Like a good Sunday meal
Sunday night dinners are undoubtedly a favorite weekly ritual. The weather has been positively dreamy, so we’ve been eating out on the patio, and the Pilot does most of the cooking since he’s the grill master.
(the dogs sit by the grill like a couple of chicken creepers.)
Last night was even better for a couple of reasons:
Nicole was here, and
we were serenaded by the awesome live reggae music from our neighbors. We were tempted to go over there and designate ourselves as their backup dancers, or ask to hire them for our next dinner party. There’s something magical about Bob Marley covers, cooling ocean breeze and a homemade meal.
We’re big into chicken thighs lately. The higher fat content means they retain moisture longer, and I also like to ask the Pilot to grill extra chicken as part of meal prep. It’s easy to take one out of the fridge and enjoy in a wrap or salad. I also made a kale salad to enjoy with the chicken, massaged with lemon juice, olive oil, 1/2 avocado, garlic, salt, pepper, and shredded goat gouda on top.
We enjoyed our meal with baked potatoes (they were still cooking when I snapped a couple of dinner photos) and this lovely lemon cake from Trader Joe’s.
This morning, I was up bright and early to drive to LA for a meeting. My eye has been twitching for about 3 weeks, and has calmed down since I reduced my caffeine intake and started going to bed earlier. Needless to say, the LA traffic brought the twitch back with a vengeance 😉 I made sure to give myself enough time to get into town early, and was able to chill at Nekter Juice Bar with an acai bowl before getting ready.
A special treat? Takeout lunch from Urth, which is one of my LA faves. Their menu is INSANE with lots of healthy options. Plus, they do almond milk lattes with the fancy stencil art.
Now I’m back in San Diego excited to hang out with Livi after her nap <3
Hope you all had a great day!
xoxo
Gina
Something to do: This HIIT the Hill workout! I’m going to try it on the spin bike tonight 🙂
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What a good meal, and I love the idea of using the leftovers for meal prep for the following week. I just started following your blog, and I love it!
I love that Lemon Cake! Had it for the first time last night too. You have the cutest dogs EVER!!!!!!!!!!
kale salad lookin’ scrumptious!
kale salad lookin’ scrumptious!
Gina, these SD posts absolutely make my days! The husband and I just booked our SD hotel (right on the beach!!! :)), so our California trip is completely booked. Now we just have to figure out all that awesome in between stuff. Is it bad that everything I’ve written down so far involves food and/or wine? I didn’t think so.
Love the picture of the pups!
Drooling over that chicken! What kind of BBQ sauce do you use for it? I”m always in search for ones with low sugar–but most that I’ve found always have a high sugar content. Even worstechire sauce has sugar in it. I’ve tried to make my own–but it comes out so-so.
That acai bowl looks so amazing!
We just grilled out for the first time on our new deck (since we just moved) tonight and it was WONDERFUL! Look forward to many more nights of it!
Bella is so fluffy!! Mmm that acai bowl looks amazing!
I agree! Sunday night dinners are a ritual for my husband and I as well, and we make tacos in our tiny city apartment. Our place smells like spicy chicken for a couple days after. In fact, I can still smell it. Love it! Last night we even made our own guac. Ole! 🙂
Grilled chicken, watermelon, kale salad and acai bowl…yum!
Your kale salad looks so good! What’s your process for massaging the kale to make it look so tender?
i massage it like crazy and squeeze the heck out of it 🙂
A few weeks ago I was having the eye twitching issue myself. I think it was partially from nerves but I also felt like something was stuck in my eyes and irritating them…almost like a sandy texture. I went to the doctor and he did find a lash in there that I couldn’t see and then told me my eyes were really dry for some reason and not producing enough tears. He gave me these awesome gel eye drops, worked like a charm! Maybe that could work for you. It was one of the most annoying things ever, so I feel your pain!! Hope that helps!
i wonder if the drops would work with contacts? it’s driving me crazy!
ahhh!! urth is right by me!! blogger citing?!! i am bound to have one of those one day hehe
We’ve been big into chicken thighs over here lately too even though we’ve never cared for them before. I’ve never cared for how fatty they can be, but they absorb marinade so quickly and also cook in no time on the grill, so they’ve been my go-to. Even better is that they’re way less expensive than chicken breasts!
Oh, and I need to thank you for that kale salad recipe whenever you originally posted it. Massaging kale changed my life. I want all the kale salad for me! But my kids love it that way too, so I’ll share with them. 🙂
I love grilling! Drumsticks and wings are my favorite! I haven’t had thighs in a while but I wouldn’t mind having some. That kale salad looks delicious!
I get the eye twitching problem, too. I noticed that it happens when I’m extremely stressed and exhausted. I still haven’t figured out how to solve the problem, but it hasn’t happened in a while. Good luck! It’s irritating as heck. 🙁
thank you! yes, it’s driving me crazy
I had my first BBQ of the season on Sunday!! It suddenly warmed up like crazy and it’s so perfect to grill outside now.
Love the sound of that kale salad – if we only had kale here in Switzerland! So weird, I know.
I love the lemon cake.
Eating dinners outside is definitely one of my favorite things about summer. I love using leftovers throughout the week for meals too. So easy!
BBQ dinners are the best! And I agree about chicken thighs!
Ugh, LA traffic is insane! We have an income property in Hemet and I have done the Hemet to LA drive many times. I remember the first time I drove down I was all “does this city ever end?!?” (I’m from Ottawa which has just over a million people lol). The drive to San Diego is much nicer!
Love your blog! I just started my weight loss journey and blog. Hope to have similar successes. Congrats on the hard work!
Fromcaketokale.wordpress.com
Mmm your chicken meal looks delicious! I might have to add it into my rotation! What kind of bbq sauce did you use on the chicken?
trader joe’s
Your dogs are way too cute. The family dogs did that with me when I was in a high chair. They knew how gravity worked. I also get that eye twitching from time to time, but thankfully it doesn’t last long. I think it’s a combo of stress and being tired.
Is that an Alabama spatula next to the chicken? Or Atlanta Braves? (fingers crossed for a Bama fan) Either way, I just fell even more in LOVE with your blog 🙂
roll tide! (tom went to bama) 🙂
My kale salad obsession is back with a vengeance – so perfect in summer. I am looking forward to mine tonight! Living in the city thought I really do miss a grill – my grill pan is just an alright substitute.
Yummy kale salad!
That LA traffic is horrible!! I was in LA visiting my brother last year and declared him insane for wanting to live in a place with such crazy traffic!! Eye twitch inducer for sure!
Hope you get over the twitch…those drive me crazy! I do notice them more when I’m over fatigued.
Yummy meal. Love leftover grilled anything.
LA traffic is the woooooorst. That’s enough to make anyone twitch. And yay for Urth!! I LOVE their honey vanilla lattes with almond milk.