I’m taking a small break from my recap blogs since we have family in town this week, but I’ll get one up soon! While everyone was getting ready for the day, I decided to squeeze in a quick recipe. It’s my excuse to say “hello!”

One of our favorite meals in the summer is Jalapeño Cheddar Turkey Burgers! They are so easy to make, a healthy source of protein, and delicious! 

We eat these turkey burgers like once a week! The best part is that they are just as tasty the next day, and I’m always team leftovers! You can control the spice by eliminating all the jalapeno seeds. We like a little spice, so we throw in about a tablespoon. 

Print

Jalapeño Cheddar Turkey Burgers

Course Lunch, Dinner

Keyword burgers, jalapeño, lettuce wraps, gluten-free, cheddar, healthy dinner, healthy recipe, low carb

Servings 5 Burgers

Author Taralynn McNitt

Ingredients

• 1 lb Ground Turkey
• 1 Cup Chopped Jalapeños (without seeds)
• 1/2 Small Yellow Onion
• 1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1 Tsp Jalapeño Seeds
• 1 Tsp Jalapeño Powder
• 1 Tsp Onion Powder
• 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 Tsp Black Pepper
• 1 Tsp Dried Dill Weed
• 1 Tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Brown Sugar

Instructions

• Add all of the ingredients into a large bowl and combine.
• Form the mixture into five burger patties.
• Grill each side for 5-minutes (until they reach 175-185 degrees)

  If you are not using a grill, cook each side for 6-7 minutes.
• Serve each patty in a chilled lettuce wrap.

Sometimes we use white cheddar, swiss, or pepper jack for these burgers! And if you don’t like turkey, you can use ground chicken! 
 
Questions for you!

1. What are your favorite burger toppings?
2. What side do you always have with burgers?
3. Do you grill in the summer?

It’s going to be 65-degrees today, so after I close the laptop, I’m heading out on a long walk, and I may break out the bike! Before Kyle headed out the door for work this morning, we talked about picking up salmon and grilling out on the patio after the gym. That reminded me that I had forgotten about sharing my grilled salmon recipe from last summer! I went back into my albums, found the photos, and decided to get it up for you just in case you’re looking to grill this afternoon as well. We have flavored our shrimp, tofu, and chicken the same way, so if you’re not a salmon lover, you can replace it with your choice of protein.
When it’s warmer out, I crave anything with citrus flavors, especially on the grill.

This salmon recipe is absolutely to die for. The salmon had so much flavor, and it just fell apart so perfectly. The only regret was not making more! It’s easy to make, and I bet you already have most of the ingredients in your house. It’s also easy to customize! If you don’t have an orange, replace with a lime, lemon, or even grapefruit. No avocado oil? Any oil with work! No honey? Try agave or maple syrup.

For the shishito peppers, I pre-boiled them for about ten minutes, and then finished them on the grill with a little avocado oil, sea salt, and pepper! If you haven’t had shishito peppers yet, you’re in for a real treat! 
This post has me excited for tonight’s dinner!

Questions for you!

1. What fruit do you crave in the summer?
2. Have you ever had shishito peppers? (you can usually find them at Whole Foods & sometimes Trader Joe’s!)

Brrrrr it’s a chilly one this morning. I just got back from a long dog walk, and now it’s coffee and blogging time I am so excited to share this recipe post with you. I had the salmon and birthday cake lined up, but I could hardly contain my excitement for this one. I’ll be sharing either the salmon recipe or birthday cake recipe over the weekend! I’ll let you choose. Let me know which one you’d like to see in the comment section.

If you follow me on Instagram, then you probably heard about my day. I had a true life lesson thrown in my face, and I’m so grateful for it. Check out my Insta-story for the details, if you don’t have Instagram, I’ll be sharing it in my weekly recap post.

After my train of events, I decided to make a very late lunch. We finally got a break in the rain, so I headed outside to fire up the grill. You don’t need the grill for this recipe, but I went ahead and used it to cook my turkey burgers! You can make them in the oven or on the stovetop. 
I mentioned in a couple of posts back that I get inspired by restaurants. I’ve cut back on dining out tremendously this past year, and I love to bring my restaurant favorites to life in my own kitchen.

So, today’s recipe was inspired by one of my favorite spots in Charlotte, Lunas Living Kitchen. I know what you’re thinking. Isn’t Luna’s a vegan restaurant? YES! It is. I didn’t try to replicate the recipe because I would NEVER be able to make it like them and I’d be left with disappointment. I just took some of their ideas like adding sprouts, using collard greens as a wrap, using hummus for a spread, and having a tasty green smoothie as a side. If you are a vegan and want to try a similar recipe, you can use veggie burgers, or stuff it with grilled tofu.

P.S. Lettuce wraps are OUT. Collard green wraps (that’s not considered lettuce, right?) are IN! They hold up so much better, have a great flavor, carry way more nutrients, and hold up as leftovers a lot longer. 

I’m on a grilling kick. I just can’t stop! Why didn’t I get one earlier? (procrastinator, that’s why)

I cooked these on tin foil. I would have used my grill pan, but it was in the dishwasher. As soon as they were fully-cooked, I finished them off directly on the grill for about a minute on each side to give them grill marks. I turned the grill off and kept the lid open while doing this. The grill was still hot, and I didn’t want to overcook the burgers. 
I set them aside to let them cool before adding them to the wraps. I didn’t want them to melt or wilt the vegetables and hummus.
You can get creative with the fillers. You can add pickles, jalapenos, more lettuce, peppers, mushrooms, greek yogurt, or anything you want! You can make so many fun variations of this recipe. I know I’ll be doing that a lot!

