This weekend was fantastic! Just what the doctor ordered. The first half of the weekend was a whirlwind, but Sunday was just perfect. After a Target run Sunday morning, Neal and I headed over to Panera for a lunch date.
Look at all of that glorious bread! Neal and I have had panini’s on the brain this week, thanks to his new Griddler, so seeing all of that bread motivated me to create some rockin’ panini’s. Tonight we’re planning to make smoked grilled cheese panini sandwiches with tomato and basil soup. YUMMY!
For lunch I ordered the “pick two” with a bowl of black bean soup and 1/2 of the bacon turkey bravo. I LOVE this combo! This soup is delicious, with the perfect southwest flare. The sandwich is my favorite, filled with veggies, turkey, smoked gouda, and bacon. It’s the best!
After a little grocery shopping, Neal came over to my place to bake cookies and to watch Miracle on 34th Street.
While I mixed the dough, Neal got to work unwrapping Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
Ashley’s Peanut Butter Hugs
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Reese’s miniature peanut butter cups (I bought 1 large sized bag and used 48)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix together butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg and vanilla until well mixed. In a separate bowl, sift together flour and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in batches, mixing until just incorporated before adding the next batch.
2. Spray a mini muffin tin with non-stick spray. Add 1/2 Tablespoon of cookie dough into each cup and bake for 9 minutes.
3. Once the cookies have been removed from the oven, immediately push one peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie. Cool in mini muffin tin completely before removing or the cookies will crumble. I usually throw the cookies in the freezer for a few minutes once they’ve been removed from the tin to set the chocolate.
I love these cookies and how easy they are to make. I highly recommend them over the holidays, but really they’re great any time of year!
This Week’s Exercise Plan
| Monday | 20 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes stairmaster and weight lifting |
| Tuesday | 4 mile morning run with Neal |
| Wednesday | 30 minutes elliptical and weight lifting |
| Thursday | 20 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes stairmaster and weight lifting |
| Friday | Wheels Up! @ Cycle Studio |
| Saturday (Christmas Eve) | Long run with Neal (I’m hoping for 6-8 miles) |
| Sunday (Christmas Day) | Off |
Today’s Meal Plan
Breakfast – Cinnamon steel cut oats, 1/4 cup of dried cranberries,and a cup of coffee (10PP)
Lunch – Italian Wedding Soup, hummus, carrots, square of cabot cheese (8PP)
Snacks – Clementines (oPP)
Dinner – Smoked Grilled Cheese Panini with Tomato and Basil Soup (PP and recipe coming Wednesday!)
Today’s Workout Plan (#20daychallenge)
20 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes stairmaster and weight lifting over lunch break
UPDATE: Didn’t get to go to the gym over lunch. Sadness.
