Monday Two-a-Days, Dance Central

Hola! I hope you all had good Mondays! Mine was okay, not nearly as nice as my Sunday in which I did nothing! Well, I worked on recipes and danced. Yes, Austin move the Kinect so I can use my xBox while he's playing on the other! I danced and during all of the 'free styles' I did jumping jacks. I worked up a SWEAT!

Yes, I'm a 14-year-old girl. Oh well! My HRM said I burned 210!

This is seriously about all I did on Sunday. LOL Today I got up early and worked out! I ran 1.25 miles at 6.3, then walked it out to 1.5 miles. Then I did abs, biceps and shoulders before heading to the locker room and taking a picture of myself post-workout. duh.

Had the gym to myself - gotta love spring break. yes, it would be cooler if I was ON spring break. This is NOT lost on me. :)

Then I got ready and decided today was the day to debut my new watch at work - love it!

Loving it! 

I worked throughout the a.m., then during lunch Stacy and I went down and walked 3 miles. Yay - 4.5 miles for the day! Then it was back up to work before heading home to make this new loaded potato recipe - fab.

Recipe coming soon! And sidebar: sweet potatoes are fast becoming my BESTIES.

Q: Ever played with the kinect/dance central? I love it! Glad I get to play it more now - considering getting the zumba game... thoughts? I'll def see how often I play what I currently have!


Q: Hats while working out: yay or nay? I'm not a huge fan, but on Monday mornings I look like shiiizzz so since i'm at the work gym I figure it's a must!

Peppery Pork Pasta, 5 Reasons I'm Happy Today!

Morning! Hope you're all having great weeks! I'm trying to stay positive by focusing on the following:

1. It's freaking Friday. Of course it is. It should have been Friday on Tuesday - it's been one of those weeks! 
2. The upcoming Time change. I'm a fan of 'falling back' - turning my clock backward on Sunday! This gives me an extra hour, right? Kind of? In theory?
3. The colder weather. It's been downright chilly here and I love it. I'm carving out a good part of the weekend to tuck away all of my sandals and sundresses and bring my boots and coats front and center. Yes, this kind of thing is exciting for me!
4. More slowcooker recipes. I'm SO pumped to get out my two slowcookers and get some new chilis, stews, soups, pastas - you name it - going. It's the perfect season to slowcook, and my other goal is to work butternut squash into everything, starting with a risotto. I'm. so. excited.
5. Upcoming holidays.  I'm taking a week off for Thanksgiving. YES. A week. Even better, I'll be spending it with my family and Austin's family together - so exciting. This means lots of time with little Dane bug, too. What was he for Halloween? I'm so glad you asked. He was a lobster... 

I mean SERIOUSLY - be cuter! Not possible!

Speaking of cooking, while this isn't a slowcooker recipe it was pretty dang good!

Peppery Pork with Creamy Tomato Sauce
Makes 4 Servings
Recipe adapted from For the Love of Cooking

Nutritional Information: 432 calories, 51 carbs, 8 fat grams and 38 protein grams.


Review: We've now made this one twice - it's just so good! I love the soft egg noodles and how well they go with the beefy/tomato/creamy sauce. The spinach and mushrooms boost up the veggie quotient (which I'm really trying to get better at!), and it came together quickly. I think it's a great, easy recipe that reheats well, and I'm happy to be finding more pork recipes that I enjoy.  I highly recommend this one. Check out the recipe on Healthified Kitchen!

What else has been up? Lots of work, lots of TV watching (favorites are officially Revenge, Hart of Dixie and Ringer), and a bit of working out: Wednesday started with strength training and abs (shoulders/triceps focus), Thursday was a rest day and today began with a 2-mile run, 1/2 mile walk and abs and legs. I've also been doing a bit of shopping - mostly at Banana. LOVE their fall stuff. And lastly, a reason i've been happy all WEEK is because  Tuesday I found out that the surgeon didn't have to cut anymore! He got the mole & all of it's "bad stuff" the first time! So they stitches came out, tape went on, and I have to wait 10 days. Great news!!

