Pasta Bolognese Per Request

Hi friends! I hope everyone is having a good Monday so far…

It’s time to recap a super awesome Sunday that was spent with my husband and the dog. It started with BOGO coffees at Caribou. I stuck with a decaf coffee with sugar-free hazelnut (num) and Dana went for the Milk Chocolate Mocha with a shot or two of espresso.

Let the Father’s Day fun begin! Today was all about the hubby. Moose even made sure to get his dad a sweet card for Father’s Day. How thoughtful, right?

For breakfast I made myself a pb banana sandwich (I ate half of it before remembering to snap a photo). I ate my banana ‘wich and sipped on my coffee while we cut coupons.

Once again, the coupons were completely lame this week. We cut two measly coupons. TWO. And they were for household type things so they weren’t even exciting.

Next, we hit the Sunday usuals: Target and Costco. We stocked up on some good eats and even bought Mooser a new chicken. His last one had to be tossed due to a terrible stench that really raunched up his breath each time he played with it. Gross.

We got a few things done around the house, I completed a relaxing yoga session, and then I made Dana a special Father’s Day sandwich.

This beautiful creation is made up of:

  • Two pieces of whole wheat bread
  • 1 slice of lower-sodium turkey breast
  • 1 slice cheddar cheese
  • Sliced tomato sprinkled with onion powder and pepper
  • Mustard
  • 1 drippy egg.

All grilled to perfection with love.

I LOVE making special meals for the ones I love.

In the afternoon, we had to run a few more errands which included plans to take the pooch out for a walk around the lake. Our plans were hindered when the clouds opened up and mother nature watered our grass from 1:00-5:00 pm. I wasn’t sure if it was going to let up, so I decided to head down to our treadmill to get a little walk in just in case. I walked for 35 minutes while watching The Blind Side. Such a great movie.

Towards the end of my workout, the skies had cleared up and Moose really wanted to take his dad out for a Father’s Day walk :wink:, so we headed out. It had cooled off quite a bit after the rain and the sun was even peeking through. It was a perfect evening walk with my guys.

Since today was all about the dads, I told Dana he could have whatever he wanted for dinner. His decision: Pasta Bolognese. My version of course.

I started by sautéing 1 cup diced yellow onion, 2 minced garlic cloves, and 1 cup of chopped mushrooms in a light amount of garlic infused olive oil. After about 3 minutes, I added a jar of No-Added Sugar Ragu, added a shake of garlic powder, basil, and oregano. I gave this a stir, covered, and let simmer while I prepared the rest of the meal.

In a separate pan, I started browning up a package of lean ground chicken and began boiling my water for the pasta. Once the meat was browned, I sprinkled it with oregano and garlic powder. I like to flavor each part of the dish when I can. I added the meat to the sauce, then finished the sauce by adding about 3/4 cup of chopped green olives.

Once the pasta was finished cooking to al dente, I drained it and served up two heaping plates full of pasta and Bolognese sauce and topped with parmesan cheese.

Great decision, honey.

After dinner, we just had to have dessert because it was Father’s Day after all. So what did we decide to do? Head to the Frozen Yogurt shop down the road of course. Jeez louise this is the third Sunday in a row now that we have done this. We are getting a lot better at controlling our frozen yogurt pour and limiting the toppings at least. Last night we spent $7.00 between the two of us which was our cheapest fro-yo purchase yet.

Last night I chose non-dairy, non-fat Valencia Orange Sorbet mixed with the tiniest bit of sugar-free vanilla fro-yo (to get the orange creamsicle effect). I topped it with gummies and was extremely happy with this combo. You are probably aware by now that I usually opt for the chocolately, rich toppings when it comes to my fro-yo and ice cream, but I am trying to cool it on the dairy, and since the only sorbet flavor option they had last night was orange, I didn’t think topping it with cookie dough and brownie pieces sounded very appetizing. The gummies were just perfect.

Any time I eat gummies I am reminded of my childhood, and my college years. Growing up we had gummies as a special treat, and through my college years, my girlies and I would buy a huge bag of mixed gummies from the grocery store when we were having a girl’s night in. Sweet memories.

What a great Father’s Day weekend with my papa on Saturday, and Dana on Sunday. We will be celebrating Father’s Day with Dana’s parents next weekend. Let the fun continue.

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I keep forgetting to tell you all, that last week I DID reach my June Yoga Challenge weekly goal. When I posted on Friday I had only completed two yoga sessions and my goal is three per week. Well, you better believe that after I posted on Friday I hit up the yoga. I am really loving it and am feeling pretty sore from it as well. Work it baby!

