New Pasta Pack

Since I basically passed out early last night and Ryan ordered us pizza for dinner, we didn’t make it to the grocery for our usual Sunday evening shopping trip.

Instead we headed out after work this evening to pick up the essentials.

As we passed the fresh pasta section, a new flavor of Monetery Pasta Company ravioli caught our eye.

Monterey Pasta Company Smoked Mozzarella and Artichoke Ravioli

While I boiled the pasta, I also steamed broccoli to include a lil’ more veggies in the mix.

Pasta Poofs

Along with the steamed broccoli, I topped the ravioli with marinara sauce and lots of Parmesan cheese.

Dinner

Dinner Time!

My Bowl

Overall we both liked the smoked mozzarella and artichoke flavor, though I think I enjoyed it more than Ryan did. The smoked flavor was really strong, but I found myself enjoying the bold flavor more and more with every bite.

Now I’m off to watch an episode of Girl Meets Gown that I DVRed. I love wedding TV! 🙂

I have a pretty big day ahead of me tomorrow… 😉

Go With What You Know

As usual, Ryan and I spent the first few hours after work entertaining Little Miss Sadie. We always do something active with her, whether it is a long walk or a trip to the dog park, so she can expend some of her never-ending energy.

Today we opted for a trip to the bark park, as Ryan calls it.

Loving Dog Park Time

Sadie had a ball and ran around like the mad dog she is!

Dinner

After watching Sadie burn all those calories, Ryan and I felt the need for some food! Wouldn’t it be nice if watching someone workout was an actual workout? 😉

On the menu for tonight: Monterey Pasta Company’s spinach ricotta ravioli.

A little less than a month ago Ryan and I attempted to veer from our beloved Monterey Pasta Company in favor of Whole Foods ravioli and experienced an extreme flavor failure. Tonight we stuck with our old stand by and enjoyed every last bite!

Ravioli Bowl

I guess sometimes it’s a good idea to go with what you know! 

I paired my ravioli with steamed broccoli for added veggies and volume. The addition of copious amounts of veggies to my pasta dishes really helps me feel satisfied on less pasta, which helps prevent the feeling of pasta belly bloat.

Of course everything was topped with marinara sauce and Parmesan cheese.

Ravioli + Cheese + Sauce

Veggiefied

Delish.

Wedding Planning

This weekend really thrust me into wedding planning mode. I seriously want to figure everything out now!

Today I made an appointment for Saturday to meet with a potential DJ. Also on my to-do list for this weekend is meeting with possible officiates and hammering down our save the dates. Once those decisions are made, I’ll feel much better!

New Addition

I added a “Wedding Planning” tab to the top of the blog with links to several of my wedding-related posts. Check it out if you’re interested!

A New Failure

For a while there, Ryan and I were eating ravioli about once a week.

Monterey Pasta Company made our ravioli of choice. (Just FYI, the spinach ricotta and lobster ravioli are the best flavors.)

Unfortunately the pasta itself wasn’t whole wheat and I had a feeling there had to be a tasty whole wheat ravioli option out there.

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a bag of frozen 365 organic whole wheat spinach and cheese ravioli from Whole Foods, stuck it in our freezer and forgot about it.

When Ryan went to throw some ravioli in our cart at the grocery store this week, I stopped him and remembered the ravioli chillin’ in the freezer.

Tonight we put the whole wheat ravioli to the test…

We served it with cauliflower, mushrooms, zucchini, marinara sauce and Parmesan cheese.

Whole Wheat Ravioli

Mushrooms + Zucchini

I love lots o’ veggies with my pasta.

My Bowl

Dinn-ahhh

The verdict?

Mehhhh. We were both pretty disappointed in the ravioli. 😦

The whole wheat pasta had a funky flavor to it and overpowered the flavor of the spinach and cheese filling.

But have no fear, we still managed to clean our plates. 😉

T-Shirt Trivia

Now for some Tuesday night fun…

What does my t-shirt represent?

Where-Oh-Where Is My T-Shirt From?

 Answer to come in the morning!

(Oh and you will get 10 points if you answer this correctly. Points are good for bragging rights. 😀 )

70s… Finally!

Ryan and I both had to work late, so our plans to drive to Winter Haven to look at scuba gear have been postponed until the weekend.

Luckily the sun is staying out a little longer, so we still had time to take Sadie on a long walk after work. The weather outside was gorgeous! The freezing cold seems to be gone (for now!) and we enjoyed 70-degree temperatures on our walk. I hope these temperatures stick around!

What’s the weather like where you are?

Dinner

When we got home, we cooked up ravioli with broccoli and portobello mushrooms for dinner.

Ravioli Bowl

 Of course I topped it with marinara sauce and Parmesan cheese.

Pasta + Veggies

Close Up!

Dessert

Dessert was quite simple, too!

Reese's Peanut Butter Chips

"C'mon, Mom! Shaaaare!"

A couple of handfuls of Reese’s peanut butter chips satisfied my sweet tooth.

I’m off to watch Friday Night Lights with Ryan and Sadie. Ryan discovered this show yesterday on Netflix when he was at home sick and he’s sucked in! I fear I may be next… 😉

Free Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee

I figured you coffee lovers out there might be interested in a free sample of Dunkin’ Donuts Dunkin’ Turbo coffee.

Click here to receive your free sample in the mail.

Free Yoplait Greek Yogurt + $1 Off Chocolate Cheerios

If you live in the Southeast near a Publix grocery store, click here to receive a coupon for a free cup of Yoplait Greek yogurt and $1 off chocolate Cheerios. Yum!

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.