Mornin’!
I can’t believe it’s Wednesday already – the weeks seem to be just flying by these days. Anyone else feel that way? I hate when time goes too fast, I don’t want to miss a second of it! Although, this cold weather can go by as quickly as possible. The windchill was -22 when I left this morning for my early a.m. workout!! 
I warmed up quickly though, with some good, quality cardio time. 
Here’s what I did:
- 30 minutes elliptical
- 1 minute treadmill @ 4.0 mph
- 4 minutes treadmill @ 6.0 mph
- 1 minute treadmill @ 4.0 mph
- 4 minutes treadmill @ 6.5 mph
- 1 minute treadmill @ 4.0 mph
- 4 minutes treadmill @ 7.0 mph
- Total: 45 minutes, ~4.25 miles (I was super slow on the elliptical today for some reason!)
20 minute movement challenge for Day 8 – done! How is everyone else participating in the challenge doing? These 8 days have gone by so quickly, and the only day I really didn’t want to move was last Sunday. I’m lucky, though, that my parents have a treadmill so I was able to bust a move as quickly as possible. I also found myself pretty tired around days 4&5, but my body is getting into a groove now. It’s so cool to see/feel!
At any rate, I enjoyed my last early morning workout breakfast so much, that I decided to re-create it! Blueberry Banana Smoothie.
In the mix:
- 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze
- 1 cup frozen blueberries
- 1 banana
- 1/2 Tablespoon agave nectar
- 1/2 Tablespoon chia seeds
- Vanilla whey protein powder (I’ll review this soon!)
Blended until it was siiiiilky smoooooth.
Don’t you just love that color? I want to paint something in that shade.
I poured my smoothie into a big cup and stuck it into the freezer overnight. This morning while I was working out, it was supposed to thaw in my car, but the temps were just too cold! So, I’m eating it with a spoon which I think I actually prefer, because it’s lasting a looooong time.
The flavors in this smoothie are so yummy – you can really taste the banana, which I just love. Oh, and how much fun are frozen blueberries to eat? I popped a few while putting this together last night – they’re like flavored ice cubes!
Lunch today is some more of that awesome Chana Masala from last night.
I am actually super excited for this lunch. Stuff like this tastes even better the second day!
And I cannot stress to you how easy this was to make. Not counting the spices (which I already had all of in my cupboard, by the way) there’s basically three other ingredients!
I’ve also got the prettiest Pink Lady Apple I’ve seen in a long time. Aint she a beaut? Did I just say aint?
Oh! I have a challenge for you guys! Ben and I are going to a Bacon Fest party on Saturday (there’s actually a “real” Bacon Fest in my city where you sit around eating bacon all day and drinking beer, but tickets sold in record time!) hosted by some friends of ours, and we’re in charge of bringing a bacon dish to share! I wanted to bring bacon wrapped date (omg, SO good) but dates cost an arm and a leg around here. Anyone have any brilliant bacon recipes? Jessica – I’m looking in your direction!! 
Have a great Wednesday everyone!
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What are some of your favorite smoothie ingredients and concoctions?
Late Night Pasta
Ingredients
1 pound spaghetti
4 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch strips
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons thinly sliced garlic
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped shallots
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg ( I just use egg whites)
1/4 to 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, as desired
I add fresh spinach to it at the end
Directions
Bring a large heavy pot of water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook, stirring to separate the strands, until the pasta is al dente, 7 to 8 minutes for dry pasta. Drain in a colander, reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp. Add the garlic, shallots, pepper, and salt and cook, stirring, until fragrant and the garlic is soft but not brown, about 1 1/2 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the egg and reserved pasta cooking water, stirring quickly until the mixture thickens, but the egg does not scramble.
Divide the spaghetti among plates or large shallow bowls, sprinkle cheese to taste over the top of each serving.
Your smoothie sounds GOOD!!! My favorite is strawberries and banana. But banana and peanut butter is also out of this world!
Bacon Wrapped smokies are always a HUGE hit.
I just bought pitted dates at Gateway Market last week. $1.22 for 1/3 lb! Not too bad if you’re still interested in the bacon wrapped dates! They’re also really good with gorgonzola cheese in the middle.
I have a friend who always brings little weinies wrapped in bacon. they are to DIE for! you can use the turkey weinies for a little healthier alternative. There is some kind of brown sugar glaze that goes on them as well. I’m not a sweet + salty kind of girl but these are amazing. I’m sure you can google the recipe!!
I have two recipes!
1) bacon wrapped chicken. cut up chicken into bite sized pieces, wrap in bacon, sprinkle with brown sugar, bake until done, dip in BBQ sauce! gooooooooood.
2) BLT dip! mix up mayo and sour cream salt and pepper, put in bowl. Top with shredded lettuce, then top that with diced tomatoes. then top THAT with crumbled bacon! then you can dip with bagel chips or bagel bites or sliced baguette?
FYI these are not original recipes from me, I forget where I got them but they are a staple!!
oh and one more, my pregnant sister said she lived on PB and bacon sandwiches and to “not knock it until i try it” LOL!
PB and bacon sandwiches are the best! I like mine with thin slices of apple in them too =)
For thanksgiving every year (and my brother is CRAZY for these) my Mom always fried a few pieces of bacon, crumbled them and mixed with cream cheese and some garlic and spread on celery. She just called them celery sticks. Another thing that I think is good is bacon wrapped jumbo shrimp. Hyvee just had their crab legs on sale the other day so maybe if you watch the ad, they will have a shrimp sale it is worth a shot. Have fun at your party! Oh and in the cream cheese mixture I think she put a little of the bacon grease too.
[...] Bacon Fest was a bacon extravaganzaaaaa! There was chocolate covered bacon, bacon brownies, bacon soup, bacon dip, bacon wrapped gizzards (couldn’t bring myself to try one), bacon pinwheels, bacon scotcharoos, bacon…YOU NAME IT! My contribution? French Toast & Bacon Mini Cupcakes! [...]