Forget Sunday-Funday.
This weekend was one big Funday! Friday – for my cheat day – I went to my favorite underground supper club, Push Start Kitchen with my best friend. Zack was serving a vegetarian dinner and once again blew it out of the water with his creative flavor combinations and impeccable execution. God bless cheat day.
L to R: the table; amuse – a corn masa with red chili jam and pickled okra; appetizer – chilled zucchini soup with tempura pumpkin flowers, house-made ricotta with preserved lemon, arugula, and smoked chile jam; main – roasted chile, Israeli couscous with collards, black plum mole, crisped tamale “croutons,” cotija cheese, and hears of palm; dessert – arroz con leche with candied lemon, melon sorbet, lychee foam, and basil and sour cherry gelee.
Saturday I took an easy bike ride through the park and hit up the Green Market for some tomatoes and a beautiful bunch of basil grown right there in the park. Doesn’t get more local than that!
Saturday evening I got to see some of my favorite bloggers at a going away party for Heather and her hubby Kirk. They are off to Colorado! We are sad to see them go, but we had a great time catching up and goofing off.
L to R: Heather, Lindsay, Tina, and me.
Heather cooked up a fantastic (vegan) Mexican feast, even specially preparing ground tempeh so that I had something I could eat (going out on a strict diet is HARD). I really loved her bean dip too – it was just the right amount of spicy.
I didn’t partake in the Cayenne-spice chocolate chip cookie sandwiches, but am told they were phenomenal.
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Tiffany @ Como Water invited me to write a guest post for her blog. Please click here to check it out, and check out her blog. It is a plethora of delicious, plant-based eats!
This dish I made for her is a Tomato Basil Beet Salad. Who knew this beets and tomatoes would be such a win? I mean, I thought it would taste good, but whoa. This simple salad of beets, tomato, basil, and onion blew me away. A bit of lemon juice, olive oil, and pepper balanced the beet flavor and the sweetness of the cherry tomatoes almost made it seems like dessert.
The other item that blew me away was a feta cheese.
Last week I talked about the yogurt I received from Olympus; however, they also included a feta cheese in the package. This creamy treat is imported from Greece, and is the BEST feta I’ve had in recent memory. I’m not even exaggerating. It was impossibly creamy, and have just the right amount of salt to bring out the feta tang.
For the full recipe, check out my guest post on Tiffany’s blog, Como Water.
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Recap time. I’m on day 10 of my figure competition training and still loving it! I had an appointment with my trainer Saturday. It was a tough one – I got busted for my lack of protein on my “cheat” day (note to self: Steve reads blog… watch yo self) and was justly punished treated to a killer leg workout. I’m really excited about my progress in a short amount of time. I was able to squat 30% more weight than I could just a week and a half ago!
Thank god this week was only 3 softball games… ’cause it is HOT. The obligatory #proof pic:
Workout Recap (6/25- 7/1):
- Monday – Chest/Biceps, 2.5 mile walk
- Tuesday – Legs (w/ trainer), 2 mile walk
- Wednesday – Back/Tris
- Thursday – Shoulders/Glutes, 2.5 mile walk
- Friday – Biceps/Chest, 2 mile walk
- Saturday – Legs/Hams (w/ trainer), 20 min bike ride, 1.75 mi walk
- Sunday – 3 softball games
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What was the highlight of your weekend?
Is it in the 100s where you are?
i loved seeing your face!! hiking in August!
For sure! With a picnic basket and snake repellant.
It’s been in the 90s here, but the humidity makes it unbearable! Looks like a fantastic vegan feast!
That was our only saving grace – the humidity was low this weekend!
that dessert looks amazing! so pretty as well, you almost feel bad eating it (uh ya right!). I am huge mexican fan!
Yes, I felt terrible about eating it… until I licked the plate 😉
Looks like a fun weekend! Minus the heat. I can’t take it anymore!!!
lol. love that your trainer busted you via reading you blog. hilarious. one of my weekend highlights was fun little bike rides with my husband.
That does sound fun! I need to get better on the bike.
Such a fun weekend!!! It’s only in the 70s here….california somehow lucked out and didn’t catch any of the extremem heat everyone else is experiencing!
Wow! I won’t be jealous – it’s usually California getting the brunt.
This weather is seriously killer. That is amazing that you are already seeing progress! I am so proud of you!!
Thanks! I’m kind of overwhelmed… lol!
That bloggy meet up sounds so fun! I didn’t realize Heather was moving… just recently getting to know her and her blog. Mmm, beets and tomatoes with feta is my kind of salad. Yum!
God that Tomato Basil Beet Salad looks like exactly what I need right now. Have you worked the kinks out of that telaporter of yours yet?
Highlight of the weekend? I can’t remember that far back.
Was it the beer? 😉
It’s literally still winter in the UK… what on earth was I thinking?!?! Ha! As for your training, that much progress in such a short time frame is awesome!! Go Laura!!! 🙂
Oh no! I could barely handle cold weather for 1 week in Chile!
Thanks, Hayley. Are you going to be back blogging soon???
Yay for blogger meet ups – boo for goodbyes! I can be kind of a feta snob. Some of it’s pretty good, but some feta is nearly breathtaking. I’ll have to keep an eye out for that kind.
I saw your salad over on Tiffany’s blog–so gorgeous and colorful! Sounds like you had a great weekend.
Glad your training is going well! It’s been 90s here. I wish it would never get hotter than that. I do horrible in the heat.
It’s going to be in the 90s for the 4th and I was actually relieve to hear it. So wrong!
Um, yeah, you know what my weather has been like…UGH, it’s almost impossible to breathe! Luckily it’s getting better. Thank God for cheat days!!! Heck yeah. Dang, I’m so proud of you for increasing your weight lifting so fast. Go protein! I’m so proud of you!
Thanks! I can’t believe what a change in diet can do!
I just heard about Push Start Kitchen on Chopped – sounds so delicious! I can’t wait to eat in Atlanta (oh, and run)! Will you help me create a list of the restaurants I must hit?
He was just on Chopped! We’ll have to get into one of his dinners while you’re here. You’d be blown away!
How fantastic you area already seeing progress! This shows that you are working the program correctly and doing what you need to Laura 🙂
Thank you so much, Tessa. It’s really incredible what you can feed and train your body to do.
I saw the salad my friend, it was gorgeous 😀
And keep up the progress my friend, you are inspiring!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru