Water Aerobics

All of this traveling I've been doing as of late has really thrown me off my already incredible fragile exercise routine.

That thing is basically toast. (Mmm... toast...)

And to be perfectly honest, I've been lacking the motivation to really get back on the bandwagon. I mean, as long as I can still button my pants... right?

But then I saw the adorable (ADORABLE) new swimsuits from the new (ADORABLE) Stardust Inn line, and I am feeling the urge to get back on track. I mean, who would not want to rock a sassy suit that looks like this?

Or this?

Or this? (My favorite, hands-down.)

So yeah, color me motivated.

Another one of my tricks for gearing up for swimsuit season is to eat better, which usually means not having cookies for breakfast, and this time around also means eating less meat. I know some people get really hard core about this kind of thing, but I prefer to be more medium core. And besides, hamburgers are too delicious to swear off. In my opinion.

But we have been trying some new meat-free recipes and we've come up with a couple winners! For those of you looking for some lighter summer fare, here you go.

First up, these corn cakes with goat cheese, via Cook Like A Champion. A word to the wise: the recipe says the corn from two ears of corn, but that was more than the 1 and 1/2 cups of kernels the recipe calls for. At least it was for us. No biggie; just add some extra egg so it will all stick together like a cake. Ours came out more like a sort of a corn pile with goat cheese. But, it was still delicious.

And, while I was poking around Cook Like A Champion, I came across this recipe for black bean burgers. Sounds like the perfect thing to eat on your deck on a warm summer's evening, no? We haven't tried the recipe yet, but panko was not nearly as hard to find as I thought it would be, so I have a good feeling about this one.

We've also had good success with this shrimp and artichoke pasta dish. It still tastes a little bland to me, but I am getting better at making it. And the man of the house said it had plenty of flavor for him. So, there you go.

I feel fitter and thinner and more ready for a smokin' swimsuit already. You?