Portobello Pizzas

Since Ryan had jury duty downtown today, when he got off in the late afternoon we were able to meet up for a super-speedy date at Mochi.

Mochi!!!

Looks like frozen yogurt Friday came a bit early!

I knew we had to go today because word on the street was that they had red velvet *my favorite* fro yo on tap today. Who could say no?

Ryan and I shared a small cup of a swirl of red velvet and cheesecake soft serve with rainbow sprinkles, naturally. 😉

I was still a little full from lunch, so when we were making our bowl I kept our portion on the smaller side. Since the bowl was polished off in approximately 2.5 seconds, I think I could’ve handled a little more. We are seriously ice cream machines.

I get my love for ice cream from my dad. The two of us can do some serious damage to a carton of chocolate marshmallow ice cream. (That flavor is hard to find, by the way). Ryan is the only other person I’ve met that can hold a candle to our ice cream-eating abilities. And that is why I’m marrying him. 😉

Dinner

At the farmer’s market on Sunday, I nabbed several fresh portobello mushroom caps. I wanted to use them before they got all slimy and gross in the fridge so I decided to get a little creative in the kitchen.

Gooey cheese and savory marinara sauce sounded like a great combination to me tonight, so I figured I could incorporate both of them into my evening meal in a personal portobello pizza.

I used the mushroom caps as the pizza crust, and let them bake at 350 for 8 minutes or so after spraying them lightly with cooking spray.

I then topped the caps with sauce, cheese and olives and threw them back in the oven until the cheese was melted and slightly browned.

Portobello Pizza

I paired the portobello pizzas with a side of roasted zucchini.

Zucc

All Together Now

Dessert

After dinner, Ryan, Ross and I were in the mood for something sweet, so I whipped up a batch of flourless peanut butter cookies for us to nibble on while watching Jeopardy!

Three Ingredients... That's It!

Guess who had which cookie?

R + J + R

Just FYI

I added a link on my Q & A page for those of you who would like to ask me a question but are feeling a little bashful about emailing me directly. I know I love learning more about you guys, though I sometimes feel a little shy asking the questions I have for ya!

The link on the Q & A page will take you to a form that you can fill out anonymously. I’ll try to address your questions in a comprehensive post once a month or so… That is if there’s anything you guys want to ask that you don’t already know about me. 🙂

For those of you who are new to the ol’ blog, I did a series of Ask Me Anything posts a couple of months ago (You know, when everyone else was doing it? I’m such a bandwagon-rider. 😉 )… Anyway, here are links to those posts:

• Round 1
• Round 2
• Round 3
• Round 4
• Round 5
• Round 6
• Round 7
• Round 8
• Round 9
• Round 10
• Round 11
• Round 12

Of course, if you’re hoping for a fast or personal response to any of your questions, email (pbfingers@gmail.com) is always the best way to go!

Flippin’ Freezing

Why are certain places always so cold?

I will admit that I am a person who feels chilly when the temperature dips below 75 degrees, but honestly it is unbelievably frigid in my office today.

As a perpetually cold person, here are the places I’ve found are always too cold:

• Office buildings
• Grocery stores
• Movie theaters
• Fancy restaurants
• Doctor’s offices

To ward off the office chill, I took a brief break outside to feel the warm sun on my skin.

While out and about I popped into Jimmy John’s to pick up a giant chocolate chunk cookie to share with two of my coworkers, because, as I tweeted earlier, today is a “cookie eatin’ kind of day.”

When I returned to my desk, it felt colder than ever! I immediately headed into the break room to make myself a hot tumbler of Mighty Leaf chocolate mint truffle tea.

Tea + Cookie

Hot tea works wonders on a cold body!

Lunch

Unfortunately I did not pack a hot lunch today to warm me from the inside, but I still managed to love every bite of my cold plate repeat.

Like last night’s dinner, I enjoyed BBQ chicken salad with freshly sliced green and red peppers on the side.

BBQ Chicken Salad + Melba Snacks

Christmas!

Wednesday's Lunch

I included several whole grain Melba Snacks in my lunch to dip in the chicken salad.

Whole Grain Melba Snacks

We had these little toastettes leftover from our BBQ on Saturday. Unfortunately, when they’re not topped with cheese, they are simply not good. 😦

I ate about half of them before my mouth wanted to shrivel up into a dehydrated cocoon. I have a feeling I would enjoy the white cheddar Melba Snacks flavor much more.

