Month: March 2013

Shrimp & Veggie Scampi

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I wasn’t sure what I wanted to make for my “Sunday Dinner” this week. I am traveling to Dallas Tuesday through Thursday and knew I didn’t want any leftovers;  I needed something where I could throw some stuff together and add as much or as little as I wanted.  Enter: a veggie dish… veggie scampi dish. I have been craving seafood lately and the grocery store just happened to have some jumbo shrimp on sale- perfect!

Healthy Shrimp & Veggie Scampi

Ingredients (rough estimates- I never measure anything!)

  • 1/4 lb. of jumbo shrimp (this was just for me- recipe for 1, remember:) )
  • 1/2 cup (ish) of white wine
  • 2-3 tbsp. EVOO
  • 1 tsp butter
  • 1 tbsp. garlic (minced)
  • 1/4-1/2 cup of sliced onions
  • 1/4 cup of sliced green pepper
  • 1/4 cup chopped broccoli
  • 1/4 cup sliced summer squash
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Whole wheat angel hair spaghetti (1 serving)

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Directions:

1. Start the water for the spaghetti. Sautee onions, garlic, EVOO, butter, wine and the juice of 1 lemon for 3-5 minutes. Add in the other veggies & reduce the heat.  I also added some lemon zest which was a great addition!

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2. Once the spaghetti is added to the boiling water, add the shrimp to the wine & veggies.  The shrimp was pre-cooked, so all I wanted to do was heat it up and not actually cook it anymore.

3. Add some spaghetti to a bowl, top with the scampi mixture, sprinkle with a little parmesan cheese and voila! Dinner is served!

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(Please note: I had some extra scampi mixture leftover… hoping that it reheats well tomorrow!)

I was pleasantly surprised with how delicious this dish turned out to be.  Scampi dishes are usually laden with loads of butter and oil, leaving you feeling a little greasy when you finish eating (right? my lips are always so soft after I eat a restaurant scampi dish, and I know it’s from the oil and butter coating them!), but this meal left me feeling full and satisfied, but not greasy in the least bit! I think the meal took me maybe a half hour from start to finish (probably even less), so this is a great week night meal to add to your rotation!

Bon appetit!

Questions for you: What is your favorite meal to “healthify”? Guilty pleasure meal? Do share:)

Where did my weekend go?!

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Oh, that’s right… 8 hours of it was spent at the South Station BSC. It’s amazing how much faster the weekends go by when a whole day gets taken away from you!  Let’s get caught up, shall we? I don’t have many pictures, so I apologize in advance for the wordy post!

The kickboxing exam went pretty well, I think.  I won’t know for another 4-6 weeks whether I passed or not, but I think I definitely passed the practical part of it.  The written part, on the other hand, was incredibly hard! All those joint actions and muscle talk is so hard to keep straight! I found myself doing the movements- awkwardly- while I was trying to figure out if a jab had a shoulder flexion in the execution phase. Bored, yet? The best part of the day was the instructor. Her name is Aimee Nicotera and not only was she incredibly knowledgeable (and jacked!), but she was hilarious and totally made us feel like rock stars… definitely helped to settle my nerves! Plus, she gave us some sweet hand wraps:

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I mean, I felt pretty B.A. when I had these on! I wonder what my students would think if I showed up to class with these on?! I might try it just to see their reactions…

I finished the exam around 5 and I promptly opened the wine I had chilling in the fridge for me as soon as I got home. I bought it for the name, but I’ll be honest, it was not my favorite chardonnay I have ever had. Now, don’t let that fool you into thinking I didn’t drink it… that is basically a sin in my family… no wine shall ever go to waste!

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I got up this morning and immediately felt every muscle I worked yesterday (love that)… I was especially happy when I realized it felt like I had done 200 bicep curls yesterday.  The bicep muscle is one of the antagonist muscles when throwing a jab, meaning it is working to retract the arm in the second phase of the punch, so that means I was punching correctly, yay! (again, thanks Aimee).

Best way to loosen up tight muscles? Head to the gym, of course! I NEVER get to go to the gym to do my OWN workout anymore, so I was so excited. Plus, the Wellington BSC just put in this awesome work area:

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It was like play time at the gym!! My roommate has a personal trainer so I did a couple of rounds of one of her workouts- killer! I am obsessed with TRX bands, but I could live the rest of my life without ever touching those ropes again:)  And, I was in Dynamax heaven when I saw all those balls! Anyway, amazing workout… I was especially happy about it when I saw the buffet at the Langham Hotel. Cafe Fleuri sure knows how to serve an unbelieveable brunch!! There was a sushi station, pasta station, omelet station, meat carving station, fruit station, crepe station… and a chocolate fountain. I died and went to foodie heaven!

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009Of course I had dessert, too, but I got too excited and forgot to take a picture.  If you’re in the Boston area and looking for a phenomenal brunch, definitely check out Cafe Fleuri… it is worth every penny!

Phew! That was a lot to catch you up on! I am hoping for a relaxing night filled with some cooking, a little wine and maybe even some TV! Really living on the edge now;)

Questions for you: What did you do this weekend? Busy or not busy? Go to brunch anywhere good? I want to know!

TGIF!

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Boy am I happy for Friday!  This whole week I was a day ahead, always thinking I was a day closer to the weekend than I actually was. The worst, right?! Not that I was really trying to rush along the week…I have my kickboxing certification from 9am-6pm tomorrow (REALLY not my ideal Saturday) and I am feeling nervous about that! I was tossing and turning all night thinking of the combinations they want us to know and how to cue punches and kicks (I call this Fitness Instructor Problems… any other fitness instructors have issues like this?!). Needless to say, I am a little sleepy today!

Let’s see… what have I been up to since I last checked in?  Ohhh, yesterday my coworker and I treated ourselves to lunch at Sportello for their “Lunch Box” lunch.

001I swear, this is the best lunch deal in Boston! You get either a full sando or a 1/2 sando and small soup, homemade chips or popcorn, a drink and a cookie…. all for $11!!! Incredible, really.  Since I was asked to sub the Total Body Conditioning class before teaching my regular Kickboxing class, I decided to get the full sandwich. I went with the Turkey instead of the veggie for extra protein… best decision ever! It was roasted turkey, cheddar, red onions, greens and some amazingly delicious ranch sauce. Toasted. YUMMM.

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I grabbed a seltzer water from the vending machine and was pleasantly surprised with this new flavor

003Anyone try this yet? I highly suggest it for my fellow seltzer water lovers out there!

And, to top of lunch, I got us one of these bad boys to share:

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That, my friends, is a Maple Pancake Cupcake.  I don’t like bacon (I know, I am the crazy one), but the cupcake was just as delicious without it. WOW. (We may have done extra jumping jacks in class because of this treat!)

I wish every lunch could be as good as yesterday! Other than that, my day wasn’t too exciting. I did have a blast teaching TBC. We did 60 second stations (5 rows with a difference exercise in each row, 4 different rounds) and I think everyone liked it… I’ll be sure to post that workout soon:)

I’m teaching tonight and then will be at the South Station BSC tomorrow for far longer than I would like to be. Hoping the day goes well- these types of things stress me out so much!!

Questions for you: Have any good lunches this week? Bacon- love it or hate it? What’s on the agenda for the weekend?