Pumpkin Enchiladas

Today’s evening activities started with puppy play time followed by a 2.5 mile walk with Sadie.

Don’t even think about it…

Just tryyyy to take it…

It was hot outside but not Sahara-hot, so we were able to enjoy our walk around the lake near our apartment without sweating too much.

Victory!

Dinner

When we arrived back at our apartment, I got to work in the kitchen.

On the menu this evening: Pumpkin enchiladas.

Using a recipe I found on Janetha’s blog, I began making the enchiladas by chopping up an onion. I proceeded to break down in tears because onions always make me cry.

Usually onion chopping is Ryan’s job, but he was in the shower and I needed a chopped onion STAT!

Once the onion was sautéing in the pan, my tears subsided and I was able to continue with the recipe.

Janetha’s recipe called for turkey, but I substituted the meat for kidney beans.

I prepped a 9×9 pan and filled whole wheat tortillas with the pumpkin and bean mixture.

After placing the enchiladas in the pan and topping them with the pumpkiny filling, I sprinkled them with cheese and baked them for about 10 minutes, until the cheese melted.

The result was a flavorful, healthy, veggie-packed enchilada.

 

When I first told Ryan that pumpkin enchiladas were on the menu for dinner this evening, he seemed a little skeptical. I think he previously associated pumpkin with sweet treats like his favorite pumpkin spice cookies and didn’t realize it could be prepared in a savory way as well.

After asking his opinion on tonight’s dish, he replied, “They tasted like real enchiladas!” He also said he’d gladly eat them again, which is a good sign.

Oh how I love healthified Mexican food! 😀

Pumpkin Enchiladas (adapted from Janetha’s recipe)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• One 10 oz can of red enchilada sauce
• 1 can pure pumpkin (about 2 1/2 c.) 
• 1 c. black or kidney beans
• Large bunch of cilantro, chopped
• 1 1/2 tbsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese
• 5 ounces 0% greek yogurt
• 3 large whole wheat tortillas

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Sauté onion and garlic in a pan sprayed with cooking spray
• Stir in enchilada sauce
• Add pumpkin and stir until combined
• Add cilantro, cumin and chili powder
• Spread a light layer of sauce on the bottom of an 8×8 or 9×9 pan
• Fill tortillas with an even amount of sauce and beans
• Roll tortillas and place in the pan with the folded edges facing down to keep them closed
• Top with remaining sauce and sprinkle with cheese
• Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese melts
• Serve with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt or sour cream if desired

Well That’s Never Happened Before…

This morning I woke up and changed into my workout clothes.

Before we walked to the gym, I tried to convince Ryan to take the day off  and instead take Sadie on a long walk with me. He said he knew he wouldn’t workout this weekend (we’re heading to my parents’ house for Father’s Day), so I hung my head and followed him to the gym.

My body felt tired. I decided not to take my usual 5:45 a.m. BodyPump class. Instead, I hopped on a stationary bike for 10 minutes before finding Ryan to tell him I was heading home.

I’ve never left the gym after only 10 minutes. Usually if I can get myself dressed and get myself there, a workout will occur. Not today.

But you know what? That’s okay.

My body felt tired and I wanted to give it a break so I have adequate energy for my eight-mile run tomorrow.

I am considering taking a yoga class on my lunch break, but if that doesn’t happen, that’s a-okay.

Breakfast

When Ryan was done with his workout, he joined me on a 20-minute walk with Sadie before breakfast.

Last night I prepped a pumpkin yogurt bowl to enjoy this morning and knowing that a delicious breakfast was waiting for me when I got home made me want to walk a little faster. 

My breakfast bowl contained:

• 1 c. Chobani plain yogurt
• 1/4 c. Old fashioned oats
• 1/2 c. Canned pumpkin
• Large squirt of honey
• Pumpkin pie spice

Oats

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Since I prepped this last night, the oats had time to soak in the yogurt and pumpkin mixture and took on a soft, pillowy texture that added some extra pizzaz to an otherwise smooth and creamy concoction.

Pumpkin Yogurt Bowl

Sprinkled with Spice

Cold and tasty on a hot and muggy day!

Side Note

While sitting in our backyard typing this post, I’ve been attacked by five mosquitos. Leave me alone you bloodsuckers!

Questions of the Day

• Do you ever skip a workout you have planned? How do you feel about it?

To be honest, exercise guilt is something I personally struggle with. I love working out and don’t feel bad about taking a day or two off on the weekend, but taking a day off during the week makes me feel a little anxious… like I’m not doing something I should be.

I’m trying to abandon this mentality, as demonstrated by my actions this morning. If my body wants (and needs!) a rest, I should honor that without feeling guilty. It’s not like one missed workout will negate all of my fitness and healthy living efforts… in fact, it might even do the opposite.

• Do you struggle with exercise guilt?

Extra Credit

As Ryan and I were walking to the gym this morning at 5:40 a.m. (which was really like 4:40 a.m.), I said that I think that anyone who goes to the gym the morning after the time changes deserves extra credit.

Ryan said he’d give me a gold star. 🙂 So, for those of you who got your booties out of bed and to the gym this morning, here you go:

For You!

See, wasn’t it totally worth it? 😉

Workout

When I got to the gym, I was really in the mood for BodyPump since it was early and I didn’t feel like putting myself through a quality workout. Unfortunately the instructor overslept, so the class never happened. 😦

Luckily, after joking around with other gym-goers, I felt much more awake and managed to get a decent workout.

