Cooking Up A Storm

Weekends go by way too quickly, but I guess it's part of being an adult, right?  I'll catch you up with some fun eats and cooking that went down this weekend.  Ready, set, go!!!

On Saturday night, my in-laws came over to help with our house and I cooked up a quick lunch.  I am usually so nervous when it comes to entertaining because I want everything to be perfect, but I have learned that nobody cares as long as there is something edible on the table.  I had a lot of help from the other man in my life, Trader Joe.  Here is my eclectic spread:

Going clock-wise from the top white bowl:
-Spinach salad with shrimp, cilantro, broccoli slaw, almonds, and citrus dressing
-Roasted broccoli and artichoke hearts coated in parm cheese
-Whole wheat pizza with chicken sausage, mozzarella, and mushrooms
-Pita chips
-Gouda cheese, cherry tomatoes, and laughing cow cheese
-My spring rolls and spicy peanut sauce

There was really no theme, but I coordinated the pizza with the roasted veggies and the spring rolls with the salad.  Let's just call it fusion!  After dinner, hubby and I went to a bar to watch the Pay Per View fights.  It was a good time and we had our own private room in the bar (OK, it was the game room, but no juice monkeys joined us in there).  Sweet!  It was Klassy:

Food Prep
Other cooking that went down was my weekly prep for the excitement that school and work bring.   I made a list based on what I bought and what we had in the fridge, so here are some staples that will be in my tummy as well as my husband's this week:

Hubby: Teriyaki marinated organic chicken with sweet potatoes and roasted brussels sprouts.

Me: Brussels sprouts with Trader Joe's mixed grains blend (orzo, barley, cous cous, and several other grains cooked in veggie broth and citrus zest), teriyaki marinated and baked tempeh.

Hubby: Mixed grains, chicken, stirfry veggies

Both of us: Breakfast mini egg quiches- broccoli, artichoke hearts, spinach, egg whites, one egg

Up for grabs: Mixed grain and veggie salad with carrots, green onion, corn, cilantro, parsley, cracked red pepper, chili powder, salt.
I made quite the mess in the kitchen!

I used to hate eating leftovers, but now I'm thankful to have some healthy staples waiting for me when I get home.  This stash will last us through Wednesday or Thursday and then I'll replenish the supply and wing it for the end of the week!  This way I have plenty of options and a little creativity in case I didn't want to eat salad on Wednesday, but wanted it like crazy on Thursday.  I like to be flexible.

Workout
Today was a fun workout at the gym.  By fun, I mean I sweated like a beast and felt better when I left! 
It seems like HIIT is the 'new black' in the blog world, so I made up my own interval workout.  I went 30 minutes and alternated between 5.5 and 7.0 for 1, 2, and 3 minutes.  I commend the lovely girls who build tables of their workouts, but you can easily figure it out by now.  It was intense and I was breathing HARD by the end.  I'm always amazed at how much I can push myself!
I also lifted shoulders, legs, and abs.  I hate doing legs and abs but still do them because it's good for me.  There, I said it!


Random
This has been a long enough post for you, right?  I sometimes forget my other hobbies on the ole blog, like shopping!  I have a wedding to go to in 2 weeks and I procrastinated but found the perfect dress today:

Black is my favorite color to wear and this also means I have about 1,000,234,004,987 black dresses in my closest already, but this has POCKETS and mini flower pick-ups.  SOLD!  Don't worry, I noted the lame cell phone picture, barefoot, and a silly pink dress in the background, but I need your advice on shoes! 

What shoes should I wear? Silver strappy or fuscia with bows on the top?

Besides food, cooking, working out- what are your hobbies? I used to be a crazy fashion monster and stalked all the fashion news.  I also love going to museums, reading, movies, and I am crazy about languages.  I know 3 languages pretty decently but hope to learn Italian or Portuguese one day.