As I went to prepare dinner last night, I wanted to keep up my vegetable streak and decided to center dinner around an eggplant we had sitting in the fridge.
I made my favorite eggplant medallions, served on a bed of arugula and topped with ricotta cheese, spinach, spices, turkey pepperoni and marinara sauce.
Any time I cook with ricotta cheese, I swear I end up eating a cup of the creamy cheese during the preparation process. It’s so darn delicious!
After dinner, we took Sadie on a wet walk (it rained all day yesterday) before heading home to hang out and enjoy a relaxing night on the couch.
Workout
Today’s workout was a cardio hodgepodge!
I began with 30 minutes of incline walking/running that resembled last Wednesday’s incline walking workout, but with more running thrown in the mix.
Then I did 10 minutes on the elliptical before picking up a jump rope to jump it out for the remainder of my time at the gym.
I jump roped for one minute straight before resting for 30 seconds, repeating the sequence 10 times through.
Jumping rope is such a humbling experience. It’s tough!
Breakfast
The highlight of today’s breakfast was almond butter.
Last week, Justin’s sent me some of their nut butters to sample and this morning I polished off the remainder of the maple almond butter.
I spread the almond butter on top of a toasted whole wheat bagel, topped with bananas and chia seeds and served with a side of fresh strawberries.
One thing I really like about the maple almond butter is that it only has three grams of sugar, yet it still tastes slightly sweet. Its been hard to keep my fingers out of this jar!
New York City Bound
Over the weekend I spent a lot of time with one of my best friends, Merri.
Some of you may remember when she moved to New York from Orlando. I’ve been wanting to visit her ever since she moved to the city and finally bit the bullet and bought a ticket to fly up there next Friday to spend the weekend with her and our good friend Ashley who will be flying in from Chicago.
I am pumped!
Merri has been there for several months and has a grasp on the city, but we’d love to hear any recommendations you guys might have for “must dos” while we’re visiting The Big Apple.
NYC, here I come! 
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I just moved back to Gainesville from living in NYC for a year while getting my Master’s degree at NYU and I always recommend a few things to people visiting:
If you love meatballs, you MUST go to the Meatball Shop in the Lower East Side. Best meatballs and homemade ice cream between homemade cookies.
If you love doughnuts, the doughnut plant is a must. I lived right down the street from the one on Grand St and it was dangerous haha The carrot cake doughnut is my favorite.
Also, the High Line is really neat. But I agree with Molly, just exploring different neighborhoods with no real plan is the way to go. You see so much more of the city that way. Enjoy your trip! 🙂
yes! meatball shop…. so delicious and cheap – and the ice cream sandwich is a must, too!
No Way!!
I’m flying Friday {January 27th} out of Orlando to New York! I’m headed there with friends for a bachelorette party. We come back Sunday.
I hear we need to dress worm!!! Ekkkk!
Us Ocala girls are gonna freeze!
ah how crazy! i’m leaving out of tampa – how weird would it be if we met for the first time in new york!?!?
For Italian place check this out))))
http://www.ottopizzeria.com/restaurant.cfm
You must go to Levain Bakery (UWS) for their cookies, and Lula’s Sweet Apothecary (LES) for their vegan ice cream. It is hands down the best ice cream I have ever had in my life and I am not a vegan or vegetarian!!!
Also, you should try the Core Fusion Sport class at Exhale!
As a NYC girl who loves reading your blog I hope you have a great time visiting the city!
There are some great smaller places that may not be as well known for fun places to snack eat and drink. If you want great sushi that isn’t crazy expensive try Kanoyama in the East Village. There’s also a great bakery in the Lower East Side called Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery (cute name and amazing cupcakes!!)
Also if you’re in the mood for a yoga break try Yoga Vida in Union Square, the classes are only $10 with a free mat on your first visit and great instructors.
Have fun!
Love Stanton S
Restaurants: John’s on Bleecker or Lombardi’s in Little Italy for New York style pizza, Stanton Social or Beauty and Essex (you’d need reservations for either but WORTH IT) for great tapas/great scene, Five Points for the best brunch you’ll ever have (Eggs Ranchero!), Apizz for amazing Italian food, ‘inoteca (the original one on the lower east side is best, but there will be a wait) for Italian tapas, The Meatball Shop (obviously for meatballs), Cacio e Pepe for amaaazing pasta served in a wheel of cheese, Eataly (Mario Batali’s Italian market), Momofuku for ramen and pork buns…
Bakeries: Momofuku Milk Bar for birthday cake truffles, crack pie, amazing cookies, and cereal milk soft serve, Sugar Sweet Sunshine for the awesome cupcakes, and Levain for huge and awesome cookies.
Oh! And if you like French Macarons, the first American outpost of the famous French bakery Laudree just opened on the upper east side… 71st and Madison, I think. Enjoy!
Oooo I 3rd a blogger meet up!! 🙂 Welcome to my neighborhood!
You really cant go wrong with wandering around NYC!
FYI, this Sunday is the Chili Fest at Chelsea Market in NYC. It’s from 7-9:30pm and you must buy tickets in advance. My husband and I went last year and we’re going again this year. If you like chili, you should try going!
http://chilifest2012.com/