I made it back to Florida yesterday but this time with Finn in tow for an Easter/Spring Break trip. He hasn’t seen everyone since November and four months is a very long time when it comes to kids who seem to grow and change every day.
My dad and Beau came to pick us up at the airport. Look at that smile on Finn’s face – just a little excited to be here! Mama, on the other hand, was a little worse for the wear. I have dealt with car sickness my whole life but I never, ever get sick on airplanes. Well, some perfect storm of looking right to chat with the person next to me, the plane dipping around on descent, lack of sleep and antibiotics had me all the sudden feeling sweaty, shaky and nauseated. It took me hours after the flight before I felt right again. So weird!
Also PSA: if you are flying out of Charlotte for any spring break travel – get there WAY earlier than you think you need to. They have reconfigured AA check-in and bag drop (AGAIN) and the place is a madhouse. An all-time record number of travelers flew through CLT on Thursday – and you could tell!
These two were very happy to be reunited.
I had to lie down and close my eyes to get myself feeling okay again but then we hit the beach!!! After a pretty gray and dreary winter down here, the Easter weekend forecast looks amazing. Finn splashed around in the Gulf for a bit and then we hit the heated pool.
My dad made waffles, bacon and sausage for dinner. Last week Finn asked for waffles for dinner and I told him, “do you know who makes the best waffles, P-Paw.” So he called my dad and asked him to make waffles when he visited.
And now here are more recent dinners for you out of my own kitchen!
RECENT DINNERS
Turkey meatloaf with roasted broccoli and a baked potato topped with cottage cheese and butter. If you haven’t tried cottage cheese on a baked potato yet – you’ve gotta! RE: the turkey meatloaf, I used this recipe and it was pretty good but I think I’ll stick with my veggie packed version when I’m craving turkey meatloaf in the future.
One of my favorite dinners of all time – a simple roast chicken with potatoes and veggies. I very loosely follow Ina Garten’s recipe (more for the technique and less for the actual ingredients). I was chatting with one of my personal training clients and she shared that she had never roasted a whole chicken before and felt a little intimidated. I need to do a roast chicken tutorial on my blog and share my tips and tricks – like how I truss up my bird without using twine, seasonings, oil v. butter, etc.
All plated up. The leg/thigh combo is my favorite piece. I did potatoes, carrots, onions and mushrooms under the chicken. They are to die for after they cook in the rendered fat from the chicken. I roasted the brussels separately on the side.
Mixed greens, avocado, croutons, carrots, tomatoes, feta and sautéed shrimp with sesame dressing from Trader Joe’s. Pretty simple salad but the flavor combo is a delicious one!
This was a bowl with chopped chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted Brussels, Cedar’s Feta dip and hummus. The chicken was from pre-marinated breasts that I cooked up from Reid’s.
Y’all are going to want to recreate this one!!! This dinner was ready in under 15 minutes and really tasty. Here’s what went into it:
- Kevin’s Teriyaki Beef
- Bagged fresh stir fry vegetable blend from the produce section at Publix
- Vermicelli Angel Hair Rice Noodles
I added the veggies to the sauté pan first and cooked them in some oil until they were softened. At that point I added the Kevin’s teriyaki beef and accompanying sauce. While all that was cooking, I prepped the rice noodles according to package directions. They only take 3-4 minutes to cook. I drained the noodles and added them to the sauté pan with the veggies and beef. Finished off with coconut aminos and sriracha.
This was a clean out the fridge dinner on the night before we left for Florida. Basmati rice with sautéed spinach and arugula, an air fried veggie burger, a fried egg, hummus, feta dip and kalamata olives.
ETC
A slice of carrot cake from Edible Art in Charlotte with a glass of milk while watching Nyad on Netflix. The carrot cake was okay but they use vanilla icing instead of cream cheese which just isn’t the same in my book. Nyad was intense. I could only watch half of it this night before turning it off.
Made another loaf of my peanut butter chocolate chip banana bread and this recipe is just sooooooo good. If you haven’t tried it yet and you love peanut butter, you must! I had one big slice warm for dessert the night I made it and individually wrapped and froze the rest so I can pull out a slice when I want one. (My favorite thing to do with muffins and quick breads.)
That’s a wrap! Happy Easter if I don’t make it back over here before then!
QUESTIONS
Do you get motion sick? What helps most once it has hit?
What’s your favorite breakfast for dinner?
Do you have any Easter and/or spring break plans?
