Ravioli in a Flash

You guys gave me a ton of amazing ideas for songs to download through your comments about first dance wedding songs! I am going to be working out to a whole bunch o’ love music! 😀

Dinner

Ryan and I took Sadie to the dog park for about an hour after work, so we weren’t in the mood to wait around for dinner to cook by the time we got back home.

Enter: Ravioli!

Lobster Ravioli

Monterey Pasta Company makes a ton of different kinds of ravioli, all of which I love, but I think the lobster ravioli is my favorite, followed closely by the spinach ricotta ravioli. 

As the pasta was boiling, I roasted some asparagus and cauliflower and sautéed portobello mushrooms.

Roasted Asparagus

I topped the ravioli and veggies with Emeril’s roasted garlic pasta sauce and Parmesan cheese.

Ravioli Bowl

Stirred Up

 Mmm, mmm good.

Pre-Workout Snack

My friend Minda recently asked me about pre-workout snacks and what foods to eat before a workout. For me, I cannot eat anything within an hour of working out because my body cramps up so easily.

What do you eat before you workout?

Ideally, I like to munch on something about 90 minutes before a workout. My favorite pre-workout snacks are an apple with peanut butter or string cheese melted on a whole wheat tortilla.

Since I typically wake up at 5:30 a.m. to get to the gym by 5:45 a.m., I don’t eat anything before I work out most weekdays. I’ve tried to eat many different food combinations before my weekday workout, but time and time again I get terrible cramps and my workout suffers… and I’m not about to wake up at 4 a.m. just to eat a snack to fuel my workout!

I’ve read numerous articles saying it’s terrible to workout first thing in the morning without eating… and then I’ve read numerous others saying this is a great thing to do. I honestly do it because it works for me and for my body. Still, if given the option (aka a wake-up time after 7 a.m.), I definitely prefer a light snack about 90 minutes before my workout.

Here’s some advice from FitSugar.com about the subject that I thought was pretty decent:

“Your car won’t run without fuel, so why should you? About 30 to 90 minutes before hitting the gym, make sure to eat an easily digestible snack that’s 40 to 100 grams of carbs with a low amount of fat. It’s a good idea to keep the fiber content to a minimum since high fiber foods can be difficult to digest. Toast with nut butter, a banana, cheese with a couple crackers, or yogurt are great pre-workout choices. Definitely don’t chow down right before your workout as that can result in tummy issues as well.”

$10 Gift Card to Bahama Breeze

You know I love a good coupon!

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Also, clap your hands for this restaurant for actually posting their nutritional information online. Loooove it when restaurants do that!

First Dance

Over the weekend Ryan and I were talking about popular “first dance” songs at weddings.

Dance, Dance

This made me curious as to what the top ten most popular first dance songs actually are, so I did some Googling and found this list on AOLRadioBlog.com:

10. Bryan Adams – Everything I Do (I Do It For You)
9. Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight
8. Etta James – At Last
7. Rascal Flatts – Bless the Broken Road
6. Journey – Open Arms
5. Jim Brickman & Martina McBride – Valentine
4. Barbara Streisand – I Finally Found Someone
3. Aaron Neville & Linda Ronstadt – Don’t Know Much
2. Journey – Faithfully
1. The Righteous Brothers – Unchained Melody

If you’re married, what song did you dance your first dance to as bride and groom? If you’re not married, what song do you want to dance your first dance to at your wedding?

Ryan and I are planning on dancing our first dance as bride and groom to the song Everything by Michael Bublé. That man has the voice of an angel. 😀

Lunch

Today’s lunch was a total knock-off of the burrito bowl I love from Chipotle.

I combined a slew of veggies in a big bowl and topped it off with guacamole and fresh salsa.

Veggies

Guacamole + Salsa

My re-created burrito bowl contained:

• Lettuce
• Broccoli
• Roasted cauliflower
• Portobello mushrooms
• Guacamole
• Salsa

All Shook Up

Yum!

I also enjoyed a freshly baked peanut butter and chocolate chunk Otis Spunkmeyer cookie. An office down the hall from mine makes these regularly and today they were callin’ my name. I could smell the peanut butter and chocolate and couldn’t resist. So tasty!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookie

My afternoon snack was a cup of yogurt pudding.

Pistachio Yogurt Pudding

I added a spoonful of Jello sugar-free pistachio instant pudding mix into a cup of Fage Greek yogurt to make my “pudding.” I don’t think I’ve ever tried pistachio puddingbefore and I loved the flavor.

Back to work… 😀

If It Ain’t Broke…

…Don’t fix it!

That was my motto today when creating my barley breakfast bowl.

Last week I enjoyed this combination so much, and I was tempted to try to make it new and fresh today. Instead, I decided to stick with a good thing and make the breakfast bowl exactly the same.

Strawberry Barley Breakfast Bowl

Last night I cooked up a batch of pearled barley and scooped several large spoonfuls of the chilled barley into my breakfast bowl to serve as my base. I then topped it with Greek yogurt and frozen strawberries that I let thaw in the fridge over night.

Sweet Strawberries

Once again the combination was delicious. I think this may be one of my favorite breakfast creations.

Workout

I wasn’t feeling creative in the gym today at all. These kind of days make me so thankful for group exercise classes. They do the thinking for you!

I took a BodyPump class and topped it off with 25 minutes of light cardio on the elliptical.

The Return of the Loop

Hooray for temperate weather! Sadie and I enjoyed a wonderful 40-minute walk around the lake this morning. I’ve been cutting her walk time in half lately because of the cold weather, so I was so happy when I stepped outside and realized it was warm enough to tackle our typical 40 minute loop. Yay!

Does cold weather affect your daily routine? What changes do you make to your workouts or daily life activities when the weather is cold?