Pilates A Go-Go

As you know, I’m suffering from a foot injury and although I’ve tried to do spinning and some other cardio- I realized that they weren’t helping me get better.

 

I love nothing more than a good sweaty hard workout (TWSS), but I’ve realized that the person that needs to commit to my recovery is me. And if I’m pushing the envelope every opportunity I get, it’s not going to happen.

 

After I came to this realization I thought maybe I’d try pilates. There is a class at my gym’s other location about 15 minutes away 4 times a week. On Monday I went for the first time- and I loved it! It felt good all over. It helped me to clear my mind the way exercise always does.

Unfortunately there was recently a road closure in my area which has made the 15 minute drive to pilates now 35 minutes of stressful traffic. Uggh. This morning I realized I wasn’t making it on time, so I turned around and headed home.

I wasn’t too upset about it- just realized I need to leave more time if I want to go. I cut my losses and set up this gym at home. I completed two workouts on Exercise TV that were both great! One was a 20 minute full body pilates, and the other was a 30 minute pilates fit workout. I like the fact that they are done mostly on the mat. No standing=no foot pain.

They should totally make a section for self timer photos on
http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/

 

I’m off to run some errands now- busy day ahead!

Do you enjoy pilates?

**Also- I’m looking for guest posters for while I am in Spain. If you’re interested in a guest post on Food in Real Life- please email me at FoodIRL@gmail.com** THANKS!

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Winner Winner NO Chicken Dinner

Chicken and I have been having a strange relationship lately.

 

For whatever reason, it has just been grossing me out. Texturally and taste wise,  it’s just a little unappealing. And no, I’m not pregnant.

 

Regardless, tonight I told Joe I’d make one of his favorite dinners- a simple chicken cutlet with salad on top. You may see this on Italian restaurant menus as Chicken Milanese (often Veal Milanese).

To make things even more exciting, I made my own dressing. I just combined some dijon mustard, grated garlic, olive oil, rice wine vinegar, salt, pepper and lemon.

 

I set up all of the fixins and we each made our own plates.

 

Tomatoes, lemons, dressing, parmesan shreds, and baby arugula

 

Joe’s plate (can you find the chicken?)

I opted for a swap out- and added some whole wheat pasta to my salad.

It was great!

 

Has there ever been a food you just stopped liking?

A few other foods I used to love but don’t like anymore are hearts of palm, BSN Cinnamon roll protein powder, and steel cut oats. Mostly just overdid it and now I’m sick of ‘em. The chicken is a whole different thing.

 

Ok, I’m off. Have a great evening!

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Weird Blogger Food

Do you ever read someone’s blog and wonder…WTH is she eating?!

 

I admit that I sometimes think that when I read certain blogs. I wonder about flavor combinations and if I would like them.  A good example would be seeing yellow mustard all over roasted veggies on some of my fav blogs.

 

After giving it a go, I now consider that one of my favorite combos!

 

There are also certain things I eat that I think that I might gross out my readers. (Sauerkraut right out of the jar anyone?!)

 

Today my lunch reminded me of one those weird blogger meals. I pretty much combined some random items in a bowl and called it a salad.

 

Can you guess what is in here?

It’s a combo of romaine, shredded cabbage, roasted cauliflower, hummus, meatless meatballs and raisins (golden and red). I topped the whole thing with a healthy drizzle of olive oil.

 

On the side I had some buttered sprouted wheat toast and some homemade raspberry green iced tea.

Pretty delicious!

 

For dessert I had a square of dark chocolate

I think 72% is the perfect chocolate.

 

What are your favorite weird food combos?

What have you seen on blogs that make you think..WTH?

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Writer’s Blah-ck

I’ve been wanting to blog all day…but for whatever reason every post I wanted to create wasn’t really flowing.

 

So here is a post about the fragments of posts that never were….

 

Post #1

I was going to take you through the exciting journey of how I reorganized my pantry.

 

BEFORE:

AFTER:

But then I realized that the before and after really isn’t that impressive. Just because I now know where stuff is, certainly doesn’t mean you do.

 

POST #2

I thought maybe I’d then tell you about the other closets I recently reorganized

 

And my new artwork in our bedroom

But then I didn’t feel like making the bed or getting too detailed about what is actually inside my closet

 

Hours passed by…

 

POST #3

I thought I’d blog about food and cooking from today

 

Perhaps about how I made tofu in the oven with some new spices

Or how I made my own iced tea

Or how this dressing was SOOOOOOOOOOO disappointing..

