Today’s blog post is a recap of our Tuesday with a focus on food and fitness! Thank you to The Laughing Cow® for sponsoring this post!
Hello, hello, my wonderful friends! How are you guys doing? All is well over here. I feel like this week is absolutely flying by and I think that’s due to the fact there’s some vacation anticipation going on in our house right now. (I’ll share more about that soon!) I just wanted to pop in this morning and share a little bit about our Tuesday with you!
Morning
My morning began with a hot mug of coffee and a little quiet time with my devotional before I meandered into our home office to get cracking on a blog post I have due for an upcoming brand partnership. I’m trying my best to “work first, check email second” – one of my happiness habits goals! – and it’s definitely making me more productive. Win!
I worked for an hour or so until my stomach told me to stop and make myself something to eat. Since I was on a bit of a roll with work, I didn’t want to spend too much time on breakfast and whipped up a smoothie with chocolate protein powder, cocoa powder, cashew milk, peanut butter, MCT oil, chia seeds, frozen cauliflower, frozen kale and frozen banana.
Apparently I was in the mood to throw a bazillion things into my smoothie but it did a fantastic job of keeping me satisfied up until lunchtime when I typically would need a snack two hours or so after breakfast. Maybe I need to hop back on the smoothie train for a bit!?
I said goodbye to Ryan as I sipped my smoothie and worked up until Chase began making noises in his room. Once he was up and changed, it was time for him to dig into his breakfast. After a brief hiatus, Chase’s beloved whole wheat pumpkin muffins made a comeback last week and I reheated a frozen one in the microwave for 20 seconds to bring it back to life for him. And then it was off to the gym!
I got Chase situated in childcare before rushing into the group exercise room of my gym and grabbing a spot for the mid-morning Strength Training Together class. The last time I took this class, I arrived three minutes before it started and it was totally slammed and I wasn’t able to claim a bench. I came a little earlier and had better luck and enjoyed the 50-minute total body workout.
I picked Chase up after a little bit of stretching and we colored in the gym lobby for a bit before heading home.
Afternoon
Since Chase’s interest in cooking is still going strong, I’m fully embracing it and set him up on his kitchen helper stand to “assist” me with dinner prep. I chopped veggies and Chase added them to the crock pot along with some spices, pork, tomato paste and broth.
And yes, he did all of this while wearing a race medal from the 5K I completed with my family in the Outer Banks earlier this year. He found it in a basket in my office and in case you were wondering if I was wearing one, too, the answer would be yes. Saying no definitely wasn’t worth a toddler meltdown, so we dinner prepped in our race day bling.
Eventually it was time for Chase’s nap and once he was settled I went into overdrive mode and photographed two recipes before beginning this blog post. Lunch yesterday ended up being a hodgepodge of the recipes I made which always seems to happen when I take food photos around here.
(I ordered some new food photo backdrops from Ink&Elm on Etsy and LOVE them!!! Great quality and tons of selections.)
Naptime flew by as it always seems to do and once Chase was awake, we read his new Halloween book in his room, ate a snack and hung out at home as we waited for a woman to stop by to meet Sadie. I put a call out on a local Facebook group asking for pet sitter recommendations since Ryan and I both experience major dog guilt whenever we have to board Sadie. I think pet sitting will be ten times better for her and the woman we met yesterday seemed wonderful and great with Sadie, too! I think she’ll be in good hands when we leave for our upcoming weekend away.
Chase and I filled the remainder of the afternoon with odds and ends around the house that included a combination of playing, chores and my best attempt at making chores seem like playing which occupied us for quite a while until Ryan arrived home!
Evening
Ryan recently transitioned into a new position within his company and its meant longer hours which is totally expected but these days when he’s able to get home before 6 p.m., it feels like a treat! Since the weather this week called for summer temperatures and sunshine, I crossed my fingers and hoped we might be able to make it out on the boat if he was able to get off work at a decent time. When he texted me a little before 6 p.m. and said he’d be home soon, I quickly changed Chase and myself into our bathing suits and packed a little cooler full of boat snacks to tide us over until dinner.
I packed a few packages of The Laughing Cow Cheese Dippers, some pretzels, carrot sticks and fresh berries for us to enjoy while we cruised around Lake Norman. The Laughing Cow recently sent me their new Creamy White Cheddar Cheese Dippers snacks to try as part of our ongoing partnership (I create content for their social pages throughout the year) and they are so good! Chase calls them his “Dip Dip” (he calls out for them whenever he spots them in the fridge) and the crunch of the whole grain breadsticks pairs perfectly with the cold and creamy white cheddar cheese. (I also love the Creamy Swiss Cheese Dippers with the tomato and herb breadsticks.) A great grab-and-go snack!
We actually didn’t end up doing any swimming last night (well, Sadie did!) but it felt so nice to be on the water and enjoy a little bit of peaceful calm with my family at the end of the day.
Once we docked our boat and drove back home, Ryan gave Chase his bath and changed him into his pajamas while I assembled dinner. On the menu for Tuesday night was Al Pastor Bowls so thankfully it was an easy dinner to put together since the crockpot did most of the work.
Once Chase was settled in bed, Ryan and I decided to call it an early night as well and climbed into bed to chat and read a bit before we eventually fell asleep. You guys, I am SO STRESSED OUT by All the Missing Girls! I know I asked you for suspenseful book recommendations but I am on edge the entire time I’m reading this one. Eek!
