Hey, everyone! Happy Saturday! It's rare that I actually get a chance to get on here and post on a Saturday morning, but felt it was needed after a 2-day hiatus. Let me explain: So Wednesday was a good day ending in a FABULOUS & super fun dinner with 2 of my gals, where all our meals were split & shared, so everyone got to sample a LOT (my FAV!) Only problem? The room was so dark that my 'phone photos' were so terrible that I couldn't even blog them! (and my stuffed rigatoni with crab meat vodka sauce & my friend's "chicken capri" were soooooooooo worth sharing)
And then Thursday?? TOTAL disaster food day! The weather had been sooooooooo gloomy this week, I've found it TOUGH to get that 'snack bug' outta my head. Well, Thursday it could finally not be stopped and the day descended into a whirlwind of nutella, ice cream and tacos. The latter being at 9pm after going to back to back gym classes.
I can't.
VERY frustrating after NOT feeling 'overly snack-y' in quite awhile. But where this would usually send me into a tailspin of feeling bad, beating myself up and swearing to "NEVER EAT AGAIN!!!!!!!!!", instead I picked myself up, brushed myself off and tried to have as healthy of a day as possible yesterday without going overboard and 'punishing myself' with only lettuce & water. (that leads no where fast. TRUST!) So here I am to share my 'make up day' with you...not to mention our dinner last night was SO fun, I just HAD to shareJ You'll seeJ
Friday Recap:
8:00am: Coffee with creamer
9:30am: Breakfast- Whipped banana oatmeal with peanut butter
10:30-11:45am: Power Yoga
This class is WILD! Everyone in it practices yoga fairly regularly, so the teacher is never afraid to bust out some SERIOUS power moves. Example: We were working on SCORPIONS yesterday. (we were against the mirror though, so that made it a bit less intimidatingJ)
1:30pm: Lunch- Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper soup with black beans
Scott & I LIVED off this soup last fall. It tastes almost like a cream tomato soup with the added KICK from the roasted red pepper. (but with NO cream!) It's soooooo flavorful & delicious and adding the beans makes it extra filling. (not to mention the 'orange' & black look pretty Halloweeeeen-y, no??)
3:00pm: Snack- Pumpkin Bread with butter
6:00pm: Dinner- CHOCOLATE PASTA with Swiss chard & whipped ricotta!
YES!
We had gotten this pasta in Rome almost EXACTLY 2 years ago and figured now would be the perfect time to put it to use! I'm sure chocolate pasta is readily available at specialty shops and/or online and it makes for a total fun purchase or a unique gift. (I'm sure you can also make your own, although I can say I don't think I'm really 'that fancy' at this moment in my lifeJ Maybe when Katie is older and can help me outJ)
Anyway, this dinner came together in about 15 minutes. First I boiled some salted water and added a bunch of shredded swiss chard to the pot....
We happened to have a bag in the fridge and I have NO CLUE why I thought it would be the PERFECT compliment to CHOCOLATE PASTA, but I didJ
Anyway, I let that cook for 1 minute before adding the pasta right into the same pot to cook for 7 minutes...
Meanwhile, I heated up a couple tablespoons of butter & tossed in some torn sage leaves to toast up as the butter slowly browned... (one of my FAVORITE flavor combos!)
I also made a quick whip of ricotta, sea salt, Parmesan cheese (about 1 tablespoon) & a pinch of cinnamon. I figured I needed SOME flavor to bring out the 'sweetness' of the pasta...
Then I drained the pasta/chard, mixed it with the butter/sage & topped it with a dollop of cinnamon ricotta...
I had planned this meal for WEEKS, but felt fairly skeptical about it...but OH NO, this was AWESOME! The chocolate is NOT overly sweet, but does have a subtle cocoa taste which tasted savory when paired with the butter & sage and a little sweeter when mixed with the ricotta. A total fun dinner. Ever want to blow away some dinner guests with an ABSURDLY easy & a completely unique meal? Try this one!
8:00pm: Dessert- 90 calorie brownie with a small scoop of light caramel pretzel ice cream
As much as I really wanted to try to NOT have dessert last night, the 'struggle' just didn't seem worth it. So I had a mini ramekin of my melty chocolate-y dessert and called it a good dayJ
HAPPY SATURDAY!!!!!!!
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