Hi all! How is everyone on this fine Friday?? I’m doing well except I have to admit I am feeling pretty crappy after my activities last night. Whenever there are $2 Caronas involved you know it’s going to be a good time.

But before we get to talking about any of that, it’s Fashion Friday!! Let me show you all what I am wearing today…

I spy with my little eye….sleepy Jack! Ha! This is pretty much what he does when I’m getting ready in the morning. Aka, nothing.

Jean jacket: Gap (I’ve been loving this denim trend lately)

Dress: H&M (the one I bought last weekend)

Earrings: H&M (also bought last weekend, obvs)

Shoes: Target

I like this outfit because it is comfortable and I can relax in it. Plus I love coral so it’s fun to wear such a bright colored dress. Yay!

So as you probably gathered from the beer photo above, I went to happy hour last night to celebrate Britt’s birthday. We went over to a bar called Front Page in Dupont Circle right after work to take advantage of their free tacos and $2 Caronas.

The line for the tacos was really long, but at that point there was no where to sit anyway so our choices were 1) stand and linger by the bar or 2) stand and linger while also in line for free tacos. Can you guess what we chose??

Obviously the tacos

They were laid out on a big buffet table and right smack in the middle was a roasted pig. EEK!!!!

How disgusting. While I do like pork and enjoy pulled pork as much as the next person, this was enough to totally gross me out and keep me far away from the pork tacos. No thank you. I’ll have the chicken please!

I topped my tacos with black beans, salsa, and a bit of coleslaw (weird, but tasty) and dug in. I wanted to take a picture but we were standing while eating and trying to hold our beers. Aka, no extra hands for photo-taking. Bummer.

After we ate we hung out for a while waiting for Britt and Jess to arrive. Things started out very civilized…

But as soon as Fabio’s friend Max ordered shots of bourbon things went quickly downhill.

I have to admit, I do love me some bourbon.

Soon Jess and Britt arrived and everyone happily wished Britt a happy birthday. Then the beers continued to flow, the place cleared out a little, and we saw a wide opening on the dance floor. Dance like crazy people to awesome 90′s music on a Thursday night?? Well if you insist!

Hey Jess!

Hey other Jess!

[Please excuse the poor iPhone photos]

The boys had fun too!

Hey boys!

It was a great night and we had so much fun just dancing, being goofy, and enjoying each others company.

Hope you had a great birthday, Britt!

So tell me, do you usually go out on work nights? I used to be in a happy hour phase where I would go out every Thursday after work (those college habits are hard to kick!) but lately I’ve been staying in more and avoiding the weekly happy hours. I’m always just so exhausted in the morning and hate going to work hungover. Plus all the calories from beer and drunk food are not something I miss. Sometimes you just have to make exceptions though

Hi everyone! I hope your Tuesday is going well! It’s a bit rainy and a LOT humid in D.C. this morning, which makes walking to work a real treat. Luckily my hair is pretty straight naturally, but if it wasn’t it would be growing from every direction. Yikes! That is one downside to living in this area; the humidity can be brutal.

Anyway, I have a great recipe (sort of a recipe- more like a meal idea lol) to share with you all today but first things first, let me tell you about yesterday’s workout!

Workout

Yesterday morning I planned to wake up bright and early to run with Jack and complete an Insanity DVD, but I just wasn’t feeling it. Whenever there is no beach date looming over my head where I know I will have to be in a bikini around my friends I find that my motivation slumps a little. This is something very annoying about myself and I know I just have to set a milestone date to work toward. In order to combat this problem Fabio and I are trying to plan a vacation with his dad around the beginning of August (maybe to Puerto Rico?) so once that date is set in stone I know my motivation will pick back up again.

Yesterday however, I settled for my regular one-mile morning run and another two-mile run to the dog park in the afternoon. While we were at the dog park we met up with my friend Britt and her brother Logan, who is visiting from Boston. Britt is heading back to Boston with Logan later in the week, so we made plans to grab dinner before she leaves. It should be fun!

After running home from the dog park I completed a few quick ab/leg exercises. A short run is better than no exercise at all, right?

Recipe

After we got home I realized we had next to nothing in the fridge, so I threw together a quick dinner of Caribbean Chicken Tacos using some stuff we had on hand. They actually turned out really delicious for a quick and easy dinner! I definitely recommend this for a night when you’re looking for a simple meal with bold flavors! Yum!

First, I set the oven to broil and let it to get nice and hot. Then I defrosted a large boneless, skinless chicken breast that we had in the freezer and seasoned it liberally with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and Caribbean seasoning. Then I placed it on a grill rack on top of a foil-lined cookie sheet and popped it into the oven for about 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, I used some leftover mango from last week’s Asian Steak and Mango salad to make a delicious salsa. First I diced some mango and added it to a small bowl.

Then I chopped some red onion and tossed it in.

Next it was time for basil.

And finally, I added red pepper flakes, light brown sugar, and lemon juice. I gave everything a good mix and allowed the flavors to come together while the chicken finished cooking.

While the chicken was finishing up, I took some corn tortillas out of the fridge and warmed them up on the bottom rack of the oven for a couple of minutes. When the chicken was finished cooking (meaning it was no longer pink in the middle and the juices ran clear) I removed it from the oven and allowed it rest for a few minutes so the juices could redistribute and wouldn’t spill out everywhere.

Once it had cooled a bit, I chopped the chicken into bite-size bits,

and dived them among the warm tortillas.

Then I topped the tacos with the mango salsa and a bit of fat free feta cheese for some saltiness to counterbalance the sweetness of the salsa.