I still need to share that awesome Lemon Blueberry Bar recipe with you all that I made on Saturday. I didn’t forget! It’s still comin. Have a great Monday.

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Going Away Party and Welcome Home Party

Last night we attended a going away party for our good friend, Luke. He will be moving out of state to begin a new job and although the feelings are bittersweet, as we are sad that he is leaving MN, we are also VERY excited for him in his new endeavor and are so happy for him.

We celebrated at Bar Lurcat in Minneapolis. Our friend, Krystle did an amazing job of putting this party together. The atmosphere was very relaxed as we sipped on our wine, snacked on mini sliders and other appetizers that were served, and all mingled and chatted the night away.

Here is the man who were celebrating on behalf of, pictured with his beautiful girlfriend (and one of my best friends), Kate.

Cafe & Bar Lurcat is located in the Loring Park area in Minneapolis. I don’t go to this area often, but really should. It is beautiful and has an almost Tuscan-like feel to the side streets. There is also a nice park located right behind where we parked our car (pictured below). There are other restaurants I wouldn’t mind exploring, or it would be fun to bring a picnic. I want to go back!

It was a really great night. We haven’t been out in a while due to traveling and me not feeling the best, so it was definitely a lot of fun. Luke, can’t wait to come visit you! Congratulations again!

Although, we enjoyed going out, Moose on the other hand wasn’t the most impressed. We gave him his alone time for a few hours, and by the time we returned, he had gotten over the fact that we left him in the dust, and welcomed us the best way he knows how: smothering and kisses.

So much love from our big man, who btw is shedding like CRAZY right now.

Now, it is Saturday morning, there is a steady rain falling outside, and I just baked up a lemon blueberry treat to bring to mom and dad’s tonight in celebration of Father’s Day. Sounds cozy right? I’ll share the recipe with you later gators.

Off to take on the day…have an awesome Saturday!

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Baby Love

Hello world! How was everyone’s Saturday? Mine was seriously awesome.

My morning started out with a bowl of my very standard cinnamon Cream of Wheat with stevia and a little brown sugar, but to switch it up a bit I added some leftover white rice which added a different texture to the dish. I also added a few bites of banana.

After breakfast we headed to the city of our alma mater, Mankato, to visit a good friend of mine who recently had a baby girl. Their beautiful baby was born less than two weeks ago and she is such a doll. Dana and I had such a good time visiting with our friends and oogling over their precious miracle.

I love babies!

Since we were in Mankato, we just HAD to go visit our old campus. We headed over to Minnesota State University, Mankato to cruise the campus, notice renovations and reminisce.

I asked Dana to snap a picture of me in front of the library since I spent a whole lot of time there in my day (nerd-alert). Dana on the contrary, said he hardly spent any time in there. The difference between us though is that I need complete silence when I study, whereas he prefers noise whether in the form of television or other people.

It was good to be back. We also drove by our old houses, apartments, favorite bars and hangouts, and the Mankato Mall. Seriously so many memories packed into one city.

While we cruised, we ate our packed lunches: Peanut butter and grape jelly, veggie chips, and a banana.

On our way home we stopped at the Medford outlet mall so I could hit up the Nike Outlet Store since it was on our way home. I really like Nike workout apparel. They have such fun colors and their clothes are very comfortable which is the most important thing I look for when buying workout clothes. First, comfort, second for cuteness. I controlled myself and just bought one pair of workout shorts. These particular pair are a brownish gray color with pink and white details on the sides. Cute and comfy and at discount price. Score!

When we got home, we pumped some air into our bike tires and biked to the store to return our redbox movie from last night. Then it was time to give some major attention to our large furry baby. Into the car we went. Destination dog park.

Look at the excitement in his eyes peering over the back seat.

He went crazy sniffing every square inch of the dog park, making sure to leave his scents along the way.

He found the other dogs and immediately tried making friends with them all. Unfortunately for Moose, many of the dogs steer the other way when they see him coming. Poor guy. Is it because he’s so big?

It’s okay, he still had plenty of fun.

He did manage to steal the heart of this young lady.

But it was short lived. We wore Mooser out at the dog park. We loaded him back up in the car and headed home.

It was a warm one around here yesterday at about 92° or so, but there was a nice breeze which made for a really pleasant day. We dragged out the doggie pool and filled her up. Talk about spoiling this guy today. If only he liked the water. We had to pretty much force him in the water for this picture. He warmed up to it after a while, probably after the water warmed up a bit.

Such a big baby, but I love him.