I used two leaves to secure and wrap these. I just started tucking all the edges into each other. The collard green is very thick and strong, so it holds well. It doesn’t fall apart when you cut into it, either. 

These are so great for BBQs! I love having a lower-carb option for dinner. I eat most of my carbs earlier in the day and stick to lower carbs in the evening. Because the collard greens hold up so well, these would be cute little appetizers to set out. You could even use a toothpick and make them mini wraps. I may try that! I’ll be making these all summer! I’ll try it out with tofu and grilled chicken next.
Each wrap has two turkey patties, 1 tbsp guacamole, 1 tbsp hummus, 3 cherry tomatoes, 4-5 cucumber slices, 1/4 cup spouts, and two collard green leaves.

This recipe makes 4 wraps

Nutrition per wrap:

Calories: 280 Calories, 9g Fat,  240 mg Sodium, 8g Carbs, 3g Fiber, 1g Sugar, 35g Protein

I love a healthy and hearty meal that makes me feel great. I could eat this every day!
I hope you guys have a fabulous Friday & Weekend!

Questions for you!

1. Do you have a meal that you’ve created inspired by a restaurant?
2. Have you ever used collard greens as a wrap?
3. Salmon or Birthday Cake recipe?

I’m partnering up with Borden Cheese today, and bringing back one of my favorite childhood meals, THE GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH! Both of my parents worked a lot when I was a kid, so easy recipes saved my mom a lot of time. When the months got colder, my mom always made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. I never complained on grilled cheese night. It’s such a comfort food. My mom didn’t just serve boring square grilled cheese sandwiches. She always made them in fun shapes! Sometimes she’d let me pick out the cutters from the baking drawer and do them myself. I always liked when she surprised me though. I loved guessing the shapes.

I thought it would be a really fun idea to make Halloween shaped grilled cheese sandwiches! These are perfect for a last minute Halloween appetizer or a fun dinner idea for kids. They’re easy to make, quick, and inexpensive. You only need 3 ingredients… All you need: Borden Grilled Cheese Melts, Sliced Bread, Butter!

That’s right…only 3 ingredients!  I’m sure most of you know how to make a grilled cheese sandwiches, but if you don’t, no worries! I got you.

HOW TO MAKE A GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH

1. Heat a skillet to medium-high.
2. Butter two slices of bread.
3. Add one slice of bread to the pan with the butter side down.
4. Top with Borden Grilled Cheese Melts (I like adding two slices)
5. Top the Cheese layer with the second slice of bread with the butter side up.
6. Let the sandwich cook for about one minute and then flip. (When the butter starts to melt on the top layer, it’s usually time to flip.)

It’s that easy! You’ll get the hang of it really fast.  After you make all the grilled cheese sandwiches, pick out some cookie cutters for the fun shapes!  I chose to make pumpkins, bats, ghosts, and crossbones skulls.  Don’t throw away the scraps because they are just as tasty! You can cut them up and make croutons for salads or cut them up as dippers.  I served the Halloween shaped grilled cheese sandwiches with a side of tomato soup, topped with tomato basil goat cheese.  How fun are these? You can use this idea for any occasion. I used to make Mickey Mouse grilled cheese sandwiches for the kids I nannied for years ago. They loved it.  Borden Cheese has so many products for all of your cheesy recipes!

*American, Asiago, Cheddar, Colby, Cobly Jack, Gouda, Havarti, Mexican, Monterey Jack, Mozzarella, Muenster, Parmesan, Pepper Jack, Provolone and Swiss!*

I bought the Havarti cheese for my veggie omelets and it’s so yummy

I love that Borden Cheese is produced by Dairy farmers of America. They work with over 8000 dairy farms across the United States. They believe in treating their livestock with warmth, care, and compassion. Questions for you!

1. What is your favorite childhood dinner?
2. What is your favorite soup to dip your grilled cheese in?
3. Do you have any favorite three ingredient cheesy recipes?

I had so much teaming up with Borden Cheese on this sponsored post & all opinions are my own!

Good Morning <3

I hope all of your week’s are off to a great start! I can’t believe tomorrow is already Friday. I feel like my weeks go by so fast nowadays. I wanted to catch you guys all up before I head out on my trip today! I’m driving up to D.C. to surprise my brother for his birthday (assuming he doesn’t read my blog.) I’m so excited because Becca (best friend) took some days off and will be coming with me! I love bestie weekends That means…Exploring! We don’t have any set plans, so we are going to metro, walk and go all weekend! I will also be keeping up with the August Fit Challenge while I’m gone!

I’ve lightened up the workouts the past week for myself. I went so hard in July and I think my body was telling me to rest. I’ve made sure to keep my miles below five, stretch more, drink water, and do strength training four times a week (instead of everyday.) I will step it up starting tomorrow! The break was much needed. I sometimes beat myself up when I take breaks, so I need to work on not being so hard on myself or realizing that it’s ok to take time off. Listen to your body first.

 
Becca and I headed to the park to workout on Monday night. We walked, did some outdoor strength training and other random workouts using the playground! Crazy how much you can do without a gym.

 We met this little guy at the park after our workout. A super nice lady rescued four pitbull puppies and the parents from a bad environment. They were so sweet and it makes me so sad to think of how mean people are to animals!

