Trip to Cape Coral, FL & Stepping it up

Not too long ago, I was lucky enough to visit my aunt and uncle at their winter home in Florida.

 This was a well needed escape from the gloomy New York weather. It has been pretty warm here lately so I'd like to think that I brought the sunshine with me :)

Stone crab, fries with malt vinegar and coleslaw - amazeeeeeey

pretty view crossing the bridge to Fort Myers

their pretty pool. i spent the majority of my time here :)

 If you live somewhere warm, you should know that I am very jealous. I grew up in Canada and now I live in New York BUT I do not like the winter weather. Le sigh*

I recently found out I'll be going on a company trip to the Dominican Republic in May. That's right - I'll be in my bathing suit in front of co-workers. This gives me a tremendous amount of anxiety. Needless to say, I've been upping my exercise regime and trying to cut calories and carbs as much as I can. Here is what I've been doing lately to kick things off:

• Friday 2/24 - the hardest pilates class I have ever taken.
• Saturday 2/25 - walked 38 blocks and stayed in (aka, didn't drink)
• Monday 2/27 - the 2nd hardest pilates class I have ever taken
• Tuesday 2/28 - Astanga Yoga with many sun salutations and muchos warrior series
• Tomorrow, 2/29 - Soulcycle spinning in Tribeca. Have you done this? It's like spinning on crack. Can't wait :)

Any tips for kicking it (your body) into gear for a deadline?

Easy Veggie-ful Lasagna

Lasagna is one of those once in a while comfort foods that can warm up even the coldest NYC belly. 

Unfortunately, its one of those things that I usually feel pretty guilty about eating. All of that cheesy, carby goodness can take back a week's worth of workouts in one plate. Luckily, it doesn't always have to be unhealthy and is worth the effort (and calories). 

My version is relatively easy, cheap and pretty fun to make - and its really, really good.

What you'll need: 

• lasagna noodles
• Parmesan cheese
• pre-shredded cheese 
• 2 jars of pasta sauce 
• 2 roma tomatoes
• 1 zucchini
• 1 tub of fat free ricotta
• a handful of mushrooms
• funion
• frozen peppers
• frozen spinach
• garlic salt, chilli flakes, Italian seasoning, salt & pepper
• about an hour or two of your time

thanks Whole Foods!

Thaw the frozen spinach in a strainer, pat dry with paper town and stir into the ricotta cheese.

Chop and saute the other veggies in a bit of olive oil with the spices that you like.

mmmmmm

Starting with a layer of pasta sauce, layer veggies with a bit of cheese, seasoning, top with boiled + drained pasta. Add a layer of ricotta + spinach. Repeat until the dish is full.

Top with more cheese, sliced roma tomatoes and  more seasoning.

oooh layers

Bake at 400 until the top is crispy.

o baby

goes well with Red and Sriracha

My version has nothing on my mom's lasagna, but it is a pretty close second.

For a lighter take, check out my eggplant / zucchini parm bake here - Eggplant + Zucchini Asiago Bake

What's your go to comfort food? How was your weekend???

Dinner Date with BF - Honey and Walnut Crusted Salmon

Dinner dates with BF are always a treat. I brought back some honey from Prague and was looking for a fun way to use it in a recipe.

After some google-ing I found this easy recipe - Honey & Walnut Crusted Salmon

Preheat oven to 400°F and spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Rinse salmon and pat dry. Place skin side down on baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Stir together honey and mustard; spoon over the top and sides of salmon. Sprinkle with walnuts and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until salmon is cooked to your liking. source

To kick up the flavor, I added some minced garlic to the mixture. So good.

We decided to pair this with some mixed stir fried veggies w/ the extra walnuts.

Yummy!

Vienna, Bratislava & Prague!

What do these places have in common? Really good food & lots of fun things to do!

Vienna -

famous chocolate desserts

amazing anti pasta plate - i skipped out on the ham, but my friends said it was great!

pumpkin risotto - amazing

 

Austrian summer

delicious Viennese breakfast

 

Bratislava -

our welcome platte

 Prague -

vegetable lasagna

amazing cheesy salad with balsamic reduction

 

fancy restaurant :)

built in the 1500s

 

they have gluwein everywhere!

salad made with love :)

pumpkin ravioli

What incredible cities, I can't wait to go back :)

Why I love Vienna, part 2

 The food.

As a pescatarian, I was a little worried about finding things that I could eat in Austria. I had mental images of schnitzel, beef stews and sausages being serves by large angry waitresses.

To my delight, there were a number of excellent traditional options for me throughout the city and almost all of the waitresses / waiters I encountered were absolutely lovely. The best part of these options? Cheese was almost always involved.

my favorite - garlic soup with homemade croutons! i will dream of this soup.

vegetable bake with really good cheese

 One thing I really liked about restaurants in Vienna: almost every menu has friend Camembert with cranberry. Talk about a match made in thunder thigh heaven!

 I even had the chance to try traditional goulash at "The Goulash Museum" - the fish was not good, I didn't eat it. But the veggies & sauce = amazing.

Fish goulash.

Lunch at Palmenhaus. An amazing salad ^ Check out all of that feta.

 The cheese plates in Vienna kick NYC's butt in the cheese plate dept.

crazy. crazy. crazy.

I love how lattes come with a little glass of water everywhere in Europe. Why yes, I would love a bit of water with my coffee :)

More food to come in my next post.

For the long weekend I am going to Florida to visit my aunt and uncle. I am SO EXCITED to have  some warm sunshine beat down on me!

What are your plans for the long weekend?

Why I love Vienna, part 1

:

Vienna is one of the loveliest places I've ever been to.

The streets are clean..
The people are friendly...
There are horses everywhere....
Everyone is classy...
You can drink hot wine in the street (that you can buy right there, on the street!!)!!!

My friends and I met at the Vienna airport on the 31st. I flew out of New York and the others flew out of Toronto / Dubai. These ladies are the best friends a girl could ask for - fun, supportive, ambitious, intelligent and kind. We all met in university and this trip was our first "big girl" vacation together. It was a blast. We ended up going to Vienna, Bratislava and Prague. Each city was very differently wonderful and I'm so happy that my first Europe experience was in these amazing cities with my amazing friends. My only complaint while we were there: it was really bloody cold (-18 C). Luckily there was lots of hot wine being sold on the streets in convenient to-go cups to keep us warm!

We rented a beautiful apartment off of booking.com. Check it out:

me, out front

1 room

the other "bed"

very cool desk with old pics and letters under the glass

Here are some very cool things I saw / did:

The Spanish Riding School

The Spanish Riding School

The Spanish Riding School

Schoenbrunn Palace

Schoenbrunn Palace

The Albertina Gallery

Palmenhaus Restaurant

The Albertina Gallery

Magritte at the Albertina

St. Stephen's Cathedral (German: Stephansdom) - right near the apartment

I'll share some awesome meals I had soon!

Happy Valentine's Day! Tonight BF is taking me out for dinner. What are your plans?