Workout Playlist Wednesday - ‘Bout Time

Firstly, CONGRATS to Beth of Dining and Dishing for winning the Old Navy giveaway!  Keep your eyes peeled for next month’s!

I made reference in this morning’s post that the local college radio station was playing some amazing hits.  It made me think of my sister – who is up on the good music wayyyyyy before me, as she pointed out to me earlier today.  Check out her blog, Kimmy Gibbler Lives – she’s got some good jammzzzz on there :)

So without further ado, I give you, Workout Playlist Wednesday.

• The Reeling, Passion Pit, 3:39
• I Live By the Groove, Paul Carrack, 4:12
• Blah, Blah, Blah, Ke$ha, 2:52
• What You Need, INXS, 3:34
• Kiss With a Fist, Florence & The Machine, 2:04
• Shadows of the Night, Pat Benatar, 3:43
• Dancing in the Street, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, 2:40
• Little Secrets, Passion Pit, 3:59
• Rude Boy, Rihanna, 3:43
• In My Head, Jason Derulo, 3:20
• Breakeven (Falling to Pieces), The Script, 4:21

You can download any or all of these songs on this week’s iMix over here.

Enjoy!

Today’s lunch was – wait for it – another salad :)

Brown Bag makes salads with such fresh ingredients.

I had the Remember the Alamo without cheese, but with avocado.

The lime vinaigrette really adds another dimension to the greens, chicken and other vegetables.

And the tortilla strips give it some necessary crunch.

Followed by a totally processed yogurt.

I mean really, where does one find this color in nature?

Yet, still good :)

SOOOOOOOOO much to do tonight!

XOXO

Recreating Breakfast

The combination of turkey, egg and tomato in yesterday’s breakfast had me wanting to recreate my own version.  Of course, it had to be easy to eat en route to the gym.

In lieu of an English muffin, I substituted a Flat Out Wrap.

I layered 3 pieces of sliced chicken breast.

Topped with an egg I had microwaved in a bowl for 1 minute.

And fresh tomato and arugula.

Wrapped up, packed and ready to go!

I thought about adding salsa or buffalo sauce, but thought it might get messy in the car.

While I ate, I rocked out to some great early morning jams on the local college radio station.  I always find college and university radio play some of the best songs.  You’ll be seeing a few later today on Workout Playlist Wednesday.

After a long meeting this morning, I broker into this Mini LARABAR, courtesy of Amie of The Healthy Apple. 

Just the ticket!

Have you had a meal at a restaurant that you have attempted to recreate on your own?  Were you successful?

1.5 hours left to enter my GIVEAWAY!

German-Inspired Dinner

I find that even after a commute that I love how relaxed I get when I’m cooking.  That’s why I was delighted to see that Peapod had come tonight and I could spend some QT in the kitchen.

Tonight I decided to make a recipe I’d seen in the latest issue of Rachael Ray.

Sausage Noodle Bake with Radishes

I first boiled one pound of wide egg noodles in salted water.

While the noodles boiled, I mixed:

• 4 Cups Arugula
• 1 Cup Light Cottage Cheese
• 1 Cup Light Sour Cream
• 5 Beaten Eggs

Cottage cheese doesn’t count as cheese cheese, does it?!?!

I chopped 1 Turkey Kielbasa Link (7 oz.)

And a stick of butter.  Where’s Paula?!?!?!

When the noodles had boiled, I drained them, added the sausage and butter – and then combined everything together in a bowl.

There was a lot of stuff in the mix!

And seasoned with S&P.

And then I put it in a 375 degree oven for 35 minutes. 

While baking, I sauteed some radishes in a little butter and apple cider vinegar for about 7 minutes.

I can’t remember the last time – if ever – that I’ve had a radish!

And before we knew it, dinner was done!

We waited for it to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

Served up alongside the radishes.

This almost tasted like it could be a breakfast dish with the eggs and sausage!

Creamy, but never felt too heavy.  It was definitely missing a key ingredient though that I couldn’t put my finger on.  Maybe some marinated artichokes?

And I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the radishes!  To be honest, they didn’t smell all that delectable whilst cooking.  But, to my amazement, I loved ‘em!

Do you find cooking to be therapeutic?

Don’t forget – you have just a little over 12 hours to enter the Quinn’s Favorite Things Giveaway!

Getting in My Vegetables

Earlier today, I blogged about getting a little bogged down eating sandwiches.  I needed to start incorporating more fruits and vegetables into my diet – which can be hard when I’m constantly on the go and short on time.

I was determined to get a salad for lunch, but from where?  I put out a call for suggestions on Twitter.

And the winner was Chop’t.

I went to the website first and wrote down the ingredients I wanted so that I wouldn’t get flustered in the line.

In my mix:

• Mesclun Greens
• Peas
• Corn
• Orange Segments
• Avocado
• Smoked Tofu
• Cucumber
• Roasted Asparagus
• Chinese Noodles
• Light Asian Vinaigrette

I actually enjoyed the light dressing more than the cheese!  Could I be turning over a new leaf?!?!

Perfectly refreshing on an unseasonably warm day – we’re in the 60s people!

Downside is that Chop’t is located next to a City Sports.  I just stopped in to see if there were any sales – which there were – and ended up with:

• Nike Running Shorts
• Nike Dri Fit Running “Capris”
• Nike Dri Fit Top
• North Face Puffy Vest – on UBER sale

I guess the warm weather has me wanting to take my workouts to the streets!  Which is perfect because I’ll be running TWO 5Ks in the next week. 

