Marinara chicken melts!
To make the melts, I combined about two cups of shredded chicken that we had leftover from a chicken we roasted over the weekend. I then poured marinara sauce over the meat until it was saturated in tomato sauce.
After toasting two pieces of whole wheat bread, I topped the bread with the chicken and some shredded cheese and microwaved it until the cheese melted a bit.
Roasted green beans added a pop of green to the plate.
Not too shabby for a Monday night!
After dinner and a walk with Sadie, we watched The Bachelor (and the Bulls game during the commercials… plus Ryan DVRed it). Courtney had me swirling further and further in to a world of irritation with each lip bite and “winning” comment. Ah.
I capped off the night with a little bit of reading and am about halfway through The Night Circus. I’m entertained, but not enthralled.
Workout
Today’s workout was good. I started with a 20-minute cardio warm up split between the stair master and the elliptical, which I completed while reading a 2009 issue of Shape magazine. I take what I can get!
Then it was time for an upper body and abdominal workout. I kept things movin’ pretty quickly today and my arms and abs were feeling the burn.
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I really liked alternating abdominal exercises with upper body strength exercises. It was a nice change of pace and kept me entertained and working hard.
Breakfast
Breakfast this morning looked like donkey doodoo, but tasted great.
I made myself a bowl of chocolate protein oats by stirring up the following before microwaving it for two minutes (stirring every 30 seconds to prevent overflow):
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1 scoop Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Extreme Milk Chocolate protein powder
- 1 spoonful peanut butter
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
- Enough almond milk to make everything moist
A cup of peppermint crème coffee brought a punch of caffeine to the table.
The caffeine buzz is getting to me today in a good way. I’m feeling productive and am off to make the most of it!
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I wish I could keep up with The Bachelor, but work keeps me at bay, haha. I’ll rely on Facebook for updates 😉
I love any kind of melty dinner – cheese please!
Enjoy your day!
You do know it is National Peanut Butter Day, right?
don’t you love it when something easy hits the mark? e
Wow, dinner looks super delicious and cheesy! Even though breakfast doesn’t look that great, it sure sounds like it would be delish 🙂
How do you keep your whey protein from curdling in your hot oats? I had to switch to exclusively overnight oats because of the terrible curdling effect :-/
hmmm… maybe it’s the kind of protein powder? or adding pumpkin to the mix? i find that adding pumpkin really, really helps keep the oats moist and fluffy.
I use the exact same protein powder from ON.
hmm. no idea, then. do you add pumpkin? maybe just adding more milk and stirring it regularly would help as well.
I used to have the same problem! If I add the PP after I cook the oats with a little extra liquid of choice it doesn’t happen – maybe give that a shot!
Delicious dinner! That would be great on some focaccia or ciabatta bread too!
i can’t wait to catch up on the bachelor today! courtney was already driving me nuts last episode… !!!
I love caffeine buzz 🙂 that dinner looks so so so delicious, Julie!
That mug is way too cute!
Ha yeah…that breakfast doesn’t look too visually appealing. Though maybe you could spin it that it looks like pumpkin bread batter or something? No one should have to eat donkey doo doo :)….
Sometimes the best breakfasts look the worst! Trying to make pumpkin oats look appealing is almost impossible!! lol
I love that workout—looks hard and fun. I too love adding in ab moves–so much more exciting! ha.
Have a good day 🙂 <—-it's national pb day, I believe!
Your dinner looks yummy – I should try it for my husband and kids. I love your coffee mug!
even though we don’t have kids, i actually thought it would be a great meal for those with children! it’s delicious, easy and almost pizza-like. 🙂 hope they enjoy!
I really do not like Courtney. I feel like she’s going to be the Vienna (Jake Pavelka’s season) of this season.
Ok, yum! Those melts look so delicious!
Ha! Donkey doodoo?
The chicken marinara melts are a great, easy idea! Must try.
Between Courtney’s obnoxious overbite and mouse faces and Emily’s overuse of her mouth (did you notice her moving it side to side CONSTANTLY last night?), I was so distracted that I couldn’t pay attention to anything BUT the girls’ lips. Too funny.
Also, I noticed you haven’t been posting as much at night…is that a permanent change? I love reading your dinner posts at night!
Sauce and cheese are always a winning combo! It’s like a chicken parm sub minus the fried battered chicken!
I love love love training abs in between upper body strength moves. It keeps your workout moving and I get a better workout than when I just tack some core moves on the end of my workout.