Q: What are you going to do with your extra hour on Sunday?! 


Q: What were you for Halloween? Did you dress up? I did not -yessss - I'm just not a fan of dressing up!


Q: Any fun Thanksgiving plans?

Weekly Workouts, New Work Clothes!

Happy Saturday! I'm SO BEHIND on blog reading - eek! Hope to catch up this afternoon, and hope i'll find that you all had good weeks! Here's what's been up with me, outside of our bedroom redo - thank you for your sweet comments! We're so happy with it!

Wednesday: a.m. workout (strength training - biceps, triceps, shoulders and abs).

Snapped this on my phone - love an empty classroom to do my workouts in!

After my a.m. workout, I just worked, and then went back to the gym during lunch for a 3 1/4 mile walk. Then more work and home to the family!

Thursday I worked, then took my lunch break to visit H&M! Found SO many great finds, including these:

I got the pencil skirt in black & gray!

Loved this top! Love it with jeans and with tan slacks

Loved this top with slacks

Got this cardi in gray - so fun! Love the long ones!

I couldn't find everything on line, but did get a few more shorter cardigans, two more dress tops and a belt. Great finds! I also got these slacks at Ann Taylor.

Lots of luck! Then I just worked more, and after work it was laundry, cooking, fun with pups and movie with Austin - no workouts but a great day!

Friday I woke up early and ran 2 miles at 6.3, walked 1/4 mile at 4 mph and did abs. Then it was shower time, Starbucks time and more work. I met Austin at the mall during lunch and hit up Zara - more on that once I gather pics, then I worked more, ended up working until 7 before I came home to PJs and movie night exhausted. I think I was asleep by 9:30 - for real!

Q: What's your work style like? My company used to be on the casual side of business, but more and more people are showing up in full on suits, so I'm enjoying getting more business types of clothes - I see slacks, pencil skirts, long cardis, skinny belts, capes - lots of separates! While I LOVE my dresses, i'm having fun in this new world of separates!


Q: You working out today? I got in my spin clothes, got my stuff together and made the 15-minute trek to the gym to find NO SPOTS. I had no book for walking, no pod for running, and no energy for anything but spin. So I left, sad, and went to the grocery store. Now i'm cooking more, naturally!

Monday Two-A-Days, New Product Reviews!

Hello! I hope you're having good Tuesdays! Mine was pretty slammed - got up early, walked 1/4 mile, ran 2 miles, then walked 1/4 mile, then went through an all-day training class. It was a good class, but I hated being cooped up in a room, all day, with no windows and only cookies and pizza. Seriously. I told Austin and he said, "you're kidding, right?" That sounds amazing. LOL It wasn't, but I did see his point, not the end of the world!

Quick backtrack, yesterday I did my double workouts:

• a.m.: 1/4 mile, 1-mile run, 11 minutes on the stairclimber; abs
• Lunchtime: 2 1/4 mile walk; back and chest

Not bad! 3.5 miles, stairclimber and some ST - good day. Other than that I just worked, and tried out a few new products...

Now I'm not a huge fan of frozen meals only because I prefer making meals myself! However, sometimes they're just absolutely handy and necessary. I tried this one and just loved it. Such great sauce (really saucy enchiladas are awesome), and I loved the beans and little tofu bites. It was very filling and a meal I definitely plan to have in the freezer just in case!

I loved these little peanut butter sandwich crackers! You can have 12 for only 150 calories, and I thought that the serving was filling, too. I think my favorite part was that they were bitesize!!

Well these were just ridiculous. The serving size was 2 cookies and I swear they tasted like cookie dough. They melted in your hand and were incredibly soft. Be warned - addictive doesn't even begin to cover it, but so long as you're capable of holding yourself to no more than 2 in a serving (hehe!) you should try them!

