Where's the Beach?

Eat Your Veggies Salad I'll start with something lighter before moving on to the nitty gritty. Last night I decided to roast up the beets and butternut squash I had on hand. I had originally wanted to use the beets to try to recreate a salad I had out, but decided I wanted to do more of a roasted veggie salad. What ended up happening was a concoction of roasted beets and butternut squash with wheat berries (was going to us quinoa but was out), chickpeas, spinach, Honeycrisp apple, feta, and an orange vinaigrette. The vinaigrette started off with orange juice, rice wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, agave, salt, pepper, olive oil. Jason took over and added in minced shallots, Dijon mustard, garlic powder. The apples did take it more towards a warmer weather dish, but the veggies were still warm as were the wheat berries. I did like how the apples added both crunch and a hint of sweetness to help offset the earthiness of the beets. I am glad I went with the wheat berries. ...

Elliptical & Kettlebells Today was another oddly warm day - 80 degrees in March. Rather than hit the gym at lunch, I had to make a quick trip to Target. It was nice being outside even if it was just a quick errand spent mostly in the car. The sunshine definitely helped my mood. I won't harp on it; I feel like it's becoming redundant. But I really had no motivation for the gym. It just felt too nice outside to be stuck indoors. Thank goodness my gym does have a nice view. That helps some. But my PT wants me to lay off spin for now, so that really only leaves me with the elliptical, weights, and the kettlebell tabata that I've been doing (low-impact). In other words, it's kind of hard to get excited about doing something not terribly exciting. I can definitely understand why people stop working out if they aren't doing something they really enjoy. On a positive note, I did pick up some new magazines while at Target. I've gone through A LOT of magazines si...

Spinning Again Days like this make me wish I could work outside somehow. It was another gorgeous, sunny, warm day. So hard to be inside when the weather is so unseasonably nice. I think companies should provide laptops and wifi so we can all sit outside. Anyone else with me on that? While I couldn't be working outside or running outside, I at least got to enjoy the scenery during spin class. I am definitely spoiled by the views from my gym - 29th floor, all windows, looking out over the city, the river, Pinnacle Mountain. I can even see my running trail from the gym. So I often sort of day dream during class, pretend I'm riding that trail rather than spinning in place. I was really feeling sluggish today to be honest. But I got in there and got it done at least. Pat on the back for that on a Monday right? Too Warm for Winter Meals With the temperatures being so much warmer than typical for this time of year (hello 70 degrees), the usual winter meals like chili, soup, ...

Pyramid Workouts Today I managed to get myself out of bed for another morning workout. It was easier since Jason was already getting up at 5 am for swim. Today's workout was kind of tough though. I started with the warm up from Shock Cardio HiiT Pyramid , did Pyramid Upper/Lower (sans DVD), and finished with the HIIT. Since the Pyramid Upper/Lower workout was pyramid up only (12, 10, 8), I went up with my starting weight. This was a very good decision for me as I pushed myself to near failure for most exercises. The premise of the pyramid up is that you start with the lightest weight for 12 reps, increase weight for 10 reps, heaviest weight for 8 reps. Here are the exercises I did. Lower body only had one superset, upper was all supersets with one tri-set. Quads - Squats into Plie Squats Quads - Leg Press Chest - Chest Flye into Chest Press Back - Dumbbell Pullover into Double-Arm Rows Quads - Leg Press (again) Quads - Static Lunges Shoulders - Rear Delt Fly into Lateral Raise i...

The Monday Blues I'm having some serious Monday Blues today. I think part of it is the lack of sleep from last weekend and then the lack of sunshine. I keep beating myself up for not being as productive as I envision myself to be. However, I still managed to get a lot of pre-made dinners completed. I guess it's just a matter of defining productive. Productive as in chores (dusting, mopping, laundry), productive as in completing kick-butt workouts, or productive as in getting 2 types of veggie burgers made, ciabatta bread, and then dinner. How do you define being productive? Making (HI)it Happen While I was awake this morning in plenty of time to get my workout done, I didn't. I had everything set up, but it just wasn't going to happen. I slept fitfully in the early morning hours. Just not able to get comfortable. I think I need to go pillow shopping. Also, I was dreading the weights today to be honest. You'll see why when you read the sets/reps pattern. I was feel...

Sleeping in on Sunday Today I allowed myself to sleep in until 9:15! I usually feel really guilty when I sleep in past 8 am, but this past week was a long, sleepless one for me. I really needed the extra zzzz's. I opted for Cathe's Cardio Fusion today then a stability ball abs workout.  Sunday in the Kitchen Today we had to run a few errands, the ones we put off yesterday. I knew we should have finished them yesterday as it rained today. I guess we got what we deserved! After the errands, I spent much of the afternoon in the kitchen making a huge culinary mess. I baked Ciabatta bread, made some Eggplant Patties (with a few tweaks), and tried a new recipe for Black Bean Beet Burgers . This recipe is apparently based on some apparently amazing veggie burgers found at Northstar Cafe in Columbus, Ohio. I had originally read about them from The Healthy Hostess who also tried out the recipe recently. I actually made quite a few adjustments to the recipe. For the original, please...

Jason and I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day. No gifts, cards, or chocolates. Instead, we prefer to enjoy a really nice meal. Sometimes we splurge and eat out. But, since we had the Branson trip, we opted to eat in. I also vowed to stay off line, hence the delayed post.  I had been wanting to try beets. Until this weekend at Ruby Tuesdays, I had never tried them. I thought they'd be perfect for a Valentine's dinner. I looked through lots of recipes and came up with my own version of Balsamic Beet Ravioli with Cannellini Puree . I served the "ravioli" over pureed cannellinni beans with balsamic reduction with smashed sweet potatoes and green beans sauteed with red onion, red bell pepper, portobellos, and garlic. Balsamic Beet Ravioli with Cannellini Puree Ingredients: Prepared Sun dried tomato nut cheeze Beets sliced thinly  1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained 1/8 - 1/4 cup rice milk Sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, and grated nutmeg to taste Ba...