{drink and be merry: lime spritzer}

Hello Wednesday!

It’s the middle of the week which means that the weekend is just around the corner! Woo! This weekend is going to be crazy! I’m doing something big---shh it’s a secret though. Here’s a hint---it has to do with my list J Last weekend we played in a cornhole tourney and lost...BLL. Oh well, we had a blast anyway. We made new friends, ate lots of yummy food, and Jesse and I took our first trip on the MARTA! Look out for a future post on all the funsies we had last weekend.

Today starts a new feature, {drink and be merry}, where occassionally I’ll be posting some of my favorite beverage recipes. It’s summer which means you must stay hydrated especially if you spend a ton of time under the sun. Today’s beverage---the lime sprizter, is a perfect way to do just that. It’s non-alcoholic, but can easily turn alcoholic with a shot of your preference. We’ll save that for the weekend---or at least 5:00 (hehe). I love this drink because it is low cal and incredibly refreshing. It also fits in perfectly with my healthy eating plan. Since cutting out soda, I find myself craving some fizz to go with my meals every now and then. Sometimes I cheat and steal some sips of Jesse’s soda when he’s not looking. I remembered awhile ago that my dad never drank soda when we went out to eat but would instead order a club soda with a twist of lime. It seemed to satisfy that fizz craving for him, so I gave it a try and really liked it. I’ve never liked flavored waters because they always add sugar (and I hate sweet water---not the beer..ha). I don’t even add anything to my green tea. This lime sprizter was just what the doctor ordered. Plus, I can have several without worrying about the effects on my waistline.

lime spritzer:

Ingredients:

club soda

1 lime

How To:

 

Step 1: Fill a glass with club soda.

Step 2: Slice the lime in half.

Step 3: Squeeze both halves of lime into the club soda.

Step 4: Stir, add a few ice cubes, and enjoy!

Whatttt? That’s all? No more steps? Yep. It is just that easy. So kick back, pour yourself a spritzer this evening, and watch the sun go down. It’s gorgeous outside!  

{fancy appetizers: strawberry pancake delights}

As I mentioned in my hello breakfast sandwich post, breakfast and brunch are my favorite meals to put together. I guess it’s the challenge of making traditionally simple meals fun and creative. This brings me to today’s appetizer; strawberry pancake delights.

 I enjoy pancakes but can usually only eat one and a half as they fill me up very quickly. I love to top them with some yummy maple syrup, fruits (usually strawberries), and finish them off with a squirt (a really long squirt) of whipped cream. Yea...I guess you can see why I can only eat so much. I ran across these on Pinterest a little while back and decided to make them for my Memorial Day brunch guests---(along with some other decadent foods and of course mimosas!). They were incredibly easy to put together and the perfect bite to satisfy that pancake craving. Plus, you still have enough room for other breakfast goodies.

 To make them all you need to do is:

1)Cut strawberries into thin slices.

2)Mix up some pancake batter.

3)Make your pancakes using about a tablespoon of batter for each pancake. I also find that a griddle makes this process super easy.

4)Take a toothpick and skewer your pancakes and strawberries (strawberry slice, pancake, strawberry slice, pancake).

5)Arrange nicely on your plate. Although next time I’m going to stick them in little martini glasses with maple syrup in the bottom and a dollop of whipped cream on top (I’ll make sure to post an update).

Easy peasy and super delish!

{the funnies}

{image source}

Happy Friday Friends!

Just a little funny to help you start the weekend off right. What are your plans for the weekend? We will be competing in an exciting cornhole tournament with a few friends of ours--wish us luck! Our team name, ready for this?...MAIZE IN YO FACE! Good huh?

 Father’s Day is Sunday so I’m sure many of you will be dedicating some time to the special man (or men) in your life. I know I will J

 Cheers to the weekend!

Love,

 The Mrs.

{recipe: hello breakfast sandwich}

Ehllo Friends!

{british for hello riiight?}

Growing up I always missed breakfast because I could never get up early enough to enjoy it (plus I’ve never really been a morning person). I also felt like breakfast had no variety and was limited to cereal and toast. Boy was I missing out. Once I started expanding my horizons (and actually catching a glimpse of the morning sun) I learned that there is so much more to this most important meal. In fact, my favorite thing to do now, is wake up super early and make a fancy breakfast/brunch (depending on the night we had...haha) whenever we have overnight guests. I feel it’s a nice way of saying, “we like you so much we want your belly to feel it.” So---if you don’t get breakfast at the Ellis house---well errr, this is awkward.........

I’ve been experimenting with breakfast sandwiches (my fav!) and recently came up with the one I’m sharing today. It includes my favorite cheese of all time and is pretty healthy all around. Who said healthy was limited to green monster smoothies? I love the concept of a breakfast sandwich because it fills you up and is a great meal option for those on the run (especially if you can do some fancy napkin origami to keep the fillings in).

 hello breakfast sandwich:

Servings: 1

Source: Jkrabbits INC Kitchen

 Ingredients:

 2 slices of delicious wheat bread

2 eggs (1 whole egg, 1 egg white)

1 strip of bacon cut into small pieces

1 slice of smoked gouda cheese

fresh baby spinach leaves

salt and pepper to taste

a little butter (for spreading)

How To:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 200 degrees. 

Step 2: Whisk the eggs together and add a little salt and pepper. 

Step 3: Place the bread slices on a baking sheet with one slice of smoked gouda on top and toast in the oven for about 7-10 minutes. 

