Flowers and Chocolate

Hope you all have had a great Valentine’s Day weekend…mine is still going since we had the day off today!! 

I really want to just dive right into the INCREDIBLE dinner I had last night, but that baby deserves its own post.  I will say there was a deep fried banana involved…just saying ;)

First, let’s rewind to Saturday morning.  I hit up Body Pump and then came home starving for breakfast!

Whipped up an iced latte and a ham, egg, cheese breakfast sandwich on an Arnold’s Thin!

Mmm, hit the spot.  I was so involved in making my breakfast that it took me a few minutes to realize this was on the table:

:)  I love flowers…and chocolate.

I was good and ate my breakfast first, but it wasn’t too much longer before I had to see what was in that box!!!

In here we have: (let’s see if I can remember what Brian told me)

• the top piece is a chocolate pretzel rod…I ate that guy first.
• bottom left: salted caramel
• bottom right: green tea truffle
• top left (hidden): dark choc. cranberry turtle!!
• top middle: pomegranate truffle
• top right: a cappuccino filled chocolate

I’d say he did a perfect job.

This week was also a fun opportunity to really PINK-out my table :)

yes I made a special trip to CVS just to get Valentine’s day M&M’s!  Plain and peanut :)

And used my glass heart bowl that you receive from Crate and Barrel when registering :)

I switched the roses to this old silver antique tea kettle

   

and even had a PINK grapefruit in a PINK bowl :)

         

Was hoping to get in a run today but let’s see how the weather is.  Either way definitely going to Body Combat tonight!

Enjoy your President’s Day!  Anyone else have the day off??  Poor Brian had to get up early to go to work while I slept :)

Girls (Food) Night Out

Last night I had the most delicious and also longest girls night dinner! The 4 of us had a 6:00pm reservation at L’Andana (which is conveniently 5 min from my house!) We were originally planning for a 6:30 or 7 timeslot but could only get 6 or something else later. I’m really glad we took the 6pm, because we didn’t finish until about 9:30pm!! I arrived at 5:40 straight from work, so I was there for almost 4 hours!

Luckily time flies when you’re gabbing away and slowly savoring each item. Since I was early I went to the bar and decided to order a drink off their cocktail list. I had the “Grapefruit”, which was Grey Goose L’orange, grapefruit juice, and lemon juice.

This was perfectly cold, tart, fruity, and NOT sweet…just the way I like it. There was a little sugar on the rim of the glass which offset the tartness nicely. As the others arrived they each ordered a different drink from the menu. So I had to snap a pic of out colorful cocktails!

        

The decor in here was really cool too…I tried to take some pictures but they aren’t the greatest as the light was low

We headed to our table, and of course starting chatting away and also trying to figure out what to eat. Having a group of 4 girls, who all LOVE food and all LOVE trying different things is AWESOME. We ordered everything to share, which is my favorite way of eating.

First was bread…warm focaccia-esque bread with olive oil plus what tasted like a tomato spread in it. 

We started with 3 appetizers and continued to decide on entrées.

Tuna Hand-cut tartare, mustard chili aioli, radish, sea salt cracker

Prosciutto Roast tomato vinaigrette, fresh mozzarella, oregano

and Crisp Calamari Tuscan peppers, tomato brodo, lemon aioli (un-pictured)

All were so flavorful and delicious!! We (clearly) took our time nibbling away while carrying on conversation. I’ve decided I need to talk more at meals…I eat WAY slower and that is something I’ve been trying to work on.

Eventually we decided to order 2 entrees to share:

The Swordfish 6 oz. or 12 oz (we did 6 oz.) , Wood-roasted peppers, onions, cured tomato, olives, capers

And the other I can’t find the exact description but it was a:
lemon sole, with capers and served with roasted potatoes and asparagus.

Somehow the camera missed the entrees…sorry!

No fear though because DESSERT will make up for it. We ordered 3 desserts because they all sounded AMAZING.