I love adding protein powder to oatmeal after a workout. It keep me fuller much longer!
I just can’t get myself into the Bachelor! But your dinner on the other hand, is something I’d totally be up for. I love when awesome dishes come together unexpectedly!
Courtney drives me crazy. She’s so pretty, but I wish Ben would see the other side of her. Only time will tell if he does…
I love combining abs with upper body stuff too. I usually do the abs while I’m resting between sets so I don’t get bored just sitting there watching the clock! Although, I guess supersetting would eliminate that downtime.
I love marinara on chicken! I know what I’m eating for
din din tonight!! 🙂
Loving your workout! I’m not feeling up to my typical Tuesday strength workout today, so maybe I’ll have to steal this one!
oooo those sandwiches look absolutely delicious!!! I love anything with melted cheese!
Hi:) the chicken melt sandwiches look delicious, we’ll be giving those a try some time.
I don’t even use my workouts anymore..I always use yours! Super effective and fun! Thanks Julie!
I have to talk about The Night Circus. It’s slow to build, but once you get rolling, and you know the characters better so the jumping isn’t so, so jarring, it moves much quicker. You’re going to be sad when it’s over, like a really fun friend is moving away. I read it on my kindle and ran out and bought the hardcover to have, too, because I liked it so much.
Yes yes yes! I agree with you. It took a bit, but right around halfway through it really starts rolling, plus you are adjusted to the time jumping. So awesome.
I think old magazines are hilars. Especially REALLY old ones, love the advice they give! Smoking is FINE. NEVER EVER put your baby to sleep on its back! FAT IS THE ENEMY!
HAPPY NATIONAL PEANUT BUTTER DAY!
Mmm you just reminded me I have pumpkin sitting in my cabinet, begging to be used!
I am new to your blog, but have enjoyed reading for the past few weeks. Thanks for the roasted green beans recipe. Can’t wait to try!
That DOES sounds good, and simple!
courtney is driving me craaaaazy. i feel like some of that has to be coached/scripted, though — i mean no one can be that terrible! right?!
your marinara melts look delicious. for some reason shredded chicken breast tastes so much better to me than “regular”..
I’m also a proud owner of an anthropologie-name-mug … do you also have nasty brown stains in it (from grean tea/coffee) ? I only bought it 3 weeks ago :-((
Happy National Peanut Butter Day! Any big plans…? 😉
I almost bought that pp the other day, but went with Designer Whey instead. I like it, but am looking for a good choco flavor still…
Honestly I used to be a Bachelor watcher… but these girls urk me so much that I can’t even bare to watch anymore!!
That oatmeal looks like the most delicious donkey doo doo I’ve ever seen LOL!
Hi Julie – I was wondering how you create the workout ‘images’ that you include in your posts? Thanks! 🙂
Is it weird that I think marinara sauce goes well with almost anything? Your chicken melts look really yummy!
ahhh that dinner reminds me of arroz con pollo a la Argentinean style! I would be mmmm-ing too. And your oats sound delicious! But yes, it’s never easy to make chocolatey stuff look appealing, is it? haha 😛
Lol that chicken sandwich looks mouthwatering.. and for some reason its making me crave pasta like crazy!!! I just ordered me some Lasagna !
That workout looks great. I definitely want to try this for my workout tomorrow – thanks for posting!
Sometimes the easiest meals taste the best- as I’m sure your dinner confirmed!
This looks so simple yet delicious! A great use of leftover chicken! One thing I have missed with you not always blogging at night (though I completely understand!) is your dinner meals because it gives some creative ideas.
I needed a caffeine IV drip today – it was that kind of morning!
Didn’t Courtney make you want to bop her in the head last night? UGH!!!!
Happy National Peanut butter day! I see you started the day off right with a scoop of Peanut butter 🙂 lol
By the way have you tried the ON’s Whey protein powder in vanilla?? Is it good, does it taste artificial?
I use the whey gold standard natural chocolate and its delicious but sometimes I worry that vanilla flavors will taste artificial and chemically.
Thanks!!
That marinara melt sounds so good!
Happy National Peanut Butter Day!
Omigosh why have I never thought of combining chicken with marinara sauce before?? Brilliant!! And that oatmeal sounds sooo good!! I need to try this oatmeal-protein powder-pumpkin combo!
I am SO glad we are on the same page with the madness happening on The Bachelor. Just had to say that lol last night’s craziness from Courteney was driving me insane!!!