And that was our Tuesday in a nutshell! I hope you guys are having a great week so far!
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What’s MCT oil? I noticed you put it in your smoothie but I’ve never heard of it!
I can’t wait to hear where your vacation will be too! Have a great day Julie 🙂
It stands for Medium Chain Triglycerides and they’re said to be easier to digest than other fats and help provide lasting energy among other benefits. Here’s a much more detailed post about their benefits if you are interested: https://wellnessmama.com/98671/mct-oil-benefits/ Hope this helps!
Thank you so much for the link! I’m definitely going to check it out!
I totally had such a hard time putting All the Missing Girls down each night. And so glad you were able to go out and enjoy the nice temps on the water! And totally need to look into those backdrops, I ordered some other ones you recommended awhile ago and LOVE them!
I am waking up in the middle of the night STILL thinking about it! I have NO idea where it’s headed right now. Already looking forward to reading more tonight!
Sounds like an awesome Tuesday, Julie! I love that Chase wanted to prep dinner in your race day bling! TOO CUTE!! I just started All The Missing Girls today, and I can’t wait to dig into it!!! Have a great Wednesday!! Xoxo
I Will have to check out that book, I love a good suspenseful story.
I love that you are working to be more productive. I think I will try the same thing with my email. I’ve started a social media checklist (to be started October 1st) and set times of the day to address different areas of work.
That smoothie sounds YUM! I will have to try that MCT oil!
I bet last night was a beautiful evening for the lake! I love your little snack pack for the water 🙂
Chase’s antics crack me up! I’d rather wear the race medal than deal with a meltdown too 😉
Love the behind the scenes look at your photography – I need to step up my game!
Any tips for those of us who are just starting out? I’m currently using my plain old iPhone!
Enjoy your day 🙂
I LOVE the food photography tutorial on Pinch of Yum! Definitely check it out — they have the best tips in really easy to understand terms.
Have you ever heard of the app, Rover, for dog sitting? We are actually heading down to FL today and leaving our beloved pug with a sitter we found on the app. They have have reviews, pictures etc on the app and you even do a in-person meet up with the sitter before you select them. All the payment is also conducted through the app and I believe you get some type of insurance included in the price if something were to happen to your pup while you were away( fingers crossed we dont need it!).
So neat!! That’s awesome. I honestly feel SO much better leaving Sadie at home with someone to check in on her. We just felt so, so guilty every time we boarded her.
Why not spice up a Tuesday with some race bling?! My three year old son is all about helping in the kitchen as well. I can barely make a smoothie without him begging to assist!
How fun to go on the boat at the end of the day?! And I need to check out that book! Suspenseful books are my favorite 🙂
Love my smoothies for breakfast too, they always seem to keep me full until lunch! I have never tried MCT oil in my smoothies, I will have to try it out now! 🙂
Julie, would you mind sharing your favorite cashew milk brand? (Or do you make your own?) Thanks!
i change it up a lot but used silk unsweetened vanilla for yesterday’s smoothie!
omg those dippers sound like the perfect snack!!! and i put sooooo many things in my smoothies too – i always want to post my recipes on my blog or instastory but i would have to write 8 billion lines. haha
hope you are having a great week!!
I love that Chase insisted that you both wear race medals. He sounds absolutely adorable.
I’ve added All the Missing Girls to my to be read list. It sounds so good!
sounds like a fun day! Love me some laughing cow, can’t wait to try those dippers! I’m also going to check out those food back drops!
I LOVE my smoothies but haven’t added frozen cauliflower in awhile so I think I’m due for that! I absolutely love adding frozen cauliflower! Who knew?!
I’m reading the same book! I’m almost done and can’t wait to see how it ends. I’m loving it so far!
This seems like such a fun day! I also love those Etsy photo boards. Such a great idea and the blue with the orange works perfectly. I’m sure you’ve answered this question a billion times, but what kind of camera do you use?
Also, yes to morning smoothies! They always do the trick until lunchtime for me, too, especially when I throw in a handful of oats!
That picture of Chase wearing the race medal is adorable!
My son liked those dippers too. They sent some home after the first day of school. My kids are obcesssd with medals too. They got some from a school bike a thon they participated in and they wear them everywhere. Super cute! And yes to smoothies in the morning – I haven’t been that hungry for breakfast lately so sometimes a smoothie is just what I need.
My 1 year old loves cheese these days! I see it as being a great snack or egg topper.
Is that a small cooler bag for snacks???
Is that a small cooler bag for snacks
I so appreciate your photo backdrop recommendations, and commented the last time too! I love knowing where to go to get these things. (Some places are crazy pricey). Totally going to bookmark Ink & Elm! Thanks!
When one of my relatives was looking for an alternative to board her dog, I found a great service where your pet actually goes to live with a family for the time you’re gone. It was such a huge hit, because all those pet sitters (families) were vetted, had owned many pets, were almost all foster pet parents, and the animals were treated like family, living amongst them like normal life. A couple of my relatives used the service and loved it. I don’t know what it would be called in your area, but worth a look for next time, if you want Sadie to have people around all the time but NOT be boarded.
I love that Chase helps with food prep! What does he do/how does he help? It’s such a great idea for kids.
Why not spice up a Tuesday with some race bling?! My three year old son is all about helping in the kitchen as well. I can barely make a smoothie without him begging to assist!