Movie Review, 2 Strawberry Dessert Recipes, Kabobs + New Marinade Recipe, New Grill

Thanks for your sweet comments on my new favorite salad combo! As well as my new love of Inidian food. I haven't found any more recipes to make yet - but i'm working on it!! Let me back up a bit - it's been a great weekend!

Saturday my tummy was upset all day. ANNOYING. I had hoped to meet my mom and sister at the outlets (PB here I come!) but it didn’t happen. Instead I stayed home all day – no cooking, no cleaning, no workouts, no nothing. I decided to make the best of it and cleaned out the old Tivo. Also, sweet Austin rented us the cutest movie – The Blindside. We watched it twice. I absolutely loved it. Such a feel-good movie. I get that there was a fair bit of controversy around the film, but I personally decided to take it for what it was – a movie that shows that good things can happen to good people against all odds when people go out of their way to help other people. Warmed my heart! I ended the day at 1,734 calories, 207 carbs, 58 fat grams and 109 protein grams. Here’s what I ate.

Sunday I got up feeling better – and even dressed in gym clothes! I had a brunch pizza square for breakfast and then Austin was ready to go get his grill! (a gift from his parents!) We headed to Home Depot, had great service, and bought the grill Austin had had his eye on/been researching – yay!

The new grill in its new home

We want to replace the bench with a small table/chairs so when he grills he'll have some company! After this pic was taken he cut back the branches a bit


We were so excited to start grilling – I immediately began marinating chicken and shrimp in a marinade I found online, and I put together a smaller version of For the Love of Cooking’s Pasta Salad in homemade Vinaigrette. I also made some yummy strawberry desserts – chocolate covered strawberries and strawberries and cream.

Kabobs - BEFORE

Kabobs and pasta - AFTER

Strawberries & Cream for 2

Chocolate covered strawberries!

While Austin finished up putting the grill back together, I headed to the gym for 4 miles + abs (walked 2 miles; ran 2 miles). Then I showered and finished up putting together this menu:

Chicken and Shrimp Kabobs - 4 servings

16 oz. chicken, cut in large chunks

16 oz. shrimp, defrosted

Marinade:
1 tbsp olive oil
Zest of half a lemon

5 leaves fresh basil, chopped finely
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp ground black pepper

Combine all marinade ingredients in a large Ziploc bag. Repeat recipe above for a second bag. Add Shrimp to one bag and chicken to the other. Add to refrigerator for 2-5 hours. Once grill is hot and its grtes are lightly oiled, thread chicken and shrimp onto separate skewers and discard excess marinade. Place kabobs on the grill, cover, and cook until the chicken is opaque throughout, about 4-5 minutes on each side, and shrimp about 2-3 minutes on each side.

Pasta Salad in Vinaigrette - 5 Servings

6 oz. cooked rotini
Cherry tomatoes
Small cucumber, seeded & diced
¼ cup Yellow Onion
¼ cup Orange Bell Pepper
1 oz. Fat-free Feta Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
Vinaigrette: ¼ cup canola oil, 1.5 tbsp rice vinegar, ½ tbsp red wine vinegar, 2 cloves minced garlic, ½ packet of splenda and salt/pepper

Mix together all ingredients and mix together vinaigrette. One hour before serving add vinaigrette. Put in refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.

Strawberries and Cream from Gina's WW Recipes - 4 Servings

12 large/extra large strawberries, washed
Fat free whipped topping

Cut greens off tops of strawberries so when you flip them around the strawberries sit flat. With a sharp knife cut slits all the way down the berry in an X shape, careful not to cut through. Arrange strawberries on a plate, and open them like a flower. Fill with cream.

Nutritional Information (per serving – 3 strawberries): 29 calories, 7 carbs, 0 fat grams and 0 protein grams.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries adapted from Gina's WW Recipes - 4 servings


2 oz dark semi-sweet chocolate
20 small/medium strawberries
Rinse and completely dry the strawberries. In a medium microwave safe bowl, microwave chocolate on high for 30 seconds. Stir and repeat until all the chocolate is melted. Dip strawberries and place on waxed paper to cool. Refrigerate to give it a hard chocolate coating.

Nutritional Information (per serving 5 strawberries): 93 calories, 14 carbs, 5 fat grams and 0 protein grams.

I had 1/4 of the chicken recipe, 1/3 of the shrimp recipe, 1 serving of pasta, 5 chocolate covered strawberries and 2 strawberries with cream. Here's my plate:


Yes, I was a full girl and yes, we ate slowly! :) Such a nice dinner. We were SO excited to eat outside but... it didn't work out. It started raining! So we headed in and had a game night - Trivial Pursuit and Buzzword, along with some drinkies. Great chill night! Reuben enjoyed it too... although he had to stay wrapped in a towel a lot because he kept getting his paw paws wet outside!


I ended up at 1,997 calories, 173 carbs, 65 fat grams and 88 protein grams. Here’s what I ate.

So ended my awesome Saturday and Sunday! Today has been great too! I think we really needed a chill/homebody weekend to get back on track.

What's your favorite thing to grill? Any favorite recipes or marinades? I think i'm about to grill a lot!

Have you ever made chocolate covered strawberries? I couldn't get over how incredibly easy they were to make! These might become a summer staple around here!