Ravioli-Ohs!

Remember that Cheerio’s jingle… “The one and only Cheerios… Oh! Oh! Oh!”

Well, I have that song in my head, but I’ve subbed out the word “Cheerios” for “Ravioli-ohs.”

“The one and only ravioli-ohs… Oh! Oh! Oh!” Weird, I know, but I can’t get it outta my headdd!

I blame tonight’s dinner: Ravioli! (I bet you didn’t see that coming… 😉 )

As usual, Ryan and I grabbed a big ol’ pack of Monterey Pasta Company ravioli at the grocery store on Sunday. Since we enjoyed my favorite flavor last week (lobster ravioli), Ryan got to pick his favorite, spinach ricotta ravioli, for us to enjoy tonight.

Boilin' Ravioli

I topped my pasta poofs with broccoli, portobello mushrooms and roasted asparagus before pouring Classico four cheese marinara sauce on top and sprinkling the pasta and veggies with Parmesan cheese.

Classico Four Cheese Marinara Sauce

This was my first time trying this pasta sauce and it is definitely a new favorite! YUM.

Ravioli + Veggies + Sauce + Cheese

Stirred Up

Such a satisfying dinner!

Dessert

Tonight was a dessert kind of night!

Ryan and I enjoyed Dove vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce.

Dove Beyond Vanilla Ice Cream

Cold 'n' Creamy

AMA Round Eleven

Thank you to all of you who submitted Ask Me Anything questions.

Tomorrow will be my last Ask Me Anything question post, so please click here to submit an anonymous question if you still have something on your mind! 🙂

Do you use a food scale? If so, what kind and how often do you use it?

Yes, I do. I use it a lot because I hate dirtying measuring cups and find it easier to use the scale in most cases. I use my food scale when portioning out oatmeal or other foods that come out of a box. I use a WeighMax scale like this one.

What’s your favorite cardio machine to use?

My answer to this question totally depends on my mood. I probably use the elliptical the most, since I use it on both cardio-only days and days I do strength training for a bit of light cardio at the end of my workouts. I feel like I get the best workout when I run intervals on the treadmill. The stair master really gets my heart rate up! If I could own one cardio machine, I would pick the elliptical.

Your meals and snacks appear to be very low calorie for your activity level (less than 200 calories), especially around your workouts.  Have you ever considered upping your intake or are you just not that hungry after workouts?

I’ve done a lot of adjusting to figure out what meals and amounts of food best fuel my body and make me feel the most satisfied. I definitely eat more calories as the day goes on. I used to force myself to eat a larger breakfast, but I’d find myself just as hungry at dinner time and I’d continually eat larger amounts throughout the day. I like keeping my breakfast light, my lunch a bit bigger and my dinner as my largest meal of the day. I know some people feel famished after a workout or really crave a big breakfast, but I find that many times exercise actually diminishes my hunger level and I have to make myself eat right after a workout. I am generally hungry about an hour after any given workout.

Do you add anything to your coffee and tea, or drink them plain?

I drink my tea plain and my coffee with a little bit of Splenda.

Leftovers for Lunch

Lunch today was leftovers from last night’s turkey taco dinner.

Instead of eating tacos again, I used the turkey taco meat in a big salad with salsa and sweet corn.

Taco Salad

All Shook Up

Morning Snack

For my morning snack I enjoyed a protein bar that I took from my parents’ house.

Atkins Protein Bar

The Atkins Advantage caramel double chocolate crunch bar is my absolute favorite protein bar. I don’t eat them very often and I don’t understand half of the ingredients, but they are rich and delicious.

Attune Chocolate Probiotic Wellness Bar Giveaway

If you haven’t already, be sure to enter my Attune chocolate bar giveaway for a chance to win a 14-day supply of these delicious chocolate bars. Click here to enter!

Free Bottle of Vitamin Water

Click here to become a fan of Vitamin Water on Facebook and receive a free bottle.

Bearpaw Boots for $30

Do you love Uggs, but hate the hefty price tag? Amazon.com has three different Bearpaw boots (which look a lot like Uggs!) on sale for $30! Not a bad deal!

Bearpaw Boots

Click here to check ’em out.

AMA Round Ten

What were your dream jobs when you were a kid?

When I was a kid I really wanted to be a dolphin trainer. In high school I wanted to be a weather girl and then a news anchor. I started college as an education major with the intent to graduate and teach high school English… and now I’m a writer!

Do you drink pop?

I love that you called soda “pop” because I had to train myself to call it soda when I moved to Florida from Illinois. 🙂 I do not drink soda regularly. When I was little we never had it in our house and weren’t allowed to order it at restaurants unless it was a special occasion. I will occasionally drink a diet soda when I’m in the mood for something sweet and carbonated, but I typically stick to water, tea and coffee as my beverages of choice.

Are you allergic to eggs? You never eat them!

No, I am not allergic to eggs. I thought I posted about them a lot, but I guess not! I typically eat eggs several times a week. 🙂 I had eggs on Saturday and have enjoyed them numerous times on this blog. I actually dedicated an entire post to my love of dippy eggs which may be seen here.

Self Secrets

Are there little things you do that make you smile to yourself?

I feel like I do the most random little things that are like little “self secrets” that no one else knows about, but they make me smile.