These were a perfect light summer dinner that had some serious flavor. They were sweet (because of the mango and brown sugar), spicy (from the red pepper flakes and Caribbean seasoning), and salty (from the feta cheese). All of my favorite combinations! Yum! I served these along-side of some roasted brussels sprouts and we had ourselves a delicious dinner!

Caribbean Chicken Tacos

Recipe type: Entree

Author: Chelsea @ Chelsea Eats Treats

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 7 mins

Total time: 12 mins

Serves: 2

These Caribbean Chicken Tacos are so simple and flavorful; they make the perfect meal for a summer weeknight!

Ingredients

1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 pinch Caribbean jerk seasoning (like Spice Islands)
1/4 cup chopped mango
1/4 red onion, diced
2 tbsp. fresh basil, julienned
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. light brown sugar
1 tbsp. lemon juice
4 small tortillas or taco shells (I used corn tortillas)
1 tbsp. fat free feta cheese

Instructions

Set oven to broil and allow to preheat. Meanwhile, season chicken with salt, pepper, cayenne, and Caribbean seasoning. Place on a grill rack on top of foil-lined cookie sheet. Broil in oven for about 7 minutes or until juices run clear and chicken is no longer pink inside.
While chicken is cooking, combine mango, onion, basil, red pepper flakes, brown sugar, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Mix to combine.
Warm tortillas in oven while chicken finishes cooking.
When chicken is cooked, remove from oven and allow to rest before chopping into bite-size pieces.
Top warmed tortillas with chopped chicken, mango salsa, and feta cheese.
Roll up tacos, and enjoy!

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By the way, today is National Peanut Butter Cookie Day! Woohoo! Is there anything better than a peanut butter cookie?? I don’t think so. I could gobble those babies up like there’s no tomorrow. Anyway, if you’re feeling like baking some delectable PB cookies later on today, try my one-minute peanut butter cookie or my peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies. Both are amazing!

And if you have any lightened-up peanut butter cookie recipes, feel free to share them below!

Remember yesterday when I said we are trying to leave Jack out of his cage during the day? Well things have been going pretty well, but he still loves taking our clothes out of the hamper and putting them by the front door. It’s like he thinks we will magically reappear if he places them there. This is the sight Fabio saw when he got home:

“You’re home? Finally??”

Haha silly dog. Other than the clothes, he chewed up a decorative apple that I keep in a fruit bowl on the kitchen table, but there are still like 6 more so I didn’t mind. Too much. He seems to be doing ok out of his cage during the day but not great…not sure if we should revert back to the cage or not!

Workout

Today’s workout was another good one. This morning I woke up slightly earlier than usual so I was able to fit in my run with Jack and the entire Insanity workout (usually in the morning I only have time for about half). The only bad part was it was pouring rain out, so even though I was huddled in my raincoat, I was thoroughly drenched after our run. By the time I was done Insanity I was sopping wet with rain and sweat. Gross!! Good thing I was able to hop in the shower immediately after because it was not a good look for me. At all. But the workout was great!

Recipe

The other day I was telling my friend Catrina (Hi Treen!) about some of my favorite recipes. This caused me to browse through the list of recipes I keep on my phone, and I came across one that I totally forgot about- fish tacos!! I love, love, love fish tacos! I’m not a huge fan of fish by itself, but when the fish is wrapped up in a yummy tortilla and topped yummy accoutrements like avocado, onions, and tomatoes, I am in fishy heaven! The other day I picked up some halibut from the grocery store and tonight I enjoyed these delectable tacos. Here’s how I made them.

First I set the oven to broil and allowed it to get nice and hot. Then I made a rub from cumin, paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and salt. Cinnamon seems like an odd addition to this mix but it has a familiar spicy flavor that I love! I mixed these up in a small bowl and set the rub aside.

Next I lined a cookie sheet with tin foil and placed a grill rack on top. If I had an outdoor grill I would have used that, but apartment life does not allow for a grill. Sadly. Once the rack was ready I put the fish on top and rubbed the spices onto both sides.

Then I broiled the fish in the oven for about 5 minutes until it was flaky and no longer translucent.

While the fish was cooking, I got to work chopping some cherry tomatoes, onions, avocado, and lettuce. When the fish was done it was assembly time! Fish, then onions, then tomatoes, then avocados, and finally, the lettuce.

I served these on corn tortillas (I like corn tortillas better than wheat ones for fish tacos) and served it with some Mexican veggie quinoa (recipe to come soon!).

The rub on the fish was flavorful and smoky without being too spicy, and the creamy avocado gave it all a great texture. I just love the combination of all of those flavors!! Even if you don’t like fish, you really should try this recipe!

Fish Tacos

Serves two

Ingredients

1 lb. white fish (I’ve used both Halibut and Tilapia, both are delicious)
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 avocado, sliced
1/4 small onion, diced
6 cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 large lettuce leaf, chopped
4 corn tortillas

Instructions

Set oven to broil and allow it to get really hot.
Combine spices in a small bowl. Line a cookie sheet with foil (for easy clean up, but you can omit) and place a grill rack on top. Place fish on top of grill rack and rub spices all over.
Place fish in the oven and allow to cook for about 5 minutes, or until fish is flaky and white instead of translucent.
Heat corn tortillas in microwave with a damp paper towel for 30 seconds, if desired. Begin topping tortillas with fish, onions, tomatoes, avocados, and lettuce.
Roll up tortillas, and eat!

I just realized one of the reasons I made this dish is because I wanted to use up some of cilantro. Too bad I just remembered this now and totally omitted the cilantro from this dish. Ugh! So annoying! Does this ever happen to anyone else? #DinnerFailure.