Tower of Tupperwear..

I lied.

I really thought this week's forecast looked like sun throughout, but today's dreary turn made for another 'slow moving' day;)  And to go along with my 'lazy' day...I have 'lazy leftovers' to share from our dinner last night of chicken pot pie, take 2:

Which, might I add, tasted even better reheated! (and yes...that is an entire bowl of Cole slaw mix as a side dish;)  you can make a salad out of anything:)

So since I only had leftovers to show you, I thought I'd also show you my lunch of a Tupperware tower this week:

Seriously, it was like a plastic massacre at my desk by late afternoon;)

My breakfast has been some multi grain Cheerios (WHICH are FAR superior to the plain ole O, if I do say so myself!), some diced strawberries...and yes, even a container of unsweetened vanilla almond milk;)

And my favorite lunch that I've had for 3 days since Sunday:  Peanut butter pretzels, banana, apple & 2% cheese... 

I know it's not super balanced, but it's fun to have little snacks to pick on throughout the afternoon, PLUS they kept me really full...soooooooo win/win;) 

Alright, that's all I got for today, except for my:

Wednesday Morning:  20 minute circle Pilate's + weights

Hope your day gets sunnier than the gloomy day in NJ:)  Talk to you later;)

Leek & Breadcrumb Pasta....

Yes, breadcrumbs!  I know this sounds odd, but this became one of Scott & my drop dead favorites the first time we had it (and we haven't had it in WAY too long:).  And since we had some extra leeks leftover from the 'vegetable pot pie' on Saturday, I thought they would make a perfect addition to the 'crumbs;) 

Now I'll be honest with you:  The first time we ever tried breadcrumb pasta, we used a Giada recipe that called for 2/3 cup breadcrumbs and 3/4 cups of oil ...and it was delicious.  But I think 3/4 cups of oil in ANYTHING is a little extreme for a week night.  So even though the oil makes the crumbs SUPER crunchy & very decadent, using a few tablespoons of oil also wields some pretty good results too!   

Breadcrumb & Leek Pasta

• 1 leek, diced
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• Olive Oil
• Grated Cheese
• Salt & Pepper

First, I sauteed the leeks in a few drizzles of olive oil until soft.  (be sure to thoroughly rinse the leeks!  They collect a lot of dirt between all of the layers)

Once the leeks were done, I set them off to the side and added another few tablespoons of olive oil to the pot.  Heat the oil for a few minutes and then add the breadcrumbs.

Cook the breadcrumbs over medium heat, stirring constantly, because those crumbs can go from tan to black in an instant!  You just want a nice toasty hue...

And once the pasta is cooked and the breadcrumbs are bronzed, to the drained pasta you add the cooked leeks:

...the 'crumbs...

....and a little grated cheese.

Wallah!  Breadcrumb pasta in under 15 minutes:)  Rotini was such a good shape for this dish because the breadcrumbs collected within all of the little spirals...

Simple ingredients, super easy with big flavors a good Tuesday night dinner makes;)

Andddd in exercise news:  Always beware the "Day 2" syndrome!  I could feel my muscles before I even opened my eyes yesterday morning.  Every single muscle in my arms, legs & back felt like they weighed 600 pounds EACH.  So needless to say my workout of:

Tuesday Morning:  40 minute Bethenny yoga

Felt. like. heaven!  Downward dog is one of the best "overall stretches" you can do, and when you are unaware of how much you ACTUALLY worked out AND found muscles you didn't know you even HAD:  well, it feels even better;)  But by last night, I was NOT feeling my usual 4 rounds of 12 rep. weights, so I just did my own mix of:

Tuesday Night:  12 reps of lateral raises (I look JUST like that lady under my clothes;), bicep curls, overhead presses, tricep kickbacks, rows + 50 tricep dips + 50 leg raises (on each side)  (OK..some of those pictures are just hilarious:)

MUCH easier to get through my own mix last night than having a video telling me what to do ;)  (not that I don't love my Bethenny) hahahahhahahahaha...oh well, that's what I was feelin last night...so that's what I did;)