Q: Have you tried any of the above? Did you like them?

Q: What's your favorite frozen meal? This is mine. Really - that good. I DO like Amy's stuffed shells too... but this one wins!

5 Steps to Planning Everything, Book Review, 2-a-days

Awww thanks you guys!! I'm even more excited about my trip now (and about the tomatoes that should be ready by the end of the week!). So part of my work in that leadership program involved identifying a strength and then sharing it with other people (we have an internal facebook so to speak). In thinking about my strengths, I felt that I could help someone when it comes to planning. Yes, a broad term. But, as many of you regular readers may know, I feel like it's how I approach all things whether it be walking/running 1,000 miles a year or eating. LOL

one of my mantras - doesn't apply to everyone but definitely applies to me! Without a plan I'm kind of a kid in a candy shop

I can safely say that these are the 5 steps I go through when planning programs at work, parties for friends and the list goes on (to include errand day, lake trips, my work week, you name it).

Step 1: What, overall, do you hope to accomplish? Write it down.

Step 2: From there, identify every. single. thing. that must be done to accomplish that goal, down to the nitty gritty. Don’t forget about who needs to be involved in each of these things, and how much money you have to spend on this goal is important to note as well!

Step 3: Once you have all ‘to-dos’ down, put them in chronological order. What has to happen first? What items can be grouped together to increase efficiency? (some prefer one post-it per to-do then moving them around; I however type everything and copy/paste)

Step 4: Timing is everything. Begin with the end in mind – what date do you want to finish? Now, back up from that date and assign dates to all of those To-Dos. Is your timeline realistic? If not, change the scale of the project (i.e., remove to-dos) or back the ‘end date’ out to accommodate your schedule.

Step 5: Stay on track, hold yourself accountable, and don’t miss deadlines. When you miss one deadline, it can result in you missing the other 25 to-do’s deadlines = not good.

No, I don’t think this is rocket surgery (love that mixed metaphor) but I DO think this is how my brain works… seriously, I can’t even plan a birthday party without following this process, breaking it all down and building it back up, to ensure everything I want to do gets done on time, and on budget. Is there more to it than this? Sure – but overall these 5 steps get and keep me on track.

Q: What’s your number 1 planning tip?

Q: What's one strength you have? What's a tip or How-To you regularly share with your readers, or plan to?

And back to normal programming! In true Tuesday form, I did a Two-a-day! I got up early and did 30 minutes of spinning, followed by a 1/4-mile walk and a 1-mile run. Then I worked before heading to the gym with Stacy during lunch for a 3-mile walk and abs. Great day! Then I just worked more before heading home to the family where two new pieces of furniture had been delivered! Pics to come tomorrow - can't wait to post! (well clearly I can but you know what I mean! haha) I also finished up an audio book, Joanna Philbin's The Daughters. I suppose I just wasn't the target audience for this. I mean I knew it was young adult, and it sounded cute, but it was just very high school. Shocked the library had the audio book as kids this age wouldn't listen to an audio book. Anyway, the book was about three girls living in Manhattan who all had famous parents. The girls each had their "struggles" (my dad is too busy for me; my mom is a supermodel and i'm not pretty; my mom is a pop star and she's trying to make my music pop). I guess I just couldn't relate, but I also didn't enjoy it or the characters enough to suspend reality and empathize. So it was kind of a wash for me. While I think it would be a great book for middle-schoolers (no drinking, cursing, etc.) I just needed something more to stay focused. Oh- and at the end something really interesting happened, but it ended. Turned out they were setting up a series. grrrr. I give it a 2/5.

K - off to enjoy Wednesday. Hope you're having a good day so far!!

Friday Funny, It's the Weekend!

To start out with a funny.... hehe

I'm so corny - love it! Anywho - thanks you guys!! I loved your perspectives on work out time slots. It's always neat to hear how each of us make it work, and why - it definitely helps me to see your points of view! I have a bit of backing up to do - here goes!