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!

Geoff and I are taking a last minute trip to NYC on Thursday and Friday.  A few Friday evenings ago – Martha Stewart Tweeted that they were looking for audience members for a brand new Emeril Lagasse variety show that was set to begin filming this week.  I thought, what the heck, and submitted my name.

Never in a bajillion years did I think I’d be selected.

But, low and behold, I received an email on Sunday night confirming that I had two tickets!  We made arrangements to take some time off, and are excited to head back up to the Big Apple.

We’ll be hanging out near Penn Station after the taping (around 6:30) on Friday to meet up with G’s college friends for some eats and drinks.  Any of you NYC gals who will be around on Friday night, shoot me an email and let’s try to meet up!

Sandwich Overload

Last night, I met Rose of On a Lobster Placemat on my drive home back to Baltimore for a little bite to eat.  Neither of us had a lot of time, but we love getting together.  That’s why Adega Wine Cellars was the perfect location for a meet-up.

The inside is very casual – there are no servers – you simply order at the counter.  Perfect for the two of us!

While waiting in line, Rose and I perused the menu and debated whether or not we should have a glass of wine.  I mean, the restaurant does have “wine” in its title – it would sorta be wrong not to.

For some reason, I had been dreaming about pulled pork recently, so I ordered up a sammie.

I love the BBQ drizzle!

You could either get sweet potato fries or eggplant fries.  The girl at the counter said the eggplant fries were really greasy, so I went the more healthy route?

The sandwich had a definite tang, and I managed to eat the whole thing. 

I love when I get to hang out with Rose!  She is such a sweet girl and so true to the woman you see on her blog.  We talked about school, work, wedding schedules this summer, our blogs, new blogs we love, fitness, and more.  I feel like I could talk to the girl for hours!  But, we were good and after an hour and a half we went our separate ways to commute and do schoolwork.  I can’t wait to see her again next weekend for FitBloggin!

Are you going to FitBloggin’?!?!?!

Since my Peapod order was cancelled and rescheduled for later today – we literally had nothing in the house to eat en route to work.  After working out at the gym, I stopped in my building’s deli for some breakfast.

 

I never order hot sandwiches, but the Turkey, Tomato & Egg on an English Muffin sounded like it would hit the spot.

I ended up taking about half the egg out – there was just too much, but I loved the idea of incorporating turkey.  Will have to remember to recreate at home!

Observation: I’ve realized from my No Cheese for Lent experiment that I’ve been leaning toward sandwiches as opposed to salads and other veggies (sorry, Olga, I know you hate that word).  I guess it’s because I don’t like dressing so cheese has always been my dressing fill-in.  Regardless, I need more fruits and vegetables in my diet.  My face is breaking out – which never happens – and I just feel puffy-ier than usual.  My body is saying, UNCLE!

How do you cleanse when you feel your body is leaning toward junk? 

HAVE you entered my GIVEAWAY yet?  You have just over 24 hours.

Stay tuned for a FUN ANNOUNCEMENT later today :)

Sunday Funday & A Giveaway

After church yesterday, our friend Amy came up from Virginia for a doggie playdate.  Her dogs Roscoe and Bella joined Thumper, Shea and a ridiculous amount of Baltimore canines for a day at the Canton Dog Park.

This guy was getting a lot of action.

Shea had loads of fun playing with the other dogs, while Thumper preferred to be the loner dog.  Check him out in the back left, totally peeing on that tree.

It was a GORGEOUS day – definitely didn’t need jackets.

And Shea got plenty dirty rolling around in the gravel.  Glad we don’t have a white down comforter at home – oh wait….

After close to an hour, the dogs were TUCKERED OUT.  We tried to grab some grub outdoors in Canton Square, but most of the tables were taken.  We decided to drop off the dogs and grab some food on our own.

We settled on Ryan’s Daughter near our house.

We couldn’t eat outside, but we did start with a refreshing one of these.

 

The waitress recommended the Chicken Salad Sandwich on a Kaiser.

It did NOT disappoint.

One might think I had too many fries this weekend, but they were good.

We then settled in for the Oscars!

Some of my favorites:

SJP (if you remove the neck thing in the front, I thought the detail was stunning)

Maggie Gyllenhaal

Meryl Streep (totally age appropriate and glamorous)

Since we ate lunch so late, we didn’t end up really eating much in the way of dinner.  Our Peapod order also failed to arrive, so we were left to purchase lunch out today.

My coworker and I decided to try Mixt Greens, the newest do-it-yourself salad spot near our office with an emphasis on local and organic products.  I ordered The Maui.

Mango strips, avocado, spicy peanuts, tomato, cucumber and seared tuna.

Refreshing, and just the right amount of add-ins.  Sometimes they get loaded down!

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!!

So seriously, how long has it been since I’ve done a giveaway for Quinn’s Favorite Things????  TOO long!

I LOVE, and I mean LOVE LOVE LOVE Old Navy Layering Tanks. 

I sport them at the gym, when I’m lounging around the house, heading to the beach – I wear them a LOT.  They’re just so versatile, comfortable and affordable!

So, like always, I want to share the love.  Leave me a comment telling me about one of your favorite articles of clothing, and I’ll enter you to win not just one tank, but THREE tanks – all colors of your choosing.

You have until Wednesday at NOON to enter!  Good luck!