Today I did 25 minutes of light cardio on the elliptical before completing a total-body weights routine that looked like this:

(3 sets of 15 reps of each)

• Leg extensions
• Leg press
• Deadlifts
• Hamstring curls on exercise ball
• Shoulder raises
• Bicep curls
• Tricep dips
• Abs

I hauled my booty home to take Sadie on a 20 minute walk before showering and heading off to my orthodontist’s office for an early morning Invisalign appointment.

Reppin' College Park Orthodontics Promo Mug!

I technically only have three aligners remaining. I wear each Invisalign aligner for two weeks, but we’re extending my time with my current aligner to make sure my teeth aren’t pushed too quickly. Slow and steady wins the race (Just ask the tortoise)!

Breakfast

Breakfast today was a blended success!

I used my immersion blender to blend 1/4 cup of cottage cheese and 1/2 cup of canned pumpkin with a little bit of  sweetener, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon to make a pumpkiny dip for a toasted waffle.

Cottage Cheese, Pumpkin, Spices

Blllllended

Toasted Waffle for Dippin'

The combination was yum-may!

Action Shot

Even though I look like death in the following pictures, I wanted to share some action photos with you from Saturday’s 10k race that a friend took!

Intense, Huh?

Sadie can’t be the only one with action photos on this blog!

Annnnd if you’re like me and severely neglect blogs over the weekend, here are some weekend highlights for ya:

• 10k Race
• Bowl-a-Thon + Date Night
• Pumpkin Protein Oats
• Shopping!
• Dog Park

SHOES!

It took me months and multiple appointments at a handful of bridal boutiques to find the dress, but approximately 1.5 seconds to find the perfect wedding shoes.

Badgley Mischka Beauties

(This picture is currently my desktop background. Don’t judge. 😉 )

I saw these gorgeous Badgley Mischka shoes in a bridal magazine this past weekend and fell in love.

The soft pink color and gorgeous floral detail calls to me!

My biggest concern: the height. I am used to wearing very high heels, but these are five-inch babies. Plus, the teeny heel might throw off my balance and I don’t want to be the victim of a wedding day wipe out.

Since I’ve only seen these shoes online and in a magazine, I must find them somewhere to try them on and see if I can stand the sky-high height and itty-bitty heel…

If you’re married, what did your wedding day shoes look like? If you’re not married, what do your dream wedding day shoes look like?

I love shoes and don’t see myself wearing traditional wedding day white shoes. I want something with a little more pizazz!

Foodie Photos

Since wedding talk has all but taken over the blog today, let me get back to basics with some foodie photos!

Breakfast:

For breakfast, I toasted an Eggo NutriGrain waffle and dipped it in a mixture of cottage cheese, pumpkin, sweetener and pumpkin pie spice.

Thursday's Breakfast

Pumpkin Goodness

Toasted Waffle

Snack:

'Dilla

This is my go-to snack. I think I eat a microwavable quesadilla at least five times a week.

What’s your go-to snack?

Today’s dilla featured a Joseph’s whole wheat tortilla topped with a Colby jack string cheese stick. Before folding the tortilla over, I microwaved it with the cheese on top until the cheese melted and I could spread it out evenly. Mo’ cheese fo’ me!

Hot Mess

After my morning workout I was a hot mess!

Phew!

I guess interval training will do that to ya.

I initially planned to go to spinning, but a new teacher took over the 6 a.m. time slot and he’s not my cup of tea. You can tell he’s the kinda guy who thinks he’s pretty nifty and he doesn’t ride the bike at all. He opts to do weird dance moves beside the bike (you know, the kind where you don’t move your feet?). It’s like Club YMCA and is not something I care to partake in as my first activity of the day.

In your opinion, what makes a good fitness instructor?

To me, good fitness instructors are positive, encouraging and play upbeat music. (For you Biggest Loser fans out there, I am much more of a Bob lover than a Jillian fan.)

Since spinning was out, I opted to take myself through an interval workout that I saw on Jessica’s blog a couple of months ago. I keep print outs of about five different cardio workouts in my gym bag as a fall back plan for when I’m not feeling creative. The 20-minute interval workout called to me today.

Workout

• 5 min. incline walking warm up (7.5 incline, 4.2 pace)
• 20 min. intervals (2.0 incline, 20 seconds at 9.0 pace, followed by 40 sec. at 4.5 pace… repeat for 20 min.)
• 5 min. incline walking cool down (7.5 incline, 4.2 pace)
• 20 min. elliptical

By the time the 20 minutes of intervals were over I was sweaty! I still wanted to read the latest US Weekly since I couldn’t read it while running, and opted to finish my workout with 20 minutes of light cardio on the elliptical while taking in my celebrity gossip.

Breakfast

Along with the tasty BBQ chicken pizza from last night’s dinner that I took from my parents’ house, I also nabbed a box of Eggo NutriGrain waffles and toasted one up this morning.

Leggo My Eggo

Toasty

I dipped it into a mixture of 1/2 c. cottage cheese, 1/2 c. organic pumpkin, sweetener and pumpkin pie spice.

Organic Pumpkin

Cottage Cheese Pumpkin Dip

It was quite the yummy breakfast.

Save the Date Help

Thank you to all of you who weighed in on my save the date question. It sounds like sending them out 6-9 months in advance is a good amount of time. We’ll probably send them out sooner rather than later. Time is flyin’!