Do you, ZUMBA?!

I’m sure you all could agree, that your days off never seem to be enough.

There’s never enough time in a day to get all the things done on your to-do list that you wanted to. Well I’m no different, but I must say, today was a rather productive day!

I woke up nice and early to get some breakfast and then get to the gym in time for some Zumba! Have any of you ever tried Zumba? It is honestly the most fun I’ve ever had working out in my entire life. The entire hour, I never stop smiling. Now, I probably look like a complete idiot the whole time. But I’m quite fine with that; in fact, I think that’s half the fun. Have any of you seen the episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. where Phoebe and Rachel go running in Central Park and Rachel discovers Phoebe has her own take on running....? Well I feel like Zumba is for the Phoebe’s of the world. And you burn a ton of calories while doing so! And it’s not just for girls! There are guys in the class too! I highly recommend anyone and everyone give it a shot, at least once.

After the gym I headed over to Hapa to meet up with my old workout buddy, Jan. It was so nice to get a good healthy meal, and catch up with her. Straight from lunch, I headed over to my friends (who is to remain nameless for the time being) house to do the first of many in maternity series! She’s only 9 weeks right now, but we’re going to do a shoot each month up until the birth! I can’t wait to see her little baby bump grow!

Check back in about 7-8 months to see how the series develops!

After the shoot, I made it out to Tualatin to visit my good friends at Oregon Photo to pick up some pictures. I love that place. If any of you have any printing needs, I encourage you to check them out.

So for a while now, I’ve really been craving some homemade baked macaroni & cheese. I’ve never tried making it with chicken, but I thought that sounded like it would be pretty yummy too :)

For my birthday my boss, Jo bought me the recipe book, Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld; in that book, they have a recipe for some pretty good looking mac n’ cheese so I thought I’d give it a go! I’m such a picky person, that the book is perfect for me. It basically is a ton of recipe’s on how to get fruits and veggies into your diet by pureeing everything and adding them to your favorite dishes. (shhhhh it’s meant for kids!) The recipe called for “white puree” which just consists of cauliflower, zucchini, and lemon juice. I didn’t have any zucchini, so I added red bell pepper and red onion. I know the whole point is to make it white so your kid doesn’t know it’s in there... but when you’re making it for yourself, that kind of takes out the element of surprise, plus I love the flavor of the bell pepper and onion I just hate the texture. So here’s what I put into my mac n’ cheese:

• Safeway brand organic whole wheat rotini

• non-fat milk

• “white” puree

• Albertsons brand organic boneless, skinless chicken breast, grilled (2)

• Tillamook special reserve extra sharp cheddar (by the way, it says to add only 2 cups. TWO CUPS!! Are they crazy? Yeah, I probably added at least 5 cups)

• two egg whites

I also was very pleased to find at the store tonight, Mike’s hard raspberry lemonade. It’s my favorite and it’s limited edition! So of course I HAD to get some, right?!

I should probably add that while I took a look at the Deceptively Delicious book, the recipe I used was actually from The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine, which is essentially the same concept, I just happened to like the recipe better than DD... for tonight.

So alright, maybe that Zumba this morning was completely pointless... but I don’t feel that bad. My dinner was delicious! Plus I had a healthy breakfast and lunch. AND I’ve got the Shamrock Run coming up on Sunday! *Wish me luck!*

Well I will leave you all with that. This one has gone on much longer than I expected it would. I commend any of you who actually read the whole thing. Pretty boring if you ask me (but not as boring as... you-know-what, right Jenny G!?)

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!