Balle Balle!

Last night, I had the most unique experience! You guys all know how much Zumba I am always doing, and I love it.  But last night, instead of spending the evening doing Latin-inspired dancing… I spent the evening doing Indian-inspired dancing!

This was truly an aqmazing experience.  The dance-fitness company that I have been training with hosted a Masala Bhangra Master Class with Sarina Jain!  Now, a few weeks ago, I had never heard of Masala Bhangra OR Sarina.  However, when I heard that she was coming, I started doing some research.  Sarina Jain is the creator of this Indian-inspired dance-fitness style and company.  It incorporates movements from Bhangra and Bollywood into a very high-energy and FUN workout! 

Photo from http://www.masaladance.com/

We were lucky to not only get to participate in a Master Class, but to have the owner and creator there to teach us!  In her introduction, Sarina told us how she lost her father to a heart attack, and how that experience opened her eyes to the need to bring exercise to the Indian people.  Masala Bhangra deeply reflects the Indian culture.

Click here to learn more about Masala Bhangra!

Here’s a great action shot of the entire group during the class.  My friend Diana took this amazing photo!  Isn’t it awesome?  Can you find me in it?  I am in the right portion.  I am wearing all black.

Here is our group after the workout!  (We looked prettier BEFORE the workout.  It was a REAL workout!)

(Thanks to my friend Erica for this photo!)

So… what do you do after a Masala Bhangra workout?  You go eat Indian Food!  This was truly a night of firsts for me, as I have NEVER eaten in an Indian Restaurant!

Diana was our food guru.  She worked some kind of magic and the restaurant kept bringing us all kinds of goodies, like fresh naan!

 

My favorite things were the Chana Masala (top left), Chilli Chicken (middle), and that green veggie dumpling thing at the top. 

So it was a complete cultural experience and a very fun night!  I am looking forward to Sarina’s return in August!

Out of My Hands…

Hi all!  Hope everyone had a great weekend.  Remember last Sunday… I wrote about the “Sunday Blues.”  I’m kind of having those today.  I love my job, but I wish the weekends were one day longer.  Don’t you?

This morning was an early morning.  We got our rears in gear to make it to early church today.  It’s hard to get up and moving that early… but it’s nice to be home at 11:00 from church and have the whole day!  I did have ONE thing to do today, though… more on that in a minute.

This morning, I had 2 fried eggs and wheat toast with  jelly. 

I forgot to take pictures of lunch.  But it was a soup/sandwich combo. 

For dinner tonight… I made a new food: Quinoa!  Lately, everyone seems to be writing about quinoa!  I might have had it once… but I don’t remember it.  So I made some of my own. 

 

LOVE it!  I cooked mine in chicken stock and served it with pan-seared chicken breasts.  Here is a helpful guide if you are wondering how to cook Quinoa.  Delish!  Very filling!  If you have not tried Quinoa, I recommend you try it!  I bought mine in the bulk bins at Earth Fare, so it was not expensive at all.  If you have never used the bulk bins before, my friend Diana wrote a post about how to do this.  Click here to read it. 

We had some steamed green beans with almonds, too.

 

    

 

Tomorrow I think I am going to try making a quinoa breakfast bowl.

So… what did I have to do today?

Well, I am not ready to say yet… but I am waiting on some news.  Tomorrow I should be able to share with you.  It’s not the obvious thing many of you are thinking right now.  I promise.  BUT… it’s something that is out of my hands at this point.  And I promise to share news soon. 

I have been learning over the past year that there are a lot of things that I can’t control.  Sometimes, you just have to wait for a sign from above as to what’s the right thing to do.  Have you ever heard that phrase “Let go and let God?”  I am trying to learn to do that.  It’s hard!

New Food Find: Health(ier) Ramen Noodles

So... let's revisit the college days...

You remember those nights.  You just spent 3 hours dancing at the local college hangout (Scandal's, for you local Rock Hill people) and made it back to your dorm room around 2 or 3 a.m.  And of course... you are starving!  What can you eat?  You go to your pantry  crate under your bed and pull out... a pack of Ramen Noodles!

