Today has been a good day.

– It’s Friday, period.

– I got up on time and we left on time.

– I had a good breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

– Work was pretty good, and I had a good snack of veggies + hummus.

– I got the sweetest package from a great friend (and fellow blogger!) today that you’ll be seeing soon  :)

– I MOVED today for the first time in months.

– Dinner was killer.

 

Let’s start with the movement.

So, the last time Nick and I went running was the week of Halloween!

November was kind of crazy with the Foodbuzz Festival and Thanksgiving, and it got cold + dark…which means we can’t run outside here anymore. We don’t belong to a gym, so for the past couple of months, I just haven’t done anything.

And I just needed to move today. So I did.

Once we got home this afternoon, I took the main part of our dinner out of the freezer to thaw and I did a little peanut butter flow, thanks to Polly  :)

I did Polly’s 35 minute yoga video from her DVD, and it was just what I needed! Plus, it’s always fun to see her smiling face  :)

And I think this will help get me going on my yoga goal – I’m still not sure if earlier in the day or later will work better for me most days, but I hope to try out some different times soon.

It felt so good to just stretch and breathe and twist.

After finishing my time with my mat, I came upstairs and got working on dinner.

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I got a coupon for some Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry a few weeks ago.

I’ve actually never made anything with puff pastry before, but I knew I needed to come up with something so I could enter the Pepperidge Farm 1, 2, 3 Puff Recipe Contest!

I made us a “sandwich” of sorts with the puff pastry.

Puffed Ham, Brie, and Apple Sandwich

1 sheet Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry, sliced in half
1 Tbsp whole grain mustard
1/4 apple, thinly sliced
4 slices good ham
1 oz. brie, sliced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Lay one half of puff pastry on a baking sheet.

Spread mustard on puff pastry.

Layer ham, sliced apple, and brie on top of mustard.

Put other half of puff pastry on top and pinch the edges together.

Brush top of "sandwich" with milk or egg.

Bake at 425 for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Slice in half and then slice the halves on a diagonal.

Serve!

While the “sandwich” was baking, I got the salad ingredients out and chopped.

The puff pastry was awesome! So buttery and crispy and flaky – and it went perfectly with the salty ham, creamy brie,  sweet apple, and spicy mustard.

For salads, we had:

• romaine
• broccoli
• carrots
• diced apple
• pecans
• craisins
• scallions
• dressing made of olive oil, Blackberry/Pear balsamic, and the same dijon in the sandwich + salt and pepper

I was a little sad when I finished my dinner ;) It was so good and felt so gourmet! I’m happy that it turned out so well, because it was really easy!

I’ve got big plans for tonight – watching Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives in my pajamas.

I love lazy Friday nights at home.

Do you use puff pastry? What’s your favorite thing to make with it?

Friday is half over!

I’m ready for a weekend, even though we’re supposed to have really cold one AND even though there’s only one college football game :( I am really sad that the regular season is over – I think all the bowl games will be good, but then it’s over for 8 months!

I guess there are more things to be upset about, right?

Lunch today was quick, thanks to easy-to-reheat leftovers.

I brought some leftover broccoli + creamy chicken cacciatore (the last of it) along with a clementine for lunch.

I don’t know why, but leftover pasta is the best!

Right before Nick came over to eat, I started putting together my grocery / meal list for this next week.

I have a few ideas that I didn’t get to make earlier this week, but then my mind just went blank! I looked at the Kroger sale sheet for this week and have a few more possibilities, but I’m going to have to finish my meal plan and grocery list tonight.

 

What do you do for meal planning / making grocery lists?

And what are you making next week? :) I need some more ideas!

 

Fun Stuff!

Plan a Meal Bundle Giveaway

Coffee + Carbs Giveaway

PLEASE help Holly build her well! You can donate here – she’s more than halfway there!

 

The ONE football game this weekend:

2:30 PM ET
Army vs. Navy*

 

AND…a BIG congratulations to one of my best friends, Alicia, who just had her baby boy this week!!!

 

Good morning!

– I was up on time!

– I’m wearing a new sweater that I love.

– I fixed my nails last night and they look good again.

– It’s FRIDAY!!!

I’m having a good breakfast on this cold, cold morning.

The high today is only supposed to be 37! I knew I needed a nice, warm breakfast before heading out into the frigid and windy morning.

• 1/2 cup oats, 1 cup water, pinch salt
• 1/2 banana, sliced
• 1/4 cup TJ’s Perk Up Your Trek Mix – chocolate espresso beans saved for top ;)
• cinnamon!

What’s your favorite…

…day?

…color?

…hot breakfast?

I really have no words for dinner tonight.

It was probably one of the best meals I’ve ever made and was definitely the best smelling meal ever.

I actually started our dinner around 2 this afternoon. And since that’s all I could smell in the house today, I had a good snack around 3:30…to keep me from digging into dinner too early.

I chopped up one small gala apple, sprinkled it with cinnamon and a pinch of salt, and then popped it in the microwave for a minute.

Once that came out, I topped it with 1 Tbsp cinnamon raisin pb and a sprinkling of graham cracker crumbs.

And dinner.

I’m really not even going to try to explain this – I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking.

Nick and I bought this dutch oven a few months ago and I’ve yet to use it. I was waiting to make a beef burgundy, but I realized pot roast was on the menu plan for this week and I really wanted to do a real pot roast instead of the roast in the crockpot like I normally do.

Today was the day.

 

I had a sirloin top roast that I thawed in the fridge over the past day. I seared it in the dutch oven in a bit of olive oil. Once it was browned on both sides, I took it out of the pan and added some diced onion, carrot and 2 garlic cloves and let them soften.

Once the vegetables were softened, I added in 1 Tbsp of tomato paste, 1 cup of red wine, 1 can of diced tomatoes, 1 cup of broth, salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary. After letting that come to a simmer, I put the roast back in the pan and put it in a 325 degree oven to cook for 3 hours.

I took the pot out and put more sauce on top about every hour while working this afternoon.

Once the meat was cooked and tender, I cooked 8 oz. of sliced mushrooms in a bit of olive oil + butter and added them to the sauce while Nick sliced the roast.

And then, we ate.

Roast with carrots, onions, and mushrooms.

Steamed broccoli.

Virginia red wine.

Whole grain bread with Kerrygold butter.

 

All I can say is that I wish every day was like this…but without my day job ;) 

I had so much fun working on this meal all day! The house smelled wonderful…and it smelled like home. Like love. Like we were about to have the best meal ever.

And I think we did tonight.