SO VICIOUS!

 
We were coming up with fun outdoor workouts! Getting across the rope without using your feet was so hard!

He’s so precious. He gets to hang out with Kyle all weekend!

Becca and I headed to Amelie’s on Tuesday night to work a bit and grab a dessert! Can you believe I didn’t drink coffee!? I’m doing pretty well! It’s going to be hard in D.C. since all the coffee is so good! I’m gong to bring my backpack and fill it up with water.

SO…I made Eating Bird Food’s delicious chocolate hummus brownies! I made a few swaps to save a trip to the grocery store. I love how basic and real the ingredients are! I added peanut butter chips and dark chocolate chips! I also used dark chocolate cocoa powder (to save a trip) and they were so good! You cannot taste the hummus and they were super fudgy! I used the classic Sabra hummus for mine! I highly recommend trying these out!

I ran two miles yesterday before getting caught in the rain and so I called it quits and headed to the gym with Becca. We did two of the August Fit Challenge circuits & then sat in the sauna (while chugging water.)

Kyle and I caught up on the show “The Nigh Of” sooooooooooooooo good!!!

Post gym popcorn!

Rewind to Sunday!

I still can’t believe I jumped out of a plane. I will be blogging all about that experience soon, but it’s going to be a long one! After taking the jump (he had no idea we were going), we headed back to Charlotte!

Steve (Kyle’s friend) and I cooked up a feast for Kyle’s birthday! & we also made the ULTIMATE birthday cake.

Look at that happy face!

These are my favorite little appetizers! They are inspired by a trip I took to D.C.

Ingredients: 1 Package Cream Cheese, 2 tsps garlic powder, juice from 1/2 small lemon, black pepper, red onion slices, fresh dill, smoked salmon, and a french baguette.

First stir the lemon, cream cheese, garlic, and pepper to taste together. Taste test the cream cheese to make sure it doesn’t need more garlic, dill, lemon, or pepper.

While you’re making the cream cheese mixture, place the baguette in the oven for 5-7 minutes at 300 degrees to heat. Once you take the baguette out, slice it into little pieces.

Spread the cream cheese over the baguette

Add the smoked salmon, red onion, and a speck of dill.

(Shoutout to Meighan for preparing these babies!)

Steve prepared all the meat! BBQ wings & garlic and herb chicken breast!

The broccoli was steamed and finished on the stovetop with sea salt, black pepper, and olive oil.

Recipe for the roasted potatoes can be found here! 

Dinner was SO GOOD and we were all so stuffed!

Steve and I started brainstorming about cake ideas. We decided to do something over the top and completely crazy! Kyle likes peanut butter chocolate and that is exactly what he got!

Boxed yellow cake, boxed chocolate cake, rainbow sprinkles, Reese’s peanut butter cups, peanut butter M&M’s, peanut butter chips, creamy peanut butter, and chocolate fudge frosting!

We baked four layers! We also added peanut butter chips to the yellow cake mix.

Our frosting consisted of two containers of chocolate fudge frosting and one jar of creamy peanut butter!

We stacked each layer on top of layer of frosting and then frosted all the way around the cake. We lined the bottom of the cake with peanut butter chips, pressed peanut butter M&M’s all around the cake, topped it with rainbow sprinkles, stuck Reese’s pieces into the top and then added candles! We all had SO MUCH FUN making this cake!

It was huge! The five of us had to split one slice and still couldn’t get it all down! We had SO MUCH leftover.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE!!:)

The cake was dangerously good.

 I hope you all have a great weekend and I will keep you all updated from D.C.! You can keep up with my travels on Instagram and Snapchat: @taralynnmcnitt!

Questions for you!

1. How do you know when to take a break from working out?
2. What is the craziest dessert you’ve ever made?
3. Snapchat stories or Instagram stories?

We decided to stay in and make homemade baked wings last night. I don’t know why I don’t do this more often. Coming up with wing recipes is super fun and much healthier than the wings you get at most restaurants. I have a feeling I’ll be creating tons of wing recipes during football season this year. I want to keep all the meals healthy and filling. I let all the diet habits slip last winter, but I’m not letting that happen again. I’ve never felt better and want to keep on moving forward with this healthier lifestyle of mine. *Having people that support your healthy lifestyle is EVERYTHING. 

I hope you enjoy these delicious recipes! I kind of just winged it (so pun-y)

Ingredients Sweet BBQ Buffalo:
12 Chicken Wings (drummies & wings)
1/4 Cup Buffalo Suauce
1/4 Cup Honey BBQ Sauce
2 Tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
1/4 Tsp Black Pepper
1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 Tsp Minced Onion Flakes
1/4 Tsp Onion Powder
2 Tsps Sesame Seeds.
Cooking Spray + Tin Foil

Ingredients Garlic Parmesan:
12 Chicken Wings (drummies & wings)
2 TbspItalian Dressing
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1/2 Tbsp Garlic Powder
1 Tsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
1/8 Tsp Onion Powder
1 Tsp Italian Seasoning.
Cooking Spray + Tin Foil

-Spray the tin foil on top of a baking sheet with cooking spray and lay out the wings.

-Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.

or…you could grill them.

*All ovens cook differently, so make sure to check on them!*

I couldn’t decide which ones I liked better! They were both super delicious and I didn’t feel bad after eating them. I knew where the chicken came from and what ingredients were added. I’m not a fan of buffalo, but with the mixture of bbq sauce…it was great!