Wednesday I got up early again - 3 days in a row for a.m. workouts! This time, I ran. And ran. I ended up running 2 mile straight, then doing 10 minutes on the stairclimber. Great workout! I then got ready, headed to work, met Crystal for yummy flatbreads at Seasons 52, worked more and then headed straight home to veg out.

Thursday I slept in, worked from home, used my lunch to cook and clean, worked more and then at 5 p.m. I showered, got in my PJs and just TOTALLY vegged with the family. I mean - I'm LOVING being back home and not having too many during-the-week obligations. Around 8 p.m. our sweet tooths kicked in, so we headed up to Yogli Mogli. They had a new fat-free frozen yogurt flavor - THIN MINT COOKIES. OMG it was wonderful and very low-calorie.

Seriously - made my day! So no workouts for Thursday - nice to take a little break. Today was another 2-a-day - got up early and went to my parent company gym. I walked 1/8 mile, ran 2 1/4 mile, walked 1/8 mile - two and a half miles in 25 minutes - yay! Then I went to a 4-hour meeting, before heading back to the gym during lunch for chest, triceps, abs and a 1-mile walk. Great 2-a-days-today. Now i'm about to head out for book club - looking forward to seeing some of my favorite girls!

Q: What are you doing this weekend? I have book club at Monica's tonight, then tomorrow we're going to try to get in a movie before a party at my friend Lo's and then Sunday we're going to the lake for Father's Day!

Q: Do you like Fro yo? What is your favorite flavor? Would you like 'thin mint cookies' flavor?! My favorite is probably peanut butter... mixed with dutch chocolate. yummmm I also like cookies & cream, birthday cake, red velvet - there is no limit to my love of fro yo!

New Romper, Awesome Weekend!

Happy Sunday! I hope you all had great weekends! Mine has been wonderful - I am not wanting to go into work tomorrow - BOO! Friday was just another a.m. workout: 45 minutes of spinning with a new drill sergeant instructor followed by a 1/4 mile walk at 4 mph and a 3/4 mile run at 6.3 mph. HRM said: 58 minutes, 516 calories, 1 fat-burning minute, 57 fitness minutes; Average HR161; max HR 185. Then I just worked, bought a romper at Urban Outfitters during lunch, worked more and then headed straight home to wash the puppers, pack and get ready for the weekend!

new romper - I think it will be perfect for Auburn games! (hard to tell in the pic but it's blue and orange!)

Saturday we woke up early and hit the gym! I never get to go to the gym with Austin - so fun! We hopped on the treadmils and I walked 1/4 mile at 4 mph, ran 1 mile at 6.3 mph and 7 mph, then walked another 1/4 mile at 4 mph. So 1.5 miles - woo! Then I did abs, back and chest! HRM said: 53 minutes at 363 calories; 34 fat burning minutes and 19 fitness minutes; average heartrate 137; maximum heartrate 193. Then we headed home, packed up the car and visited Birmingham! We hung out with Austin's parents, saw his brother off to his senior prom (so fun!), then headed to Scott & Kim's wedding with Mary and Jimmy! We had a great time reconnecting with so many of our old college buddies, celebrating at the reception, and of course catching up with Jimmy and Mary - LOVE THEM SO MUCH! Great night, so glad we headed over! Picture time!

Austin with his little bro Elliot on E's prom night

I mean seriously - 25 couples took a bus to dinner - can you imagine! It was so fun to see everyone dressed up!

Me and Austin pre-ceremony!

Me and my bestie Mary!

The boys at the reception

Keeping it classy as per usual

All of the pikes in attendance - SO many! (and yes, the pro photographer hopefully got a better shot!) :)

Austin, Scott, Fox and Johnny!

The Martins and Veloti with the new married couple!

Fun catching up with Ellen!!

Had a great time with these girls!

Austin had a blast with the boys!

