new friends and a great recipe

Welcome to my New Friend Friday Friends! So I made it through my first week back.  It was VERY VERY difficult.  Jack screamed the first two days at daycare.  I felt sick  about leaving him and that made me feel alot worse.  The rest of the week Jack is with family and he was as happy as can be. That made me feel MUCH better. 

The last thing I want to be doing after work, is cooking for hours.  The recipe below is super simple; everything is grilled!  It is also super healthy and super yummy.  I hope you enjoy it, and also enjoy your weekend, only a few summer weekends left!

Grilled Chicken with Green Beans and Tomatoes

Ingredients

1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon plus 3 teaspoons olive oil
4 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
kosher salt and black pepper
1 pound green beans
4 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise

Directions
1.Heat grill to medium-high. In a small bowl, combine the cilantro, garlic, lime juice, sugar, and 1 tablespoon of the oil.

2.Rub the chicken with 1 teaspoon of the oil and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. In a large bowl, toss the green beans and tomatoes with the remaining oil and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper.

3.Grill the chicken until cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes per side. Grill the green beans and tomatoes, turning the green beans often and the tomatoes once, until tender and charred, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve with the vinaigrette.

Wordless Wednesday

Can you guess who this is???

p.s. ...it's me!

Welcome my newest sponsor, and a giveaway!

I wanted to let everyone know of the newest sponser to my blog, Firefly Blankets. Johanna, at Firefly Blankets, has wonderful "green" products that will look great and help the enviornment as well.!  Johanna graciously sent me a set of her flannel baby wipes/napkins. 

I love these patterns, and they will save money!   Johanna has so many different fabric designs, for boys and girls!
Of course she also makes blankets.  Like this beautiful crocheted baby blanket.


All of her items make the perfect baby shower, or new baby gift.
The best part? Johanna is also giving one of my readers a $10 gift certificate to her shop!

All you have to do to enter is visit her shop and comment on what you would buy with the $10!

Contest will end August 25th at 11:59pm.  Winner will be choosen via random.org and contacted via email.
Good Luck, and be sure to check out this great shop!

a day at the beach....

So Sunday we took Jack to the beach.  I wanted to take him before his first birthday so he could experience the sand and water.  So we packed our beach bags and our cooler and set off to Lake Michigan for a day at the beach. 

Our "day at the beach" lasted an hour.  Jack HATED the sand.  He screamed like I have never heard him scream before.  So we moved him to the middle of our towels, gave him some cheerios and he was in heaven.

We still had a perfect time, sand and all.....and we will try again next year.

Before the screaming began......

Meetup Monday!

This is the Monday I have been dreading all summer.  I am back at work.  The kids do not start for a week, and these are shorter days, but it's still back to work, busy mornings and nights, and missing my Jack.

I know it will be an adjustment for both of us the first few days, but I am hoping I can get over it.

I do hope, however, that you have a much better Monday than I do...which brings us to Meetup Monday!

<a href="http://www.justanothermomday.blogspot.com"><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i219/agrip76/coffee.jpg" /></a>

If this is your first time linking up to Meetup Monday, here's the info:

Add a link below to a specific blog post or your main blog address

If you could grab my button and pop it up on your blog someplace visible, that would make my day!

Most importantly: Make someone's day by commenting on the blog post of the two blogs (or more) before you.

Everything you could want, and more!

I am sooo excited about doing my second review for CSN Stores!! They have over 200 stores with a huge selection of just about anything you could ever be looking for and I mean that. From a Dutch Oven to Light Bulbs, literally! I actually had a gander at their Dutch Ovens because to be honest, I don't have one nor have I actually ever had the opportunity to try one. Has anyone ever bought one before? 

Well stay tuned for a review for CSN in the near future, and have a great weekend!

New friends and a great meal!

First of all welcome everyone from New Friend Friday! I love making new friends, and I hope you like what you see.

Speaking of new friends, I have another new friend, Jen from Beantown Baker.  She has graciously agreed to guest blog for me.  She has an excellent summer chicken recipe I am making this weekend.  I know my husband will LOVE it.  Even better, is it's super easy for you busy moms!  Have a great weekend, and please make Jen feel welcome! 

So Hello Just Another Manic Momday Readers! My name is Jen from Beantown Baker. I am an engineer by day and a baker at night. I live with my Hubby and two cats in a tiny Boston condo. Hubby serves as my official taste tester for all the treats that I make in the kitchen. While I mostly blog about delicious baked goods, you'll also find savory meals, occasion travel or Boston posts, and even giveaways! The number one all time favorite thing I've made since I started blogging would have to be these Oreo Cupcakes. They're awesome. Enough about me, let's get on to this chicken recipe.



