Sunshine and Spaghetti Squash

How flippin’ gorgeous is the weather in Central Florida!?

(For those of you not in Florida at the moment, it’s pretty fantastic!)

After changing into scrubby clothes and leashing up the pup, I was off to meet my friend Laurel for a walk in the sunshine!

My Little Love Muffin

We walked around a big lake near Laurel’s apartment for a little more than an hour. It was good to catch up with her and Sadie was happy to be part of girl’s time, too!

Dinner

After our walk, I came home and wanted a quick dinner because my tummy was grumblin’.

I really enjoyed my lunch today and was cravin’ more of the same for dinner.

I reheated a big bowl of spaghetti squash and topped it with broccoli, cauliflower, marinara sauce, Parmesan cheese and Morningstar Farms Grillers Recipe Crumbles.

MorningStar Farms Meal Starters Crumbles

Spaghetti Squash Dinner Bowl

Those fakie meat crumbles are pretty darn good! Even Ryan, a huge meat lover, said he doesn’t think he’d know they weren’t meat if I served them in a pasta “meat” sauce.

Dinner

Stirred Up

I love chowing down to BIG tasty and nutritious meal.

I’m off to finish up some laundry and enjoy a sweet treat. See ya in the a.m.!

Dear Planters,

Dear Planters,

Kindly include more than two pecans in your big jar of mixed nuts. Some of us out there adore pecans and were persuaded to purchase your jar of mixed nuts after seeing a picture of a pecan on the front of the packaging.

(Silly me to think this meant there would be a plethora of pecans throughout your jar of peanuts and almonds mixed nuts.)

Sincerely,

Julie

Pecan Lover

Actual Photo

Note the Pecan

In Other News…

I am now on TWITTER! Exciting stuff, huh!? Click here to follow me. 😀

Maybe you’ll be the 5th person. 😉

Wine or Bread

Work, work, work!

Today has been quite the busy day at the office! I usually have a lot of work to do, but it typically involves a lot of writing, which I love, so it doesn’t feel so daunting. Today, however, I am doing a lot of number crunching because I am putting together a quarterly review for my department. Phew!

Needless to say my mind and belly were ready for a break around lunchtime.

I was pretty pumped for my lunch today.

Last night as we were making dinner, I cooked spaghetti squash to use in my mid-day meal.

Spaghetti Squash Bowl

To the big bowl ‘o’ squash, I added zucchini, portobello mushrooms, cauliflower, marinara sauce and ricotta cheese (Yes, I am obsessed).

Hump Day Lunch

I stirred everything up and wolfed this down like it was cool.

Wine Vs. Bread

Yesterday I read a little excerpt on FitSugar.com that included diet dos and don’ts from the Countess LuAnn de Lesseps from the Real Housewives of New York (which I’ve never actually seen).

She offers this advice to party goers:

“If you eat the bread, skip the wine. If you drink the wine, skip the bread. It’s one or the other. I personally choose the wine.”

I choose to take the stance that you can enjoy both, but if I had to choose one – fresh, crusty bread or a glass of wine, I’d definitely pick the bread. I ❤ food (and carbs!).

However, if the bread was stale and nothin’ special, I’d go for a glass of Relax Riesling. Yum.

Now I ask you…

If you had to choose between wine or bread, which would you pick?

Impressed

Apparently you guys are well-versed in your ’90s Nickelodeon television shows because a lot of you knew exactly  where my t-shirt was from! 

LEGENDS OF THE HIDDEN TEMPLE!!! 

Go Blue Barracudas!

 

I must say, I am thoroughly impressed (and I’m sure Olmec would be as well). 

If you’re feeling a little in the dark, Legends of the Hidden Temple was a game show on Nickelodeon in the 1990s. It was pretty much the jam. 😀 

For all you Nickelodeon game show fans out there, of the following game shows on Nickelodeon, which was your favorite?   

• Legends of the Hidden Temple
• GUTS
• Figure it Out
• Double Dare

I must admit, I always wanted to be on GUTS. I needed  a piece of the Aggro Crag. 

Workout + Breakfast 

Today I hit the gym for BodyPump and actually got my spot in class! For some reason BodyPump has been packed for the past several weeks, so my coveted spot has been taken by the time I arrive. Not so today! Woop, woop! 

After zee ‘Pump, I did 25 minutes of light cardio on the ellitpical while reading the lastest issue of Clean Eating magazine. This may be one of my favorite magazines at the moment! 

Post workout, I was ready for breakfast. 

Pear + Strawberries

 

I am loving the ongoing sale on strawberries at the grocery store lately! I chopped up several large strawberries and a fresh pear to enjoy along with a cup of Chobani Greek yogurt. 

The pear in my mini fruit salad was deeelish. I am so picky with my pears and this one was perfectly ripe. 

Wednesday's Breakfast

 

I also downed a handful of peanuts, but that went undocumented, as does nearly every Peanut Butter Finger I enjoy. 😉 

Hope your Hump Day is off to a fantastic start! 

Go Blue Barracudas!

A New Failure

For a while there, Ryan and I were eating ravioli about once a week.

Monterey Pasta Company made our ravioli of choice. (Just FYI, the spinach ricotta and lobster ravioli are the best flavors.)

Unfortunately the pasta itself wasn’t whole wheat and I had a feeling there had to be a tasty whole wheat ravioli option out there.

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a bag of frozen 365 organic whole wheat spinach and cheese ravioli from Whole Foods, stuck it in our freezer and forgot about it.

When Ryan went to throw some ravioli in our cart at the grocery store this week, I stopped him and remembered the ravioli chillin’ in the freezer.

Tonight we put the whole wheat ravioli to the test…

We served it with cauliflower, mushrooms, zucchini, marinara sauce and Parmesan cheese.

Whole Wheat Ravioli

Mushrooms + Zucchini

I love lots o’ veggies with my pasta.

My Bowl

Dinn-ahhh

The verdict?

Mehhhh. We were both pretty disappointed in the ravioli. 😦

The whole wheat pasta had a funky flavor to it and overpowered the flavor of the spinach and cheese filling.

But have no fear, we still managed to clean our plates. 😉

T-Shirt Trivia

Now for some Tuesday night fun…

What does my t-shirt represent?

Where-Oh-Where Is My T-Shirt From?

 Answer to come in the morning!

(Oh and you will get 10 points if you answer this correctly. Points are good for bragging rights. 😀 )