For dinner we fired up the grill to cook up a random combo of shrimp, mushrooms, and green beans. We seasoned simply with salt and pepper and let the grill add the rest of the flavor.

Num! After dinner we threw the ball to Moose to really wear him out, and enjoyed the beautiful night. What an AWESOME day.

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A Quiet Date Night

Happy weekend!

Recap from yesterday…

My day started off with a follow up appointment with the gastroenterologist regarding my current colitis flare. To give you a quick update, I’m still not feeling very well. The doc is going to amp up the dosage of my medication and has recommended I stick to a low-fiber diet as best as I can, reminding me that some small salads here and there will probably be fine, just don’t go crazy. I told her I had tried to stick to a very low-fiber, low-residue diet, but couldn’t stick with it very long because my body was craving greens so bad, and I wasn’t feeling well because of it. I am going to continue to experiment with my diet, but have decided to only allow myself to experiment at night or dinner time, so that if I do have a negative reaction, I won’t be stuck at work with it.

Anyway, I am continuing my research on different allowable foods and plan to get creative. I got busy in the kitchen later and whipped up (literally) a batch of roasted butternut squash soup for my lunches or dinners next week. People with U.C. can often tolerate cooked veggies; squash, carrots, sweet potato, but are continued to be advised to stay away from cruciferous types of vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, because they often cause GI distress. I will be posting this recipe soon! It turned out fantastic.

We made a stop at Trader Joe’s to pick up a few things since we were in the area. I L.O.V.E. LOVE Trader Joe’s. We especially love their Three Buck Chuck.

For lunch…I had some snacks and then made myself one of my most favorite lunches of all time. Spelt bread in this case, with peanut butter, honey and bananas. In my younger years, whenever I got sick with flare-ups, my mom would buy me spelt bread and I seemed to tolerate it well. I thought I would give it a go again.

So beautiful. I actually used PB2 on this one today because I am needing to watch my fat intake right now. Since PB2 only has 1.5 grams of fat per serving, it was a good decision today. I could probably eat this lunch every day and never ever get sick of it. Num.

I made my way to the gym but really wasn’t feeling the best so just hit the elliptical for an easy pace and easy resistance for a half hour.

Dinner and quiet date night….

For dinner I pureed a can of rinsed and drained pinto beans with garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and a touch of chicken broth. This was an experimental dinner btw to see if I can handle brown beans in the pureed form. We cooked up some white rice, and chopped up tomato, cilantro, and avocado, and piled it on a plate. We melted cheddar cheese on the deal and called it one quick and easy dinner.

Whoops, forgot the cheese.

There it is. How could I forget the cheese?!

I was hoping that we had mild salsa on hand to top off the dish but we didn’t, so I ended up seasoning my dish with a little dash of salt and a splash of lemon juice. I didn’t miss the salsa at all. I actually think I prefer the lemon taste (would have used lime if we had it and that would have been great too!).

Dana and I had a quiet date night planned for last night. We waited to finalize any date plans until I knew how I was feeling and since I wasn’t feeling great, we decided to make ourselves a healthy dinner, rent a movie, and stay home.

A while back I read ‘The Help’ and have wanted to see the movie ever since. Well, it just so happened redbox had it for us.

We spent the evening cuddled on the couch in our cozies watching ‘The Help.’ That is my idea of a perfect date night.

Now I am off running here and there today. Have a great Saturday everyone!

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Wait, Wait, Good Boy

Thursday was an eventful day at our household….

I’ll give you a hint.

It was garage sale day at our house! We finally went through a million boxes that were piled up in our basement, got our business together, and set up for a one day sale. We had little expectations as to how well we would do.

We had a little rain in the morning that pretty much soaked all of our stuff, but besides that, the day was beautiful and it actually turned out to be quite productive. We didn’t have too much stuff leftover at the end of the day which was of course the goal. We boxed up the unsold items, and plan on bringing them into Salvation Army. What a great feeling to have so much stuff cleared out of our house. It’s like a breath of fresh air. I can’t believe how much junk accumulates over time.

For lunch, I made myself a sweet potato (did not eat the skin) with peanut butter. This is actually an old photo because the picture I took today looked extraordinarily unappetizing. Let’s just say the dollop of peanut butter didn’t look like a dollop of peanut butter.  I thought I would spare you.

After the sale, we took Mooser out for a long walk around the neighborhood. I was wishing I had brought my camera with me because there were so many beautiful flowers along the way. Oh well, next time.