I put garlic and parmesan on EVERYTHING, so these were bomb. I’d love to dip these in a homemade red pasta sauce.

We also had grilled peppers and air fried (coolest thing ever) sweet potatoes! & this was only my first serving…;)

Questions for you!

1. What flavor of wings can you come up with?
2. Football season is literally right around the corner…what is one of your healthy tailgate go-tos?
3. Vegetarians…did you know you can make this recipe using steamed cauliflower!?

Happy Friday!

I’m so ready for the weekend. I’ll be heading down to the beach with Becca for a best friend’s weekend tomorrow! We have a BLAST on trips.  I hope you guys have some fun plans in the works. I just dropped Grumples off at the groomers and now I’m sitting here with my cup of coffee ready to catch you all up on my week. I hate taking him to the groomers because he makes me feel so guilty. He starts shaking, crying, and holding onto me. It breaks my heart, but I know he’ll feel so much better in this heat with less hair.

We hit a record heat in Charlotte yesterday and I planned on staying in, but my outdoorsy side was eager to get out and do something.

I lathered on my sunscreen and headed out for a four mile walk yesterday afternoon. There was no way I was going to run in that heat and it didn’t get any cooler outside as the night went on. I planned on a gym workout later in the evening anyways.

I cleaned up after my walk and headed out to do some errands. I dropped off all the shop orders at the post office and then stopped at I Love Juice Bar for an afternoon pick-me-up. I usually get a fruity flavor or Matcha, but decided to switch it up!  I ordered the Coffee Janet smoothie. It had raw cacao powder, coffee, hemp seeds, plant based protein powder, almond butter, banana and organic almond milk. It tasted like a Starbucks Mocha frappuccino (obviously healthier)!

I met up with Becca for a night workout in the gym. We set up a super intense circuit and alternated back and fourth for almost two hours. We talked more about doing our videos and how we want to set it all up. I’m pretty pumped to start doing them! We always feel so sore and accomplished after our workouts, so I think it would be fun to have you guys try them at home. We have both seen so much progress and definition changes in our bodies.

After our workout, we headed to Hobo’s for salads. I had all the veggies, tofu and chicken ready to grill, but we were too tired. It was 9:15 and having someone else wait on us sounded so much better. I ordered the classic Cobb, which had mixed greens, avocado, egg, grilled chicken, bacon, avocado, tomato and pecans. We definitely caved in and split some fries!

I know I’ve blogged since last Wednesday, but I’ve left so many things out. I figured it would be a good time to go back and catch you all up! This is going to be one long blog post, so prepare yourself!

It was gorgeous out last Wednesday, so I spent the afternoon soaking up the rays at the pool after my workout. I went to a spin class and it kicked my butt! I love switching up workouts because it’s great for the body.

I took Mr. Grumples out for a walk later in the evening. I love when it cools down because there is noway I can take him in the heat. I made a latte with skim milk, two espresso pods from my Nespresso and whipped cream on top when I got back!

I met up with Becca uptown for dinner and a walk Wednesday night.

We drove all around trying to find a place to eat, but we ended up grabbing a salad at Jason’s Deli. I wasn’t mad about it. I love their salad bar!

I dropped Grumples off at my parents house Thursday morning before heading to Asheville for the day.

Read all about my Asheville trip here!

Grumples was impersonating how I felt on Friday morning. I was running on three hours of sleep!

I figured adding rainbow sprinkles to my latte would make me feel better, or maybe it was the caffeine.

I was excited to have a Friday night in with Kyle. I decided to cook up everything I had in the fridge instead of running to the grocery store. I made turkey meatballs, baked chicken, shrimp, sticky rice, and roasted vegetables.

Roasted Vegetable Recipe

Turkey Meatballs Recipe

Shrimp cooked with black pepper, garlic powder & sweet chili sauce!

Baked Chicken Recipe!

*disclosure

I made sure to keep my portions small because we had an evening run planned. I didn’t want to feel to full. I normally eat way more than that!
 

Kyle is getting into the whole running thing and he’s doing so well. I love pacing him! We did two miles on Friday night and then walked the rest of the way. I hope he’s ready to go three tonight!

Running during the evening is so pretty and much more tolerable. I don’t know why I torture myself with day running.

We ended up popping some popcorn and falling asleep to a movie after the first ten minutes.

Grumples and I woke up really early to work on the blog and have coffee. I love love love commenting back to my readers on Saturday mornings.

Kyle and I went on an early morning run at the Riverwalk and it was so nice outside! We were super blessed with gorgeous weather over the weekend.

We grabbed coffee at the Grapevine on our way out, and then headed to the gym to finish up our workout. I did abs and some arm workouts with weights.

Not a bad view…

Kyle and I headed to Dick’s Sporting Goods so I could buy new golf shirts for my dad for Father’s Day. We headed to Amelies after to grab some afternoon coffee. He tried out their blueberry tea and I had the Le Sombre Chai! Kyle took Grumples back to his place for the night since I had some interesting plans with my mom and Becca.

Becca and my mom love paranormal stuff. My mom bought us tickets to join the Charlotte Paranormal Society at the Rosedale Plantation for a ghost tour. The plantation was so pretty.

We planned on grabbing dinner before the tour, but we were running behind! The tour ended up being from 7pm – 11pm and we were starvin’. We couldn’t leave because they locked the gates for security.
  

We didn’t see any ghost or get any encounters. We spent some time in the cellar and then walked the grounds.

