Pesto Chicken Pizza!

My blog should probably just be called Amber Cooks the Amazing Recipes from Iowa Girl Eats ... it's not very catchy though.  She made this pizza and I couldn't resist recreating it!

Pesto Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:
- Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough
- Pesto (I used Classico brand)
- Chicken (cooked and chopped)
- Bacon (cooked and chopped)
- Artichoke hearts (chopped)
- Spinach
- Mozzarella
- Parmesan

Directions:
1.  Spread pizza dough onto greased pan

2.  Layer all ingredients

3. Bake as directed by the dough packaging

4. Try not to food coma!

No, I did not feed my pup any pizza... much to her dismay.

This pizza is SO tasty and super easy!  I love simple recipes and homemade pizza rocks!

What are your favorite pizza toppings?

Veggie Vodka Ravioli

I'm only at Dave's on Tuesdays and over the weekend, so smart grocery shopping and planning meals ahead of time is pretty rare for me.  There's always that quick trip to the grocery store to grab a thing or two to make each meal happen.  But then there are those times when you realize you randomly have all the things you need to make an amazing meal!

Veggie Vodka Ravioli

- Trader Joe's vodka sauce
- Trader Joe's spinach ravioli
- Green & red peppers
- Onion
- Mushrooms
- Parmesan & mozzarella cheese
- Sprinkle of oregano and basil to taste

1.  Precook ravioli as directed on package (maybe a little less time than called for).
2.  Slice veggies thin and saute in a pan over medium heat until slightly wilted.
3.  Layer all ingredients in a baking pan.
4.  Cook in oven at 350 degrees until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling.
5.  Think to yourself, dang this was easy and enjoy!
I didn't think this was going to be anything special when I started, but when I layered it all in the pan it really started to look amazing!

All of the veggies really complimented the sauce and the ravioli.  And cheese makes everything better, duh :)  I'm usually not that into ravioli, but I'm thinking my feelings come from plain cheese ravioli only accompanied by some tomato sauce.  The spinach inside the ravioli changed things up a bit and I think I could add sauteed peppers, onions, and mushrooms to any pasta dish!

Some garlic bread made out of a leftover Wawa wheat shorty roll completed the meal.  Win.

Do you like vodka sauce?  Have you ever made it or had homemade?
I never had vodka sauce until the dining commons in college.  My roomie loved it and I had never even heard of it!  I've never had homemade vodka sauce, possible recipe to try in the future...?

Enjoying the Weekend Sunshine

After getting over the horribly depressing Phillies loss on Friday night, I decided the best way to spend my Saturday afternoon would be at to the Quakertown Farmer's Market (aka the Q-Mart) with my friend Leah!  The weather was gorgeous so we started with the outdoor flea market portion.  We had some great finds!  I bought 2 knives ($1 each), an earthy stone ring ($5), a bright red beaded necklace ($1), and 2 brooches (2 for $5).  Can't wait to put these bad boys on my winter coats!

I love putting someone else's "trash" back into use.  Yay for going green and getting cheap stuff!  The inside portion was more focused on food!  We enjoyed some tasty gyros and samples from the pickle man and bought lots of fresh produce.  Leah bought a bucket of a dozen pears for $1.50!  She donated some to me.

I also picked up a ton of oats.  So many bloggers talk about delicious dessert-like overnight oats and I've wanted to try them for a while.  Who doesn't want a breakfast that tastes like dessert?  And they were so cheap!

Overall the trip was a great success.  And Q-Mart is also notorious for amazing people watching, and it did not disappoint.  Afterwards I headed over to Dave's and he took me on a scenic ride on his motorcycle.  I'm glad we got out to enjoy the amazing weather.  I love riding on the back of a bike through beautiful fall scenery!  The rest of the night was spent grilling up some dinner and watching a movie.  Yay for relaxing date nights.

Today I took the dog for an hour long hike through Valley Forge National Park.  I love love love that the park is right next to Dave's house.  Puddin' shares my feelings on the subject.  And you know what they say, a tired dog is a good dog!

I supplemented the hike with some better than nothing living room exercises including some squats, scissor abs, calf raises, tricep dips, and some mountain climbers.  We also did some more grilling since the weather was so inviting.  We picked these up from Trader Joe's.

Quite honestly, these are the first thing I've ever actually grilled by myself (other than on a George Forman haha).  And yes, they were fully cooked, so all I had to do was brown them... but I had never even started a grill by myself.  Sad but true!  Dave is usually the grill master, but I want to learn more about grilling.  They were delish!  I foresee a long lasting love affair with Trader Joe's.



Tonight I'll be whipping up a pasta dish.  Recipe to come!  Hope you enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Do you enjoy flea and farmer's markets?  Do you have a favorite one near you?

Feeling Inspired!

I always try to eat pretty healthy, but I really tried to clean things up when I was sick.  I loaded up on veggies and fruit, chugged OJ like it was my job, and even took a multivitamin.  And had one of these bad boys:

This green monster was composed of two frozen bananas, a little bit of berry smoothie mix, a nice handful of spinach, some OJ, ice, and amazing grass.  My sister had the grass and I thought, hey if I can't ever taste the spinach then why not just throw some of this in there.  It didn't ruin the smoothie or anything but it was definitely not as sneaky as the spinach!  And PS the pattern of the glass makes this one look extra gross, oops.

I really believe my diet was the reason I didn't feel bad while I had my cold.  I definitely had all the symptoms of a cold, but I never got that super sluggish body ache.  Since then I've been inspired.  I went to the grocery store after work yesterday and left with some produce, some Chobani, and some healthy snacks to bring to work.  Before bed I cooked up some of the veggies for today's epic lunch.  I made a sandwich with peppers, onions, mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, avocado, a little cheddar, and some red hot.  It was amazing!  And I made enough veggies to eat it again later in the week.

And my clean eating quest continued today when I took my first trip to the one and only...

I was excited to check it out because I had wanted to go there for a while but it just never happened.  My excitement was confirmed when I saw this outside...

Trader Joe's was hopping.  I did some laps around the smallish store while checking everything out and trying to find everything I was looking for.  Two different employees stopped to help me out without me even asking and I got a free reusable grocery bag when I told the cashier it was my first time here.  Tonight's dinner was Trader Joe's heat and eat falafel's.

We stuffed ours in some wheat pitas with some feta, hummus, tzatziki sauce, cucumber, tomato, and lettuce.  I thought it was super delicious but Dave wasn't quite as excited about it.  I think he would've preferred some gyro meat, but I'm glad he's always down to try new things, and I don't think he completely hated it.  On a side note, I ate meatless today, yay.

My motivation continued with a trip to the gym last night after coaching.  My friend Tami just got a membership to good old Planet Fitness and wanted me to show her the machines in the circuit.

Monday's Workout:

1.75 mi walk/run on the treadmill - 22 minutes

Machines in the circuit plus step work in between - 35 minutes

Abductor and adductor machines - 5 minutes

Stretch - 5 minutes

I felt so great leaving the gym, I will definitely be going back tomorrow or Thursday night.  Or maybe even both!  Yeah we'll see about that one haha.  Tonight is movie night, watching Easy A with the boyfriend.  Goodnight!

Do you share my love for Trader Joe's?