Anyway...I'm out for the day;)  Enjoy your Wednesday!  You're half way there:) 

A proper English breakfast ;)

Hey everyone:)  Welcome to Tuesday....and you know what that means:

In the mix:

• Spring salad blend
• 1/2 can of tuna
• Cole slaw mix
• celery
• scallions
• chickpeas
• red kidney beans
• craisins
• garlic butter croutons:)

And since I only had a Monday night "repeat" salad to show you today, I thought I'd also show you one of my more 'interesting' breakfast & lunch combos that I've had lately.  "Lately" as in: while we were still rockin the snowman place mats:)

I've had this jar of lemon curd in my cabinet for...ahem...awhile, so I figured since Spring = Lemons that now would be a good time to break it out and finally put it to some use;)

And even though I've recently discovered that lemon curd is actually very good heated for a few seconds in the microwave and served on light ice cream;)  ....I also thought these Crumpets would be terribly "English Breakfast appropriate" :)

110 calories for one, but if you have em with a piece of fruit, they will fill you right up.  Make sure to toast them really good...they taste the best when you get that great CRRRRRUNCH from your crumpet;)

And, I know, ask me 5 months ago what Paneer was and I would have said it involved something with window panes;)  Buttttttt, it's actually a non-melting Indian cheese curd. (did I just fill your quota for "you learn something new every day?":)  Mixed with masala sauce and you get:

I was super hesitant to try this, but all my fears subsided after one bite:)  The cheese is firm and mellow and goes really well with the spicy (but not too spicy!) masala sauce.  And I loved the spinach rice as a side dish.  Definitely picking this one up again! 

So on the exercise front:  since I was still riding the high from my 'successful' turn as a boxer on Sunday;), I SPRANG out of bed yesterday morning ready to tackle yet ANOTHER new exercise routine:

What I liked most about this video was NOT the fact that I didn't die (which I think is still kind of shocking and miraculous, honestly) but that during a bout of "ab twists," the girl in the video almost broke out in honest to goodness tears.  TEARS!  Now I don't know about you, but I am so over seeing the buff folks swinging kettelbells like their traipsing through Saint Tropez.  Come on!  Give us mere mortals a break!  Makes us all feel a little less alone in the world;)  Love her, love Bob and really liked my first spin with the kettlebell. 

Today, however, I'm totally feeling BOTH the boxing AND the kettlebell remnants!  (with an extra hour of Pilates thrown in there for good measure!)  Oh well, guess that means I got somethin workin, which always makes me happy...even if it's taking me a little longer to get from A to Z today;) hahahhahahaha...

Alright, I'm headin out!  Have a good Tuesday everyone;)  Got a good dish on the menu for tonight....stay tuned;)

In the ring...

Is this the way to start a Sunday or what??? ;)

Behind coconut, I must say that all things cinnamon would CERTAINLY fall next in line on my "Favorite Things" list...so, it was a tough struggle not to dive into this bad bear when my friend brought over this delectable cinnamon rolls from Fritz's in Langhorne, PA on Friday afternoon.  (although, it made a nice cinnamon sugar air freshener at my desk all day;)  But I was so happy to hold out and warm these up to share for breakfast yesterday morning;)  Love, love, LOVEEEE me some cinnamon!!!!  Thanks again, my cinnamon sugar fairy! ;)

After breakfast, we headed to BJ's to stock up and save with some coupons.  Now, I used to always think of these wholesale clubs as the land of plenty, but not particularly healthy.  But I MUST say, BJ's really has stepped up their game lately!  There are QUITE a few healthy selections to choose from, not to mention a huge brand new produce section:

They also had Chobani AND Fage yogurt variety packs.  Plus a place like this is always a good way to stock up on healthy pantry & freezer staples like (low sodium) canned vegetables, canned beans and frozen fruit. 