For dinner we grilled up a couple of boneless skinless chicken breasts seasoned simply with salt, pepper, and onion powder. To top the chicken, I made a small batch of guacamole with ingredients I had on hand: 1 1/2 avocados, 1 small handful of chopped cilantro, a little salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and dash of lemon juice. I served my chicken on top of a small salad and Dana made his into a killer sandwich.

While we ate dinner, Moose did too. But first, he had to “wait.”

“Wait.”

“Good boy.”

That is what happens each time we feed Moose. If we don’t say “good boy,” he will just sit there and stare at his food. Our family learned that the hard way when we were out of town, and they were taking care of the dog.  We forgot to leave them the magic words and he wouldn’t eat well for them. Whoops! Now they know the secret words and will probably never ever forget. 🙂

Happy Friday! Have a beautiful day.

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Beautiful Surprises

Hola! No messing around today. Let’s get down to business.

My day of eats yesterday….

Breakfast: Cream of Wheat with stevia, cinnamon, banana, and a teaspoon of brown sugar. Cinnamon apple tea on the side. This has become my usual breakfast lately. It sits very well in my tummy and it tastes good too!

Part of my lunch: Slightly burnt sweet potato fries with cinnamon maple Pb2.

Dinner: Tilapia seasoned simply with salt and pepper, leftover potato salad, and a plain salad with honey mustard. Call me crazy but my favorite thing on this plate was the GREENS. I have missed my green salads so much and although I’m still not going to go all out into the roughage types of foods, I am enjoying my small salads whenever I let myself have one.

After work yesterday I geared up to head out for a 3-mile run around the neighborhood. I ran an easy, relaxing pace, and it felt great to stretch my legs out. Just 4 days until the half marathon!

When I got back from my run, I found the sweetest surprise waiting for me in the dining area.

You always know how to brighten my day. Thanks, honey! They are gorgeous and make me smile every time I look at them.

Happy Wednesday to you all.

Question of the day: What is your favorite way to prepare tilapia or any other white fish?

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The Big Reveal

A while back, I mentioned that we were beginning the process of finishing our bathroom in the basement. I feel like it’s been an eternity since I first mentioned it, and some of you were maybe even thinking I forgot to fill you in on it. But no, I was just waiting for the opportune time to reveal it to you. And now that it is finished, except for some last decorating details, I am ready for the big reveal.

It was a lot of fun being able to make all of the decisions in this bathroom. I feel like it’s truly what we wanted and the design and style turned out just as I had imagined in my head. We are so happy with the finished product. Here are some before and after photos.

Before:

After:

Before:

After

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Did I hear some OooooOO’s and Ahhhhh’s? My favorite part is probably the heated floors. Since this is our basement bathroom, we figured it would be a very nice touch that we wouldn’t regret doing.

I still have some last decorative touches I want to make. I want to buy a dark chocolate-colored shelf to go above the toilet so I can pretty it up a bit more.

I hope everyone is having a great Friday. As you read this I am either on my way to the Boundary Waters, or knee-deep into it, depending on what time you are reading. I’ll be back in a few days. Have a beautiful weekend.

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My Thrilling Night

Well hello there. I am so happy it is a beautiful day out today because if it had been gloomy I think I may have had to hold my eyes open all day. I have been extremely tired this week and (wahh wahh) I think it’s because my body is readapting to normalcy versus being a lazy bum like I was all last week. I should be back in the swing of things by next week.

There has been a high need for the coffee this week.

Breakfast yesterday was a Melanie staple: Greek yogurt, blueberries, strawberries, and honey. I had a dentist appointment yesterday morning so I omitted the chia seeds because they have a tendency to get stuck in the teeth. You can view more about Eccella Smiles to take care of your teeth.

Dinner was a comfort to me. You have seen this salad before but in the mix is mixed greens, black beans, tomato, avocado, peas, broccoli, cheddar cheese, and my very favorite honey mustard dressing. It was a hit in my belly.

I worked late last night so after dinner it was already almost 8:00. I made a few phone calls then made my way to the couch to hang out with this handsome fellow and watch Modern Family.It was a hilarious episode as always. Mitch and Cam had Lily on a child leash at Disneyland and it was extra funny to me because I witnessed someone at Disneyland with a leashed child last time I was there. It is hilarious to me. I love that show.

After Modern Family we watched a recorded episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, Croatia. Moose really enjoyed it because the episode involved a dog sniffing out truffles. Any time he hears dog noises on the TV his head perks up and he becomes enthralled by the show. Clearly he was captured by this one. I wish we could teach Moose to sniff out truffles in the ground. Are you taking notes, doggy?