Here you have:
Ciambella: Apple cider donut rounds, vanilla crème anglaise, maple cider glaze
Panna Cotta di Caramello Fresh vanilla bean, almond praline & brittle, caramel sauce
and…
Cioccolato Warm chocolate molten cake, vanilla gelato, salted caramel sauce

we got the almond praline/brittle on the side as my friend is allergic!

OMG…incredible. As amazing as a warm, gooey, chocolate molten cake can be, the apple cider donut rounds were THE BEST!! Hot little balls of apple cider donut heaven coated in a generous dose of cinnamon sugar. Thank god we were sharing, or I would have dominated those babies!

So, almost 4 hours later we said our goodbyes and decided this MUST become a regular occurrence :)

TGIF!!

I decided this was a 2-coffee kind of day and went out to get a small iced coffee at lunch time. I also plan to get in a workout at the gym tonight as I didn’t get my usual workout last night (and replaced it with a calorie fest). I plan to do some running on the treadmill. Then Body Pump tomorrow morning!

I have been doing Pump on Sunday’s but as it’s Valentine’s Day (and we have all day plans) I’m switching things up!

Anyone have any fun plans for V-day <3

Body Pumped Chicken Thighs

yeah I don’t really get the title either haha

First, my coffee on Friday morning put a big smile on my face because of this:

Starbucks has cute heart cups right now :) Yes I do love Valentine’s day…probably because I love flowers, chocolate, and the color pink A LOT!!

That would be a non-fat Misto, extra foam, and caramel drizzle. I love the little caramel “treat” at the top, it just adds a little sweetness without being super sweet like the syrups. Although I’ve learned in the past how important it is to order “caramel drizzle” or “sauce”…so you don’t end up with the syrup which I find WAY too sweet.

Breakin’ a Sweat

Usually I’m happy when I get 1 solid workout on the weekends, because I find that I have stretches where I have so much going on that I have no time for any! So it felt great to get to the gym on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday I knew I was having brunch with friends for a birthday, so I managed to get in a quick 30-min run on the treadmill. I was worried about my foot but it was ok!

Then Sunday was Body Pump. I won’t be able to make Pump this Thursday or probably next Sunday either so I really wanted to get this one in! It was great per usual. I’m so glad this class exists.

Body Pump wasn’t until 10am, and I was planning to do a little cardio first, so I planned my morning to wake up in time for a small breakfast for some energy.

Foam came out EXTRA good this morning:

1 cappuccino with a dusting of cinnamon and 1 homemade Blueberry muffin (from mom), with a little Almond butter on a spoon. I find that carbs + nut butter is the best pre-workout meal for me.

I love sunny quiet mornings :) (the boy was still asleep)

I was still starving by the time I got home, and made a super quick egg sandwich.

• 1 WW sandwich Thin, toasted
• 1 egg
• Sliced tomato + a smear of cream cheese on 1 half of the Thin
• The egg + hot sauce + a sprinkle of shredded cheese on the other half
  

After a few bites of each half separately, I put them together…yeah I’m weird like that sometimes haha.

SO GOOD! I love the combo of fresh tomato + cream cheese.

A little later before running errands, Brian and I tried out this bar I got a while back part of a Free Sample program from Bear Naked.

This Chocolaty Cherry chewy bar was AWESOME!! We both LOVED it. The sticky chewiness + the delicious cherries made for a decadent tasting bar. I need to find these in the store now.

After some Sunday errands (including returning rug attempt #2 for the dining room…I think it’s destined to be rug-free), we hit the grocery store and came home to get ready for the Superbowl!

This was the first year in a LONG time we had no plans, but it was nice to just relax and not have to drive home from a friends house late on a work night.

I also can’t seem to get passed the Ellie meals. Tonight's was Maple Mustard Chicken Thighs.

This was the EASIEST meal ever! Wash the chicken, place in baking pan.