But that this Kefir was awesome and nutritionally kicks butt

But honestly- none of these post ideas really got me much more than a paragraph or so..and by the end of reading it I said..UM, NO Jamie. No one is going to want to read this.

 

POST #4

And finally I thought maybe I’d post about school and how tonight I was getting inducted into a graduate honor society.

4.0 BABY!

 

But as you can see…all of these little ideas were much better just mushed together.

 

What went on in your world today?

Bloggers- how often do you get writers block?

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Happy Hours

I’m embarrassed to admit that I pretty much spent the entire day indoors today. It was beautiful outside, but for some reason I got stuck in a rut.

 

It wasn’t all counterproductive as I was mostly spending time filling out applications and emailing schools to inquire about open positions for the fall.

 

Lunch was simple- some leftover butternut squash lasagna and a sliced granny smith apple.

By the time Joe came home, I was kind of grouchy. I desperately needed a dose of Vitamin D. And some beer…

 

We grabbed some snacks and beer and headed out to the deck

Look at that sky!

WOW. I am in desperate need of a tan. OMG.

After our beers and a little conversation (mostly me whining about jobs and how I miss running. I’m such a fun wife) we started on dinner.

 

I prepared some oven fries

 

And we cut veggies for steak shish-kebabs

And soaked corn for grilling

Joe took care of the grilling- and before I knew it, dinner was ready!

 

Except for my fries…woops! Bad timing, they are still in the oven.

 

Going to go check on those slow cooking suckers right now and then enjoy some dinner on this beautiful Friday night.

 

This weekend I’m going to be having lunch with a friend, doing some things around the house, getting some exercise, and attending a Christening.

 

What are you up to?

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Chifa

Good morning! Happy Friday!

 

I woke up just a little while ago, after a fun night in Philly! Joe’s brother and a friend were in town making a quick stop in Philly before heading to Atlantic City.

 

We decided to take this opportunity to try a restaurant downtown that we have been itching to try.

 

Chifa is a Jose Garces restaurant that serves Peruvian/Cantonese fusion. Yep, that’s right- Asian & Latin cuisine. Together. As with most Garces restaurants, the food is served as small plates, which is great because I wanted to try everything.

The ambiance was very cool! (Borrowed pics from Chifa’s website)

 

 

As per the suggestions of the waitress, we ordered 2 dishes per person (there were 5 of us) and then we added two smaller items on top of that.

(check out Joe’s brother in the background- he cracks me up)

Here are some of the highlights!

(My sparkling wine! I ordered a 1/2 glass wine flight which was 3 half glasses of wine. The waitress messed up though and ended up serving me a full wine flight. Buzzzzz…….)

 

On the left- scallion pancakes with sesame ginger mayo

On the right- oyster shooter with jalapeno, cilantro, avocado, spicy tomato

 

Octopus with purple potatoes and ginger gastrique

Duck bao buns with hoisin glaze

Salt crusted shrimp (heads on! mmmm!)

Stirfried rice with edamame, mango, and scallop (compliments of the chef!)

 

Also ordered but not pictured:

 

Needless to say, we pretty much rolled out of the restaurant. It was awesome though!

 

If you’re interested in learning more about Garces restaurants (a must if you visit Philly)… click here

 

To see a post about my trip to chef Garces restaurant, Distrito…click here!

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A Perfect Day?

I was sitting here drinking some coffee and wondering what to do with my day.

So as usual, I was perusing blogs and when I got to Tina’s blog, I saw that she had posted about her ideal day.

 

She inspired me to think about how I can make today the perfect day!

Well first, here is my description of the perfect day (no monetary/injury restrictions)

 

• Wake up rested, drink coffee and relax
• Eat Breakfast
• Go for a long run
• Follow up the run with a delicious sushi lunch

• Enjoy some shopping, followed by a mani/pedi and hot stone massage
• Meet up with Joe for a fabulous dinner out

 

Here is what I’m ACTUALLY going to do today!

 

• Wake up rested, drink coffee and relax (CHECK!)
  Do a yoga video in the living room
• Take a drive with the windows open to go and pick up my transcript from school
• Apply for a job I saw online that I am envisioning will be mine
• Paint my own nails
• Enjoy some lunch on the deck and listen to some music
• Enjoy an awesome dinner out with Joe and some other people

 

Honestly, today isn’t going to be that far off from my perfect day!