We filmed live footage on snapchat. Our videos were weird, but we had to make the best of it.

I woke up early on Sunday morning so I could run to the store and pick up ingredients to make dark chocolate covered strawberries. They are my dad’s FAVORITE and totally easy to make. I just melt the dark chocolate chips in the microwave, dip the strawberries in, coat them in sliced almonds and let them dry on wax paper!

Becca, Kyle and I headed to my parents for a Father’s day brunch.

Scones with coffee? YES PLEASE!

I had mixed fruit, bacon, half an English muffin with blackberry jam and scrambled eggs. My dad cooked up the eggs and bacon on the grill I got him for Christmas!

After brunch, I headed out for a three mile run. It was so HOT & TORTUROUS! I cooled down at the pool with the girls afterwards.

Kyle and I decided to have fajitas for dinner. I chopped up veggies, chicken, and steak to grill!

Before adding the meats to the grill, I seasoned them with soy sauce, olive oil, and a tablespoon of honey.

Once the vegetables and meats were grilled, I added them to a large mixing bowl and added two packets of organic fajita seasoning.

I also made some organic whole grain Spanish quinoa & rice blend. This brand was so delish!

For our toppings we had, habanero cheese, avocado, salsa, black beans, plain Greek yogurt, and lettuce.

I scooped all of mine into a lettuce cup!

These were super filling and tasted just like the restaurant’s…if not better

We watched the NBA Finals during dinner! Such a great game.

Grumples and I went out for a long walk on Monday morning. He quit every 1/4 mile! It took us a bit to get back to my place. He pulls me into the shade.

Coffee after our walk <3

Don’t forget to enter the Kathy Davis Brand Bedding Giveaway!

I made a coffee protein shake for lunch! It had vanilla protein powder, cold-brew coffee, almond milk, ice, stevia and a banana blended! SO SO SO GOOD. I topped it with a little whipped cream. If you need a healthier alternative to the Starbuck’s frappuccinos, this one is it!

Monday night was a blast! Becca and I headed to the football stadium to run the track and do bleachers.

It was so pretty outside and the sunset was gorgeous from the top of the bleachers.

We did a set of bleachers (up down 12 times) followed by one lap around the track. We repeated that five times. My legs were on fire!

We headed to the gym to do some weights for an hour after our field workout! Of course there is never a time where we are not goofing off. This happens when we have the gym all to ourselves.

After the gym, we made veggie burgers and roasted vegetables while watching a conspiracy theory documentary about the moon.

Weirdly enough, I took photos of the moon that night because it was screaming for a photo shoot.

Grumples and I went to the track together early morning on Tuesday! There was no one there and he ran up and down the bleachers with me. It was the cutest thing. After our workout, we headed to Dunkin Donuts to grab a unsweetened blueberry iced tea. If you haven’t had one of these, they’re super delicious and taste just like a blueberry muffin!

We got the girl’s together at Nan & Byron’s on Tuesday night! We gave up on watching the Bachelorette because it’s SO BAD. I ordered the Greek salad.

I bought this dress at Francesca’s four years ago and I forgot it was hidden in my closet! I will be adding a section onto the shop for some of the clothes I do not wear anymore! I have way too many clothes and it’s time to make some room! I have a lot of workout clothes, dresses and pants I do not wear, so why not get rid of them!?

I woke up at 6am Wednesday so I could have breakfast, work and walk Grumples before heading out to meet up with Rachel. My go-to breakfast is always Cheerios with almond milk! I added blueberries this time.

That face gets me…

Rachel and I did an hour circuit. My butt is still burning from the workout!

Last year at this time, I was miserable with my body and couldn’t stand the way I looked. I had a lot of negativity in my life and was going through a pretty rough patch. I couldn’t be more proud of how far I have come mentally and physically.

We headed to the pool after our workout and I had some delicious Gold Emblem Abound Banana crisps! The whole bag has 180 calories and they are so good. Banana is the only ingredient! They are the perfect snack.  I’ll be taking these to the beach his weekend!

Hydrating with my coconut water!

I also caved and bought some sugar-free gummy bears! Only 90 calories a serving. TREAT YO SELF! 

I love infused water in the summer. This one had cucumber, mint, and lime!

I headed to Kyle’s on Wednesday night and Grumples was so happy to see him! <3

I can’t wait to catch up with you soon! Don’t forget to follow my travels on Instagram or Snapchat this weekend! @taralynnmcnitt

I’m about to head out for a workout before picking up Grumples!

Questions for you! 

1. If I set up a July fitness challenge, would you join me!?
2. What is one snack you must bring to the beach?
3. What was the highlight of your week?

Fridays are usually set aside for recap blogs, but I don’t feel like waiting that long. Grumples has been on his morning walk, I have a fresh pot of coffee brewing, and my blogging fingers are ready to go! It’s way too hot to do anything outside and I’d rather blog away before starting my afternoon chores. I was out and about all weekend, so most of them were neglected. I’m currently side-eyeing my basket of laundry in the corner.

Kyle and I were super excited for the Dead & Company show on Friday night. We had been patiently waiting for this weekend for months. We are both huge fans of John Mayer and bonded over him when we first met.

Dead & Company is a project formed by several Grateful Dead members Bill Kreutzmann, Bob Weir and Mickey Hart with the addition of John Mayer, Jeff Chimenti and Oteil Burbridge.

The concert was at the PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte. I’ve been to several concerts at the Pavilion and they are always a blast. The outdoor concert environment is always wild.

