We woke up Saturday morning and had a breakfast of champions. Kevin made eggs with ham, cheese and spinach. Lindsey made toast and coffee.

I went with toast (Arnolds 100% whole wheat) with pb, homemade strawberry jelly and bananas. I ate 3 pieces.

Then, we headed out for a morning run walk.

It was a beautiful 60 degree, sunny day in Chi-town!

Then we made a walking detour through the zoo! I needed a bathroom stop which was the first reason for our stop, then we kept walking because it was so fun to see the animals.

The bathroom was in the indoor garden of the zoo.

My parents got stuck with a tour guide who was following them around so while we waited for them to catch up, we all squeezed on a bench.

Then we finally made it to the animals!

The awkward sleeping rhino!

The black bear hanging out enjoying the day.

Taking a snooze…

Following the zoo, we headed over to the farmers market!

We arrived Friday night after an uneventful flight. We flew from Columbus and my parents flew from Cleveland and we landed about the same time. We jumped in a cab and headed for Lincoln Park where my brother lives.

This was the first time I had been to his new place, he moved back from Denver this summer. The place is great! It’s right in the heart of Lincoln Park – a step away from the L, tons of fun restaurants and bars, Crate and Barrel outlet, a huge Whole Foods palace, a mile from the lake and everything else you could need! The place has so much character:

The ceilings are huge and the woodwork and wood floors are great! Of course Kevin had the snacks ready for us (we taught him well) .

Salsa and chips

Hummus and Stacy’s Pita Chips

Cheese and crackers

It was a great start to a wonderful weekend! More pictures from our 3 hour run/walk yesterday morning!

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** This was supposed to post last night! We are currently on the plane headed for Chi-Town!

SO excited that tomorrow is Friday! We are flying out of Columbus at 6pm to go to Chicago for the weekend. I love how leaving from here at 6 means we get there at 6! We are meeting my parents, who are flying in from Cleveland, at my brother’s place in Lincoln Park! It should be a great weekend filled with shopping, hanging out, shows and fun dinners! I will keep you posted.

After school today, which was nice and uneventful, I came home to make dinner with some Nasoya Egg Roll Wraps. When I was at store the other night I picked these up! I was excited to use the free coupon they sent me to try them. Of course I forgot to use the coupon when I actually checked out. I am blaming it on the pregnancy brain.

So anyways, you will see some more wraps with fun recipes! There is no problem with that.

When thinking about what to do with the egg roll wrappers, I thought of many fun things. I decided that classic, healthy egg rolls would be first on my list. Once I saw how easy it was to work with the wrappers, I could try new things! Here is what went into it:

Baked Egg Rolls

• 1 bag of frozen stir fry veggies
• 1 can of water chestnuts, diced
• 1 can of bamboo shoots, chopped
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/2 small head of cabbage, chopped
• soy sauce – I use light sodium
• szechuan sauce – or another flavorful sauce that fits the ingredient list
• egg roll wrappers – by Nasoya

1. Chop all veggies and simmer in a pan with sauces until veggies are tender
2. Fill wrappers according to the diagram on the package. This will prevent them from falling apart.
3. 
4. Bake egg rolls at 35o for about 30 minutes – next time I would try cooking them at a higher temp for shorter time – not because they didn’t taste delicious, but because I am impatient.

I served mine with the leftover over veggie “insides”, brown rice and baked tofu! It was very filling and satisfying! I am excited to have leftovers as my lunch tomorrow.

• This is not one of my most healthy meals but it is delicious and perfect for having friends for dinner. My cousin and her husband make it often and their 3 year old and 1 year old love it. I made it tonight when our neighbors came over for dinner.
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. oil
• 1 chopped fine onion
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 2 c. chicken broth
• 1 large can of crushed tomatoes
• 3-4 cubes of frozen basil and garlic
• sprinkle of fresh parm.
• 1/2 c. cream or more if you’d like it thicker
• salt and pepper

1. Simmer oil and butter with onions and garlic.
2. Add 1 c. chicken broth bring to boil and reduce by half
3. Add another 1c. chicken broth and reduce by half
4. Add course ground crushed tomatoes – 28-32 oz.
5. Add 3 -4 cubes of basil and fresh parm.
6. Bring to a bubble then add 1/2 c. or 3/4 c. cream.
7. Add salt and pepper

Serve with penne or rigatoni

I served this simple and flavorful pasta with grilled chicken, cut up on top and baked broccoli.

Ticia and Jason brought a great salad and some very fresh bread! Here are some action shots of them eating

They are the cutest family!

