Skip to main content

Suntastic Saturday

Awesome Workout
This morning I woke to sunshine. Ah, how could it not be a good day??? It was my last day for the Total-Body Training rotation. My how time flies. I've really enjoyed this rotation and will definitely do it again. I started with the warm up from Shock Cardio Athletic Step, did the weights, then finished Athletic Step. It was a super good workout day for me. I just had fun with it today. Weights were supersets of sets of 12 reps increasing weights 1.25-2% over the previous week:

SS #1
Biceps - Zottoman Curls
Triceps - Lying DB Triceps Extensions

SS #2
Chest - Decline DB Press
Back - Double Arm DB Rows (this was supposed to have been underhand rows, oops)

SS #3
Step Ups
Upright Rows

Sunny Saturday
After the workout, Jason and I had grocery errands to run. Well, we made it as far as Whole Foods. The day was soooo gorgeous, sunshine, 60 degrees, that we decided on a late lunch at a restaurant with a patio. So the other groceries will just have to wait. Some things are far more important in my opinion, like enjoying a gorgeous day with my husband. 
After the patio lunch of a large garden salad (and two beers I happily admit to) I had to get started on the Vegetarian Paella that I'm taking over to a party for a good friend's birthday. The party theme is Paella Surprise Party 2010. However, it's not a surprise, friend's hubby liked the "ring" of the title. I offered to bring a veggie friendly version as there is one other vegetarian attending. I've never had paella before. I honestly don't know if I'll even like it or how this stacks up to others. Either way, it's a new recipe. I can't pass up making a new recipe!

Vegetarian Paella
Adapted from Vegetarian Times
Ingredients:
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch-long strips
1 medium green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch-long strips
14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes
15-oz. can vegetable broth
2 cups uncooked quick-cooking brown rice
1 tsp. saffron threads, dissolved in small amount of hot water
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
14-oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
dried parsley to taste
Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste
Dash of red pepper flakes

Directions:
In large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. 

Set aside half the red pepper strips for garnish. Add all remaining pepper strips to onion mixture and cook, stirring often, 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes (with liquid), broth, rice, saffron mixture, thyme and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 10 minutes.

Stir in artichoke hearts, chickpeas, peas, parsley, salt and black pepper and add a little water to moisten if needed. Cook, stirring, just until heated through, about 5 minutes.

Transfer paella to large, shallow serving dish and garnish with circle of reserved red pepper strips. 

Just as a note, I didn't use quick-cooking brown rice so this did take longer and more liquid. I also added in the chickpeas for protein. Another good option would have been seitan. 
Here are some teaser pics. I'll post the dished up paella and taste report tomorrow.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Comments

  1. Looks like a yummy recipe! I love chickpeas and red bell peppers!

    Did you already post pictures of the pizza from last night? :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glad you took time to have fun instead of getting your errands finished. Good for you!

    Your paella sounds good to me.

    Enjoy your party tonight,
    Alicia

    ReplyDelete
  3. paella looks great and glad you had a nice day!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ooh, I am bookmarking this recipe!! I LOVE paella, but haven't had it once since going veg!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey Carrie I love chickpeas too! No pizza pics - you can see last Sat post though.

    Alicia @ Vegan Epicurean sometimes errands just have to wait don't they!

    Averie @ Loves Veggies and Yoga and Alyson @ Nourished Fitness I think the paella pics I post today will make it look even more yummy!

    Anna @ Newlywed, Newly Veg let me know when you make it. I'd love to see what you do with it and your critique.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sometimes a "detour" during routine things like errands are a must-do, sounds like it was totally worth it too! I love those impromptu lunch dates with the hubby!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jessica @ eatdrinkbreathesweat you're totally right about impromptu dates. I didn't feel the least bit guilty!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Love in Photos

In honor of Valentine's Day - Love in Photos Husband Family and Furbabies Friends Even if you're not a fan of Valentine's Day - I hope you have a wonderful day and remember the loves in your life.

Workout Wednesday - Body Blaster Tabata

Happy Hump Day! I wanted to thank everyone for their comments on yesterday's post: Be Kinder to Your Body. Calories are Not the Enemy . It sounds like it resonated with many of you. Today I wanted to share a new workout with you. I've been working on interval workouts for some of my clients. I try to give them the most bang for their buck (time). I know that in an ideal world, we would all have time to do longer workouts. There would never be scheduling conflicts, sick husbands or kids, or sick us. In reality, workouts need to be effective and efficient. And they don't have to be lengthy to be effective and efficient either. There's no need to spend hours in a gym to get in a good workout. Interval workouts like HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) or tabata, or even interval running are great ways to get in a fantastic workout in a short amount of time and have many benefits. You can read more about Tabata workouts  here . The benefits of this type of work

Piriformis Update & Grilled Veggie Salad

New Piriformis Exercises Today wasn't too terrible for a Monday. Of course, I did leave a little early. That always helps huh ;-) I had another round of physical therapy today. My PT has been really researching piriformis syndrome and found an interesting article that discusses the use of McKenzie Exercises - typically used for back pain. I have started adding in low back extensions (one of the exercises) but now have a whole new list of exercises to add into my workout rotations. But, if it helps, I'll do it. I also asked her about dry needling (thanks Sarena ), which is sort of similar to acupuncture, but is more about trigger point and intramuscular stimulation. And I'm glad I asked because the timing is uncanny. One of the doctor's in the clinic happens to be going to get certified this weekend. They both believe that I am a prime candidate for the procedure. So we'll see how that goes. Kind of scared because I hate hate hate needles. Have any of you tr