After the concert, we met Becca uptown for dinner. I’m not sure if it was the excessive amount of pot smoke floating in the air at the concert that made us hungry, but we were starvin’ like Marvin!

Concert Outfit
Top: American Eagle
Shoes: Boutique in Paris
Shorts: American Eagle
Bag: Catos
Necklace: Simply Taralynn Collection

All of the bars and restaurants were packed because of the NBA finals. We decided to sit outside at Rock Bottom Brewery. I think they have the best salads. You know how much I love my salads! No shame. I ordered the grilled chicken Cobb salad. It came with bacon, lettuce, egg, avocado, grilled chicken, cojita cheese, tomatoes, and ranch on the side. They also have a really good Waldorf salad that I highly recommend as well. The best part of Becca being a vegetarian is that I get to have her chicken on the side.

Why do they call it a Cobb salad?

“One says that it came about in the 1930s at the Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant, where it became a signature dish. It is named for the restaurant’s owner, Robert Howard Cobb. Stories vary whether the salad was invented by Cobb or by his chef, Chuck Wilson.”

I woke up super early on Saturday so I could walk to the grocery store to pick up some coffee and breakfast ingredients. I normally don’t cook up breakfast throughout the week. I stick to simple foods like cereal or hard boiled eggs, but there is something about Saturday mornings that make me want to have a big breakfast.

After making my coffee, I sat down to watch the news and respond to blog comments. It’s a Saturday morning routine. Grumples LOVES listening to Kyle play the guitar.

They sat there on the ground for a good forty-five minutes together. Just when I think my heart can’t melt anymore, it just keeps going.

After catching up on all the blog comments from last week’s recap post, I decided to get up and make some breakfast before working out. I usually stick to the go-to breakfast that consists of vegetable eggs, toast, bacon and fruit.

I started by chopping up green onion, green bell pepper, sweet yellow onion and roma tomatoes.

I sautéed the bell peppers, green onion and sweet yellow onion with two tablespoons of olive oil in a pan.

Once the bell peppers and onions were cooked, I turned off the heat and added the roma tomatoes to the pan.

Egg mixture: 5 egg whites, 1 egg yoke, 1 cup sautéed veggies, 1 tablespoon light cream, 2 tsps garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, and a sprinkle of black pepper

Spray a pan with cooking spray or use olive oil and heat on medium-high. Pour in the omelet mixture and cook both sides until the edges are lightly brown.

I made one of the egg mixtures into an omelet and one into a scramble.

Sides: whole wheat English muffins with Melt spread, baked Applegate Bacon slices, watermelon, strawberries, blueberries and coffee. DELICIOUS!

Kyle and I walked to the gym together after breakfast. He set up a circuit for me to focus on arms. I’ve never really been a gym person, but I think he’s changed that. I used to be intimated by the weightlifters and the dedicated gym goers, but now I want to get in there more.

We walked through the Taste of Charlotte on our way back from the gym. It was SO HOT outside and we couldn’t stand to be out in it any longer. When the temperature is that hot, food isn’t appetizing. The only thing I crave when it’s that hot is watermelon. I ended up eating two cups of watermelon once we got back.

We took Grumples for a little walk around the block. This is the kind of weather that makes me feel bad for Grumples. It’s too hot for him to be outside and he doesn’t get as much exercise until the evening or early morning.

Kyle has made a huge difference in Grumple’s behavior. I mentioned that Grumps can be very hard to walk sometimes and he gets anxiety with some people. He’s a great dog and loves everyone, but as soon as he’s on a leash, he’s a different dog.  Kyle got a new leash and harness for him and has been working with him. The difference is incredible. We have been able to walk by bikes, people, and other dogs without him acting out. He really listens to Kyle and I’ve never trusted anyone more with my dog.

After getting cleaned up after the gym, we headed to the South Park mall to shop. It was something to do that didn’t involve being out in the heat. Becca and I had our snapchat sessions while Kyle was trying on suits.

We went to Chopt for dinner. The day went by so fast and it was already 8pm! It really felt like five. I ordered the kebab cobb. It had local feta, charred red onions, mama lils spicy peppers, pita chips, romaine lettuce, avocado, falafel, chopped and tossed in red wine vinaigrette and Greek yogurt tzatziki.

I went into Lush while I was at the mall and picked up some of my favorite products. I love doing mini at home spas! Perfect way to end a Saturday night.

WHAT I BOUGHT:
Dragon’s Egg Bath Bomb
Ocean Salt
Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter
Dream Cream Body Cream
Charity Lotion

Becca and I do breakfast dates on Sunday mornings. It’s our thing. I picked up Becca at 7:30am and headed to the Grapevine on the river walk. I ordered a small cappuccino with skim milk. I was really impressed with the Grapevines cappuccino! The espresso was really smooth and rich.

We took our coffee to go and decided to go for about a mile walk. I love that the Grapevine is right on the water.

It was already 85 degrees at 8am and we were burning up. My hot coffee wasn’t helping the situation either. I know that we will be doing this a lot in the fall and hopefully walking the whole trail once it’s cooler.

We decided to grab breakfast at the Famous Toastery in Tega Cay, SC. I ordered the egg white omelet with spinach, tomatoes, onion, bell peppers, avocado with a side fruit and wheat toast.

