Putting Down the To-Do List

As I've said many times before, I love summer weeknights. With warmer days and longer evenings, we're more apt to break up the work week by doing fun things with friends and family. Last night our friends Chris & Karla came over with their two kids for a little play date and BBQ, and tonight I got an impromptu invite from my in-laws to go on a sunset boat ride on Barnegat Bay.

I had a late night of work last night after Chris & Karla went home, so I was determined to finish work by 6:30 this evening so I could relax with the fam. That plan almost went down the tubes as I got caught up in a project, and Matt called me saying he would be home late, and Riker was with his grandparents - a quiet house just makes it too easy to keep working beyond when I really need to. But when Matt's mom called me to meet them at the marina for an evening boat excursion, I took it as a sign. Sometimes you just need to force yourself to walk away from the to-do list and go enjoy life for a while.

What a beautiful night. I love the serenity of the bay in the evening, when everything gets quiet as the sun goes down.

And lucky me, Riker and I came home to dinner on the table in the form of fried green tomato & mozzarella napoleons and a side of almond crusted grouper. Yum.

I love fried green tomatoes and have been itching for them all summer. Matt is a master at making them, and this time he made them with almond flour instead of regular flour or breadcrumbs.

Love that gooey fresh mozz. The napoleons tasted way better than they looked; they came out a little messy once the cheese started to melt, but I can promise they were ama-z-ing. They were tangy, sweet, salty and crunchy.

I'm feeling wiped so an early bedtime is in my future. I'm going into the city for work tomorrow for the first Friday in a really long time, but I'm excited because 1) Summer Fridays mean I get done at 2:00 tomorrow and 2) Matt and Riker are coming in to meet me so we can all spend the afternoon in the city. We're going to give Riker his first experience in Times Square and I'm sure he's going to love it. Night friends!

Shell-Less Tacos

Who says you can't eat tacos when you're trying to eat low carb (at least during the week)?

Last weekend Matt's sister Missy told us how she had been making shell-less tacos, using Romaine lettuce leaves instead of taco shells or tortillas, and I immediately added the idea to my dinners list for this week. I love lettuce cups but have only ever used them for Asian style wraps, and really, why have I never thought of this before?

For background, last night just screamed for Mexican food. I had a busy day at work, Riker was acting like a crazy person who hadn't napped in 3 days (not sure why since he actually did have a good nap at daycare yesterday), Butters was barking at every living and non-living thing and making my ears bleed, and Matt was a bit of a grump since his mountain biking buddy canceled on him for biking today. We were one loud, grumpy family in need of something good for dinner.

Tacos. And a cold beer. Eaten at the bar in front of the TV.

Riker needed to immediately eat and go to sleep, so I fed him spaghetti and put his butt to bed while giving directions to Matt on prep work to be done for the tacos. I have to say, he did a pretty amazing job pulling them together.

In the "tacos":

- Tequila lime shrimp (barely marinated, sauteed in a bit of oil with a splash of the good stuff)
- Cilantro lime slaw (made with a head of "cone cabbage" my mom left here last week, and with the addition of garden jalapenos)
- Chopped tomatoes from the garden
- Avocado (smashed lightly with lime, salt and pepper)
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Hot sauce

I have to say, the lettuce shells were awesome. They were crunchy and held everything together just fine, and after eating them I did not feel stuffed and bloated the way I normally do after taco night.

The beer was not my idea. Buttt it was just what Matt needed, and when he said he was opening a bottle of the precious Pliny we got in California, I had to have a sip to wash down my tacos. I had just a smidge - it was a Monday after all - but it was just the right amount and the citrusy IPA went perfectly with the tacos. Plus, not eating carby shells left plenty of of room for the more important glass of carby beer, right?

Big bite!

These will definitely be on the dinner menu again.

On The Water

This weekend reminded me just how much I love living here. I feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful area so close to the ocean. After a long week of work I wanted nothing more than to relax with my family and enjoy the beach. Thankfully we didn't have any specific plans or obligations, so we could wake up and do whatever we felt like doing each day.

Yesterday we lazed around in the morning, got some stuff done around the house while Riker took a lovely 3 hour nap, and then had spinach & coconut tofu salads for lunch before heading out for the day.

Matt needed to do a little back to school shopping (I know, sooo soon) so the mall was our first stop followed by a visit to Chris and Vanessa's to say hello to their new addition. They just had a baby last week and little newborn Brayden is adorable. His parents were glowing as well, and it was awesome to see them so happy with their little guy.

We left there late afternoon and drove over the bridge to Island Beach State Park for the evening. All summer Matt and I have wanted to do an evening BBQ up on the beach, so getting there late in the day worked perfectly. We set up some fishing poles, took a dip in the water, and then Matt fished and played with Riker while I got to work on the grill.

I made a simple picnic of grilled zucchini, quinoa salad, grilled keilbasa for the boys (soy dogs for me) and sliced mango, which we ate while watching an amazing sunset.

We had hoped to build a fire and stay out a bit later making s'mores, but the beach tired Riker out and by the time I got him dry and into PJ's he was crying for his crib. Instead of building a fire with the other beach-goers, we packed it up and went home so Riker could go to bed, then built a fire in our own backyard. It was just as well, since being home meant we could crack open a bottle of red from our trip to Napa and put on some music. Perfect ending to a perfect day.

Today we had more plans to be on the water. We got a call from Matt's parents last night asking if we wanted to go out on their boat today, and you don't need to ask me twice to go on a boat. I haven't been boating all summer so was really excited to go.

We hit the road as soon as Riker woke up this morning, so were on the bay by 9:00 am. It was an absolutely gorgeous day to be out - 85 degrees and sunny, with no humidity and crystal clear water.

We did some fishing in the inlet, then spent some time splashing around on a sandbar where Riker could swim, and spent the rest of the time at the end of Island Beach across from the lighthouse, where a bunch of boats tie up and hang out by a secluded beach.

I even caught a fish! Not a keeper, but it was still fun. As if all that wasn't enough for a great weekend, our friends Heather and Kevin invited us and a couple other friends over for some poolside action this afternoon. Jen and Dan came over as well, and brought with them a bunch of seafood and appetizers.

Dan made shrimp two ways since we couldn't come to consensus on what kind of we wanted: grilled Old Bay shrimp with cocktail sauce...

...and shrimp poached in the grill pan with the broth leftover from cooking the clams - it had lemon, butter, parsley, garlic and clam juice. Both were really delicious, but I liked the grilled Old Bay ones best. Mmm.

Everyone at the little party was talking about ice cream and this new place, Sweet Kate's, down the street that I've never tried, and it doesn't take much to get me to agree to an ice cream cone on a weekend night in the summer. It just seems like the most appropriate way to top off a great summer weekend. Especially when it's a scoop shop with flavors like Carrot Cake, Toasted Coconut and Sea Salt Soiree - which is what I ordered. Oooohmygod. It was filled with salted caramel, chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate covered potato chips.

The perfect amount of sweet & salty goodness. Yum.

We're back home now with beach bags unpacked, a toddler bathed and in bed, and in sweats on the couch waiting for the premier of Breaking Bad. I've only been waiting an entire year to see this series finale. Cannot wait! Hope you enjoyed your weekend!