Come on, admit it... you ate them in college, too, right?  I remember going to the grocery store and I swear you could get like 20 of those packs for like $2.  That's the life of a college student.

Well, I really haven't eaten Ramen Noodles since I left the dorm, but I'll admit... I miss them!  They're just so fn and curly :)  I've avoided them because they're actually fried noodles (a.k.a. seriously fattening).  But on Saturday I made a trip to Earth Fare and made a discovery...

Low Fat Health(ier) Ramen Noodles!

These were actually really tasty.  The only down side is high sodium content. 

GREAT to keep in your desk at work for an emergency lunch.  You can easily add veggies to these noodles, too.  I micro-cooked them and thought they would be great with some edamame mixed in.
So if you're missing your college days... stop by Earth Fare and find these.  They'll take you back...

Road Trip, Restaurant Review, and Spaghetti Squash

Today was my lucky day.  First of all... I FOUND my Macro lens!!!  I was cooking tonight and I put away the crock pot from yesterday and POOF!  It appeared on the counter.  I think it had slid under the crock pot.  It's pretty small and my crock pot sits up off the counter a tiny bit.  Anyway... YAY!!!

Another reason today was a good day: I got to travel to Columbia, SC and be with some of my favorite people... my SCRI Literacy Coach Cohort!  We always have such a fabulous time catching up, sharing resources, talking about ideas, and reflecting.  I was looking forward to this day all last week!  We broke for lunch and went to a little deli that was close by our meeting spot: New York Butcher Shoppe and Grille.  It's located inside the Lake Carolina Town Center in Columbia.

 Here's a little pic of the outside. 

 This place reminded me of Dean and Deluca in Charlotte, because of all the fun specialty items: cheeses, desserts, marinades and rubs, sauces...

 They also had a great variety of meats and other items that you can't find in your average grocery store, like Venison Sausage.  The pasta selection is awesome, too!

 They offer a variety of fresh meats, too.

 I love restaurants that allow you (the customer) to write down your order.  It gives you a chance to think about what you want.  I had a hard time deciding.  Eventually, I went with the Italian Sub.  It sounded a lot like the hoagies we would always get when we were in Philadelphia.  Yummmmm......

 The sandwich definitely lived up to my expectations.  Hoagies (or subs as we southerners call them) are famous for being so big that it's hard to take a bite, and this one was big!

 Check out those olives... you know I love them!

 They also had these cool chips that came in all kinds of fun flavors. 

Remember a couple of days ago I mentioned that I was going to cook spaghetti squash?  Well, I did it tonight and it tasted sooooo good!

There are several ways you can cook spaghetti squash.  I chose to cut mine in half and roast it, cut side down, for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.  You know it is done when you can pierce the skin with a fork.  Then, all you have to do is rake all the insides out with a fork.  I did this over a bowl and out came my "noodles!"

For my sauce, I tried something different.  The obvious and easy way to go would be a jarred spaghetti sauce, but I opted to make a cream sauce.  I didn't measure.  I just played.  I heated about a teaspoon of EVOO and butter in a skillet.  Then I added minced garlic-- about 1 clove.  I added a can of 98%Fat Free Cream of Mushroom Soup, a few dollops of light sour cream, dried parsley, and about 1/4 cup of an Italian shredded cheese blend (mozzarella, parmesan, romano). 

 This "pasta" tasted GREAT.  However, I do not like the color of the sauce with the color of the squash "noodles."  I think I may play with this a bit and see what I can come up with. 

Do any of you have great ways for cooking spaghetti squash?  I'd love to hear them.  Just leave a comment at the bottom of this post.  I think next time I'd like to toss the noodles with olive oil, salt, pepper, and grated parmesan.  That seems simple but delicious.

Oh!  And tomorrow is my FIRST...

class at Fascinating Rhythm in York!  So... if you are close by, come join me at 4:30 for class!  I've got some fun songs on my playlist!  Check back tomorrow for  details on how that went!  I am so excited!

