Back to the Grind + Zumba Dinner IN

Sorry for not posting last night but I was entertaining having a blast till MIDNIGHT!

Monday morning I made a quick 3 bean salad using this recipe I found on Simply Recipes. I intended to make it Sunday but…well, I didn’t. So Monday AM it was! No cooking required, so it was quite quick.

I’ve been enjoying my CinnaChip breakfast casserole but thought the last couple times it was just a tad too sweet. I love my sweets and all, but I don’t like when my sweets are too sweet. So, I thought I’d try something new. Something like the Celestial Sauce from Eat Drink and Be Vegan!

It was PERFECT! Even hubby liked it! The sauce reminded me a lot of the sauce I enjoyed on Bread Pudding at Hell’s Kitchen in Minneapolis, MN.

I topped my bread pudding with sliced almonds for a little crunch.

I’m DEFINITELY making this again!

Then, it was back to work after my stay-cation. I was actually feeling really ready to be back.

I had lots of goodies to take to work: my frozen emergency lunch meals, emergency canned soup, meal bars, a bowl (for the canned soup), and lunch for Eat in Month.

I brought my new BPA-free Green Bottle to work too. Isn’t it beautiful?! I LOVE it!

I also brought a Dilbert calendar – got this half off at Barnes & Nobles.

Lunch was really great: a toasted chicken sammie (Earthfare oven roasted chicken, Earthfare havarti cheese on Great Harvest Flax Oat Bran), my 3 bean salad, and some apples (leftover from the apple topping on that casserole).

For an afternoon pick-me-up, I made some Pomengranate White Tea with sugar (need to get some honey to keep at my desk at work!)

I had an afternoon snack to fuel up for ZUMBA: an Odwalla Berries GoMega and Kashi crackers. I got the bars on sale at Earthfare. I thought it was quite tasty and I liked the chewy texture.

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Let me take this moment to say that my zumba friends are the BEST! When I told them about the Eat in Month Challenge, I was worried we’d have to give up our Monday get togethers or that they’d have to go without (since I couldn’t eat at restaurants). Buuuut, you know what? They joined in on the challenge! Oh yes, they ROCK! Thanks ladies! 🙂

Soo…what’s a girl to do when you and your friends can’t eat out together? Have them over for dinner!

Our house is a total wreck and I was terribly embarrassed that they had to see it in the state it was in, but our Mondays are too fun to give up because of a not-set-up house.

I decided to make lasagna! Here’s a recipe you can use to re-create this beef and spinach lasagna.

Hubby helped me out by making some meat sauce while we were busy wrapping up zumba class so I’d just have to assemble the lasagna when I got home. Thanks babe!

I snuck some frozen spinach in the mix so we’d get some extra veggie serving.

We used our dining room for the FIRST time for our zumba dinner. What a great way to kick things off in there!

My friends brought yummy eats with them, including salad, which we topped with some of that 3-bean salad. It was a nice combo.

I lucked out while I was making our beef & spinach when I had a total “doh!” moment when I realized that one of my zumba friends was pescatarian!

The lucky part was that thanks to my well-stocked pantry, I was able to put together a last minute mini-veggie lasagna…yay!

Dinner is served!

Stacy + Kat!

Stacy + Kat also brought some yummy rosemary olive oil bread, which I toasted under the broiler and brushed with a garlic-y butter-y topping.

They even brought over a yummy dessert – tiramisu! (to stay in the Italian theme) It was the perfect ending to our Monday dinner together.

Thanks Stacy + Kat for coming over and bringing over some tasty eats!

Now…what to make next week???