pure yumminess

Well my Thursday continued to be a lovely day after this morning.

My breakfast held me over a while but as I was figuring out lunch, I got the biggest craving for pasta primavera. So I made my own! The veggies weren’t really saucy, and I was lacking protein, so at the last minute I added a spoonful of tomato sauce and a wedge of Laughing Cow Original light to make more of a sauce consistency. Twas perfection.

3/4 cup whole wheat pasta; 1/2 zucchini, 1/4 orange bell pepper, ~1/4 cup broccoli, fresh basil, cooking spray, ~1 tbsp tomato sauce, 1 wedge Laughing Cow Original light

I had some pear on the side, too.

1/2 bosc pear

Then this thing showed up outside and I had to deal with her.

Sophie the Monster

I was just trying to figure out how I’d spend the remainder of my afternoon when Mona called from the office with fun stuff for me to do! One of the cases involves a custody battle with Spain and we got some affidavits that were in Spanish. Naturally, I was the translator. So I got to work from home for a couple hours this afternoon and work on that. It was actually really enjoyable (NERD ALERT). And while I worked, I got some more protein in my diet in the form of TJ’s organic chocolate soy creamy. And a No Pudge Brownie

1/2 cup TJ's chocolate soy creamy with 1/2 No Pudge Brownie (made last night!)

I probably shouldn’t have had dessert so early since we had dinner reservations at a great restaurant… BUT… I did.

Dinner reservations were late so I knew I should eat something before I went to avoid showing up ravenous and eating the entire bread basket. It turned out to be a good strategy, as you’ll see in a moment.

Grapes and a serving of Kashi Fire Roasted Vegetable crackers

A couple hours later, dinner rolled around and I was super excited!!! My favorite components were all in 1 lovely salad

Roasted beet salad (beats, breaded goat cheese, spinach, onions, white balsamic vinaigrette)

Followed by my amazing entree! It was a MASSIVE pile of risotto!! I only ate 1/4 of it and have a ton of leftovers. It was incredible, though, and very earthy. I used to hate mushrooms but they’re growing on me. This had 5 types of mushrooms and pearl onions, too.

Mushroom risotto

Since I hadn’t eaten too much of my entree and Harris ALWAYS wants dessert, we got the tiramisu and I had about 5 bites (1/4 of it). Harris ate some and he brought about 1/4 home to Jeff!

Tiramisu to share

Thanks to Harris for the photography of that beauty And I was glad to leave a restaurant feeling satisfied but not STUFFED. I am perfectly content. I know I indulged, but I did not over-do it at all. The restaurant, Bella Monte, was really good and also has a wine store and “European market” attached that had some cool looking cheeses, etc. I’ll have to remember that.

Off to foam roll (I’ll report back on that tomorrow) and watch Project Runway. You know, the Thursday routine. I made a fun creation that I’ll have for breakfast tomorrow, so watch out for that!

happy thursday!

I love Thursdays, for whatever reason. They’ve always been one of my favorite days. And today certainly started out well, so let’s hope that my Thursday continues to be lovely.

I realized that a spin class would, for once, fit into my schedule! Since the bathroom renovation started, I’ve been off schedule and haven’t been to one. FOR FIVE WEEKS. Yes, withdrawal. So I stood up out of bed and my legs were TIGHT! That 8 mile bike ride yesterday really tightened up my shins. I felt it coming on last night, so I used my new foam roller, but I was still tight today. PS, the foam roller may be my in my top 5 best investments for fitness!

I bought a new bar at Target yesterday which I’ve seen all over commercials. Why not try something new?

1/2 mango coconut Soyjoy bar

The flavor was kickin’ but I wish I had eaten the whole thing and not half! I got hungry not an hour later when usually a 1/2 bar keeps me a little while longer. It was tiny, so if I buy it again I’ll go in for the whole she-bang. And isn’t the name fun to say? SOYJOY! Say it 5 times fast. You can’t, can you?

At the gym, I had just enough time to stretch my legs out with a short run before spin. I started out pretty slow but about halfway through my legs started to feel better so I bumped up the speed a bit. I ended up doing 1.5 miles in 15 minutes, right on my typical pace once my slow start and fast finish were factored in! Then I headed to an hour spin class which kicked my vegetarian butt. The instructor was new (to me) and I LOVED HER. She might be my new favorite. She’s British and tells hilarious stories the whole time we spin! She also doesn’t use a microphone because she talks loud enough for all of us to hear and she sings along (very badly) to the music and encourages us to do the same. We did some crazy jump series and a 10 minute sprint set that about killed me. Let’s just say I sweat enough to cover the title of this blog for a good 3 days.

Got home and got some great news. 1. The bathroom renovation might be done TODAY! TODAY!!!!!!!!! I’ll have a shower again! 2. The stove is mysteriously working again! You know what that means, right? OATS.

1/3 cup old fashioned oats, 1/3 cup skim milk, 1/3 cup water, 2 tbsp wheat germ, 1 egg white, 1/4 cup blueberries, 3 organic dates (sliced), 1 tbsp chocolate soy nut butter.

When I stirred this magic concoction together, the blueberries got soft and juicy like when you make blueberry pancakes. YUMMMMMM. Also the wheat germ thickened it up nicely, since I find that when I use milk instead of all water it makes it a little too creamy for my tastes. And who doesn’t want extra nutrients, right?

Off to enjoy my Thursday some more! No afternoon plans, so who knows what my day will bring. But we have fun dinner plans