Marinara Chicken Melts

Last night’s dinner was so easy, but had both me and Ryan “mmm-ing” over how good it was for a little too long.

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Marinara chicken melts!

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To make the melts, I combined about two cups of shredded chicken that we had leftover from a chicken we roasted over the weekend. I then poured marinara sauce over the meat until it was saturated in tomato sauce.

After toasting two pieces of whole wheat bread, I topped the bread with the chicken and some shredded cheese and microwaved it until the cheese melted a bit.

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Roasted green beans added a pop of green to the plate.

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Not too shabby for a Monday night!

After dinner and a walk with Sadie, we watched The Bachelor (and the Bulls game during the commercials… plus Ryan DVRed it). Courtney had me swirling further and further in to a world of irritation with each lip bite and “winning” comment. Ah.

I capped off the night with a little bit of reading and am about halfway through The Night Circus. I’m entertained, but not enthralled.

Workout

Today’s workout was good. I started with a 20-minute cardio warm up split between the stair master and the elliptical, which I completed while reading a 2009 issue of Shape magazine. I take what I can get!

Then it was time for an upper body and abdominal workout. I kept things movin’ pretty quickly today and my arms and abs were feeling the burn.

arms and abs workout
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I really liked alternating abdominal exercises with upper body strength exercises. It was a nice change of pace and kept me entertained and working hard.

Breakfast

Breakfast this morning looked like donkey doodoo, but tasted great.

chocolate protein oatmeal

I made myself a bowl of chocolate protein oats by stirring up the following before microwaving it for two minutes (stirring every 30 seconds to prevent overflow):

  • 1/2 cup oats
  • 1 scoop Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Extreme Milk Chocolate protein powder
  • 1 spoonful peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
  • Enough almond milk to make everything moist

A cup of peppermint crème coffee brought a punch of caffeine to the table.

peppermint creme coffee

The caffeine buzz is getting to me today in a good way. I’m feeling productive and am off to make the most of it!

Comments

  1. Chelsa says:

    that J mug is so cute

      

  2. Nicole says:

    happy national pb day! i have to make that chicken melt for me and my bf! looks awesome :-)

      

  3. That melt looks so good! Anything with melty cheese has to be good, right?

    My husband always says that the stuff I eat looks like poo, but I figure as long as it tastes good, does it matter what it looks like? If I was serving it to others, I’d care, but not when it’s just me.

      

  4. That is our kind of weeknight dinner! Something delicious that only takes a few minutes to throw together (usually using some leftovers). :)

      

  5. I would agree that steaming, fresh, donkey doodoo is a really good description for your breakfast. Good eye.

      

  6. I love your blog so much! You always have such awesome workouts and delicious food and such a fun approach to everything! I plan on doing that workout later today and buying some pumpkin so I can make that breakfast. Love it :)

      

  7. I feel silly for never combining shredded chicken + marinara sauce- it’s like an Italian BBQ style sandwich!

    P.S. The Bachelor is so bad this season it’s so good… Some of those girls are completely bonkers! But I will admit, they get to travel throughout the world for free and experience some totes awesome things!

      

  8. Tori Hiatt says:

    This sounds delicious, and super easy for a college kid like me that doesn’t always have a kitchen at hand! I actually have some left over tomato basil pasta sauce that I’ll use! Now I’m excited for dinner! Hope you have an awesome day, gorgeous!

      

  9. Love your chicken marinara melts – that ismy kind of quick, easy sandwich!

      

  10. I feel you on the Night Circus not being enthralling. I do like it though and it keeps getting more interesting! I’m about halfway through too. Not going to make a decision until after I finish it. But, I have to say I think the WSJ way over shot by calling it the next Harry Potter.

      

  11. Nathan Miller says:

    Congrats on the interview and a good one at that! Thanks for sharing and cheers to countless PB fingers the rest evening to celebrate the day

      

  12. Jenny says:

    I have also come to love the distopian genre- thanks for giving me a name for it!

    You should really read “Matched”. It is the first of a three part series, and I loved it…mix of hunger games and the maze runner series with more romance added in. I have only finished the first book, but I am hoping the rest are just as good!

      

  13. Deena C. says:

    Julie, thanks for this dinner idea!! After reading this yesterday, I quickly pulled out the ingredients to make this for dinner. My husband and I loved it!! Easy and delicious!!

      

  14. That dinner sounds amazing. I do similar thing with wraps/tortillas. Always a winner!

      

  15. amanda says:

    It’s really a cool and useful piece of info. I am glad that you just shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.

      

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