Step 4: Cook the bacon pieces in a small pan to your desired crispiness, and then drain out the grease. Add the eggs. 

Step 5: Allow the eggs to cook with the bacon in an even layer in your pan and flip when it starts to bubble a bit and the layer stays intact when shifted around. 

Step 6: Remove bread from oven and butter the slice without cheese. 

Step 7: Slowly remove your bacon scrambled eggs from the pan and fold on top of the bread slice with the gouda cheese. Add a little salt and pepper to taste. 

Step 8: Add fresh spinach leaves then cover with the buttered bread slice.

 

Step 9: Pour some OJ on the side or hot tea and devour!

I hope you all enjoy this sandwich just as much as I have. I’ll have to post up some other sandwich creations soon.

 

What does your favorite breakfast sandwich include?

J

The Mrs.

 

{26 before 26: #1, #20, & #26 check!}

{yay! progress!}

Whaattt? Did I just cross off three more goals from my list? Yes. Yes I think I just did. Woo!

#1: Run a 5k.

I (with the awesome support of my hubs) completed my first 5k, The 2012 Warrior Dash in Huntersville, NC. It was a tough and dirty race, but I had fun the whole way through. Read more about our experience here.

{before}

{after}

#20: Pick-up a new active hobby.

This has been a tough one to tackle as I wanted a unique hobby that is fun to maintain. After my hubs laughed at my ideas for Speed Cupcake Baking & Drunk Running---long story---and told me that they are not really hobbies (or ones that I should consider healthy), I had to look at other options. I then realized that over the past couple of months I have actually picked up a healthy active hobby and didn’t even know it. It all started when my friend Isaiah asked me if I wanted to join him in some friendly exercise competition. Enter Nexercise. It’s an iPhone App in which you compete with friends for exercise points. They have an array of activities you can do for points and tons of ways to earn medals and bonus points. This app truly speaks to the competitor inside of me and since starting it has been hard to stop. I love earning new medals and bonuses for different activities, but mostly beating Isaiah. It fits right along with my healthy living plan and encourages me to stay active and look for new ways to get in my exercise points. Woo Nexercise! I’ll have to dedicate a future post just for this app.

#26: Go to a baseball game.

For Memorial Day some friends and family came down for a weekend full of fun adventures. One of those adventures included a trip to Turner Field for Jesse’s and my first Braves game. It was so much fun (even though the Braves lost); we even won a free homerun burrito! Keep your eyes peeled for a future Memorial Day weekend recap post.

Well that’s all folks! How’s your list coming along??

{we are warriors}

Oh yea baby! We are warriors!

A few weekends ago Jesse and I headed to Huntersville, NC for the 2012 Warrior Dash (my first 5k-—check!). We wanted to compete last year but couldn’t because a)we were out of shape and b)it fell on the day of my bridal shower, which I couldn’t miss as I was kind of the guest of honor...haha. This year we were very prepared and rocked it out! I was a bit nervous before but psyched myself into thinking it would be a breeze. I definitely think that mindset greatly helped because I made it through every obstacle without any help! Jesse of course whizzed right through it (darn army training) and was an awesome coach all throughout. My friend Giselle and her co-worker competed as well and we stuck together through the whole course. We were an awesome team, pushing and encouraging each other every step of the way. We were not without a cheering section either. Our parents came out for support along with my friend Isaiah (whom I had to bribe with turkey legs...haha) and his lovely wife Katie and their friend. It was so awesome to have everyone’s support; it really helped us make it through!

 We are so proud to check The Warrior Dash off our list and can’t wait to do it again next year!

Before the race we were clean, pumped, and had our most extreme warrior faces on. We were going to demolish this race!

While we were out getting drenched in the mud, Isaiah was doing his best to support us by enjoying a delicious turkey leg and an ice cold beer. Too bad he won’t have the same luxury next year when he will be competing...haha.

To finish the race we had to crawl over this horizontal rope ladder, jump over fire, and crawl under barbed wire through wet red clay mud (which was not as fun as it sounds, just ask my knees). I was watching Jesse and saw him crawl on his belly military style and thought, “oh yea, that’s how you’re supposed to do it,” so I plopped down on my stomach only to get stuck (even though I could move my arms and legs---it was as funny as it sounds). In the process I also managed to get red clay mud right in my eye (yowwwwza) so all I could see was orange. I managed to pull myself up again and stumble as fast as I could to the finish line and  water table to have Jesse flush out my eyeball. Not quite the “warrior” finish I was hoping for, but it’ll do. Next year, I will wear goggles.

Jesse and I attacking my mother with a muddy hug.

Woo! We did it!

 Now to prepare for the next race.

So long for now!

{Images courtesy of Katie Ellis, Carlos Henry, & Isaiah Wright}

{date nights with the hubs}

The Ellis house has been a little hectic these last few months and the days just flit away. With so many projects on our plates it’s easy to forget to take a little time out for one another. We both decided that we needed serious face-time and set aside time for a few simple dates.

We had an Avengers movie (best movie I’ve seen in awhile) and Yoforia night. Have you ever been to a Yoforia? It’s a self-serve wonderland. I recommend you check it out, but be careful on the self-serve---it’s .49 cents an ounce and there are too many flavors and toppings to choose from!

After a really crazy day we headed over to happy hour at Flemings to take advantage of their 5 for $6 by 7. We ordered the baked brie (a personal fav.) and beef carpaccio which was surprisingly very filling. It was the perfect conclusion to a hectic day.

What do you to keep up the magic with your dearest?