After the walk (and a little Valentines cooking:), I pulled together all my ingredients for a smoothie....which I shall proclaim: the GREATEST smoothie of ALL TIME!!!!!
In the mix:
- 1 cup unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- 1 container Pineapple Chobani yogurt
- 1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
- Frozen Pineapple chunks
- a DROP of Coconut Extract
I took one sip and was FLOORED:) It was like a healthy Pina Colada:) How can that NOT make you smile?? :)
I wanted to keep lunch a little on the lighter side because right after I had to run to the "Valentines exercise" I alluded to: Yoga AND Chocolate class! How awesome is that???
First, was an hour & a half of yoga led by Dave Romanelli (yoga for foodies??? Ummm..hello! why haven't I heard of this guy sooner??) The yoga was held in Romy's home studio (who also did the WONDERFUL Christmas yoga!)....how beautiful is this room??
And after our hard work, we were rewarded in Chocolate! And not just any chocolate, but some of the BEST: Vosges Chocolate...
We sampled:
- A Blood Orange Caramel square: Blood orange + Campari® + burnt sugar caramel + hibiscus flowers + 70% cacao dark chocolate
- Black sea salt & burnt sugar caramel square
- 12-year aged balsamic vinegar + dark chocolate + Sicilian hazelnuts truffle
- Buttermilk banana pudding + deep milk chocolate + a sprinkle of vanilla powder truffle
- and my beloved BACON chocolate:)
I mean, really? How awesome is that?? We even got the "walk through" on how to 'truly savor' each one:) Chocolate + Yoga = Love:) Good for the stomach and the soul:)
Andddd I got home just in time to toss dinner in the oven to heat up. Yes...it was only 4:30, but we couldn't wait any longer;)
Soooooo....for last Valentines day, I went with a Paris theme for some Boeuf Bourguignon. So this year I thought I'd take us on another "virtual trip"! This time to Vermont for one of our favorite treats: the infamous lasagna from Bove's in Burlington:) And thanks to Bobby Flay's new Throwdown Book (which is AWESOME!): I was lucky enough to have their recipe! :)
Now, I will RARELY ever condone using 'sauce' from a jar. (Sauce is from a jar...gravy is from the heart, folks!) However, here's the one exception I make...especially when making a Bove's recipe:)
(Their garlic sauce is really good:)
Saturday night I roasted the meatballs in the oven for a half hour and then tossed them in the 'sauce' to simmer on low for an hour......mmmmmmmm....(ps-by this point, Scott had already figured out the 'big surprise.' The aroma of the simmering sauce was just too great to hide...hahahahahahaha;)
Sunday morning I gathered up all my ingredients, including my "I'm deciding not to be a hero box of 'No Boil Lasagna Noodles'" :) ....
....and, in keeping with my "Vermont" theme, I also picked up some Cabot cheese:)
Between the 4 layers of meatballs, noodles and cheese...this recipe made a MONSTER lasagna...
No, for real! This thing weighed about 40 pounds;)
While the lasagna was cookin up, I shed a little light on the situation;)
And then we got down to the serious business of tearing into that bad bear;)
As much as I'd like to SAY I didn't eat that whole piece...I can't lie: I did:) It was just toooo good:) It's one thing to have lasagnas made with meat sauce, but it's another to have lasagna made with "meatball sauce":) To die for:)
Scott was happy;)
And same as last year, I just can NOT get away from an ooey gooey chocolate desserts for V-day. So, appropriately enough, I whipped up these Ooey Gooey Peanut Butter Brownies....
And while this should have been Ben & Jerry's to complete my 'theme,' we had been eyein this Blue Bunny ice cream for a looooong time and figured Vday was the perfect excuse to try it out:)
Warm Brownie + Ice Cream + Whipped Cream = Always a winner:) Even though I was chocolate'd out for the day, I had to steal a few bites of this;) hahahahahahahaha
And once we were blissfully in a chesse & chocolate haze, we settled in to FINALLY watch "The Social Network"...
...which, I must admit, wasn't as great as I thought it would be....oh well, it was still good.
Anyways...even though today is ACTUALLY Valentine's day....after all the BEST.PIE.EVER, chocolate, lasagna and MORE chocolate, it is back to the grind today! Starting with a plate of the brownies being shipped off to work for everyone to enjoy;) hahahahahahahaha....
Hope you guys have a great day with ALL of your loved ones! See ya tomorrow:)
1 comment:
I will mark that protein shake as a must try!!! Looks so awesome, Donna! Thanks for re-posting this. My life has been crazy and I am trying to catch up in the blog world. ;)
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