But my favorite find of the day goes to a MONSTER bag of cornbread mix that DOES NOT contain the LARD or trans fats found in those littttttttle 'unnamed' boxes....

I figured this will come in handy for those quick pancakes/casserole topper-type meals, cause I still love me some cornbread made from scratch.

Annnyway...after shopping, it was time to head off to the gym.  And this was met with a flurry of excitement ANDDDD nervousness, because I decided to try out a new class:)  This season on The Biggest Loser introduced 2 new trainers, whose training focused on exercise "in the ring."  And since the contestants are looking FANTASTIC, I figured what's good for them is good for me too;)  And with THAT thought, I headed off to my first boxing class!

photo source

I know, right???  In this corner, Donna shakes like a leaf while everyone is strapping on their gloves and hanging punching bags from the ceiling.  In that corner, a whole class of really supportive folks and one AWESOME teacher.  After a quick recap of all of the punches, I was off and running (literally...we warmed up with laps:) but it turned out to be one of the best 'new' classes I've ever taken!  Everyone was so supportive, the music was blaring and the teacher was super encouraging.  Mixed with my Saturday morning Power Yoga, I thought this was the best combo of mind clearing, endorphin boosting, sweat drenching weekend workouts around:)  And trust me:  I was nervous!  So if you want to try out that class that sounds like fun but your a little intimidated:  Just dive right in...ya never know what you'll like until you try!  (and DON'T 'browse' by watching through the window!  That's encouraging to no one...just get in there and try it out!  No one ever lost weight from watching through the windows;)

After class I was not in an eating mood right away, but once hunger struck, my random lunch of a banana and a (large) handful of my new stock of peanut butter filled pretzels hit the spot.  (I also had an apple & a 2% cheese as snacks throughout the afternoon)

 Dinner, however, was a little more balanced;)

Our main course came from a combo of realizing we had somehow went the ENTIRE winter and hadn't made meatloaf ONCE AND this container catching my eye from our little homemade 'travel spice rack'...

So why not combine the 2, right??

And when I think of Belize, I think of zip lining, rushing through a souvenir shop so we didn't miss the ferry back to our cruise ship, and rice and beans....so I thought they would be a fun and fitting addition to the meat loaf;)

Mix the:

• 3/4 pound ground turkey
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 1/2 can of red beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons BBQ mix (or your own BBQ sauce)
• 1 grated onion (my secret ingredient for keeping the meatloaf moist, while adding flavor but no extra fat!)
• Salt and pepper

Form into a loaf and bake for 45 minutes.  Serve with a little extra BBQ sauce:

In our case, the BEST one EVER:  Sweet Baby Jane sauce from Pappy's smokehouse in St. Louis (ohhhh, do I have plans for you, sweet sauce!)

For our sides, I combined both our trip to BJ's...

(still have enough of those leftover for another meal:)

...AND our trip to Gilroy:)...

For some garlic butter beans:)  Green beans aren't my favorite veggie (unless they're from a can...I know, I know:), but anything is better with a little garlic butter;) 

Everything was soo good (even the steamed carrots:) and the meatloaf was super filing from the double whammy of protein from the turkey AND the beans;)

After that, we burned off a good amount of calories watching the China episode of "An Idiot Abroad" (DIED laughing at this) AND the Travel Channel Bloopers episode.  And speaking of laughing:  You MUST also catch VH1's "40 Funniest Fails!"  WE. WERE. DYYYYYYYYYING!  The drunk guy trying to rob the liquor store was just BEYOND hilarious!!!!!  And hasn't "The Office" stepped up their game this season???  Oh man, I laughed AND cried hysterically at this week's episode.  Steve Carell's last is going to be a doozy!

Alright, I've definitly chatted enough for one day;)  Hope you guys had a great weekend and are ready for the week ahead.  (at least it's only sunshine in the forcast, Jersey folks!)  Have a good Monday!

Pullin on the reigns...