Today my “self secret” is that I am wearing festive Valentine’s Day heart socks under my professional work attire.

Silly Socks

Silly and stupid, I know, but it makes me smile! 🙂

Workout + Breakfast

Today when the alarm went off at 5:30 a.m., Ryan rolled over and said “Wanna sleep ’til 6:30?” Yes, please!

Since it was raining outside today, I knew I’d have time to spare in the morning since Sadie is a princess and doesn’t like to walk for too long in the rain, so I jumped at the chance to enjoy an extra hour of sleep.

My workout today was a lazy lady’s workout… I hopped from machine to machine:

• 15 min. stair master
• 25 min. adaptive motion trainer
• 15 min. elliptical

I followed my cardio session with five minutes of lying on the gym mats stretching.

Breakfast came together quickly and hit the spot. I was in the mood for cereal!

Tuesday's Breakfast

Fage Greek yogurt + Kay’s Naturals honey almond protein cereal = yummy!

AMA Round Nine

Phew! NINE rounds of Ask Me Anything questions… holy guacamole. 🙂

As I said before, I will be ending Ask Me Anything tomorrow, so if there’s somethin’ on your mind that you’d like to ask, please click here to submit an anonymous question.

What kind of camera do you use to take pictures for your blog?  Do you have two different cameras; one for blog pictures and one for every day things?

I do have two different cameras, but I greatly prefer my “big” camera. I use my Nikon D3000 whenever I can, which is typically at dinner, on the weekends and during trips to the dog park. This camera is awesome and I still have so much to learn about how to use it to its full potential.

I use my little crapper Canon PowerShot SD630 for pictures I take at work, which are often my breakfast and lunch pictures during the week. I also use this camera in social settings or when we go out to eat because it’s much more portable. I am not a huge fan of this camera, but it does the job. 🙂

How do co-workers and strangers react when they see you taking pictures of food? I’m sure you’ve gotten a lot of interesting reactions!

I usually have to follow any food photographs up with an explanation that I have a blog and post pictures of my meals. Most people are pretty intrigued by it and have a lot of questions. Ryan calls me his little tourist when we go out to eat because I snap pictures of everything and we definitely get some strange looks (especially at The Capital Grille on Valentine’s Day when my flash kept going off in the middle of the dimly-lit restaurant).

What is your typical day like during the week?  You seem to get so much accomplished in your days.  How do you find time for Ryan and friends?

I actually did a post about my morning routine, which you may find here. After that, I am at work until around 5:15 p.m. When I arrive home, Ryan and I always do something active with Sadie for about and hour, whether it be taking her on a long walk or to the dog park. We typically make dinner around 6:30 and eat a little before 7 p.m. After dinner, I blog while Ryan reads ESPN.com. The rest of the night is dedicated to checking random things off our “to do” lists or “couple time,” and we try to be in bed by 9:15 p.m. so we’re asleep by 10 p.m. every night. This is just a typical week day, and obviously plans come up frequently so we’ll adjust accordingly.

How did you get your job?  I’m looking for a career change and would love to be involved with writing in some way, but am not sure how to go about it.

I love my job and if you have even the slightest interest in writing, I definitely encourage you to pursue a career in the field because it’s challenging, rewarding and you learn something new every single day. Before I had this job, I worked as the marking manager for UCF’s dining program and hated it. I was truly miserable and was desperate for a different job. I spent a lot of time on the typical job posting Web sites and ended up finding my job on craigslist.com. This is shocking since craigslist is filled with scams and illegitimate jobs, but fortunately I found a good one! Phew!

What is your favorite meal of the day?

Breakfast! I think that’s why I eat breakfast for dinner at least one night a week. 🙂 (If dessert counts as a meal, I’d like to change my answer.)

Who was your favorite character on Friends?

Ross, without a doubt. I think he is hysterical and so adorable. Plus, I have a soft spot for smart, nerdy guys. (Don’t worry, Ryan, you’re not a nerd, but I think we can both agree we’re pretty big dorks together!)

How many calories on average do you eat?

I answered the calorie and weight question here.

How did you feel when your body started changing at puberty? I’m having a hard time dealing with gaining weight (especially my hips and thighs)!

You are not alone!!! I think that gaining weight and having hips all of the sudden is definitely something women struggle with, but it is an important part of becoming a woman. When you’re not a little girl anymore it’s unrealistic to think we’ll always have the body we had when we were a freshman in high school. I still struggle with embracing my hips, but I’m sure you will find that there are a lot of people out there who love the look of a curvaceous body (It’s just hard to convince yourself to be one of them!). I only wish my chest would’ve decided to “gain some weight” when I hit puberty as well… 😉

I notice none of your meals have cottage cheese(unless I just missed it)… Which is a staple for me—Is it that you just don’t like it or is there something bad about cottage cheese? I know the sodium can be a minus, but I thought I’d ask.

I actually love cottage cheese! I guess I just haven’t been using it a lot lately! (Click here, here, here, and here for some past cottage cheese posts.) As far as the sodium in cottage cheese, I try to buy cottage cheese with no salt added if I am using it as a mix in with other foods (Warning: Alone this stuff tastes terrible!).

Did you know Vienna from The Bachelor? I heard she was a KD at UCF!

That she was! 🙂 I did not know her though. I believe she came through rush two years after I graduated, though we’re only a year apart in age.