While we were sitting at breakfast, we were informed of the tragedy that happened in Orlando. We sat there for an hour talking about how sad it was. We were both sickened and in shock by the news. It has me heartbroken for Orlando and the LGBTQ community. I’ll never understand how anyone can hold so much hate in their hearts. I wish this world had more love and acceptance. No one should ever feel ashamed or live in fear because of who they are. It’s sad that it takes a tragedy like this to bring everyone together. This is how our world should act every single day. You don’t have to agree with people’s lifestyles or choices, but you should always love them. LOVE EVERYONE! Please spread love, stop the hate, live your life without fear, be happy, and make others happy. One person CAN make a difference. Let people be happy with their lives and make people feel happy with their lives. Your happiness is can be contagious. You have the ability to make this world a better place. My heart goes out to the victims, the family and anyone affected by the horrific tragedy in Orlando. My thoughts and prayers also go out to Christina Grimmie and her family. I had the honor of taking photos for her and the Voice tour when she was in Charlotte. She was such a loving, talented and powerful young women! Heaven is going to be full of angels. 

After my morning with Becca, I headed uptown to hang out with Grumples and Kyle.

I picked Kyle up some English breakfast black tea from Nova’s Bakery in Southend. He loves tea the way that I love coffee.

I had my Chopt leftovers for lunch. Those salads are so big and make great leftovers! I also had an afternoon cup of coffee with it.

Later that evening, I went out on a run with Kyle’s friend. I was going to go five miles, but it was 94 degrees outside. My face was numb and tingling by mile four and so I called it quits. Our pace was 8:12.  I always run faster when I’m running with someone else. Our first mile was actually 7:48! I was definitely facing some dehydration and it was all my fault for not drinking enough water. I took a really cold shower after the run. The heat exhausted me and I ended up curling up for a nap on the couch. Those Sunday catnaps are the best.

Later that night, Kyle and I walked to the grocery store to pick up some ingredients for dinner. I really love cooking at home instead of going out and I’ve been doing it a lot more lately. After talking to his neighbor on our way to the grocery store, we decided on homemade turkey burgers because that’s what he was cooking up. It sounded delicious and I had the best recipe for homemade turkey burgers.

Turkey burger ingredients:

*2 lbs ground turkey, 1/2 cup chopped green onion, 1 egg, 1/2 sweet yellow onion, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce, 1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs, 1 1/2 cups hot habanero, 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, and 1/2 tsp black pepper.

Add all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and use your hands to combine.

**My dad used to make burgers like this and he’d microwave a tiny meatball sized burger to test out all the flavors before grilling. If it was bland, he’d add more! You could do this to determine if your burgers need more seasonings or cheese!

This burger recipe makes ten giant burgers! Grease a sheet of tin foil and place to burgers on top. Grill until the centers are fully cooked.

We also made sweet potato fries and asparagus!

I seasoned the asparagus with black pepper, olive oil, garlic, Italian seasoning and low sodium soy sauce. I wrapped it up in tin foil.

I microwaved the sweet potatoes until slightly soft and then cut them into fries. I laid them in a greased baking dish and seasoned them with rosemary, minced onion, chives, garlic powder, onion powder and sea salt.

Dinner was DELICIOUS!

Yesterday morning, I took Grumples to the park to run before it got too hot! We can’t take this heat!

Back to the weekly basic breakfasts! I had cheerios with flaxseeds and a cup of coffee before going out for a two-mile run.

Someone was zonked.

I also made homemade protein stuffed peanut butter cups yesterday afternoon! I’ll be posting that recipe next!
THEY’RE SO GOOD!!!

UPDATE: RECIPE IS POSTED HERE!

Later that afternoon, I caught up on some grocery shopping. I grabbed fruit, seafood, veggies and all kinds of other healthy weekly foods.

I was invited to have dinner and grill out by the pool with a friend last night.

I also fell in love with this lil rottwieler puppy. I think I need one (one day)!!!! He was so cute and flopping around everywhere.

We had asparagus, salad, shrimp, scallops and grilled potatoes. I almost forgot to take a photo of my dinner plate, so this was a halfway through shot.

Becca came over around 7:45 and I set up a kick-ass circuit workout. It took us about an hour and a half to get through it and we took 30-second breaks between sets. We also have decided to start recording one circuit workout every week for a new Youtube series. We are no video gurus, but we are going to try!

We worked every part of the body. We cycled between arm workouts, leg, butt, abs and so on!

Our cool down was all ab focused and then we ended with ten minutes of straight cardio. There was another lady in the gym that watched us do the workout and asked if it would be ok that she joined us next time. She said she was inspired by us and I loved hearing that!

Today we are both sore everywhere.

I love having a friend that loves to workout and eat healthy as much as I do! Filling your life with people who support your lifestyle is so important and it really makes a difference. I’ve never been happier!

After the workout, I made a protein shake for Becca and I. It had a banana, vanilla a protein powder, strawberries, unsweetened almond milk, and ice. We made the shakes to-go and took Grumples for a walk.

I made some hard boiled eggs for a late night snack and extra to keep in the fridge for easy-access protein and then fell asleep while watching the NBA finals!

Today I’m going to work on some new posts and then hopefully get out for a really long walk tonight!

Questions for you?

1. Have you ever been intimated by a gym?
2. What do you think about me starting a YouTube Channel for little circuit workouts?
3. What is one thing you are grateful for right now?