And of course we had the best time with Mary and Jimmy - "the two best friends that anyone could have!"

Q: What was the highlight of your weekend? Mine was definitely Birmingham - we just had so much fun with our family and friends!

Q: What is your ideal Sunday? Mine is sleeping in, spending the day with my family and reading!

Monday Two-a-Days, Chipotle Chicken & Rice

THANK YOU for your sweet, sweet comments on my nephew Dane - he is such a doll and I seriously can't be happier for my sis and bro-in-law with their perfect baby boy! I love how many of you are aunts (and some who just recently became them - congrats, Tyler!). On another note, you early risers truly put me to shame - wow! I'm working on it. I really am. For instance, yesterday I was bound and determined to start my week on the right foot - at a Monday 6 a.m. spin class! I got my stuff ready Sunday night, slept until 5:30 a.m., and got up and hit the gym. I made it, but the instructor didn't. BOO. He had a 102 temperature so the front desk was telling spin participants to feel free to use the room/equipment/etc. Well, I got in the class and some of the "regulars" had gotten the music going and we all kind of made this one girl a defacto instructor. At first I was like this is kind of cool, but I couldn't tell if I was working too hard or not hard enough - after 30 minutes of spinning and 243 calories burned I decided to do something else. So I headed out to the treadmill, walked 1/4 mile at 4 mph, ran 3/4 mile at 6.3 mph, and walked 1/4 mile at 4 mph. Then it was time for abs. I did this workout: ignore the February - it worked in April too LOL

The abs, treadmill workout and spinning took a little under an hour. HRM said: 53 minutes, 400 calories, 8 fat-burning minutes, 45 fitness minutes, average HRM 146, max HRM 185. Then I got ready at the gym, worked until lunch, then took lunch to work out with Stacy. I walked 1.75 miles (to take my total to 3), and did these bicep and tricep exercises:

Yes, after that I was officially pooped! Why two-a-days on a Monday? I knew I had a lunch meeting Tuesday and plans after work so there you go - had to plan for it! When I got home I had some raw chicken, pre-diced in a container that I had to use before it went bad, so I went ahead and whipped this up - Chipotle Chicken & Rice!

Chipotle Chicken and Rice
Adapted from a Dinners for a Year and Beyond Recipe
Makes 4 Servings

Nutritional Information: 374 calories, 42 carbs, 4 fat grams and 37 protein grams.

See the recipe here on Healthified Kitchen!

After dinner I was pretty much exhausted - like in my PJs, day is over at 8 p.m. LOL Me and the fam just watched some TV and called it an early night!

Q: Do you ever do two-a-days? Do you like them? Why or why not? I love them as far as getting in my workouts when I otherwise can't, but I do hate when they drain me so much!

Q: Do you have a healthified Spanish rice recipe? I've tried a couple before and never found anything worthy! This one is so subtle - i'd love to have one a bit more authentic!

Body Works, 2 Miles, Wedding, Out with Friends, Book Review

Happy Monday! Are you off work? If so, I'm SUPER jealous. I will be in the office today - had too many meetings to take the day off. Sigh. Hopefully it will be a light day! Thanks for your comments on my new recipe and my 'ape arms.' haha You guys are sweet - i'm sure trying to get buff! :) Here are some things you may have missed this weekend:

• My CSN stores giveaway!
• My new favorite Italian Recipe: Mushroom & Sausage Stuffed Shells

On to Saturday. I woke up early, dropped Remy off to get a haircut and hit the gym! I took another one of those 1-hour body works + abs class with the same TOUGH instructor as last time (the one that had us doing the paper plate lunges). We did a bunch of great stuff - lots of super sets which was killer. At the end we did abs and she mixed in some pilates-based moves - like the Teaser 3. I love this move!