After all those "favorite things" on Friday night, yesterday was definitely spent "reigning it back in":).  (even though I'll say it again:  Air is Delorenzo's secret ingredient, because even after a COUNTLESS amount of slices...I miraculously woke up feeling "skinny" Saturday morning) 

Annnnyway, I started the day with a bowl of pumpkin pie steel cut oats:

In the mix:

• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
• 1/4 cup steel cut oats
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• vanilla
• cinnamon
• pumpkin pie spice

Bring the water, milk and steel cut oats to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.  When the oats are almost done, add the pumpkin, vanilla & spices.  Top with granola, maple syrup and a little milk = Fall in a bowl;)

And we don't often have juice in our house, but since Tropicana was on sale this week we decided to try out this Trop 50 Pineapple Mango juice.  You can see from how much was left in the bottle that we were big fans...

Only 50 calories a glass and naturally sweetened, so this is a winner in the taste AND "less" categories;)  (their plain orange juice is also my favorite OJ...it just doesn't have that heavy acidy taste like most)

After some crazy power yoga, all I wanted for lunch was an ice cold smoothie to go along with "The Soup" :)

And it was a SUPER Pink one to boot;)

• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 container fat free Stonyfield strawberry yogurts
• 6 frozen strawberries
• chia seeds
• 1 scoop Biggest Loser protein powder

Can't say I was full for hours, so a TJ's granola bar and apple were also thrown in the mix throughout the afternoon;)

Bringing us to Cozy Weekend Dinner #1:  Chicken Pot Pie.  Actually, make that a "Vegetable Pot Pie with a little chicken":

We followed Ellie Krieger's recipe and mixed the chicken with carrots, peas, 1 potato, leeks and celery.  It was certainly BRIMMING with healthy veggies and topped with a little decadence from the puff pastry = Perfect for these last cold days;)

And we got a little more veggies in there with some side salad... 

I'm proud to say that we still have enough pie for another meal, yet we polished off an entire bag of lettuce.  It was very much the REVERSE 'back in the day!'

After that, we cleaned up in the kitchen and watched the movie "The Orphan."  Holy crack crazy, was that movie INSANEEEEEEEEEEEE!  Definitely disturbing and extremely suspenseful!  Absolute winner in the horror department!  But wooooah,  it's CRAZY.  That's all I can say;)

Hope you're having a good Sunday;)  We're having cozy meal #2 tonight and it should be fairly interesting;)  Stay tuned:)

Move it over, Oprah:)

So even though this post isn't going to end with me handing out Ipads or trips to Australia (hey O, can I get in on that one??:) I'm now going to present you my short list of "Donna's Favorite Things"...since all of them simultaneously happened in one night;)

#1 -OK, I can't believe I've been doing this blog for over a YEAR and a I have YET to do a post about this.  And even though I've mentioned it a few times, I'm proud to finally show you my absolute drop dead most favorite pizza (tomato pie) ON THE PLANET:  Delorenzo's Tomato Pies in Trenton, NJ!

I grew up right around the corner for this place and have waited on many a line snaked out that door and I'm sorry to say that all other pizza pales in comparison when you are raised on this goodness:)

And even though I adore the thin crust pizza from Federici's, Delorenzo's wrote the BOOK on it.  It is SUPER thin, majorly crispy and the best part, coated with the smoky char from the oven.... 

Not to mention, I believe their secret ingredient is AIR.  There was a clam pie (my favorite), a white, a sausage & TWO plains with garlic amongst 6 people and we did not have one. slice. leftover;)  And yet, I somehow walked out of there NOT feeling stuffed!  It's almost like magic;)

I certainly love all pizza and have had some outstanding ones...but if I'm namin the best, it will ALWAYS come down to my childhood favorite:)  BEST, BEST, BEST on Earth (and yes...in case anyone's wondering:  There was STILL a line to get in on a Friday night:)

#2- Again, I've had some REALLY OUTSTANDING cupcakes in my day....but my pick for my "Favorite Things" list are the simple beauties from "The Bent Spoon" in Princeton, NJ...