Aside from the dry toasties, this lunch was tasty!

Of Possible Interest

• 5 Tips to Restart Your Stalled Weight Loss by Bethenny Frankle (Health.com)
• Real Couples’ Secrets to Staying Married (RealSimple.com)

(Great quote from the above article: “Communication is a big part of our staying married all these years. But as I get older, not being able to hear so much plays a big part, too.” – Morgan Barokas, married to his wife Barbara for 54 years)

• 7 Guilt-Free Desserts (SouthernLiving.com)
• Buy One, Get One Free Starbucks Frappuccinos at Barnes and Noble (valid through May 24)

Question of the Afternoon

Are you always hot, always cold or just riiiiight?

Two Guys, Two Dogs & a Girl

Ryan and I had another buddy join us for our morning workout!

Our friend Ross and his dog Kona ended up staying the night last night. Ross is en route to Jacksonville, by way of Gainesville (where he’s a student at UF), to begin his summer internship for law school.

Ryan, Ross and I all woke up at 5:30 a.m. to hit the gym. Let me just say, Sadie and Kona were wiiide awake! We left the dogs to mouth and play while we got in a quick workout.

(For those of you who commented on Ross’ hotness last night, you should know that he’s single and in law school… and has one heck of a cute dog. 😀 You’ll be seeing more of him on this blog because he’s going to be one of the groomsmen in our wedding.)

Post-Workout Walk

After the gym, the three of us leashed up the puppies and headed out for a 40 minute walk.

A Feeble-Looking Sadie

The Men & Their Dogs

(I think both dogs were mid-shake when I snapped this pic.)

I really enjoyed the extra company on my morning walk! Usually it’s quality Julie ‘n’ Sadie time, so having Ryan and Ross along for the journey was a treat. (Ryan doesn’t typically join us on our morning walk because he goes into work early. He had a little extra time on his hands today because he has jury duty. Fun!)

Post-Walk Breakfast

After our walk and showering up for the day, I made us quite the happy breakfast.

Smile!

The banana and peanut butter combination alone is enough to make me smile, but when your food is literally smiling up at you, you know it’s  gonna be a good day.

PB & B

In the process of making our peanut butter and banana bagels, you know I indulged in a peanut butter finger.

Too Hard to Resist

For those of you who have asked in the past, Skippy Natural is typically my peanut butter of choice.

Not only is the ingredient list on this bad boy 100 percent understandable, this peanut butter actually tastes like the peanut butter you grew up eating. Plus, it’s much cheaper than a lot of the “gourmet” peanut butters.

Question of the Day

What is your peanut butter brand of choice?

Bird Brain

Let me preface this post by saying I’m no yogi (Yogini? Yoga master?).

In fact, I took the first yoga class I’ve ever actually enjoyed less than a month ago.

What made this particular class different? The instructor.

The class I loved was a power yoga class and the instructor did her best to offer modifications for those of us in the class who did not possess Cirque du Soleil-type flexibility.

She offered the modifications by giving suggestions, and didn’t make me feel inadequate for not having the ability to get into the positions some of the more experienced people in the class could easily hold for an extended period of time.

The instructor offered the modifications by saying things like, “Maybe today you’ll grab on to your big toe and extend your leg out in front of you (yeah right), or maybe you’ll simply cross  your leg over your knee and hold your balance (that’s more like it!).”

Aside from the amazing instructor, I loved the class because of the amazing stretch I felt through my hips when I held the pigeon pose.

Yoga Pose May

When I heard about Yoga Pose May, a blog-wide challenge featuring a new yoga pose daily (coordinated by Kate and Tina), I immediately signed up to cover the pigeon pose, since my love for the hip-releasing stretch was quickly blossoming.

A tutorial as to how to properly get into the pigeon pose may be found here.

For the visual learners out there, here’s a glimpse of the pigeon pose, Julie-style:

Cooo... Cooo....

Just kidding. 😉

Here’s a glimpse of the real pigeon pose:

Pigeon

(Note: It is extremely difficult to snap a picture of yourself in a yoga pose using the self timer on your camera. With only 10 seconds to get on the ground and get into the pose, I think I may have pulled my groin a good seven times trying to get this shot. And yes, that’s the best I could do. 😉 )

Happy yogaing! 😀