After class I walked 2 miles, then went to go pick up Remy girl. And whoa - I went to grab their dog food ($11 a bag) and it was on sale for $5. I bought 10 bags (5 for each of them). This should last about 6 months - So cheap. And because they're smaller 5-pound bags they will stay fresh since I won't open until we're ready to use! After the amazing PetSmart deal it was time to shower and get ready - we had a 2 p.m. wedding! We had a great time at Jamie and Eric's wedding - she looked beautiful, he looked handsome and they both looked SO happy! We were seated with one of Austin's frat brothers, Joe, so we pretty much had a double date with Joe and his wife Ramsey!

Good times though. We left around 6 p.m. to get home and visit with the pups before meeting up with Scott and Mary at Tavern 99 for some drinkies on the patio!

Leigh met up to and I had a blast chatting, then later dancing at EA and playing pool at Churchill's. Good night for sure!

The guy playing at EA was a one-man band - singing and guitar - he had a iPad and would play ANYTHING you asked. We requested stuff like Meat Puppets (Backwater) and he would just look it up and try it - SO talented!

Sunday was spent CHILLING. I did nothing but catch up on TV and read a book. LOVELY. Which brings me to book review time: Jennifer McMahon's Promise Not to Tell. So I flew threw this book, reading like 100 pages a day practically. And since it's only 250 I got through it FAST. I loved it. I really did. Lots of mystery and suspense. Great twists and turns. It followed Kate, a girl who had a friend who was murdered. She's going home to care for her sick mother, and another girl is murdered. It went back and forth in time to tell each story. There were a lot of suspects and just creepy things - you had to keep reading to see what would happened and before you knew it, you were done and happy with the ending. I give it a 4.5/5.

Q: What was the highlight of your weekend? I can't pick one! I just had a great time with Austin, our puppers and our friends! And I did LOVE reading that book!

Q: Do you like pilates or incorporate pilates moves into your workout? I used to love pilates - did the winsor ones all the time (DVDs). I'm trying to get back into doing it more - it really is a great low-impact workout!

Girl Night, 4 Miles, Abs, New Breakfast Recipe

Thanks you guys! I'm so glad I got to visit Alabama and spend time with little Ava. She's a beautiful baby and I just loved holding her tiny little self - even attempting to feed her (she was unsure - but A for effort I say). So Saturday I woke up sick. Like TOTALLY stopped up, eyes itching/burning, throat aching. BOO. Me and my stepdad had some breakfast then headed out to the storage unit - time to get my boxes out of my parent's hair and into my attic! We loaded the car up, then Mike headed out to the golf course and I headed to the gym to meet Lindsey. We walked 4 miles, then did abs. I was still MAJORLY sore from the paper plate lunges, like hard to sit down, hard to stand up, hard to walk. haha Oh well - I was glad I was able to get in a great workout and SO glad I got to work it out with Lindz! Afterwards we split up, showered, then got back together, headed to Tartan, visited with Erin, JT and their family, then met with Megan and Emily! We had a couple of drinks then headed to Mellow Mushroom. Me, Em and Megan split a 14' margarita pizza - YUM! I really enjoyed dinner and of course visiting with the girls was just priceless. It's awesome to be with people where you can literally say anything that crosses your mind and they just get you. I heart besties and love when a group of 4 can all get along and click and crack each other up - we laughed SO hard, so many times. I miss them SO MUCH already! Here are a few pics:

Em (and her new pixie cut!), Megan, me and Lindz

Gotta love Mellow Mushroom

Me and Lindz

Em and Meags

After dinner we just went to hang out at Megan's and then Lindsey's, then I was home by 11:45 and asleep by midnight - NICE! And, thankfully, I felt better as the day went on. However, today I woke up feeling even worse! Ugh! I just packed up the car, ate breakfast with Mike and then headed over to meet the girls at Megan's and say bye to everyone, including little Ava. We took a final picture -I look horrible but what are you going to do?!