One of my favorite parts about Monday morning is sitting back with my cup of coffee and reflecting on the weekend. I love spending time with family, bringing the friends together for good food, and getting time to work on projects we can’t normally do on the week days. I especially enjoyed this weekend becuase it was the first time I felt comfortably enough to leave the house after getting a bad case of poison ivy. It also happened to be in the mid 70’s all weekend, so there was no excuse to stay inside.

We took an afternoon break to meet up with some friends for lunch and to shoot some photos. One of our friends, who is an incredible event planner in Charleston, needed a couple of head shots for a feature story her company is running on her. I was so thrilled that she asked me to take them and they turned out so well.

We did the photos uptown so we could get the city in the background. Since we were already up there, we ended up having lunch at Vapiano’s Italian restaurant. I ordered the Reef n Beef salad. It had grilled beef filet, shrimp, grilled vegetables, cherry tomatoes, spring onions and lettuce. Their food is so good and I love their fun set up and environment.

I also had a slice of their proscuitto pizza. I liked how thin and crispy the crust was.

After we tore everything apart, we took the dogs for a well deserved walk around the neighborhood. I couldn’t get over how nice it was. I’m all for the cold Christmas spirit days, but no way am I going to complain about a 75 degree day in December!

I decided to relax on Saturday night and catch up on some sleep.

Sunday was all about Funday.

We decided to bring all the friends together for a football Sunday filled with food, drinks, and cigars.

After church, I took the dogs for a walk and then headed to the grocery store to grab everything for the get-together. I just wanted to spend every waking second outside soaking up the fresh air and sunshine. It felt like spring.

We I love putting spreads together for football games. It’s my thing! I picked up items to make a cheese, meat and cracker platter, a nacho bar, mimosas, and some other little finger foods.

I wore the Simply Taralynn Collection weekend drink shirt! (after church of course)

Items I picked up for the spread:

• Crackers
• Summer Sausage
• Pepper Jack Cheese
• Cheddar Cheese
• Jam
• Almonds
• Pistachios
• Figs
• Popcorn

Mimosa Supplies

• Fresh oranges
• Fresh pineapple
• Lemon slices
• Orange juice
• Lemonade
• Champagne
• Ice

My mimosa had 1/4 cup of high pulp orange juice, juice of one lemon slice, pineapple chunks, ice, and topped with champagne.

Our other friends brought some ingredients over to make bloody Marys. Bloody Marys will never be my thing. I can’t even stand the smell of them, but I definitely think anyone who drinks them are kind of badass. They were throwing in hot sauce, worcestershire sauce and all kinds of crazy ingredients.

Someone once told me that a bloody Mary cures hangovers and I think the first sip made me even sicker than before. Since then, I’ve never touched another bloody Mary.

We also put together an EPIC nacho bar.

I made up a huge batch of nacho cheese. In a large pan, melt together: 1 box of Velveeta, 1 stick unsalted butter, 1/2 cup light cream (or milk), 4 cans diced green chilies, 2 cans Rotel, 1/2 can drained jalapeños, and 1/2 tablespoon chili powder.

Keep the heat on low and continue to stir once all the ingredients are melted.

Nacho bar included:

• Grilled Steak
• Grilled Chicken
• Diced Avocados
• Black Beans
• Jalapeños
• Onion
• Salsa
• Chips

I ended the weekend having my favorite coffee drink, watching Christmas movies, and being old!

These are the weekends I live for. I love making memories, sharing laughs, and remembering what life is all about – especially with everything going on in our world. It’s important to enjoy the small things in life.

Now, I love leaving my posts with three questions for you. 

1. Do you enjoy bloody Marys?
2. Why are weekends special to you?
3. What kind of weather did you have this weekend?

I’m already in bed with my face mask on, ready to blog and do a little homework.

*currently watching the NY vs Cowboys game from my bed and it’s the only time of year I want the Giants to win…can you tell the Cowboys make me bitter?

Today was fun.

I spent the afternoon sewing and then ran a couple of errands. I whipped up some reversible placemats for my shop and for myself.

While I was at Earthfare, I saw that steak was on sale, so I decided to make a steak caesar salad.  I never stick to the classic caesar salad; I always add extra ingredients. Of course, I picked up pumpkin for some recipes this week.

While the Lion’s game was on, I prepared dinner!

This salad had: steak marinated in sweet bourbon glaze, romaine, croutons, avocado, onion, sweet and spicy peppers, parmesan, and caesar dressing.

You can marinate the steak in whatever you like. I cooked the steak on the grill until medium.

I was so excited to use my newly sewn placemats!

I love eating around five or six. The sun starts to go down, I can open the windows up for fresh air and a light breeze. My camera caught the sun flares coming in.

I also made some fresh lemon mint water to go with dinner. It had organic lemons and fresh mint leaves from my little garden.

I topped each plate with the salad ingredients and grilled steak on top.

You could toss the salad in the dressing first, or put it on the side.

I also bought Earthfare’s Maryland crab cakes. I’ve been eyeballing these crab cakes for months now. Crumbling crab cake over a salad is also delicious. If you have an Earthfare close by and you love crab cakes…I highly recommend these! I don’t know what’s gotten into me, but I’m loving crab cakes lately.

The salad was delicious and filling. I had so much leftover and it’ll come in handy during the week when I need something quick.

I know this post was simple and short, but I have homework to do!

Have a great night!

I made extra placemats for my shop (like the ones seen in this post) and they’re now available! Each placemat is reversible! One side has the grey and white arrows, the other has an aztec tribal print.
www.simplytaralynncollection.com