Good morning and Happy Friday!
I hope you all have fun activities or some serious relaxation planned for the weekend. Staying true to my goals for 2012, Ryan and I are resurrecting our date night tradition on Saturday! I took the month of January and have something fun planned for the two of us. Should be a fun weekend!
Last Night
Last night was filled with the usual activities – walking Sadie, eating dinner, watching Jeopardy (Ryan is killin’ it on the Daily Doubles this week) and reading The Scorch Trials.
Dinner was particularly notable.
I was feeling experimental in the kitchen and made what I’ll call an Italian meat and pasta casserole by combining the following in a casserole dish:
- 1 3/4 cups cooked whole wheat shells
- 3/4 pound cooked lean ground beef
- 3 cups steamed broccoli and cauliflower florets, very finely chopped
- 1 1/2 cup pasta sauce
- 1/2 cup goat cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded cheese
After mixing everything together and topping it with Italian breadcrumbs and more shredded cheese, I baked it for approximately 25 minutes at 350 degrees.
Dinner success!
Workout
Today’s workout was an express leg workout – express because Ryan and I got to the gym about 15 minutes later than usual and had to make up for lost time.
I didn’t rest more than 30 seconds between sets of each exercise. It was fast and effective!
Breakfast
Breakfast was pulled right out of the fridge. Simplicity at its finest!
I ate a bowl of strawberry banana overnight oats made with oatmeal, strawberry banana Greek yogurt, chia seeds and milk. This morning I added fresh strawberry and banana slices to really give the oats a fruity flavor.
I love it when strawberry seasons rolls around in Florida because strawberries are finally cheap again. Ryan and I are hoping to make it to the Florida Strawberry Festival again this year!
Now it’s time to get some work done.
My parents will be stopping by at some point today on their way back to St. Pete from Jacksonville where they were for my dad’s work, so I hope to get most of my to-dos done before they arrive.
Blogroll Updated
I finally updated my blogroll this morning with blogs I’ve been reading for ages. I typically update my blogroll a few times a year, so I figured the new year was a great time to add some new favorites that I love reading and think you might enjoy, too!
One blog I think deserves a little extra attention is my friend (and former coworker) Jen’s blog, The Pursuit of Sassiness. (Her blog isn’t a healthy living blog though she did run her first half marathon last year!) Jen is getting her master’s degree in mental health and marriage and family counseling and often blogs about very interesting topics that come up as she pursues her degree, in addition to life musings. Worth a read!
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I wish it was strawberry season here!! I havent bought fruit (other than frozen) in a couple of months 🙁
That casserole sounds great; I will have to try it!
I know (literally) no answers on Jeopardy. Consider yourselves infinitely smarter than me! 😉
Since I blog about blogs, I LOVE when my favorite bloggers update their blog rolls, so thank you!!
Being on Jeopardy is one of my worst nightmares, probably only surpassed by the one in which I find myself on the starting block of a race at the Olympics (like, as myself, untrained, competing against world-class athletes on global television). Ha.
It’s strawberry season here too and I am seriously lapping them up…so addictive!
I LOVE strawberry season! As a kid my mom and uncle would take us to a local farm where we would pick buckets and buckets of strawberries. It was one of my favorite things to do as a kid! 🙂
I am excited to check out your updated blog roll! I have the blogs I always tend to read and look to those bloggers for additional suggestions. I am new to blogging but have read yours since almost the very beginning ( I remember reading your engagement story and have been hooked ever since!) Thanks for giving notice to other blogs your readers may enjoy too!
Oh, I miss strawberries!! They are still available in the grocery stores here, but they don’t taste nearly as good as in summer!
That breakfast looks so bright and colourful! Yum!
Mmm that dinner looks great, can you fedex the leftovers? lol
I checked out your friends blog, I enjoyed her content but I think the look of the blog could use some updating.
Thanks
Kenny
This post looks delicious! 🙂
Yum! That breakfast looks delish! Nothing like starting the day off with healthy fruits!
So when you guys read a book together do you read aloud? maybe you have talked about that before, but I didn’t catch it!
Hmmm dinner sounds fab 😀
You’re absolutely right Strawberries and Bananas are SO GOOD right now!!!!! loving that.
your oats look so delicious!!! strawberries and bananas are the best combo!
How I love Jeopardy! I have a date with it on a treadmill at my gym tonight!!!!!!! We have a hard time getting there on time after work and I’m always so sad when I miss the first round!
Love that blog title. Gotta check it out!
Wow your dinner looks so good!!! What a good combination:) Hope you guys have a great date night…such a good idea!