And the bottom line is that- any day where I am alive, the sun is shining, I have a roof over my head and people that love me…..is the perfect day.

What is your perfect day?
How will you make today perfect?

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Butternut Squash & Spinach Lasagna

For the past few days I’d been craving a baked pasta/casserole type dish. With the cool rainy weather outside I decided today was the day!

 

I’ve never tried a veggie lasagna, so I looked up a bunch of different recipes and ultimately created my own!

 

Ingredients:

1 medium butternut squash- diced

1/2 medium onion- diced

1 bag baby spinach

8 Dreamfields lasagna sheets (can use whole wheat or regular pasta too!)

1 cup fat free ricotta cheese

1 egg white

1 cup plain 0% greek yogurt

1/4 cup (approx) grated parmesan

6 slices reduced fat provolone cheese

salt, pepper, garlic powder

 

How To:

I first started by dicing and roasting the squash. I made the dice small because I though that would taste better in the lasagna. I baked it with salt, pepper and olive oil on 400 for about 25 minutes.

 

While the squash was cooking, I sautéed the onion and spinach in a nonstick pan with a little olive oil.

I also made the cheese mixture

Ricotta, greek yogurt, 1 egg white, salt, pepper and about 1/8 cup parmesan

Add the spinach to this mixture

Oh and I also cooked the pasta (and rinsed it with cold water once it was done)

Then the assembly began!

Start with some of the cheese mixture

Top with pasta sheets, squash, and more cheese

A layer of provolone (3 pieces)

Repeat and then top with parmesan on top. (I wish I enough cheese for another layer, but I ran out- oops!)

Bake on 375 -20 minutes covered and then 20 minutes uncovered

This was really good! A little bit of work, but worth it. I think the leftovers are going to be amazing!

 

Time to go chill!

 

What is your fav baked pasta or casserole dish?

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Summer Plans

How is everyone doing this afternoon?

 

I’m doing great. I decided that today would be a stress free day. I’m not job searching today- I’m just enjoying the fact that I am done with graduate school!

 

I’m also trying to enjoy the fact that I DO in fact have a summer position lined up.

 

This summer I’m going to work for an educational summer camp. I’ll be working in charge of a fun group of 8-9 year olds! It’s a great way to get experience and meet other teachers. Most of the staff at the camp consists of certified teachers.

The pay isn’t stellar, but hey, it’s money! Plus, the hours are fantastic 8:30-3:45.

 

Another thing I have to look forward to? Joe and I are going to Barcelona in a little over 2 weeks!

We are so excited! We’re staying for 8 days- and just going to enjoy the city and take some great day trips!

I haven’t been to Europe in about 8 years, and I’ve never been to Spain.

 

Sometimes I forget to just focus on the present and enjoy what is. I know that finding a job for the fall won’t be a breeze, but there is so much good in my life right now! I don’t want it to pass me by.

 

Thanks to Lynn over at  The Actors Diet for helping me put things in perspective!

 

Have you been to Barcelona?
What are your plans for the summer?

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That’s what HE said…

The foot doctor that is…

 

Today was finally the day. A trip to the doctor to see what the heck is going on with my feet.

At best I was hoping for an instant solution, at worst I was afraid he would tell me I can’t run anymore. Either way, I just wanted some answers.

Basically, it is what I thought before, I have Plantar Fasciitis. He couldn’t be more certain.

 

Since I’m going on a trip in a few weeks where I plan to do some sightseeing (more on this soon), he wanted to try and get me on the path to healing quickly.

 

The doc taped up my feet tightly which takes the pressure off the bottom of my feet. It’s tight, but it feels GOOD. I’m going to be taped up until next week when I go back for another visit.

 

He also said that I have no reason to believe I won’t run again. But I need to make sure I have excellent sneakers and that it would be best for me to do more cross training.

 

I’m relieved. And hopeful. And optimistic. I’m also working on saying some positive affirmations for healing my feet.  Such as:

"My feet are strong, healthy, and pain free"

"I will run again with no pain"

 

I’m really hoping that I will feel better even by the end of this week. But you know what they say…One step at a time.

 

Do you use positive affirmations?

Have you ever had plantar fasciitis?

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