This recipe comes from Cooking Light. It uses fresh melon and cucumber to create a perfectly summery meal. The chicken can be cooked however you prefer. If we had a grill, I definitely would have just grilled the chicken breasts. If you have leftover salsa, it's great served with plain or cinnamon pita chips.

Chicken with Melon Salsa - from Cooking Light
Printable Recipe
Salsa
1 cup (1/2-inch) cubed honeydew melon
1 cup (1/2-inch) cubed cantaloupe
1/2 cup diced peeled cucumber
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1 tsp grated lime rind
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp minced jalapeño pepper
1 tsp light agave nectar (or 1/2 tsp sugar)

Chicken
3/4 tsp kosher salt, divided
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided
6 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Cooking spray

Prepare grill to medium-high heat.

Combine first 10 ingredients; stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, tossing well to combine.

Sprinkle chicken evenly with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Coat chicken with cooking spray.

If grilling: Place chicken on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 5 minutes on each side or until done.

If broiling: Set the chicken on a metal cooling rack over a foil-lined baking sheet and place it about 10-12 inches below a broiler for 5-7 minutes per side.

Serve with salsa; garnish with mint sprigs, if desired.

A Cheesy Giveaway!

Summer is almost over, but there are still plenty of beautiful days for a picnic! I love picnics.  I love eating outside, relaxing and just enjoying summer.  Well Weight Watchers made my day, (and my summer) when they sent me this awesome picnic basket full of goodies, including new Weight Watchers cheese products!

The new Weight Watchers Spreadable Cheese Wedges come in four mouth-watering varieties – Original Swiss, Garlic & Herb, Parmesan Peppercorn and Jalapeño Pepper. Each wedge has only 30 calories, packs more fiber than the leading competitor and has a POINTS® value of 1. The wedges have a suggested retail price of $2.99-$3.99.


The new eight-ounce variety of Weight Watchers Reduced Fat Cream Cheese Spread is ideal for baking and snacking alike, coming with pre-measured servings and the same easy-to-spread goodness of other Weight Watchers cream cheese products. The spread boasts 40 percent less fat than regular cheese and a POINTS® value of 1 per serving. It has a suggested retail price of $1.69-$1.99.

These cheese products are delicious!!!  They are the perfect for lunch or an afternoon snack, and I'll still be able to lose that baby weight!

The best part?  Weight Watchers will be giving one my lucky readers their own Weight Watchers picnic basket!

The basket includes:


Two Weight Watchers Cheese products
Other healthy snacks
Picnic blanket
Sunscreen
Frisbee
Cheese knife
2 Wine glasses
Contest Rules:



Required Entry: Leave a comment telling me your cheesiest love story

Bonus entry: Tweet about this contest/ or how you entered to win – “I entered to win a custom filled Weight Watchers Cheese Picnic basket from @JustAnotherMM #WeightWatchersCheese”

Contest ends: Thursday, August 19th at 11:59 pm.  Winner will be choosen via random.org and contacted via email!  Good Luck!

Wordless Wednesday

awesome jewelry giveaway by artwark!

Today's giveaway is from one of my favorite Etsy shops.  I bought one of her necklaces as a gift to myself, and I know you will love her shop as well. Sarah designs, makes, and markets her pieces all over the world, focusing on creating unique jewelry to complement all skin tones to emphasize the inner & outer beauty all women posses.

Her jewlery makes a great gift for someone or an ever better treat for yourself!

The winner of this giveawawy will be able to choose from the following pieces:

They are both beautiful and a perect for those hot summer nights!

Mandatory Entry:

1.  Comment on your favorite piece from Artwark's etsy Shop.

Extra entries:

2.  Follow Artwark on Twitter

4.  Like Artwark on facebook, and comment on her page

5.  Follow Sarah's blog

5.  Follow my blog.(if you do just comment)

Please leave your email in one of your comments so I can contact the winner.  Contest will end August 19 at 11:59pm.  Winner will be choosen via random.org and will be contacted via emial.  Good luck!

Free Shipping Please!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of LinensNThings. All opinions are 100% mine.

Being a working mom, I feel like I have absolutely NO time to do things like shop for clothes or things for my home.  My new love is shopping online.  I can get it done on my lunch break or at home on the couch after work, plus, you don't have to deal with traffic, lines and crowds.