I finished the night off with freshly popped popcorn.

And that was my thrilling night. 😉 Can you stand the excitement?

I am happy it’s Thursday because that means tomorrow is Friday. I am hoping to get a run in after work today as I neglected to get up early this morning for a run.

I hope you all have a beautiful day.

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Double Chocolate Oat Cookies

Yesterday was a good day. I started the day off right by heading to the gym to hit the treadmill for some fartlek training.

Fartlek is interval training where you adjust speeds throughout your run, which challenges your internal functions to keep up as they are in charge of making major adjustments when varying from slow, to fast, to moderate paces.

I varied my run from a moderate paced run, to a slightly uncomfortable pace, to a sprint, then recovered for 1 to 1.5 minutes before starting it all over again. This constant change in pace means a constant change in heart rate. Research shows that this type of workout can also speed up the metabolic process post-workout, which means more calories burned throughout the rest of your day post-workout.

I don’t feel comfortable going further into the science behind “fartlek” runs, because I am certainly  not an expert, but I do know these types of runs can be very helpful when training for longer runs. They tend to keep me very entertained during runs as well and make the time fly by.

After the run, I hit up a few arm weights and core strengthening, then headed out to run a bunch of errands. I think I found a bath mat for the new bathroom downstairs that I’ m going to keep. The bathroom is 95% done!

I also tackled more laundry, stopped at the library to check out two books for my upcoming trip (!!), cleaned up the house, put photos in frames, and cooked a big batch of 32-bean soup for dinner.

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Cookies, cookies num num num

The other day, I had a hankering to bake and a chocolate craving. What’s a girl to do? Why, head to the kitchen of course and get busy. I took this cocoa cookie recipe, and revamped it. These are cookies that you don’t need to feel guilty about. They are low fat, are made with whole wheat flour, and are fairly low in sugar (c0mpared to other chocolate chip cookies). Check out the recipe.

Double Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup oats
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 Tablespoon canola oil
  • 1/2 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3 Tablespoons egg whites, or egg white from 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
  2. In medium bowl combine flour, oats, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, use electric mixer to cream together oil, yogurt, sugars, and cocoa powder.
  4. Beat in egg whites and vanilla.
  5. Add flour mixture, until combined.
  6. Stir in chocolate chips.
  7. Use a tablespoon to drop dough 2 inches apart onto baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
  8. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until almost set. Remove, let cool. ENJOY.

These cookies are not super sweet but they do a great job satisfying any chocolate craving you may be having. I decided to freeze the majority of the dough and then I will just be able to bake up one or two cookies if I get the urge. I adore warm right out of the oven cookies when the chocolate chips are melty and gooey.

Have a great day!

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Sweet Grilled Garlic

I had a wonderful little Saturday yesterday.

I woke up early and hit the ground running for 5.3 miles. It was definitely not an easy run day for me, but I fought through to the finish.

After my run I showered up and headed to my great friend Haley’s baby shower. She is due at the end of May and looking FANTASTIC. We celebrated the soon arrival of the babe with great company, a couple of games, and nummy food. There were chicken shawarmas, veggies, fruit, chips, cheese, crackers, cupcakes, brownie cookie bars, etc! It was a dream world for me. Sorry I didn’t snap a photo. It was so good to see Hales. I miss her so!

Once I got home, it was time to get busy on finishing up the bathroom. Dana had been hard at work all day and the least I could do was hold the flashlight while he screwed in some fixtures and such.

Amidst the bathroom work was a little laundry folding, and a trip to Home Depot (whoopee exciting Saturday night, right?). At around 6:30 we figured we should probably start thinking about dinner. We ran to the grocery store to find something to grill and ended up buying two chicken breasts, two garlic cloves, and a whole grain baguette.

We threw those three items on the grill and wahlah…

A healthy grilled dinner.

For those of you who have never tried grilled garlic, you should probably try it. It is pretty amazing. Just cut the top off of the garlic bulb, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and a little salt and pepper, wrap up in tin foil and grill cut side up for about 20 minutes (depending on the size of the bulb and the heat of the grill). Unwrap them, squeeze the whole bulb of garlic to pop out the individual cloves. You are left with slightly sweet and buttery garlic cloves. Num.

For dessert, two pieces of Easter chocolates.

The rest of the night was spent relaxing, ordering some wedding photos for frames that are still naked around our house, and watching a couple of episodes of Modern Family.

That was quite the speedy recap of Saturday. It was pretty great though.

I am off for now. Tons to do around the house. Catch up with you later!

 

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