NOT a Lazy Saturday: Party In Pink Zumbathon

When I got up this morning, I wasn't sure what I would be doing today.  As you know, I got up VERY early this morning.  I was craving steel-cut oats, so I made another batch of apple-cinnamon flavored oats.  (Click here for the recipe.)  Check out this picture I got right when I filled my bowl...

Yes, that is steam!  It was chilly this morning, but this (along with some fabulous coffee that I won a few weeks ago) was the perfect warm-up.  I LOVED this coffee!  It was bold, but not TOO bold.  It made the whole downstairs smell like a coffee house!  I am going to see about getting some more!

I was trying to decide whether to go to my regular Zumba class at 10:45 OR to attend a Party In Pink Zumbathon benefitting the Susan G. Komen Foundation.  I went back and forth, but finally decided on the Zumbathon.  I was hesitant because it was taking place at McHales (a locar bar and grill in Fort Mill, SC) on "the beach" (aka a sand pit).  I wasn't sure how I would like Zumba on sand.

As it turns out... I do NOT like Zumba on sand.  I tried the grass, too, but that wasn't much better.  It really made my feet hurt.  However, the weather was beautiful, and Zumba is always fun, especially with friends!

I am glad that I went.  I wore my BodyBugg, so I could see my calorie count, which turned out to be...

990 Calories!  Yeah!  I didn't think I had worked that hard at all... which is what I LOVE about Zumba!

Before I left, I bought an energy drink called XS. 

Now, I am not usually a fan of energy drinks, because sometimes they leave you jittery, and sometimes they are full of sugar.  However, this drink only has 12 calories.  I tried the Cranberry-Grape flavor.  Here's the nutritional information for the drink I tried.  Overall, I liked it.  The flavor was good and it gave me a "soda fix" because it was carbonated.  I did not feel jittery at all.  I had to go grocery shopping right after the Party in Pink, and as I was shopping, I thought, "Wow, I am not as tired as I would have thought."  So I think the XS helped.  This drink comes in all sorts of flavors.  It does have some coloring added and there are some ingredients on the nutritional information that I am not sure about, but going on taste and feeling alone, I liked it. 

If you're interested, here's the website where you can buy it.  You can view the prices on the web site.  It comes out to be a little over $2 per can if you order a case (12 cans).  You can't get it in stores-- it's sold through a representative.  You can contact Michael Sanders, a local sales rep, if you are interested.  His email address is msanders@bww.com. 

I came home and cooked dinner tonight: roasted butternut squash, fresh green beans cooked with butter and garlic, and split chicken breasts pan seared and then baked in the oven. 

What a great ending to the day. 

Tomorrow, I am trying my hand at spaghetti squash.  I haven't made it in so long!  Should be an interesting food adventure!



Is That a Sweet Potato? Nope, it's a Butternut Squash!

Do you ever clip recipes?  I get several magazines, and sometimes if a recipe looks really good, then I will tear out the page and keep it.  Well, on Sunday, I was going through some of my cookbooks and a crumpled page from Southern Living had fallen back behind the books. 

I pulled it out and looked at the recipes, wondering which one had made me tear the page out.  Well, every recipe sounded fantastic, and I can't remember why I saved this page, but one recipe jumped out at me: Baked Winter Squash.  I've been trying to tackle new foods lately, and Butternut Squash was something that I had not tried.  Plus, it just sounded really easy to make-- but also warm and comforting.  So on my grocery trip, I picked up a Butternut Squash.

When I cut into the squash (which was not an easy task-- the skin is thick!) the first thing that I noticed was the color!  Hello orange!  This scared me a little.  It reminded me of sweet potatoes, which really aren't one of my favorite foods.  I don't know why.  The only time I liked them was when I was pregnant.  But I decided to forge ahead and see what happened. 

I put one tablespoon of butter in the empty "hole" after I scooped the seeds out, and then I added about a teaspoon of pancake syrup to each "hole."  I also seasoned it with salt and pepper all over.  I put about 1/4-1/2 inch of water in the bottom of the dish and baked at 400 degrees for 30 minutes covered, 10 uncovered.  As it was baking, the house smelled heavenly. 

