Obviously it's Pes-Crea-Marinara sauce!!

Yesterday, at about 6:00 a.m., I woke up and realized my husband was getting out of bed. He walked into the kitchen and turned on some lights.  His alarm wasn't on. He didn't have to be to work early...what gives??

My curiosity caused me to wake up...grrrrr.  "WHYYYYY are you up SOOO early??"

His answer? He just COULDN'T sleep anymore...I just didn't understand.

I have NEVER had this problem. Maybe after sleeping till 10:00 a.m. on a Saturday. But I have never woke up at 6 am on a work day because I couldn't sleep anymore.

I know...he is weird :)

But I did reap the rewards from his decision. He made me breakfast:)

(This picture is horrible! My new camera was charging so I had to use my old one...yuck!)

I enjoyed my breakfast with a POM-mocktail.  This time, I used the Lime LaCroix. It had a great taste! Chad even liked it1

This is one of my new favorite drinks :)

That night, I decided to treat Chad to dinner. He was supposed to be done with work at 5 so I expected him home at 5:30.  I had already worked out and been to the physical therapist by 5:309 so I was hungry!

I decided to use my leftover lunch of pasta and broccoli from Kowalski's as the base. (Have you ever gone there for lunch? They have a great lunch bar...salad, soup, pasta and sometimes tacos!)

I baked two chicken breasts and sprinkled them with Spicy Garlic seasoning.

I steamed green beans and added feta cheese almonds...one of my favorite combinations!!

While at Kowalski's, I created my own pes-crea-marinara sauce.  Pesto with Cream and Marina sauce...all my favorites combined! It looks gross but it's really tasty! I poured this over the pasta and the green beans!

Such great taste!!

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We have a very boring weekend...Chad is in his last week of his current online class so he has a TON of work to do.  We only have a few things scheduled, plus it's supposed to be Gross tomorrow...boo

* I am going to the Fine Line with Annie and her boyfriend, Mitch tonight. We are seeing Cedar Avenue and Dan Rodriguez...should be fun!

* I am going to a Body Works class tomorrow at LAFitness...want to join me? 

* We are driving down to our house in Shakopee. We hear the framing went up this weekend...it will be fun to see the progress. 

* I am going to Southdale Library to hear a speaker from the Dyslexia Association about Reading Reform in Minnesota.  

What are you doing this weekend?

How do you spend rainy Saturdays??

Spontaneous Combustion!

My whole family just walked out the door...it was a little case of spontaneous combustion!!

I walked around Calhoun with my friend Kali today. We were going to walk/run but we had both exercised yesterday and were very sore!

I took a Bodyworks Plus Abs class from Betty last night. Let me just say that she is the devil!  She pushes me further than I thought I could be pushed. She has me do moves and circuits I didn't think possible...but they are! I leave the class a big mess of sweat, feeling like I can conquer the world, after I take a 3 hour nap!

Back to my walk...

The walk was nice..it is so fun to people watch when we are walking. You see such a random variety of people...kids, adults, senior citizens, men with shirts off, women with no clothes, women with sweaters and jeans and hats...it's insane!! But the weather was perfect...we could have used a little wind because the bugs were out for a kill!!

We were swatting at them the first 20 minutes of the walk...we both probably swallowed/inhaled at least 5 bugs each...gross!

I invited Kali over for dinner along with my brother, Drew, who is home from touring with his band.  Kali ended up not coming over but of course Drew was ready for some of my homemade cooking!

When he got there, my dad called. Of couse he invited himself over...and we had to call mom. SO it ended being a Spontaneous Combusion of Preiners at the Raiches!

Too bad Chad had to do homework at another location :( No way would he have gotten any work done with these hooligans around!!

 I told them dinner was almost ready but they had to dig in to the rotisserie chicken my mom brought over...

you would think they hadn't eaten in months the way they attacked that chicken...

I was planning on making 2 recipes from my new cookbook...do you have this cookbook??

Get this...a picture for every recipe...ahhhhhhhhhh!! And she also gives the brand to buy for the healthiest options. Every recipe also has a list of the Super Foods included in the recipe...

I decided to make the Southwest Chicken Pizza...Super foods: Beans, tomatoes, onion

Ingredients:
* Olive oil Cooking spray, Mazola Pure
* 1 package pizza crust mix, Betty Crocker
* 1/4 c. organic blackbeans, rinsed, drained and smashed, Eden (I used Trader Joes black beans)
* 1/2 c. hot water
* 1/2 c. tequilla-and-lime flavored salsa, Newmans Own ( I used a Black bean and corn salsa)
* 1/3 c. Mexicorn, drained, Green Giant
* 1/4 c. shredded fat-free Monterey Jack Cheese with peppers, Lifetime (I couldn't find this so I just used the next ingredient)
* 2 Tb. shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend, Sargento
* 1 c. premium chunk chicken breast, rinsed and drained, Tyson (I used shredded Rotisserie Chicken)
* 2 Tb. finely chopped fresh cilantro
* 2 Tb. finely chopped red onion

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside. ( I used a pizza stone and I heard you didn't have to use cooking spray with these so I didn't...USE IT....the pizza stuck).
2. In a medium bowl, combine pizza crust with beans. Stir in hot water until mixture is well moistened. Beat 20 minutes to form dough. Cover and let rest for 5-10 minutes.
3. Using floured fingers, press dough into a 12-inch circle on prepared baking sheet. Spread salsa evenly over dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Top with Mexicorn, Monterey Jack cheese, Mexican cheese blend, chicken, cilantro, and onion.

4. Bake pizza in preheated oven in 15-17 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Per serving: 273 calories, 3 g total fat.

The pizza didn't look so good in the oven. The crust looked really thin and dry.

 But it was....FABULOUS!!! Such good taste, spice and texture! It was DELICIOUS...there you go Drew!

I made sure to save some for the hubby...I knew he would LOVe this recipe!!

I also made a salad from this cookbook... pretty basic, common recipe.

Chicken and Baby Spinach with Raspberry-Balsamic Vinaigrette

* 1 1/2 c. fresh raspberries (I used 1.5 half packages of raspberries)

* 1/2 c. balsamic vinaigrette, Newman's Own

* 3/4 t. sugar

* 8 c. packaged baby spinach, Ready Pac

* 1 c. sliced cucumber.

* 1/3 c. thinly sliced red onion

* 1 1/3 c. purchased cooked chicken breast cut into strips, Tyson ( I did not put chicken in the salad since I had it on the pizza)

* 1/4 c. crumbled feta cheese, Athenos

* 1/4 c. chopped pecans, Blue Diamond

* Ground black pepper, McCormick

I DID not use their dressing...I gave my family the option of choosing their dressing from my selection...

1. For dressing, place 1/2 c. raspberries, salad dressing and sugar in a blender. Cover and blend until smooth.

2. In a large bowl, toss together the remaining 1 c. raspberries, spinach, cucumber, onion, and half of the dressing.

3. Divide mixture among 4 chilled plates. Toss chicken strips with 2 Tb. of the dressing. Divide among the plates. TOp with feta cheese and pecans. Season with pepper. 

This was a great, easy, quick meal for a family of 4.  Now let's see what the husband thinks...

Good night!

1 down...? to go

I think I am going to have many wedding showers this Spring/Summer.  Today was the first of many...

My cousin Katie is getting married July 10 and her family shower was today. Let's just say that the Preiner Women know how to throw a party...plenty of food, games and conversations!!

I didn't get a good picture of the bride. I always forget the most important pictures!!!

First, we played some games.  We started with making wedding dresses out of toilet paper...(if only men knew what went on at these things)

In between games, I snacked on some veggies and Multi-grain crackers. These crackers are SOOOO good! Crispy and flavorful!!

When it was time to eat, there were many options!!

One of my family favorites----Chicken Lasagna! So creamy and yummy!!

Finally...drum roll please...

My aunt Terrie made these FABULOUS mini cakes!

She used a Tomato can to bake these mini cakes...and get this: They are multi-layers!!

Strawberry cake

I had to sample the Lemon/Raspberry cake....

I leave you with my cousin Emily thoroughly enjoying her cake...

Today's fun activities reminded me so much of my own shower, which was almost a year ago.  Such fun times!!

Roasting Vegetables

I have gotten a few questions about how I roast my vegetables. It is super easy!

First, I coat a broiling pan in nonstick spray. Then I lay the vegetables on the pan. I love roasting broccoli, green beans and even BRUSSEL SPROUTS…NOT a fan by the way

I spray the vegetables with olive oil using my mister!

I like to sprinkle the vegetables with my favorite seasoning of the week...

This time I used the new spices I got from Marshalls...they have great cooking accessories!!

Check the vegetables often, because depending on how crispy or soft you like your veggies, you may need to leave them in between 10-20 minutes. Chad likes them really crispy and I like them softer...

This night, Chad was making chicken and potatoes on the grill. He LOVES making the potatoes in foil boats…

All together now…

I also had the last glass of this great wine! I shared the first part of this wine with my cousin Annie, who is a middle sister. I brought this bottle to her house in her honor ☺

Wish they made a bottle named “Oldest Sister”

Earth Day!

My brother's band Roster McCabe organized an Earth Day cleanup at a local Minneapolis park.  I thought this would be a great way to get some of my students involved in Earth Day. I convinced the 3rd and 5th grade teacher to bring their class. We had to take the city bus (and a transfer) to a park by the U of M.  We were SOOO nervous about this transfer!! Imagine putting 28 kids on a city bus, taking them off, walking to another stop, waiting for that bus and getting on a bus again. It was just chaotic and stressful!


But the kids had sooo much fun! They didn't really understand why we were going to a park and what we were going to do, but once they got there, they all got really into it!!

I LOVE this picture!!! They were so excited because there was so much garbage on the train tracks. If you look in the distance, you can see a train approaching.  

After we collected garage, we let the kids play for awhile. It was a beautiful day and the kids loved playing on a "new" playground!!

Some of the kids don't look very happy in this picture. It isn't easy getting 28 pre-teens to sit for a picture!  Still, we had a great day!!

Hodge Podge...

This is a hodge-podge of a post! I tried to post this earlier in the week but I have had some troubles uploading pictures from my iPhoto to the blog...grrrr!!



Earlier this week, I met Chad at Bunny's in St. Louis Park for a quick dinner.  We sat outside, but had to move around a bit because it was SOOO smokey out there...yuck!!


I wasn't super hungry so I decided to order the Healthy Burger Platter...a patty with cheese, broccoli and fruit. I didn't realize that "a patty" meant no bun, but that was ok. It was still really good!!

Chad ordered a pizza....

I also had 2 Coors Lights....

My mom came to visit!! She was at a yoga class close to Bunny's.

Later in the week, Chad made some fabulous meals! He really gets into grilling and loves to throw anything on the grill! We got a Grilling Bible for our wedding and he refers to that frequently for new ideas.  He swears that he doesn't use recipes though :) That's my job!

I have LOVED roasting veggies! Later on, I will show you how I roast my veggies. It is so easy and the veggies come out perfectly!

After dinner, Chad made S'mores.

I felt like I was at the cabin!

I am ready for summer weekends at the cabin!!

My favorite dinner!!!!

I was feeling pretty sore yesterday and today fro my 5K on Saturday (read my recap here). My calves feel like they have bowling balls in them.

I still wanted to run today though. It was SUCH a beautiful day here and I just wanted to be outside!

I ran to Hamline after work to pick up my Case Study that I turned in 2 weeks ago. It was a HUGE project that took me forever to do. I got 100/100!!! I was soooo excited and my professor's comments were great!! This put a HUGE smile on my face. :)

So I hurried home, grin and all, and changed into my running clothes.

I usually plan my run using LiveStrong.com.  But today, I just wanted to run, without a plan!!

I set out, but my calves REALLY hurt. I kept going even though I was in pain.  It was such a beautiful day, and it was so nice to run without a plan. I looked at all the houses around me and enjoyed the views!

I got home and decided to "recover" with my foam roller. Do you have one of these? YOU. MUST. GET. ONE. OF. THESE!!!  They are fabulous!!!

I got this Foam Roller when I fell down the stairs a few years ago. But I saw Kath at KathEats.com use hers on her shins and I decided to try it!

I used the roller on the front of my shins and on the backs of my calves...

It felt sooooo good!!

My physical therapist at TRIA told me that if my shins hurt in one spot, then she would be worried about a stress fracture.  I was a little worried today because I could pinpoint an exact spot on BOTH shins where I had pain...

Here.....

and here...

I see her tomorrow so I will share this with her...

Tesa always lays on my yoga mat when I bring it out...she is also laying on my "homework" from my physical therapist.

Cat owners: Is this weird??

On to dinner:

I told Chad this morning that I was going to make Chicken Stir Fry...my favorite!!

I sauteed Red Pepper flakes in Sesame Oil. 

I added 1 lb. of chicken breast.

I cut up: 1 head of broccoli, 1/2 green pepper, small onion, 2 handfuls of green beans, 1 handful of pea pods.

I used Trader Joe's Organic Brown Rice...I LOVE this stuff! Pop the bag in the microwave for 3 minutes and it's done!! So easy!!

All together now...

Dessert was one of these babies....

My new favorite treat (for this week)

We just finished last night's episode of Brothers and Sisters. 

I am off to read Jodi Piccoult's new book and get ready for the last day of MCA testing tomorrow...

Woot Woot!!