Thursday, April 14, 2011

Spring For Summer!



Oh beautiful day! 

Today was the first day I felt it was truly spring.  Absolutely gorgeous! As I was driving with my windows down, my sunglasses on, and my sleeves rolled up, I suddenly got a burst of excitement for summer to come.  Summer is my favorite season hands down. 

I woke up and enjoyed the most comfortable run in my new finished basement.  I have to say, running on carpeted treadmill is sooooooo much nicer than running on hard cement floor.  It was like an extra layer of cushioning and the machine was so sturdy.  Since its on wheels, I noticed it moved a lot, especially when I got over 8.0 mph, then it would shake pretty bad.  Now with the carpet, it's smooth sailing and it stays put. 

Breakfast was cereal and just what I wanted after a good run. 

1/4 Cup Oatmeal Squares, 1/4 Cup Natures Path Multi Flakes, 1/4 Cup Barbara's Shredded Chex, Banana, Raspberries, Wheat Germ, 1/2 tsp. White Chocolate Wonderful, Almond Milk


Love in a bowl.

I was able to come home for lunch today and enjoyed the peace and quite without having the noise or hustle from workers coming through.

Lunch was a FANTASTIC salad that I had planned in my head all day….


Whenever I have leftover pizza, this is how I consume it.  I chop it up and add it to a salad.  Think of gourmet croutons. The salad was a bed of spinach, cucumber, tomato, avocado, capers and I sliced up a piece of leftover Amy's Roasted Veggie Pizza and drizzled it all with balsamic.


Half way through the salad, I suddenly remembered the one ingredient I was most excited about but forgot to add….


I'm in love with this hummus.  I can't help but eat it by the spoonful, it's that good!! Trust me.

I got home from work at a reasonable time today and decided to try another Body Rock Workout.  I wrote the moves down and completed the following:

Push Ups with Truck Jump x 30 reps
Cartwheel with Mountain Climbers -6 min
3 Jumping Lunges with front kick x 50 reps

I did alter the first move because I didn't quite understand what a Monkey Kick was so I turned that into a Truck Jump which I think may have been harder.  I was actually surprised I remembered how to do a cartwheel and forgot how much fun they are!  I think I'm going to start incorporating them into my workouts more often.

The whole thing took about 20 min and I followed this with 20 min on the ET.  I really liked this workout.  It's still odd not following an instructor but I think I may be getting use to it.

After all of that, dinner was on my mind….

I made the most wonderful pasta dish tonight.

Whole Wheat Gnocchi with Roasted Garlic Tomato White Wine Sauce and Roasted Broccoli

This was actually a cinch to put together.  I started by boiling whole wheat gnocchi until done.  Then I created the sauce by halving about a cup of cherry tomatoes.  I heated a tsp of EVOO in a pan and adding chopped garlic and the tomatoes as well as salt, pepper, and dried basil.  After the tomatoes cooked down (about 10 min) I added around 1/3 cup of white wine and let the sauce reduce.  For added creaminess, I melted in a Sundried Tomato Laughing Cow Cheese Wedge which seemed to bring the sauce to a perfect creamy texture.  Then I added the gnocchi and tossed this all together. 

I served my pasta with Roasted Broccoli on a bed of spinach and topped the hot gnocchi with capers and a pinch of feta. Also had a slice of Whole Wheat bread with more Sundried Tomato Hummus. 

Toly's bowl had a nice piece of grilled chicken added. 



What a great easy dinner.  I think it took me 15 min from start to finish.  

I've got an exciting post coming up shortly so stay tuned!! 

And I'm planning to do the house tour this weekend. 

So many fun things are on their way at Say What You Need To Say! :) 

Photobucket