there’s only one thing that can make a Monday better. looking a pictures of beautiful food. I did a really good job of eating like a queen all weekend. for the sake of the blog, of course 🙂
Spinach, pepper, onion, and cheddar cheese omelet with a side of buttermilk pancakes and potatoes
Zman’s strawberry crepes with whipped cream and strawberry sauce
Shrimp salad with jicama, black beans, corn, tomatoes, queso fresco cheese, avocado, and a honey-lime-cilantro vinaigrette
Chicken pad thai
Everything bagel sandwich with an egg and some cheddar cheese
Green bean base (instead of pasta) with marinara sauce, Parmesan cheese, and garlic bread
2 egg omelet with spinach, red peppers, onions, veggie sausage, cheddar cheese and red pepper flakes. Black coffee on the side
So yeah. A lot of eggs were had.
In other news, I took the weekend off from working out. After Friday’s workout, which kicked my butt, I just wanted to take it easy.
I highly recommend this workout to anyone at any fitness level. It’s very straightforward and you don’t need any equipment besides a kettlebell. Don’t have one? Use a gallon of milk or something of similar weight!
The rest of the weekend was all about walking, or as I call it “active rest”. Rest days don’t have to be all about lounging on the couch. You can give your body a rest from the intensity of tough workouts but still get your blood flowing and legs moving. Walking is a great form of active rest and I’ve found it’s a great thing to do when it seems like your whole week has revolved around a computer screen. On Saturday alone Zman and I walked 6 miles all around the city. Those three hours were perfect because they were sans phone, computer, or music. It was all about talking and exploring. It was also a gorgeous time to walk through the city, especially Lincoln Park, because of the falling leaves and chilly temps that just make you want to head to Starbucks for a piping hot cup of coffee in their red holiday cups.
First things first, we walked to Zman’s flag football game.
It was the playoffs, and even though they lost it was still really fun to watch (especially because it had rained the night before so people were slipping and falling with every turn thanks to the mud. Pretty entertaining stuff)
After the game we walked to The Original Pancake House on Clark Street for breakfast. We passed some crazy leftover pumpkins on the way:
Adorable 🙂
Once we got to breakfast I thought about getting their Dutch Apple Pancake, which they’re famous for, but in the end I went with my favorite: veggie omelet with cheddar cheese. I think this wins the award for best omelet in the city (maybe that’s because it also wins most cheese inside an omelet, but that’s neither here nor there…)
Can you tell breakfast is my favorite meal of the day?
We also stopped by Megan and Christina’s apartment to see their new foster cat!
Meet Samson! He’s a speedy little guy so taking a picture without a blur was tough! Seriously one of the cutest little kittens in the world! I don’t know how those two are going to give him up after their two week foster period is up…
Then Zman and I began our long walk of the day, passing by Lincoln Park Zoo, Lake Shore Drive, and other parts of Chicago we hadn’t been to yet.
The rest of the weekend was pretty mellow and just included Thai food, friends, and a little marathon of one of our new favorite shows:
Do you watch Modern Family? Spencer, Megan, Zman and I sat around for almost five hours on Saturday night watching episodes and it never got old. So funny!
Not much to share from yesterday because I had to work from 12-7 at the restaurant so nothing too exciting there. But tonight I’m heading back to the city after work for a girls night to watch the Bears v. Packers game. Nothing weird about that, right?
i had a big lunch 
Ummm holy cow do I love the idea of using green beans instead of pasta!! I can’t eat pasta because it majorly upsets my stomach, but I love pasta sauce and parm cheese. Did you use fresh green beans and just boil them? Can’t wait to try that!
I actually roast the green beans so they’re still a little crunchy! I toss them in olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast them at 425 for 30-45 minutes. Pasta doesn’t fill me up very well so I sometimes replace it with veggies or at least mix veggies in to volumize it with more nutrients and fewer calories. Try it out!
Everything looks delicious!
I could sit and watch modern family for hours, it just cracks me up! One of the best comedies in years!
Those eats look fab, especially the ones with eggs! I would love to go out for breakfast more often but in the UK it’s mostly bread, bread and more bread for breakfast rather than focusing on the wonder that is eggs! And we don’t have any real ‘breakfast’ joints, Brits aren’t great with their breakfasts – very sad I know. I remember when I went to the states, oh so much choice for breakfast, it was amazing! Can you tell breakfast is my fav meal of the day too?!! 🙂