For dessert we had classic apple pie!

Served warm with vanilla yogurt!

After dinner and dessert, the twins played a great game of run around the house while we consulted about our empty, white baby room. It was great!

So my new ingredient of the night is Tahini! I recently realized how much I love it! Mama Pea talks about this amazing dressing she makes all of the time and I decided I needed to try it.

I made a batch(sort of, I tried to follow most of the recipe) and it came out great! Tahini is like a rich, adult nut butter that tastes great on veggies! I can’t post the recipe because it belongs to the famous Dreena Burton but I will tell you the ingredient list:

• tahini
• water
• apple cider vinegar
• salt and pepper
• agave
• sesame oil
• soy sauce
• dijon mustard

All mixed up, it was amazing by itself and on my salad!

Then I heated up leftover pizza and gave in to the pregnancy and made some green bean and mushroom casserole –

Brady’s dinner was the result of a free burrito coupon. He throughly enjoyed it as well!

It was a very satisfying meal for both of us!

Back to cooking tomorrow! Our neighbors are coming over dinner!

For diner last night, after walking 5 miles with Katie, I decided to make some pizza. I had some leftover sauteed veggies and a whole grain crust I bought from Trader Joe’s and wanted to try.

I mixed the veggies with some freezer “Hide the lentils” tomato sauce from the Eat, Drink and Be Vegan cookbook that I love! It ended up being delicious! I can’t wait to buy the crust again, even Brady gave it two thumbs up!

Leftover Lentil sauce from the freezer

Before the oven – notice the piece of just cheese for Brady to sample.

Done and served with salad

I will be buying this crust again and I highly recommend it for anyone who has tried wheat crusts and found them to be too chewy or not crunchy enough. Plus this is super easy and mess-free!

Thanks to Nasoya for sending me some coupons for some of their great products. I used the wonton wrappers to make some fun appetizers for the party on Saturday night. I am excited to use the Egg Roll wrappers for baked egg rolls on Thurs.

Turkey Stars (also known as Sausage Stars)

• wonton wrappers – I used 36
• 1 package of Honeysuckle lean turkey sausage
• 1 c. 2% natural cheese
• light ranch dressing

1. Cook sausage until done.
2. Bake unfilled wonton wrappers in muffin tins at 350 until golden brown
3. While those are baking: mix cooked sausage, cheese, and 1/3 c. light ranch.
4. When wontons are done, fill the little cups with the sausage mixture and bake again until cheese is melty.

Baked Goat Cheese Triangles

• 24 wonton wrappers
• 1 tube of cranberry goat cheese from Trader Joes

1. Put a small amount of goat cheese on the corner of a wonton wrapper.
2. Fold the wrapper in half to form a triangle.
3. Wet the sides of the wonton to seal it together with the cheese inside
4. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Serve warm!

Next time I would brush them with a little whipped egg to get rid of the white powder on them and make them shiny. I might also make a dipping sauce to serve them with!

Last night we had a fiesta! After an absolutely beautiful Sunday that included:

• a workout at the gym on the step mill for 30 min. then the elliptical for 15 minutes with Health magazine
• a winning soccer game for Brady at 10 am
• a 5 mile walk with a great neighbor/friend/role model mother of twin 3 year olds and a 3 month old baby
• another winning soccer game for Brady at 8 pm
• a short trip to Target for organizing essentials so we can finish cleaning out our extra room
• a brief clean of our house

It was great! For dinner we had shrimp burritos with tons of fixings!

The delicious meal consisted of:

• shrimp boiled then cooked in cumin and lime juice for flavor
• leftover quinoa
• Trader Joe’s black beans refried beans
• frozen broccoli
• TJs roasted corn (frozen)
• Brady’s guac
• fresh tomatoes
• mushrooms
• onions
• artichokes

All served on a whole wheat high fiber tortilla. This pretty dish ended up being a salad, all mixed up together!

I hit it pretty early last night but I was still tired today. I am hoping another early night tonight will help me!

For food, I was not to set on any one thing. Since people didn’t come over until after 8, I knew I just needed munchies instead of heavy food. Here is what we had:

Soft pretzels with spicy and honey mustard

Turkey Treats – what Brady calls “Sausage stars” (he thinks I made them with real sausage) Recipe of the lightened version to come

Cranberry Goat Cheese Triangles – recipe to come! Thanks Nasoya!

Fat free pumpkin dip with apples and graham crackers:

Classic Chips and Salsa

Also, a big bowl of Chex Mix that disappeared first!

The table before the food was put on – I got busy and forgot the after shot!