After good byes it was time to hit the road. Four hours in the car by myself - EW! Thankfully I got to catch up with my mom, Austin and even stopped by my sister's to give her some books and duplos I found in the storage unit and visit! Now i'm at home in bed on a variety of meds hoping something makes me better. BIG BOO. I hate being sick. On to happier subjects, here's a new recipe I've had for breakfast the last few days.

Breakfast Potato Skins

Recipe adapted from Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Makes 5 Servings

Nutritional Information: 362 calories, 35 carbs, 12fat grams and 26 protein grams.

Check out the recipe on Healthified Kitchen!

Q: Are you a fan of potato skins? I love the standard ones, you know, bacon, cheese and sour cream. But I LOVED this mix of breakfast - it was pretty awesome!

Q: What's been your favorite breakfast lately?!

New Recipe: BEST MEXICAN; Ormsby's, 2.5 Miles, Legs, Abs

Hola! Happy Saturday! I'm SO GLAD it's the weekend - this work week has been killah. For reals! Thanks for your comments on the incredible microwavable egg. I think I've had that every day this week even though it wasn't on my meal plan! Too easy to pass up. So I believe I left you all on Thursday -which was just work, 4 miles, more work, cooking and then about 2 more hours of work. Sigh. I'm still drowning a bit at work but know some of these projects are wrapping up soon! Light at the end of the tunnel!

So yesterday was another insane day at work. I worked HARD in the a.m., then treated myself to another Stacy & Kel Uncle Julio's lunch. Yes, we split the lunch size chicken fajitas again as per usual. Then we swung by Macy's - I had a $10 rewards card and had to spend it that day so I got a pair of Hue tights for $3.25 - golden! Then it was more work. BLAH. Then we raced to the gym after work and did this:

• 1 mile at 4.0 mph; 2 incline
• Abs (32 seconds astronaut; 20 toe touches; 20 double crunches; 20 fifer kicks; REPEAT!)
• 1 mile at 4.0 mph; 1 incline
• Legs (15 lunges alternated with 40 calf raises x3; 20 squats alternated with 12 leg raises x3; and the butt-blasting floor workout x1)
• 1/2 mile at 4.0 mph; no incline

Not bad! We got this done in a little over an hour. Then I raced home, cleaned up and headed out the door for a couple of drinks at Ormsby's with Monica, Andy, Stacy, Shane and Jason. It was fun! I just had a couple of drinks and visited, me and Austin played a game of pool - fun, chill night. I really like the atmosphere there. It's like you're chilling in someone's really sweet basement. Great night - glad we made it an early night though, today i'm off to shop with my mom & sister! They're going to be here soon so i've got to get ready! Then me and Austin are doing chill/family night - maybe a movie? I dunno - I just want a fun, restful, chill day! K - now it's time to share my new FAVORITE Mexican recipe EVER. I know... high praise.

Burrito Casserole
Makes 6 Servings
Recipe adapted from Blog Chef

Nutritional Information: 403 calories, 47 carbs, 7 fat grams and 29 protein grams.

Review: Two words: OH MY. This recipe seriously may trump my top Mexican recipe. No joke! I LOVE the layers, the use of flour tortillas, how that sauce mixture clings to the tortillas and makes it all taste just meshed together and creamy. I also love the hot sauce kick on those layers- perfect! Yes, time to update my top 10 - this one takes the cake. And the calories are great - love that it makes six too. Winner, winner. Austin loved it too! For less heat, simply leave out the hot sauce. You could even top with salsa if you want to leave the heat level up to each person!

Check out the recipe on Healtified Kitchen!

Here's a pic of the full dish - how it looks coming out of the oven!

Q: What are your plans today? I'm hoping I can get in a walk at the gym too! And I want to read some of my book - i'm almost done with Dark Places!

Q: What's your favorite mexican recipe? I'm SO glad I found this one. I love trying out new mexican dishes and have never turned away from a casserole. I still can't believe I found one that trumped my previous favorite - Beef enchilada casserole. I may have to make that one a runner up. :)