July 4th & Call For Motivation!

Well, hello! Hope everyone's weekend was awesome! Some of you even had today off! First, you know I'm giving a shout out to my hubby and everyone else in the armed forces:

Thanks for fighting for our freedom. :)

Yesterday was a beautiful day.

I was STARVING and was pretty sure I wasn't going to make it 3 hours until dinner. So I made myself a big ol' sandwich:

Turkey, pastrami (I've been on a weird pastrami kick lately), avocado, spinach and tomato on a sandwich thin.

Another reason to love fruit: it's so pretty and colorful on the counter!

I picked banana, with a few spoonfuls of Activia yogurt. It works, kids.

For dinner, I went to my friend Amy's house for a BBQ and fireworks.

I made Loaded Baked Potato Salad. Recipe courtesy of Katie at Dashing Dish.

Everyone LOVED it! I was glad I wouldn't be eating leftovers for a week.

Here's some other yumminess:

Hunter got a new toy for the occasion:

A late night snack

On a different note, I've been feeling a little lack of motivation.

(THE LIFE. I haz it.)

I haven't felt the ambition to hit the gym. I've been walking Hunter so at least that's something. I know that I'll feel more energized and accomplished, I just need to get back into the habit!

So help me out here: how do you get motivated when in a rut?

p.s. I didn't forget my friends up north, Canada Day was July 1st!

I Like Green

Green is on of my favorite colors. I'm pretty good about eating dark green veggies such as broccoli, kale, green beans, spinach... Speaking of spinach, there's been a certain beverage that is making everyone crazy over.

Yup. Green Monster. I'm not a picky eater by any means. But spinach? In a drink? No way, nuh-uh, not gonna happen. Then I came across Angela from Oh She Glows. She has a whole website dedicated to green monsters. There was a recipe for a Virgin Green Monster. Ok maybe I could handle that. It only had 5 ingredients. Flax seed, spinach, banana, milk (I used soy) and ice.

I had the perfect banana: a few spots = smoothies only

Measured the flax. (Not pictured)

Added spinach and banana and soy milk. I used light vanilla soy milk by 8th Continent (they changed their packaging! Did anyone else notice this when panicking in the dairy section?) because it's a little sweeter than cow's milk.

(Speaking of soy milk, a quick yay and horray to my hubby who recently gave the stuff a try! Yay Jeremy!)

Giving it a try. Yes, this is what I look like when I wake up in the morning. Hmm, I've grown a few more freckles overnight.

It took a glass and a half, but I drank the entire concoction. It tasted like a thin banana milkshake with a little more... texture. Not bad. Not bad at all! :D

Something else I have been known to avoid? Watermelon. I realized that I like eating it, I just don't like having to carve it like a pumpkin first. Until I discovered these babies:

Those little mini melons might be a little more money but to me it's worth it. My tips for finding a good watermelon are heavy for it's size and when you pat it with your hand, it should sound pretty hollow.

With the summer heat, I've been on a bit of a sandwich kick. I can feel it just getting started. My newest treat: almond butter and agave on a whole wheat tortilla folded in half. I also gave in to my ultimate summer favorite:

The hamburger.

With melted fresh mozzarella, dill pickle, tomato and a fat leaf of Romaine.

I also had the best tuna sandwich of my life. New secret: add a little light sour cream and less mayo. This was also one of the messiest but it seems the messier the sandwich, the better it tastes.

In the tuna mix I also added salt, pepper, garlic powder and a spoonful of relish. Topped with tomato, spinach and avocado. Avocado makes a great replacement for cheese because of it's creaminess.

A couple of other summer induced cravings included baked beans and deviled eggs.

And I made a peach mocktail:

I added half a packet of Ocean Spray white cran-peach, about a cup of water, 1/3 can of Sprite and 1/4 peach (that's what the confetti flecks in the glass are.. peach skin!) and some ice. Gave it a whirl in the Magic Bullet and out came of refreshing drink. Perfect after I spent 2 hours mowing the lawn.

Now I'm off to wash the truck, pick up a new toy for Hunter, read my Women's Health mag that came a few days ago and download some new iTunes. My current favorite work-out tunes include: Evacuate The Dancefloor- Cascada, Puakenikeni- Nicole Shertzinger, Walk It Out- Unk, Brain Stew- Greenday and Unstoppable- Kat DeLuna & Lil Wayne!

Have you tried green monsters? What's your favorite combination?

What's your trick to finding a good melon?

What are some of your favorite work-out tunes?