Mix up the 5 ingredients in the sauce, spread over chicken, bake.

I made some steamed broccoli on the side. We had been doing snacking here and there so I didn’t want a heavy dinner.

This chicken is very moist and very flavorful!! I liked the thighs, but think I’d like breasts better…I don’t know, I’ve always been a white meat kinda gal.

Then there was dessert…oh yes.

I saw this on Tina’s blog not too long ago, then saw it at the store. It just sounded SO good.

Oh. My. God. This is my new favorite gelato/ice cream. BEST EVER!!!

I can’t describe the flavor…malty? I don’t know, just AMAZING! Creamy, delicious, subtle flavor with chocolaty crunchy malt balls!!!

Workout Re-cap:

• Saturday – 30 min treadmill, mostly running
• Sunday – 25 min fast/hill walking + Body Pump
• Monday – Body Combat!!
• Tuesday – Dance class (90 min Jazz class)
• Wed – off
• Thursday – off, Dinner with the Girls at L’Andana…SO excited!
• Friday – ?? Not sure yet
• Saturday – ?? Hopefully finding a Body Pump class somewhere as my usual Sunday class will be interrupted by Valentines Day fun!

Me + Ellie + more wedding

Ellie Krieger and I are bonding this week. On Saturday before I went grocery shopping I actually sat down with her cookbook, The Food You Crave, and picked out a few things to make this week!

The first I mentioned in my last post: Greek Style Stuffed Peppers.

These didn’t take too long to assemble, but they do bake for an hour or so, so plan accordingly.

Washed my veggies, and gave Brian the task of grating the zucchini.

I picked up some lean ground beef at TJ’s.

All the filling mixed together. Along with the beef there are lots of veggies….zucchini, spinach, onion! Not to mention the pepper vessel it’s served in.

Each pepper half received a LOT of filling…they were packed.

Topped with canned stewed tomatoes, chopped, and crumbled feta cheese. The only thing I may add would be a little extra seasoning to the tomatoes…maybe more salt, pepper, and whatever herbs you like.

So 30 min covered with foil + 40 min uncovered, it was dinner time!

These bad boys calc in at: 200 cals, 6g Fat, 21g protein, 6g fiber!! AWESOME! I was worried at only 200 calories they wouldn’t be filling but boy was I wrong…1 serving is PLENTY!

Enjoyed with pomegranate seltzer

Plus Brian and I have enjoyed leftovers for lunch today and yesterday…loooove leftovers.

Tonight was Ellie round 2! Buffalo Chicken Salad

The first thing I did was prep the chicken so it would sit in the hot sauce for a little while before cooking. Then I prepped the veggies for the salad and made the dressing.

The chicken cooks quick, 5 min! So once everything is prepped this becomes a very fast meal. When the chicken came out of the oven I added more Hot Sauce…more flavor!

I used mixed greens instead of Romaine, and added a little cucumber as well. To save time you don’t really need to shred the carrots but I love shredded carrots :)

Tossed the veggies + dressing, with chicken on top!

Mmmmm definitely satisfies a buffalo chicken craving!! The dressing could use a little more tang though…maybe more vinegar? Or even more blue cheese. I bet the leftover dressing will be better tomorrow after sitting for a day. I have my salad for tomorrow all packed up and ready to go too!

Brian enjoyed his salad with a grilled cheese…I wish I was a boy sometimes! (not that I didn’t steal a bite or 2)

Thanks Ellie :)

Oh and I’ve officially jumped on the 3-minute cookie bandwagon! I like the classic recipe but with choc. chips instead of raisins. Totally fulfils my “hot chocolate chip cookie” craving!! Plus reminds me of a pancake so it’s a win-win :)

Ok so I’ll start adding more wedding pics to my posts…cause why not?

We’ll call this…The Get Ready

Aww Willow :)

** Hey Check out the fab TEA giveaway over at Confessions of a Health Nut!!