Happy Meals

I have big plans for this last day of July.

That’s right. I intend to bless Lifetime Fitness with my presence this morning.

I decided I might as well live it up on this July 31st because as of tomorrow, August 1st, my membership is officially frozen.

I may take a spin class or a kickboxing class or some other group fitness cardio class. Or sample all of them. We shall see.

At least I will be getting in some valuable cross training time.

And if I am lucky, the cross training will help calm down my insane appetite.

I can’t complain though; food has been good to me lately.

While I have been more than enjoying myself by eating out quite often these days, it never needs to be complicated or elaborate to have some tasty food at home as well.

I went a little crazy the other day and deviated from my beloved steel cut oats in favor of a simple blueberry oatmeal pancake.

Topped with berries, peaches and peanut butter. Delectable.

See this? This would be a really tasty and simple sandwich. Romaine lettuce, tomato, roasted red pepper, avocado and a shmear of hummus on Ezekial Bread.

The concept of a sandwich is still fascinating to my taste buds since the majority of my lunches are salads.

Although, I must admit that even my salads have been a good time lately, especially now that I am on an omelette salad kick.

And don’t think that omelettes are only an option when eating at home. Nope.

I brought mine with me yesterday.

I had my weekly lunch date with the cutest little girl in my world, actually, whole world.

I prepared my omelette ahead of time…

Wrapped it in foil and then reheated it quickly in the toaster oven before plopping it on top of a salad.

What did my little girlfriend have? She dined on spinach and potatoes.

Speaking of potatoes, check these spuds out:

Totally crispy. Totally delicious. Totally easy to make.

Cut up the potatoes, place them in a Ziploc with a drop of olive oil, a few different seasonings and some parmesan cheese.

I roasted them in the oven (at 450 degrees) along with a large pan of broccoli, asparagus, brussels sprouts and cauliflower (seasoned the same as the potatoes).

If you have patience, leave them in the oven for a good 40 – 60 minutes. The longer you roast, the better.

I love side dishes.

In fact, I think that side dishes don’t get enough credit and some of them really deserve to be promoted to entrée status.

Now hey, what’s this box of 100 Calorie Chocolate Pretzels doing in my pantry?

Confession: I have begun to “bring out the big guns” in my attempt to outdo the ice cream man. He may have soft serve but all he has is sprinkles and hot fudge for toppings.

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I NEED TO KNOW:

What have you been eating and enjoying lately?

Favorite simple side dish?

Do you find you are eating out a lot more this summer?

What do you pack for lunch during the week?

Favorite ice cream/yogurt toppings?