If a store I like offers free shipping, I am much more likely to shop there, actually, I am pretty much sold! And one store I love,Linens 'N Things is offering FREE SHIPPING (thanks to SocialSpark). Linens and Things is the perfect place to find things like Bedding (I desperately need some) Bath Towels, Home Decor, and Organizational Accessories
.
Simply visit Linens 'N Things and enter the code LNTFREE to get your free shipping! Offer is valid through 9/15/2010

This is the perfect time to shop Linens 'N Things because they have a ton of back to school items that are perfect for your college bound kid! I saw a great selection of necessity items like alarm clocks (get to class on time!), fans, dorm hooks, storage bins, wastebaskets, rugs, and SO much more!
Personally I could use some nice new sheets or bathroom towels and accessroies.  The Contessa Bath Collection looks very classy, and I love that the sets keep everything matching. It takes the hard part away from me! The set includes a matching wastebasket, toothbrush holder, tissue holder, really everything you'd need for a complete bathroom set!
If you have upcoming birthdays, weddings, or housewarming parties you can find great gifts at Linens 'N Things too! My favorites were the Bakeware and Cookware sections!



Remember to use your Free Shipping Code listed above and tell everyone you know!

Broward Patch Winner

The winner of the Broward Patch custom camera strap is Cheryl

Congrats! I will be contacting you today! 

meetup momday, and a photo challenge

So I may not be posting as much this week.  This is my last full week of with Jack. I am going to be staying away from the computer and cuddling my little guy as much as I can. In the meantime, I am hoping that Meetup Monday will continue to grow.

Also.....the paper mama is having "water" themed photo challenge. This is my first time entering and I am nervous! Check out her amazing blog and check out my entry to the photo challenge!

Have a great Monday! 

<a href="http://www.justanothermomday.blogspot.com"><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i219/agrip76/coffee.jpg" /></a>

If this is your first time linking up to Meetup Monday, here's the info:

Add a link below to a specific blog post or your main blog address

If you could grab my button and pop it up on your blog someplace visible, that would make my day!

Most importantly: Make someone's day by commenting on the blog post of the two blogs (or more) before you.

getting sentimental...

As the beginning of school gets closer and closer I have also started noticing this pain deep in my stomach.  It started out small, like a little upset stomach.  But as the days went on, it has gotten worse and worse, and I've realized it's not really in my stomach, but in my heart. 

This has been the best summer I can remember.  Better than those summers in high school full of bon fires and no worries, better than summers in my twenties full of Chicago bars, and Cubs games and sleeping in late.  But along with this summer comes the knowledge that I will never have this again.  I will never have this little 9 month old full of smiles and wonder and curiosity.  A summer of seeing everything for the first time. 

I will have many more amazing summers, I know that.  But maybe I am more sentimental becuase this is my first.  Our first.  And I don't want it to end.  I want to breathe in every second....deeply.

I want a million more days like this one.
Days full of warm days, snacks, and pools to ourselves. 

Days full of wagon walks and rest stops.

Days full of swinging, wondering and taking it all in.

Take it in.  Enjoy every second. 

Take a Break, and Win a Weekend Away!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hampton Hotels. All opinions are 100% mine.
My husband is away with the guys fishing tonight, and the girls got together with the kids.  We were talkinga about how we REALLY need a girl's getaway.  Nothing special, some shopping downtown, a manicure and pedicure, and a nice dinner. Well once the craziness of summer activities and get-togethers are over, we are definately going to do it. 

Hampton Chain of Friends Sweepstakes would be a perfect contest to win for a  girl’s weekend getaway. This summer Hampton is offering a really cool way to get together with friends and family that you might need to reconnect with. Enter to win the grand prize of an entire hotel (100 rooms) for an entire weekend (2 nights). Imagine a weekend long slumber party with the people you love best. 100 first prizes are available too; weekend stays for the winner and three of their friends, given away daily.

I would use my prize for downtown Chicago getawaay for sure, and invite all my best girlfriends; some I haven’t seen in years. We’d visit all the usual tourist spots plus take advantage of the prime location for some really fun people watching, tasty food and excellent shopping.
Entering the Hampton Chain of Friends Sweepstakes is easy. Just complete a quick form and wait for your prize. The contest started 6/1/10 and ends 9/4/10 so you have plenty of time to enter. Visit Hampton Hotels for complete details, rules and restrictions

Good luck, and be sure to enter, you deserve it!