Weekend Recap-Mother’s Day

Weekend recap post on a Friday- SAY WHAT? I had this post all ready, but could not upload the pics until now, so alas, my weekend recap post at the start of the next weekend. 🙂

Hi all! So, lots of my blogger colleagues post weekend recaps about the highlights of their weekend, so I thought I would jump in on that bandwagon!

My weekend officially started on Friday at 11 a.m. after I finished my last final. I literally finished it in 23 minutes #seniorstatus – also it was really easy and only 40 questions. After my final I headed to the gym to get a quick workout in before packing up some of my things to bring home for the summer. I did a cardio interval, and then some core work. I have been working on increasing my core strength by doing all of my exercises with weights.

After I finished my workout I packed some things up, which took me quite a while. I ended up not leaving my apartment until about 5:45! I was moving everything myself from my room down to my car which included 4 flights of stairs. It was super humid out so I was a sweaty, sticky mess by the time I was finished. I then hopped into my car and began the trek home through lots of rain and Chicago traffic. I was doing my best to stay relaxed even though I was starving! I had not had dinner or eaten much on Friday at all. By the time I got home it was nearly 9 o’clock so I didn’t really want to eat a large meal before going to bed. I ate a bit of skinny pop and called it a night because I was so exhausted.

Saturday morning I woke up and made myself a delicious breakfast. I had a small mango, some strawberries, and a kiwi along with an egg white omelet. I love how colorful this plate looks. I rarely just pick to eat one fruit with breakfast- more colors= more nutrients.

After breakfast I did a bit of cleaning and housework and some blogging. I was trying to decide what type of workout to do since I don’t have a gym membership at home (but will in 7 days- holla) and still can’t run on the treadmill. I decided to do a Jillian Michaels workout video from youtube. Jillian Michaels has some fabulous workout videos that really get you sweating! I realized that even though I do a lot of exercising, I need to switch some things up. The video was called-Jillian Michaels: Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism Complete Workout. Boy did it live up to the title! I was drenched in sweat when I was done. It is such a great workout and has some awesome circuits in it. Don’t let the simple warm up fool you like it did me- you will be panting by the end. The difficulty level of exercise videos often depend on how hard you push yourself, so if you do every exercise will full intensity, you will definitely be sore the next day!

Here is what the workout looks like- I found it on youtube!

After my workout, I made myself my first ever protein mug cake! It was so darn delicious. It only requires 4 ingredients and is done in a flash! I topped it with some pb2, pearl sprinkles, and had a honey crisp apple with it. To make it simply combine 1 scoop protein powder (I used pb cookie flavor), 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1 egg white, & one packet stevia. Mix everything up in a bowl and microwave it for 1-2 minutes (depending on microwave & desired consistency). Top with whatever your heart desires!

After my lunch, worked on some blogging and then went shopping at Walmart with my mom and sister to pick up a few things. I got some things from the craft section to decorate my graduation cap and a ginormous watermelon. I had fun watching my sister ride around in one of the motorized scooters because she sprained her ankle. The scooters move very slowly, which is not ideal when you are trying to avoid people that you semi-know 🙂

Here is my sister in action- this photo is pretty blurry so you can hardly tell there is a huge band aid on her head ;).

When we got back, I made dinner for my sister and I. I marinated chicken and some veggies in a white wine, garlic, & olive oil and cooked that on the grill. It was my first time firing up the grill this season since this was my first time being home with nice weather! I also made some sweet n’ spicy baked sweet potato wedges in the oven. I can post the recipe for those if anyone is interested.

I love cooking marinated chicken and veggies on the grill! This meal was delicious and filling!

A couple hours later my younger sister got home from college after finishing finals with a car load of stuff. I helped her unload and basically did all of the heavy lifting (best sister award goes to me).

On Sunday, I woke up early to make Mother’s Day Brunch for my family. I made some of my mom’s favorites & some new dishes I wanted to cook. I made blueberry baked oatmeal, an egg white veggie bake, pancakes, and roasted potatoes. I also chopped up some watermelon and strawberries to serve with the meal. The verdict: everyone loved it!- well, almost- my brother refuses to eat/try anything healthy so he didn’t enjoy the food.

Here is some photos of our brunch! I really need to focus on photography of my photos- which I plan to do more of this summer!

Our day for Mother’s Day wasn’t too exciting overall. I helped to make dinner that night which was delicious. We had mexican style chicken, tex-mex quinoa salad (which I will be posting the recipe for- OMG SO YUM!), rice, beans & other taco fixin’s. We ended the night at my uncle’s house for a couple hours to celebrate Mother’s Day with my grandma.

This was seriously THE BEST quinoa salad I have ever made. I was really proud of it because I completed crafted the recipe on my own! I am getting more in tune with what flavors and ingredients work best together and I am very excited about that!

Overall- it was a pretty decent weekend filled with fun workouts, delicious & healthy eats, and family (which of course included lots of laughs and inappropriate jokes).

What did you do for mother’s day? Do you prefer to have relaxing weekends or do you like to stay busy? What is your favorite brunch food?? Let me know in the comments!