Day 328: Panini Recipe, Movie Review, 3.5 Miles and Ab Workout

Today was a pretty good Tuesday! Got lots of work done, walked 3.5 miles during lunch, worked more then headed to Trader Joe’s & Kroger for more contraband – fabulous! I had a few of these on the way home (well actually between stores):

Um, fabulous! Very funky and different - like spicy fabulous cheetos. I'm a FAN! Here’s some of my other eats from my very carby day...

Yogurt on the way in. Sigh. Traffic.

Breakfast protein - woo! Gotta love an English Muffin.



Hummus & Pita.... more carbs!




Lean Cuisine - boo on me for not making/packing a lunch last night.

WHOA – the lean cuisine didn’t even kind of fill me up. I forgot about that problem. Blah. Anyway. I’ve been craving a Panini. But who has ever heard of a healthy Panini? Panera, Corner Bakery, etc., have paninis with like 700+ calories. Frightening. Well I was over at Our Best bites and was like oh wow – that Panini looks GOOD. I made the (short) 5-item ingredient list and decided I’d check the products out at Trader Joe’s and if it seemed not too calorific I’d give it a whirl. Well I found the products, and decided to follow these directions from Our Best Bites for dinner! I call it Caprese Panini with Turkey. Here’s the recipe for one sandwich:

2 oz. (57 grams) Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat Tuscan Pane

2 oz. (56 grams) Hormel Natural Choice Deli Turkey

1 oz. (28 grams) Trader Joe’s Fresh Mozzarella (2 slices)

30 grams tomato (1/2 small roma tomato; 3 slices)

5 basil leaves

¾ tsp olive oil

Salt & Pepper to taste

Pour olive oil in a small bowl. Use brush to spread on one side of each slice. Top one side with turkey, slices of tomato, basil, and slices of cheese. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put top on. Brush olive oil on outside of sandwich (now all 4 sides have olive oil!). Put in panini maker (or George Foreman grill like me) for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat. Drop in microwave for 40 seconds (to help it gel together; melt cheese). Cut in half and serve. Nutritional Information: 277 calories, 29 carbs, 10 fat grams and 22 protein grams.

Putting 'em together




Ready to eat!

Yay!! It was super filling, too. Next time if I’m more hungry I’ll have it with a cup of Amy’s Chunky Tomato Bisque (120 calories; 3.5 fat grams; 21 carbs and 2 protein grams). But for dinner tonight, I just wasn’t that hungry! After Panini I got my stuff ready for tomorrow and settled in with He’s Just Not That Into You. Eh. I didn't love it but I certainly didn't hate it either. I just wanted it to be cuter, and more funny, but it was kind of painful to watch Jennifer Goodwin's character be so awkwardly needy, and watch Jennifer's character be so bitchily suspicious. At the end of the movie I just had to accept that it was a character study and NOT a feel-good chick flick. I did LOVE Ben & Jen Anniston together (cute!), and it was nice to see E in that role. Scarlett -eh - not a fan of her character. So, I guess it's good but just KNOW you're not going to feel very good after - I was more sad - like crying. haha After the movie I took 10 minutes to knock out our ab workout for the day.

Click to make larger.

It was a shorty, but a goody. I'm trying to do abs 3 days/week so this was a nice workout knowing there are more abs to come! I might step this one up next time, i'll see what Stacy thought first. I ended up at 1,693 calories, 234 carbs, 50 fat grams and 78 protein grams – not a bad day! Especially with the 3.5 miles factored in – woo! Here’s what I ate.