I tasted part that had soaked up all the syrup and butter and also part that was not near the cavity or hole.  Both tasted great, but the buttery, syrupy part of course tasted great.  Not too sweet-- just enough.  I would definitely make this again.  It had a different flavor from zucchini and yellow squash-- and the texture was more like mashed potatoes.  Definitely a great comfort food for fall!  I paired it up with a Morningstar Farms Veggie Burger with lettuce and tomatoes, and a little cup of some leftover Grown-Up Chicken Noodle Soup.

By the way, that's an odd-shaped bowl there.  Know why?  It's actually a tea bowl that I made, and the reason it is shaped that way is so that you can hold it in one hand.  There's actually a thumb-rest on the bottom right corner of the photo.  So it's comfortable to hold in your right hand.

We are looking forward to a fun weekend with family and a fun event: the Pumpkintown Festival and Fall for Greenville!  There should be lots of tasty goodies at both events!  Sadie is really looking forward to seeing her Leenie and Poppy!  (And hopefully getting her face painted!)

Happy Friday-Eve!!! 

Nutella... Where Have You Been?

So, this morning, I reheated the breakfast cups for about 30 seconds in the microwave.  And I pronounce them a huge success!  They reheated nicely and were such a quick and easy breakfast!  And as I was eating them, I was like, "This totally beats ANY fast food breakfast sandwish I have ever gotten!"  I snapped a few other pics, because last night I did not have my good camera with me.

In case you missed the recipe yesterday, here it is.

Today was a super busy day.  I left the house at 7 a.m. and got home at 8:05 p.m. 

So now I am relaxing, unwinding a bit with one of my new favorite things... NUTELLA!

I am wondering how it is possible that I was 32 before I ever tried this wonderful stuff.  I swear, you can put it on anything and it will taste like heaven.  I just snacked on a piece of Round bread (what else?) with Nutella... so delicious.  If you have never tried it (which I am SURE you have) then you should.  It's a rich, chocolatey, hazelnutty spread.  I remember Giada de Laurentiis using Nutella a lot, and I always thought-- YUCK!  Chocolate spread over toast?  But I was wrong.  What a treat.  I think I am going to use this to create a new dessert sometime soon.  But honestly, I think I could just eat the whole jar off a spoon and be perfectly happy.

My only criticism-- and this is more my own issue than Nutella's-- is that as soon as I eat it, I have to have something salty.  I just had to go get a pickled okra out of the fridge as I was typing this because my mouth was screaming for something salty!  Is anyone else out there like me?  Or am I just weird?

This post is going to be short and sweet like Nutella.  Goodnight everyone!  Hope your Hump Day was awesome. 

Peaches, Pears, and Pluots... Oh My!

Do you ever take your lunch to work and then when it's time for lunch, you are like... NOPE.  DON'T WANT THAT.  Well, that it what happened to me today.  I had taken leftovers, but instead I went and got one of those wraps from the cafeteria.  This one wasn't as good as the one last time, mainly because it didn't have much lettuce.  Maybe they ran out?  It was still good and still full of pickles, which was yummy.  I am so glad we have Baked! chips in our school cafeteria instead of the fattening ones.  And the apples looked so pretty I grabbed one of those, too.  Maybe every Friday I will get one of these wraps.  I still haven't asked about the fat content... I am kind of scared to.  I know it had mayo on it.

My goal of trying new things this week has been on a hiatus since Tuesday.  So today after school, I loaded up the munchkin and took her to the farmer's market.  I thought surely we could find something to try there.  And we did!

My shopping helper

We found pluots!  I have seen these in the grocery store before, but never tried them because I wasn't sure what they were.  As it turns out, it's a cross between a plum and an apricot.  They are really sweet and very juicy like a plum!  I have always loved plums in the summer months. 

Sadie and I tried the pluot when we got home and we both agree that they are delicious!

I don't know what we are going to have for dinner tonight... I will have to go scavenge the fridge...