Wahoo!  Saturday!  Love Saturdays!  And I have a BIZ-EEEE one ahead of me.  Lots of catching up with old friends (all former coworkers) today.

Well, as I suspected, my Back/Tri workout was not up to par.  My grip was really weak from the shovel and spade work the day before.  But I got it done – even if it wasn’t my strongest.  My workout partner (MSP) also abandoned me decided to stay in bed for the morning, as he hadn’t had a great night of sleep.  I don’t blame him – been there done that about 600 times myself!

Here’s the Friday recap:

Weight Training (Back & Triceps)

• TM Warmup followed by arm circles to get the blood flowing to the muscles near my shoulders
• Close Grip Pulldowns 4 working sets of 11, 10, 9, 12
• Barbell Rows 3 working sets of 9, 14, 15
• TRX Row 3 sets of 10, 11, 10
• Overhead Triceps Extension 4 sets of 15, 15, 8, 9
• Hyperextensions (low back) on Ball 3 sets of 15

Then I took the beasts dogs out for their wog session (together this time) because I wanted them to get some extra mileage  – it keeps them a little calmer during the day.  I’ve recently started taking them one at a time because together they are a LOT to handle for one human arm that likes to stay in its socket.  Separately they each behave much better.  Together, they turn into disobedient little freaks!  I think it’s because they know that they can overpower me when they are together.   I had planned to take them for 4 miles but I go SO tired of being yanked around like a rag doll I shortened the outing to 3.  They’re lucky they’re so cute – it’s impossible to stay mad at these cuddlebugs:

Friday coffee was my holiday peace dove mug.  It was a chilly windy morning that felt like fall (even had to wear my sweatshirt outside) so I figured I better start preparing myself for summer to be over…. waaaaahhhhhh!  (Can you believe HALLOWEEN stuff is out at the stores now??  It kills me.)

Between weights and dog wogging, I was crazy hungry, so I mixed up a partial scoop of Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer with a cup of almond milk. 

I figured I’d eat something more substantial when I got back but I wasn’t really hungry at that point and was busy doing my ‘chores’.  I had to run to the library and grocery store late morning so I went to the Target SBUX.  Holy moly what a RACKET they have going at that particular Starbucks.  You don’t get to use your registered SBUX card rewards (which in my case this day would have been free soy ‘upgrade’ and free syrup squirt).  I ordered a tall decaf soy latte asking for just ONE pump of pumpkin spice (since it was such an autumnal day!).  Guess how much that tiny cup cost me?  $4.01.  Ex-SQUEEZE me?  For a TALL?  I had to look at the receipt because I thought she must have charged me for a Grande.  They now charge 50 cents for the soy (is this everywhere I wonder or just Target?)  It used to be 40 cents, but I always use my registered card so I haven’t paid much attention I guess.  So no more going to the one at the Target.  OK, sorry for that, just had to get that off my chest.  (I may have to rebel and start going to DazBog instead!  )

Lunch was my SAME-O SAME-O salad.  I know you guys must get bored with my salads having a rotating set of the same ingredients!  I can’t help it!  Don’t fix it if it’s not broken, right?  They’re so good that I just don’t want anything else at the moment.  Maybe I will broaden my SALAD HORIZONS someday soon!  This had spinach, zucchini ribbons, yellow tomato, red pepper, dulse, pepitas, sea salt & pepper, HB egg, and olive oil w/ balsamic vinegar.  Oh and a few sundried tomatoes and sprinkle of nutritional yeast, I almost forgot!

Afternoon snack (not pictured) was 1/2 a Larabar and a square of dark chocolate.

We jokingly refer to Friday as Pasta Friday in our house because for a long time we noticed were having some sort of italian meal every Friday night.  Since I had some free time yesterday afternoon, I figured I’d try to make lasagna for MSP as a little surprise.  I’ve never made lasagna before and I love to eat it at restaurants.  (And you KNOW when you eat it out, you’re probably getting 3 days’ worth of calories.)  Well I found a recipe for tofu “ricotta” and thought I’d make that to then put into my own attempt at creating a lasagna recipe. 

I have all of my ingedients gathered to make the tofu ricotta (I felt so “FoodNetwork” taking this pic!)  Tofu, basil, sea salt & pepper, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, garlic, & olive oil.

I began building the layers into my lasagna.  I made a vegetarian half for me and a meaty side for MSP.  This is the middle layer.  My side has mushrooms & sundried tomatoes, MSP’s has italian chicken sausage.  My next layer has spinach & artichoke hearts, while MSP’s next layer has…. more sausage.   

My side has a very light sprinkling of parmesan cheese on top and his side has loads of 2% Italian ‘Three Cheese Mix’.

After I put it in the oven I noticed that a cooking bomb had gone off in my kitchen – look at this mess!

And after some serious dishwashing and cleanup:

Ahhh, that’s better.  I can’t stand a messy kitchen!

So here is the lasagna after cooking.  It looks really done, I know!  I should have left the foil on until just at the end because MSP’s cheesy side went a bit past ‘golden brown’ and maybe more toward ‘burnt brown’   
 

 And after plating (on the side is Genesis sprouted grain bread with a smear of pesto & a sprinkle of parm, then into the broiler very briefly):

 And no Italiano dish is complete without a small glass of this:

You know, the lasagna wasn’t too bad at all!  I didn’t add a lot of seasoning because I didn’t know how strong the fresh basil would be.  Next time, I’ll add more seasoning to the tofu “ricotta”.  But I liked it!  Which is a good thing, because I have a TON left over!  Dessert was a cup of Teeccino (herbal ‘faux coffee’): 

And I was again hungry right at bedtime so this little snack was a scoop of raw almond butter with a squeeze of raw honey, about 1/2 cup of almond milk.  I don’t know why I’ve been getting hungry at night, so I think I’ll eat a bigger dinner for the next few days to see if it makes a difference.  I don’t have any qualms about eating right before bed – but it DOES make me wake up ravenously hungry which is why I’d rather not do it.

Today’s question is:  Do you have housemates or family that eat completely different than you?  Do you find it difficult or have you  gotten into the groove of working around it?  I was a little worried at first that when I went meatless it would really add to my cooking workload, but it’s actually been fun to find ways to have us eat essentially the same meal but with a few adjustments.

OK, blog buds!  My tummy is growling, so I need to go get some breakfast started!  Have a MARVELOUS Saturday and I’ll see ya next time!

–Shari B. =)

Tags: dog walk, Larabar, lasagna, nutritional yeast, salad, Starbucks, Vega Health Optimizer, Vegetarian, Weight training, wine, wogging