportive shoes in college, but recently ordered a pair of stability shoes from New Balance instead.

They are brighter than I’m used to (understatement) but feel much lighter on my feet.  Thanks to a VIP membership at Road Runner Sports, these shoes shipped in 24 hours and I get 90 days to return them if I don’t love them.

Other things from this weekend…

Post-race meal at my dad’s diner.

The weather has finally broken and I’m hooked on green smoothies again, sometimes for breakfast, sometimes for lunch or a snack.

Delicious grilled vegetable salad at Amel’s sunday night.

Have a great Tuesday, all! <3

The post Focus on the Positives appeared first on Live and Love To Eat.

This recipe is inspired from a cookbook I recently borrowed from the library called Cook Yourself Thin Faster: Have Your Cake and Eat It Too with Over 75 New Recipes You Can Make in a Flash! (Amazon affiliate link).  It focuses on real food with lots of vegetarian recipes.   The quiche recipe caught my eye because it’s always been one of my favorite ways to enjoy eggs.

Growing up, my Dad would make quiche for special occasions (like Easter or Christmas) or just to make the weekend feel like a special occasion.  He would use a graham cracker crust, which sounds crazy, but the sweetness of the crust contrasted perfectly with the saltiness of the cheese or other ingredients.  Unlike my Dad’s three cheese or bacon and swiss quiche, this uses mostly egg whites, unsweetened almond milk, and tons of veggies.  It calls for a thinly-sliced yukon gold potato crust, but I used sweet potatoes instead, which remind me of the sweetness of the crust in my Dad’s recipe.

I made this Monday night and enjoyed it with a cup of roasted red pepper and tomato soup and toast, but it also re-heated very well for breakfast this week.

What’s your favorite type of quiche?  Have you ever had one with a sweet crust?

The post Sweet Potato Crust Quiche appeared first on Live and Love To Eat.

Breakfast:

A slice of the quiche I mentioned making Monday night, plus an orange around 8 am.

I planned on a later lunch, so I had a midmorning snack of brownie batter yogurt with strawberries.

Lunch: Post walk, pre-run smoothie

Blueberries, spinach, ice, cottage cheese (my new favorite smoothie ingredient), almond milk, vanilla protein powder.

Dinner: We broke out the grill for the first time since my parents’ neighbors bought it for us – I’m ashamed that it took us so long!

I made a burger for Adam, and grilled portabellas with gouda and roasted red peppers for me.  I baked some regular fries and grilled a sweet potato, too.

Just realized that I had spinach with every single meal yesterday!

After dinner, Adam convinced me to go for a ride on his motorcycle – but he had to bribe me:

Marriage = compromise.  But now that he got me on the bike, he has to come to a spin or hot yoga class with me – I haven’t decided which one yet.

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