Picnic Ready Lettuce Wraps

       Happy Memorial Day weekend! We are kicking our weekend off with a picnic at Lake Audobon in Reston. Tomorrow Brandon is swimming a 5k there and then on Sunday he is swimming a 2miler and a 1 miler. We headed there tonight to check things out before we have to be there at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning. Since we both worked today and wanted to get to the park fast, I stopped and grabbed a Rotisserie Chicken from Giant and a few other goodies for our picnic dinner at the lake. 
Tonight I made Lettuce Wraps, grabbed some Food Should Taste Good Sweet potato chips (kinda hardly made it to the lake since I started eating them in the kitchen!!) and some fruits and veggies. 
       When I got home I got straight to work on trying to get something that would be packed full of protein and carbs but easy to picnic with. Here we have Picnic Ready Lettuce Wraps. Enjoy!


Picnic Ready Lettuce Wraps


Ingredients: 
4 Large Romaine Lettuce Leaves
Thin slices of: Cucumber, Tomato, Onion, Carrots and Avocado
4 Strips 
Chicken Breasts or a Rotisserie Chicken
Dijon Mustard if desired


Process:

1. In a skillet, Cook bacon to a crisp.
2. Slice carrots, onions and Cucumbers into long thin slices (this will give it a nice crisp in every bite.)
3. Slice thin slices of tomato and avocado.
4. Prepare 4 Big leaves of Romaine for wraps
5. Cut chicken breasts into bite size pieces. 
6. On one Lettuce leaf, stack your ingredients in the center. Then top it with a 2nd lettuce leaf.
7. Roll it into a burrito shape and eat or roll it into tin foil for a picnic meal. 

     For our picnic dinner we had these wraps, a bowl of strawberries and blackberries and sweet potato chips. We enjoyed a nice walk along the lake and some bird and people watching on a bench while we ate. I hope that Brandon's  pre-race nerves were calmed and he is all set for his Swimming weekend. 

Get Active, Support a Great Cause

Why run? Bike? Swim? Race? I started doing it for a good cause. I was signed up to do a Girls on the Run race  

and realized, I don't know if I can run 3.1 miles with these girls. I enlisted one of my best friends and she and I began our running extravaganza from there. We signed up and ran/walked our first ever 5k in October and we have been doing races almost every month together since then for over a year. I am now the coach for GOTR at my school. This is an incredible program and it teaches the girls more than just running. It teaches them self confidence, healthy habits, inspiring others, all of those feel good moments that girls need to survive the school years and the "catty-ness" girls sometimes find themselves in with friends. This year we have an amazing group of girls. 
I have done a lot of races to support cancer research, child diabetes, autism, etc... It is a great way to show others that you care and to put your money toward a great cause. Along the way you meet others who are personally affected by these issues or who just want to connect and show support for others. 

I fortunately have not had any of these issues hit my personal family but I have several friends and I have taught tons of kids who are dealing with these issues. It is just my way of letting others know I care in a fun way! 

So why should you get to running, biking, swimming? Or donating to racers and events?

Check out a few of these other great causes:

Today a friend of ours was on Comcast news today sharing something that is near and dear to her family, her company LIST (she is the CEO of Brandon's company) and a lot of their friends. She shared information about a  group called Team in Training. This is a group of dedicated racers that get together, train for events and travel all over supporting and raising money for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. They don't care what your level of activity is, a beginner, novice, advanced... they just want to raise money for their cause. I am hoping to do an event with them soon- maybe the Nike women's marathon? Check out Katie Sleep's interview about this fabulous group!

                                                  

I have a friend who is walking the Avon Breast cancer event. It is a 2 day event. 26 miles the first day and 13 miles the second day. She is walking in honor of her sister in law Holly who has been battling breast cancer for 8 years. Nanette, I am so proud of you. The time and dedication you have put in for training has been inspiring! Check out Nanette's page here and donate to her cause.

                                       

Another friend of mine is doing a race with her children to show support for her son who was born 24 weeks early. Through a lot of support and great groups, her son is an adorable, healthy and smart kid. Check out her page here and donate to her cause. 

                                           

Another great way to get started with racing is to just build relationships. I have made so many friends at school, church, better relationships with family, my husband and friends because of racing. Training together is a powerful bond and there is nothing like hearing encouragement and support from the people you love the most. 

        

      

   

So maybe you can't physically get up and run. Try walking a race (most 5k's are walk/run races). Try looking for a bike race or a swimming event. www.active.com Maybe you just aren't into exercising and being active but you would love to show your support. Check out one of the above teams and donate to them.