I love me some red velvet and crazy flavors, but if you want the classics done RIGHT: Go to Bent Spoon.  They are pure bliss!  Buttery, fresh and decadent made with pure, all natural ingredients = Pure perfection in a paper cup;)

"YOU GET A CUPCAKE! AND YOU GET A CUPCAKE!!!!!"

(I wish:)

#3- Ice cream:)  Basically anything that tastes like homemade would top this list (Hoffman's & Humphry Slocombe's get the ultimate gold stars!), but I must give a special high five to the ACTUAL homemade ice cream that Scott had made for me by request last night in the form of Salted Brown Sugar = Lots of Love:)

Honorable Mention:  Because even though it SOMEHOW didn't get worked into yesterday, I just CAN NOT do a "Favorite Things" list without mentioning my beloved coconut:)  And on this list, the Triple Coconut Cream Pie from Ritz's Seafood in Vorhees, NJ still reigns supreme:)

Alright....and after all those good eats, I must skedaddle myself to the gym to work off the countless amount of Delorenzo's slices I managed to pack away last night;) hahahahhaa...Have a great Saturday!

Cleanin out the Kitchen...

Dinner last night was courtesy of the hodge podge of ingredients we had just hangin out in our kitchen.  And if you ever find yourself with a stack of random ingredients like this... 

...there are a few perfectly good things to do with it:

A.- Cook it up and serve it on a crust for a unique pizza

B.- Make paninis!

or

C.-Serve it all over pasta...like we did last night:)

I really wanted to try to MAX up all of the flavors, so I went about layering the dish like this:  First, I crisped up a few slices of Prosciutto in a pan...

Then I tossed in a diced onion and let those cook until they got a little soft...

And then.....well, it was time to add EVERYTHING ELSE:)

• 1 bag of spinach (on sale for $1 this week!)
• Sundried tomatoes (leftover from the red pesto)
• Ricotta
• Sprinkle of grated cheese
• Salt & Pepper
• 1/2 cup of starchy pasta water 

And I teaspoon of garlic for that last little bit of flavvva ;)

It's amazing what you can make with 'a little of THIS and a little of THAT.'  This dish packed such a flavor punch from the prosciutto, onions and sundried tomatoes!  Soo good and all from stuff we had on hand =

Winner!

In "Snack" news:  Much like Wednesday's Starbucks run, yesterday's continuing gloom ALSO called for something warm & cozy.  And this TJ's Hot Cocoa just hit. the. spot around 3pm yesterday.

This stuff is SUPREMELY rich & decadent!  Sooooooo good!  It IS 150 calories a packet, so it's definitely a TREAT....not an every day indulgence.

And short of breaking out a saucepan to make hot cocoa from scratch in the middle of the office, this isn't a bad swap for the middle of a work day:

...it's certainly the 'lesser of the 2 evils' compared to other unnamed brands ;)

But 'good ingredient' list or not, I walked in the door yesterday and realized I was STARVING...and since Scott was working out, I knew it was going to be a little while before we ate dinner.  So rather than waiting util dinner and going off the rails, I decided to crack into my new stash of Vitatops and tried out the newest flavor to hold me over!

I KNEW I shouldn't have done it AS SOON as I saw the falling leaves on the package...because ONE BITE and I was mentally back to Vermont in the Fall;)  Heart strings aching aside, this was just soooooooo good!  Sweet, spicy with little chunks of apple & topped with a few pumpkin seeds, this made the perfect 100 calorie FALL MEMORY snack;)  LOVED THEM!  Keep up the good work, Vita folks! :)

And to wrap up Thursday, my workout was:

Thursday Morning:  35 minutes dance & weights

So I'm soooooooooooooooooooooo very very happy it's Friday, even though this week went by really quick:)  I'm excited for our plans tonight, especially because I think it will make a cute blog post in the morning;)  Hope you guys have some great weekend plans and are ready to unwinnnnd!

Have a GREAT FRIDAY! :)