Refueling

I tend not to keep to any sort of schedule when it comes to exercise. On any given day, I will work out in the morning, afternoon or night, depending on what my other plans are for the day or how I’m feeling.

Sometimes, not having a clear idea of my workout goal leads to me to say, “I’ll just take the day off and relax tonight,” which typically happens at around 5:30 pm after a long day of work and after Bobby gets home and says his plans are to take it easy, too. This is very different from the exercise-obsessed person I was in college and I have to admit, I like the more easygoing me.

That said, there is one routine I would get up off my bum and run a marathon (well, that may be a little bit of an exaggeration) for in a heartbeat. It’s the routine that goes: complete the big workout, relish the big meal. Don’t get me wrong, I always enjoy the food I eat. But there is something about filling up – refueling, if you will – after a long, hard workout that makes the meal taste even better.

On Friday night, Bobby and I went to the gym and I ran while he did…what Bobby does at the gym. When we came home, we feasted on one of our all-time favorite meals: Fancy Mac ‘n’ Cheese.

The term “fancy” really just means adding whatever else we want to the top of Annie’s Whole Wheat Shells & White Cheddar. In Friday night’s case, it was a combination of shrimp and portabella mushrooms cooked in a spicy fajita marinade. It hot the spot.

We also refueled with a bottle of antioxidants. You know, to keep our complexions glistening.

The very same wine we had when Bobby got his cast off. It was just as amazing the second time.

Speaking of casts, yesterday we went biking.

Source

No tandem bike involved, though we did see a couple riding one while we were out and I was tempted to yell, “Nooooooo!” 😉 I received the above bike – banana yellow color and all – as a wedding gift from my brothers- and sisters-in-law.

Bobby and I went and picked it out a few weeks ago. We have now been out to ride twice and we absolutely love it! It took me a while to get used to the feeling because I hadn’t been on a bike since we crashed. But just as the saying promises, it was easy once I got back on.

Yesterday we rode 11 miles along the Lake Shore Path, down to 47th street. The weather was perfect. Note to self: overcast skies and cooler temperatures make for ideal biking weather!

Once we returned home, it was time to refuel again. On the menu: PIZZA!

We used another one of our Boboli whole wheat crusts as the base.

From there, we built our masterpiece! First with tomato sauce, then with veggies (tomato, green pepper, red pepper, mushroom and spinach), then with meat (chicken sausage and pepperoni) and finally, with mozzarella cheese.

We baked it in the oven at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, aka when the cheese began to brown.

This was one of our best pizza successes yet. Typically, we have trouble getting the spinach to wilt or the veggies are still a bit too watery by the time the rest of the pizza is done. Not so this time! We eagerly gobbled up our respective halves.

So far, so delicious. I’m refueling again tonight via dinner with the women from Traveling Pans and am sure that there will be plenty of gorgeous food to share with you. Tonight’s theme is Chicago Neighborhoods.

In honor of my heritage, I picked something Polish. Any guesses?

Hope your weekend has been equally fun and delicious!

Abrazos,