From Appetizers to Breakfast

My breakfast this morning was created using leftover appetizers from yesterday’s BBQ.

A coworker of mine gave me a recipe for an appetizer called buffalo chips, and the leftovers were perfect for including in an egg scramble.

To make the buffalo chips, I cooked a roll of sage sausage, a pound of lean ground beef and half a block of the medium size 2% Velveeta cheese in a skillet, before placing the meat mixture on whole wheat mini toasts and baking it at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the buffalo chips (especially the guys), and I used the leftover meat and cheese mixture to create an egg and sausage scramble for breakfast.

Breakfast Scramble

After reheating the meat in a skillet and scrambling two eggs, I topped the bowl with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese and flanked it with whole wheat toast.

Chedda is Betta

Sausage, Egg & Cheese Scrabble

Ryan really enjoyed this breakfast and said the sausage mix reminded him of the sausage meat inside a McDonald’s sausage breakfast burrito (He meant this as a compliment 😉 ).

Breakfast Bowl

Percy Jackson

This morning I also finished reading the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I thought it was a very entertaining book and once I got over the fact that it’s written in the perspective of a  12-year-old boy I really enjoyed it. It’s no Harry Potter, but I found it interesting enough to want to read the next book in the series!

I am trying to talk Ryan into seeing the movie today (He’s already finished the first three Percy Jackson books)! It’s playing at a nearby theater where you can see  movies for $2 that are out of the big theaters, but are not available on DVD yet.

Have any of you seen the Percy Jackson movie or read any of the books? What did you think?

I’m off to take Sadie on a walk to the farmer’s market to pick up some goods for the week! I hope they have some yummy samples! 😀

A Not-So-Intense Workout

This morning I woke up in the mood to stay in bed and read the first Percy Jackson book.

Percy Jackson

I knew I’d be kicking myself later if I didn’t get at least a semi-decent workout in, so I picked up my book and headed to the gym.

I told myself I could just take it easy on the stationary bike and read my book the whole time if I wanted to.

Of course, once I made it to the gym, I wanted to make my workout worthwhile, so I hopped from machine to machine and completed this cardio routine:

• 15 min. incline walking
• 20 min. elliptical
• 5 min. adaptive motion trainer
• 10 min. stationary bike

Magically I was able to read my book almost the entire time and nearly made it through 100 pages! (This should tell you something about the intensity of my workout though… 😉 )

Sometimes you need an easy-peasy workout!

Breakfast

When I was done with my workout, I came home and took Sadie on a short walk before fixin’ breakfast.

I really enjoyed the taste of Brie in my lunch yesterday and incorporated the yummy cheese into my morning meal to start the day off on a yummy note.

Melted Brie

I made a Brie and apple sandwich on a lightly toasted Nature’s Own whole wheat sandwich round using a perfectly ripe apple that I bought at The Fresh Market on Tuesday.

Brie + Apple

Ooey Gooey

Fruit and cheese are a match made in heaven.

Question of the Day

How do you get yourself to the gym on days when you’re just not feelin’ it?

Save the Date Pictures

After work our backyard became the site of an intense photo shoot!

Ryan and I went the do-it-yourself route and got friendly with the self timer on my camera to take some photos of us for our save the dates.

You’d think that after 6+ years together we would have a picture we could use already, but none of our current pictures seemed quite right. We needed a romantic picture without anyone or anything distracting in the background, which is much harder to come by than you might think.

Even though it was 90+ degrees outside, we took picture after picture and eventually found a winner!

Here are some of the pictures that didn’t make the cut, starting with the one I found the most hilarious:

Lots of Action

We had to throw toys for Sadie to make her run out of the pictures. Sometimes we didn’t make it in time. 😉

Cheeseballs

Gimme da Kisses!

And, for your viewing pleasure, the winning picture that will be featured in our save the dates:

The Winner

I love this one because Ryan turned his head to look at me like that at the last minute. We didn’t plan for that pose, but I love the way it turned out! I think he looks so cute!

Dinner

After sweating and smiling in the backyard, we were ready for dinner!

What to do when you’re hungry and want dinner fast? Pasta!

Monterey Pasta Company Lobster Ravioli

Ryan and I bought this ravioli (my favorite!) on sale at the grocery store on Sunday for buy one get one free! Gotta love that!

I actually also received a huge package from Monterey Pasta Company (Thank you, Rachel!) filled with a bunch of different pastas to try, but those will have to wait for another day since we had some of their fantastic lobster ravioli on hand already!

Big Box!

Apparently Moneterey Pasta Company got wind of my minor obsession with their ravioli.;)

The lobster ravioli cooked up in a flash.

Ravioli Poofs

I topped the pasta with roasted cauliflower and yellow squash before pouring marinara sauce on top of everything.

Veggies

Saucy

Ravioli Bowl

As always, this ravioli hit the spot! I love how they actually include real lobster in the ravioli poofs (I think it’s the second ingredient right after the actual pasta shell). YUM.

Dessert

Dessert tonight was super simple and super delicious!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I brought home a couple of cookies from work today and enjoyed two chocolate chips cookies after dinner.

I think I could give the cookie monster a run for his money… 😉

I’m off to watch the Magic game with Ryan while reading the first book in the Percy Jackson series. Any Percy Jackson fans out there?