Food & Fitness
Hello my lovely friends! Guess what!? It’s Friday and it is the first official summer Friday for me, which means a half day of work! Woo hoo! Don’t get too excited though, I made up the time earlier this week so now I will use my extra time today sleeping since this pregnant lady is very very tired. That being said, welcome to this week’s edition of Friday’s Food & Fitness! Let’s get to it!
After the food bonanza that was last weekend, I decided to start this week on a slightly healthier note. This avocado caprese salad was the perfect detox meal after all my indulgences. It was so simple to make: chopped tomatoes, avocado, cucumber, fresh mozzarella, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Perfection. Oh it was also supposed to have red onion but I forgot all about it! And, oh yeah, basil too but they were out of basil at the grocery store. Someone explain to me how that even happens!?
I also made the perfect healthy dessert! I picked up some rhubarb at the farmer’s market last week so I decided to make a rhubarb fruit salad. I simply picked up some delicious fruit from the store: strawberries, raspberries, peaches, nectarines and grapes (you could really use anything though) and made this simple rhubarb topping. I thinly sliced several rhubarb stalks and added them to a small saucepan with some honey and Grand Marnier. I heated the mixture on low until the rhubarb softened and took on a jam-like consistency. It was so delicious! Five stars from the Hubs. I’m thinking some fresh mint on top might be a good addition.
The latest issue of Cooking Light has a feature on summer pasta dishes and I have slowly been making my way through the list. So far I’ve made this summer vegetable rigatoni with chicken and a sweet red pepper with burrata sauce. This week I made garlicky tomato spaghetti. It was seriously the easiest recipe ever! Garlic and tomatoes sauteed in a pan over medium heat, add in some red pepper flakes and basil (if your grocery store isn’t out!), then add in the cooked spaghetti with some reserved cooking liquid, top with pecorino romano. Et voila! Simple, easy and delicious!
It’s June and that means summer workouts for this year’s Summer of Fitness are in full swing. My friend Nellie over at Brooklyn Active Mama did a great roundup for free summer workouts in the NYC area. Check it out if you haven’t!
Well & Good NYC also came out with this list. I think I’m most excited for the Lole and FiTIST summer meetups every Tuesday at Pier 25 on the Hudson River. I did them last year and they were so much fun! Also, Bryant Park yoga will hopefully be making its way into my repertoire again. And I’m going to branch out and try a few new opportunities on these lists.
And a shameless plug for my OWN free workout! Levo League will be hosting a *free* kickboxing class on Wednesday, June 18th at 7pm with Beatbox Fitness. I am super excited to try this class out. It is kickboxing with a live DJ! How awesome is that?? You can get all the details here.
Readers, do you ever associate pasta with summer (It’s not something I normally would do)? What fitness-related activity are you looking forward to most this summer? Will you come to my Levo League event?!?