I’d love to see your blog roll and see what bloggers you follow. I checked out Jen’s blog and it’s great! I can relate to the being a Marriage and Family Therapist : ) Must be a “Jenn” thing!
I should start topping my overnight oats with fruits before taking pictures of it; it sure makes it look more camera-pretty lol. Dinner looked really good and so easy, too.
Love fresh strawberries! I just did a post on all the health benefits of strawberries!
your pasta dish looks AMAZING. i love how cheesy it looks!
it’s awesome how short workouts can still be so effective by the smallest changes you make, eh? have a great friday!
those overnight oats look delish. Just about as delicious as the pb and banana I had on wheat toast last night (was such a good post-workout snack!).
Have a great weekend. 🙂
At first glance I thought that was eggplant parm…and I got really really excited haha.
Some of my best leg workouts are when I speed things up. I think its because I get a little more creative and challenge my muscles in ways their not used to.
Have a great date night!
your breakfast looks so good, I have to buy bananas next time I’m at the grocery store
I’m enjoying Florida strawberries in PA right now- they’re so much better than the ones imported from California!
Dinner sounds yummy, and the pics of your bfast are gorgeous today! I want some fresh strawberries!
OH strawberries sound SO delicious right now!! Gotta move to FL, I guess 😉
I love Jeopardy! My husband says I cheat because I pause the TV to think about my answers alot of the time but it is so fun! Ands it’s surprising how much you can learn from it!
Best comment of the day. That is awesome.
Thanks for the add and 9 million pageviews today 🙂 (Ok that might be a slight exaggeration).
Mmmm strawberries – so glad they are back in season!
LOL! You should’ve been on there a long time ago!!
Just thinking about 100 squats makes my legs hurt!
Your breakfast looks awesome! Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits, especially in the summer!
Your breakfast looks delish!! I really need to start eating a breakfast like that!!!
BTW. Huge fan of date nights. My hubby makes fun of me when I call it that but I think it’s so important to have a dedicated night (however frequent) to go out with your hubby. Otherwise, it’s too tempting to sit in and watch tv on the couch every weekend! Have a fun date night tomorrow!
Heading over to check out your blog roll! I love finding new blogs to read!
that just made me for a happy morning to see my little face (I mean name) on your blogroll.. thank you, my love!
and I’m a big fan of sassiness. I’m gonna go check out Jen’s blog!
I do love oavernight oats – and topping them with strawberries and bananas makes me drool a bit. I think I’ll go whip some up for lunch!
Thanks for the shout out, Julie! As I sit here eating my oatmeal I have quite the smile on my face. 🙂
Cherries here are super expensive compared to the ones I ate in Florida. Makes me sad.
That casserole looks delicious! 🙂 Definitely going to have to try making it!
Strawberries and bananas are such a great combination. Sadly, strawberries have been very expensive here.
YUM! This looks so great! I need to start buying goat cheese again!
Your dinner looks delish! I’m going to have to try it with some Boca crumbles.
I wish it was strawberry season up North!
Now that you have been working home for a few months, would you consider writing a post about working from home at some point? Maybe a day in the life / some benefits or plusses you didn’t expect /some negatives or challenges you didn’t expect? I’d love to hear more of your thoughts about the switch a few months into it!
Absolutely! I LOVE this post idea! I already have a million ideas running through my head. Thanks, Caitlin!
That pasta looks quite yummy. Also it’s funny we here in Canada have the exact opposite cheap strawberry season – ours is June/July!
Your dinner and breakfast both look delicious! Do you think flax seeds would work in place of the chia seeds for your overnight oats?
unfortunately, no. chia seeds thicken and flax seeds don’t so the oats wouldn’t really thicken up enough. you could use them and maybe just reduce the amount of milk??
I have only used ground flax in my overnight oats and one time I didn’t and it was definitely more liquid. I use a tablespoon. Ive never used chia seeds so I can’t say anything about comparisons.
Casserole looks great! Good idea to use leftover veggies!
That casserole looks soooo good and comforting!
Like everyone else, I think that casserole looks to die for~mmmm! And that’s a great leg workout, I can feel the burn just imagining it 🙂
How do you add a blogroll in wordpress…I would love to have one on my site.
you can just “create a new page” and dedicate that page to your blogroll – like you would do with an about page, etc.
yum! that dish you concocted lookes excellent. my sis-in-law would put more goat cheese in, and i would omit it altogether.
Thanks for the blog roll add! Great surprise on a Friday!
Question – how do you make your workout graphics? I want to give that a try so mine are easier to read. Thanks!
YAY! I am friends in real life, not just blogger friends, with Bee from Bee Goes Bananas. I always thought she was a lot like you in her blog…you made a good choice adding her! 🙂