Sunday, February 24, 2013

My new favorite snack


I'm kind of going through a blueberry thing right now...

 whole wheat bread with cream cheese and fresh blueberries

Another perfect snack.

Combine with a fitness class...I've been enjoying the PUMP classes to build up my arms and legs for spring!
 

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Mr. PT cooks again!

This time, I came home from a buddy workout of walking/bands to dinner on the table!  Wow!  Talk about royal treatment!


How does he do it?!

Well, he heats up canned black beans on the stove.  Then he chops up tomatoes, avocados, and cilantro.  Finally, he piles them on a warmed, corn tortilla with some cheese and salsa.

Sounds complicated, huh?

So simple, so delicious, so nutritious.  Momma and baby PT thank you from the bottom of our stomachs.

Try this one at home!

Combine with a brisk 25 minute walk followed by resistance bands.  45 minutes later, you're done!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Good morning!


One of my favorite ways to start the day.

Whole grain cereal (in this case, Life + Grape Nuts) topped with fresh blueberries, drowned in vanilla almond milk.

YUM.

Combine with a workout today.  Just do it.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Mr. PT Cooks

Mr. PT is officially in charge of making dinner on Thursday nights.  Thanks Mr. PT!  

If you are the primary "meal preparer" in your house you know how wonderful it is to come home from work and NOT think about making dinner, even if it's just once a week.

And I can always count on Mr. PT for keeping it healthy.  He knows I've been craving protein lately so he whipped up this delicious plate of chicken and broccoli!

With apples, of course!

He made this so quickly I was almost in disbelief when he said it was ready.  

He took boneless chicken breasts and dipped them in egg, breadcrumbs, and herbs.  Then he browned them off in hot olive oil and let them simmer until they were cooked through.

The broccoli was just steamed with a touch of butter!

This was delicious!  So simple, yet so fulfilling.  

Feeling overwhelmed in the kitchen?  Try to keep it simple.

Combine with a group workout.  There's something about having your friends around that makes you work harder.  If you are alone in the gym, pretend you are competing with the person next to you!  You'll be surprised how you're more motivated to do that extra rep when you think someone is watching!


Friday, February 15, 2013

Purple Power

It's time to get serious...about eggplant.

How did I not know about the deliciousness of eggplant until I was in graduate school?

Who knows, but I am really enjoying getting to know this purple plant.

In fact, I made an eggplant dish twice this week!  They were very similar with a few different tastes.

Eggplant by itself might be a little much, but serving it on top of whole wheat pasta with cheese and sauteed vegetables might be more palatable to you.


You will need:
-1/2 box whole wheat pasta
-3-4 sun dried tomatoes, chopped
-1/2 red onion, sliced
-1/4 cup feta cheese
-olive oil
-1/2 eggplant, peeled and sliced 
-1/3 cup mozzarella cheese
-1 cup flour
-1 egg
-favorite seasoning (I used a mix of garlic, pepper, parsley, and lemon peel)

Boil your pasta and set aside in a 9x9 baking dish.

Heat your oil in a pan and add sun dried tomatoes and onions.  Saute until soft.  Add all contents of the pan (including the oil) to the noodles.  Mix in feta cheese.

Heat more oil in your pan.  Add seasonings to flour.  Dip eggplant slices in egg, cover in flour/spice mixture, and add to hot, oily pan.  Brown the eggplant on both sides and place on top of noodles.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Pretty delicious, huh?  And this made great leftovers for lunch the next day!

Tonight, I tweaked the recipe a bit and tossed the noodles with sauteed onions, lemon juice, and mozzarella cheese only.  I also coated the eggplant in breadcrumbs instead of flour. 




The three of us were quite happy after this meal!

Combine with a walking interval workout, outside or on the treadmill.  If 1 is super easy and 5 is hardly breathing...
First 5 minutes on a 2
Next 5 minutes on a 3
Next 5 minutes on a 4
Peak 5 minutes on a 5
Active recovery for 5 minutes on a 4
Cool down for 5 minutes on a 1-2.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Eating Cincy Style

Mr. PT and I spent last weekend visiting friends and family in Cincinnati, OH.  We held a lot of babies, drank/smelled a lot of beer, and of course, ate some excellent food!

I wish I had done a better job with documenting, but a major highlight of the weekend was visiting the local brewery 50 West.  We grabbed some pizza from across the street and enjoyed the cozy atmosphere of the tasting room.


I had a wood-fired bianca pizza (olive oil instead of red sauce) with roasted peppers and arugula.  It was delicious!  Me and baby ate the whole thing on our own, haha. 


I was a major fan of this event.  The pizza was incredibly fresh tasting and the beer, so I heard, was delicious.  I did take a little sip of the Speedbump Kolsch, which was quite tasty!

My awesome mom also showed up on Saturday with two homemade chicken pot pies.  I unfortunately did not get a picture of these before they were devoured by the crowd, but I will tell you that I have a mental image of Mr. PT eating scraps out of the pie dish after dinner.  They were that good.

See her recipe here.

I love traveling and eating amazing food!!

Combine with driving to a walk.  Tired of walking in your neighborhood, seeing the same houses with the same barky dogs?  Hop in your car, drive to a new neighborhood, and walk there!  Maybe visit a friend's neighborhood and have him/her lead the way!


Saturday, February 2, 2013

Spinach

I love spinach.

I'm not sure if it's the kelly-green color, the blood-boosting iron, or the myriad ways to cook it...it's just a great vegetable!

Actually, I love the way you can add it to hot dishes and it magically disappears among the other ingredients.  

Did you put the spinach in already?  Maybe not, better add another handful.  

Five minutes later, you'll wonder the same thing until you've added five handfuls of spinach without overwhelming the dish.

This is what I did with the zucchini pasta dish I found on Pinterest.  After melding all the ingredients together in a deep pan, I started adding spinach.  This dish contains three heaping handfuls of spinach, but you would never know it!



Am I right?!

My recipe was slightly altered from the one I found on Pinterest, so here you go:

-1 box of whole wheat pasta
-2 small bags (or one big bag) of frozen shrimp
-1 zucchini, diced
-1 red pepper, sliced
-1/2 red onion, chopped
-olive oil
-1/2 bag baby spinach leaves
-Mediterranean seasonings (garlic, lemon peel, thyme...)

Heat a deep pan with olive oil (I used garlic-lemon infused oil I got for Christmas, but you can use regular...add garlic and lemon juice for extra flavor if you want!)  Toss in any size shrimp you want.  I used 2 small frozen bags of salad shrimp.  Allow the shrimp to defrost and soak in the flavors of the oil.  Spoon the shrimp out and set aside.

Meanwhile, boil water for whole-wheat pasta.  Cook the pasta as directed and set aside.

To the watery-oil mix in the pan, add chopped zucchini, red pepper, and onion.  Add seasoning.  Cook the veggies on medium-high until soft and most of the water has evaporated.  Add the cooked pasta and shrimp and toss.  Add more olive oil (1-2 teaspoons) if it's too sticky or dry.

Now start adding spinach, one handful at a time.  Allow the spinach to cook down and "disappear" before adding the next handful.  Really, you can add as much as you want!

Allow all the ingredients to simmer for at least 10 minutes before serving.  Enjoy!

Combine with a new weight lifting routine.  I took a friend to a Body Pump class today and although she was nervous, she enjoyed it!  Hope she's not too sore tomorrow!  Although they say "sore is the new sexy!"