You know what? I think moving back into a regular schedule after a holiday weekend is harder for me than after a week-long vacation! With vacation, you miss the comforts of home and feel ready to return to “normal”. With a weekend full of fun with friends, unplugging, good food, and relaxation – I just didn’t want it to end! Catching up on my fun?

• July’s Goals & FFF Features 
• An Interesting Run
• Lake Fun to Celebrate the Holiday
• How To Top Off the Holiday Weekend
• Self-Love Reflection: Forgiving Others

Luckily some of the holiday fun will carry over. I like to call it the holiday bonus effect.

For example, this morning I woke up more refreshed than I have in a long time. I think unplugging the last couple of days and then napping yesterday were just what I needed. Plus, the knowledge I only have four more days until another weekend makes the whole busy routine thing a little easier to swallow.

Just like all the holiday summer cookout deals I scored on fresh fruit at the grocery stores this weekend. Berries and watermelon will appear in many meals this week no doubt. 

Delicious fresh fruit to satisfy my taste buds all the week long? Holiday bonus, indeed!

Yet another bonus? Recipe inspiration. Twice baked potato casserole over the weekend? Why not turn that idea into a twice baked potato with a protein punch for dinner? Oh. So. Good!

Twice Baked Protein Potato

• 3 baking potatoes
• 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Wrap potatoes in foil and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

While potatoes bake, drain and rinse the white beans. Mash beans with a fork until relatively smooth. Add to a bowl with 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese and the chopped green onions. After potatoes finish baking, slice the potatoes in half and scoop out the insides into the mixing bowl leaving about 1/4” on each side to remain sturdy. Add milk and mix the ingredients together.

Spoon mixture back into potato skins. Top with a sprinkle of cheese and more chopped green onion. Return to oven for 15 minutes.

Serve up with some delicious veggies. My choice? Sauteed mushrooms and roasted green beans. Two of my favorites!

And one last holiday bonus? Great food like this just gives great fuel for a great workout. Which I will share with you later, don’t you fret.

• Best part of your weekend? Clue me in!
• Best thing you ate this weekend?

I anticipate a fair share of you have heard of Jenn’s “What I Ate Wednesday” phenomenon where bloggers share…well, what they ate in a post that publishes on a Wednesday.

The posts always intrigue me because, you know, I love food. I don’t often share my food, but I have a recipe too good to keep to myself and figure a “What I Ate Tuesday, but you can eat today aka Wednesday” post fits perfectly. Say “aloha” to my food. <—It makes sense later, I promise.

My morning started per any regular Tuesday morning with a mad rush getting the kids all situated and fed before heading out the door to the gym. I do the quick and easy route of munching an apple for some pre-workout fuel. I have to get something in my belly, but since I end up eating so close to my workout that means something light and simple to digest. Hooray for fruit!

Do you want to hear about yesterday’s workout? I think you do. Trust me. A little piece of me died and went to heaven in pure “I owned that workout” bliss.

First up, intervals on the elliptical using a workout from Fitness Magazine. Like this:

*For minutes 8-29, repeat the moderate to fast to easy combo. Each round increase your time spent at the fast pace by a minute: 3 minutes the second time through, then 4 minutes, then end with 5 minutes as the last round.
**For minutes 31-43, continue alternating one minute each at the moderate pace and challenging sprint for a total of 6 more intervals.

I followed that sweaty session up with a full body workout. I love completing circuits and super sets to help me get through my workout faster. I switched it up today and worked my entire body going through 3 mini circuits in 30 minutes.

Any guesses how I refueled? You will likely only need one.

You’re so smart! I simply adore my strawberry, raisins, and peanut butter oats combo these days. It helps that I have a plethora of Skippy Natural Honey PB at my disposal.

Thank you Amazon for giving me this much peanut butter for about $1.60 per jar! I promise to share the deal with you when it comes around again. I know at least two gals who will want in on that action.

Ay! We’re only at breakfast? Someone *cough cough* is feeling rather chatty this morning. Let’s progress to lunch shall we?

I thought of creating a fun, inventive, more exciting lunch to share with you – but I don’t pressure myself to eat things just for the sake of the blog. My belly wanted my sandwich, fruit, and veggie combo so that’s what my belly got.

Ham sandwich with avocado, spinach, tomato, mustard, and laughing cow swiss cheese (because I’m obsessed with its creamy, flavorful spreadability). Plus grapes that were like candy. Plus carrots all by their sad lonesome with no hummus dippage. Hummus = one of the items axed at the end of the month, lower on the budget grocery trip. Money scores again in our never ceasing battle. 😉

We shall now whizz right on by my snack because I have a recipe to get to!

I wasn’t in the mood for anything particular or a one-bowl-wonder yogurt concoction…so a happy face mix of sliced sharp cheddar, a ginger snap larabar, and a banana. Making happy faces with my food? Can you tell I’m a mother?

And now we say ALOHA! Thank you for sticking with me. I promise this recipe will be the Hawaiian vacation your taste buds hope for after the previous 689 words. Yes, I used the handy word count tool counted.

Hawaiian Tofu

• 1 block extra firm tofu
• 1 jar pineapple tidbits in juice
• soy sauce
• grated ginger
• minced garlic

Press the water out of your tofu per normal preparation. Cut the tofu into even 1 to 2 inch slices/cubes. Place in a large ziploc bag. Strain the juice from the pineapple can into a bowl. Add soy sauce, grated ginger, and minced garlic to taste. I used about 2 or 3 tablespoons soy sauce, a bit over a teaspoon of ginger, and a tablespoon of minced garlic. Pour the marinade into the ziploc bag with the tofu.

Let marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 2 hours. Remove tofu and place on a baking sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through.

We used our Hawaiian tofu atop romaine, pineapple tidbits, onion, cucumber, and feta cheese with a sesame ginger dressings. Sweet and tangy. An interesting twist on the traditional ‘fu. Deee-licious! And with those 862 words – I’m out!

• Do you enjoy tofu? What’s your favorite way? I love my BBQ tofu wraps!
• Do you ever use workout ideas from magazines?