Veggies and Beanz: Grill Master

When I was young, I associated the smell of the grill with summer cookouts and family. Usually, we started up the grill when my older brother and sister were home or family from out of town was visiting. It was one of those comforting summer moments that I probably didn’t appreciate enough at the time…

As an adult, the smell of a grill being fired up still brings happy thoughts (even though now it is the smell of roasted zucchini I enjoy rather than a NY strip). So tonight, I was very excited to get some veggies on the grill and savor the last days of summer with a good old-fashioned cookout.

Before the grilling began, the day was spent doing some serious shopping. First I hit up a J Crew Warehouse sale. The clothes were great but unfortunately the dressing room situation was not. I spent the better part of an hour crouched in a corner trying on pants while Pat “stood watch.” My philosophy? Good sale prices are worth sacrificing a little bit of modesty ; ) I did find two pairs of work pants and a very nice fitting pair of size 4 jeans. That’s right… goodbye extra three pounds!

After the J Crew sale, I had worked up a pretty decent sized hunger so we stopped by Whole Foods to hit up the hot bar for lunch:

Salad with kale, cauliflower, peppers, broccoli and tomatoes with curried tofu and wheatberries.

We shared the new Larabar flavors for dessert. Cookie dough = yum!

Once I was refueled I was ready to hit the sales racks again. Unfortunately, my morning shopping buddy was very done (Patrick was not a fan of the crazed wholesale shoppers). Luckily, Debbie came to the rescue and whisked me away for a Cabi clothing excursion (all readers interested in fashion as well as good food should be sure to check out the link). I will post pictures of the clothes I picked when they arrive in the mail but let’s just say I will be cooking in style this fall!

When we got back, I was so fired up from all my new purchases that I tried an Insanity workout with Pat and his brother. It kicked my butt. Post-workout we enjoyed some pool and then fired up the grill. Perfect summer day/night: