Baked Basil and Cheese Stuffed Peppers

Happy Monday! How was everyone's weekend?

I'm enjoying a kale salad at my desk, straight out of the bag from Costco. This was a sample a few weeks ago and after I tried it, I had to get some. For just $5.50 you get about three large servings, with the dressing, cranberries and nuts included. I threw some feta cheese and croutons in and called it lunch. Doesn't get much easier than that!

My weekend was a busy one. I was still catching up on sleep, but I finally completely organized everything in my new apartment. All I have left is putting up my photos and decor items like that. I don't have wireless yet so the delicious post-run snack I made yesterday had to wait until today to be posted. I had 12 miles on the books yesterday and with all of the rain we had, much of that was spent on the dreadmill (Dreadful Treadmill!!!) After jogging up to the store to return a Redbox rental, I had 3.6 miles fnished and the rain was starting to really come down. I took the opportunity to hang out for the next hour and a half in the new mini gym at my apartment, and completed 8.4 more miles, indoors. 

I actually kind of like this gym, despite it's size, it will definitely come in handy for workouts when I'm crunched for time. It has a lot of the necessities like dumbbells, medicine balls, a dual cable machine, ellipticals, treadmills and bikes. 

Plus, I get free wireless in here! I still haven't decided if I'm going to purchase wireless or not in my new place as I am trying to save money. Living in spots as nice as my apartment is expensive! I feel very fortunate to have found such a great location. Just wait til you guys see photos of the pool when the rain clears up. It felt like I was on vacation at a really nice hotel when I walked through it the first time, so awesome!

Slowly, but surely I got through my 12 miles, completing my last 3.5 in 35 minutes which I was very happy about! I ended up mixing in some abs and giving myself one sport bean for every half mile I completed as motivation. For a 12 mile run, I do one Gu every four miles and one package of sport beans spread out through my run for about 300 calories of simple carb fuel. Considering I burnt somewhere between 1300-1400 calories, it was definitely time to hydrate and refuel with actual food once I finally completed all my miles.

Lucky for me, I had fresh veggies waiting for my in the fridge! I am tending to the garden of a friend of mine while she is on vacation, who has been gracious enough to let me help myself to the fresh veggies that are growing abundantly there. It's been raining like crazy in Wilmington so I haven't had much watering to do, but I did stop by on Saturday to check on things and grabbed some peppers and tomatoes while I was there. Fresh veggies are such a treat, I feel spoiled when I get them!

Baked Basil and Cheese Stuffed Peppers

Directions

1. Cut peppers in half, lengthwise. Pull out seeds if you don't like your peppers hot. I like mine hot so I left the seeds in!
2. Spray olive oil on a baking sheet and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3. Add a spreadable cheese to the inside of the peppers, I use about 3 laughing cow wedges for 6 medium peppers. 
4. Sprinkle crumbled feta on top, followed by a layer of olive oil and basil.
5. Bake for 20 minutes and serve fresh out of the oven.

This little appetizer was so quick and easy, low calorie and delicious. Not to mention, my entire apartment smelled like peppers, which just makes me want more of them. The feta cheese was just beginning to brown on top after 20 minutes in the oven, which is exactly what I was looking for. 

I also baked a few tomato slices as well with feta, olive oil and basil on top. They weren't bad, but the peppers definitely stole the show! I will definitely be making those again. These would be great as an appetizer, a side to a meal or an anytime snack.

After that, it was time to try out my new garden jet tub and soak in some Epsom salt, because my legs and back were certainly going to be needing it. 

Not sure if the Epsom salt actually worked because my legs hurt quite a bit today. The directions on the back of the bag said to pour 2 cups of the salt into the tub which I thought was absolutely crazy. Two cups seems like so much! I used one instead, but maybe that's why I can't tell if it helped or not. After that I curled up with the Fitness Pups and watched another Redbox rental, Endless Love which was really cute! If you're into chick flicks, check that one out, it's worth watching.

I'm off today but I may get a little bit of time in on the elliptical just to work some of the soreness out of my legs. What workouts are you guys doing today?