As Jessie Spano Would Say…

I’m all packed up and ready to head to my parents’ house in St. Pete for the weekend.

All Packed!

(Ah! I’m wearing shorts!)

Ryan, Sadie and I are packing in my car and heading south because we have a very important activity on the agenda for this evening…

OUR WEDDING FOOD TASTING!

As Jessie Spano would say, “I’m so excited! I’m so excited!” (Side note: Why is this the second time I’m referencing Jessie Spano on my blog in less than a month???)

I cannot explain to you how excited Ryan and I are for this event.

I know it’s common for most grooms to look forward to this activity and Ryan is no exception. The two of us are basically eating machines and have been asking about the cake tasting since we booked our venue back in November.

Tonight we finally get to try the food! This evening Ryan and I have plans with our mothers to attend our wedding food tasting at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club, where we’ll be getting married in less than two and a half months.

Tea Garden

(The above picture is of the Tea Garden, where our ceremony will be held. Our reception will be indoors in a ballroom.)

Prior to our tasting we were asked to select several items off the menu to sample, including four hors d’oeuvres (aka the hardest word to spell in the entire world), two appetizers, two salads, three entrees and three wedding cake flavors.

Tonight we will be trying the following items:

Hors d’oeuvres

• Beef and artichoke bruschetta, olive aioli
• Citrus shrimp, horseradish aioli
• Ricotta fritter, minted tomato sauce
• Port roasted duck, raspberry wonton

Appetizers

• Black pepper smoked shrimp, exotic fruit, avocado salad
• Pan seared lump crab cake, sweet corn puree, smoked bacon-tomato relish

Salads

• Baby greens with maple roasted pears, Point Reyes bleu cheese, spiced pecans & champagne vinaigrette (we’re asking for a different cheese in place of the bleu)
• Boston bibb with raspberries, brie fondant crostini & port vinaigrette

Entrees

• Herb roasted chicken breast & seared diver scallop with lemon orzo
• Grilled filet & seared sea bass, Parmesan spinach soufflé, pesto green beans, tomato ragout
• Grilled filet & butter poached lobster, spinach Gruyere soufflé, merlot demi

Cake

• Red velvet cake
• Two “surprise us” cakes

I’m pretty sure we’ll be calling in our second stomachs to get through these delicious dishes tonight!

Of Possible Interest

• Secrets to Successful Portion Control (WebMD.com)
• How to Properly Read a Nutrition Label (FitSugar.com)
• Bethenny Frankel’s Skinny Cocktail of the Month (Health.com)

Question of the Afternoon

What is the single best dish you’ve ever had at a wedding?

I had the most delicious gnocchi in the world at a wedding Ryan and I attended last May. It was fantastic!

An Almost Restless Workout

Ryan always leaves the gym super sweaty.

His strength training workouts are no joke. To me, they seem like a combination of cardio and strength training because he never stops moving. In between sets of one exercise, he does another less-intense exercise that typically only uses his body weight (such as crunches), so his heart rate never drops too low.

Though my workout today wasn’t nearly as fast-paced as Ryan’s, I did make an effort to not rest for more than 30 seconds between sets of each exercise. At first I thought this would be plenty of time, but those 30 seconds of recovery fly by!

My workout today looked like this:

Slam Jam Those Muscles!

I also did 10 minutes of cardio on the stair master to warm up and completed 10 minutes of cardio on the elliptical to cool down.

Post workout, I came home to shower and made a concerted effort to tone-down my Swamp Beast habits. (You guys should know I’ve come a long way in my Swamp Beastliness, though I still hop out of the shower right away because it’s grossss to linger. 😉 )

Breakfast

I was achin’ for some bacon for breakfast today and turned to the freezer to grab some Morningstar Farms veggie bacon to include in my morning meal.

Morningstar Farms Veggie Bacon Strips

I used the fakie bacon in a breakfast sandwich that I made with a wedge of Laughing Cow light Swiss cheese and an egg white.

Veggie Baconified Breakfast Sandwich

On the side I also enjoyed a cup of strawberry banana Chobani Greek yogurt.

Strawberry Banana Chobani

If you’re not so sure about the whole Greek yogurt thing, you should know that Ryan thinks plain Greek yogurt is gross, but loves this flavor. The strawberry banana Greek yogurt has officially replaced his typical plain strawberry yogurt.

I think he was swayed to convert to Greek yogurt when I showed him that a serving of the yogurt he was buying had almost 40 grams of sugar… more than a serving of ice cream (which is 10x more delicious… I’ll take my sugar consumption elsewhere, thankyouverymuch).

Tonight

Stay tuned for information about our plans tonight! I am beyond excited for what we have in store. I felt like it was Christmas Eve as we were going to bed last night… Okay, total lie, but I am pumped! 😀

Question of the Morning

What is your favorite sugar-laden food?

Do I really need to tell you mine? ICE CREAM!!!!!!