*Please update your bookmarks to my new website: Hey everyone! Hope you all had a great night– I sure did! 
I made stuffed peppers for dinner:
These were SO good! I was a bit intimidated to make these at first, because I’m not one to make anything too complicated– but these were surprisingly easy!
Quinoa & Bean Stuffed Peppers
4 peppers
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 sm. onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 c. cooked quinoa
1 can white beans, rinsed and drained
2 to 3 c. tomato sauce (your favorite jar or homemade)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash and clean peppers. Cut off tops and remove seeds and membrane. Place prepared peppers upside down on a baking sheet, and bake for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet and add the onion, peppers and garlic. Saute for one minute, then add the zucchini and mushrooms. Continue to cook 3 to 5 minutes or until veggies are tender, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and add the beans, quinoa and 3/4 cup tomato sauce. Heat through.
Stuff mixture into peppers. Spread 1/2 cup sauce in bottom of baking dish. Stand peppers upright. Pour remaining sauce over the tops of peppers. Bake in oven for 30 minutes.
These guys are filled with protein, fiber and vitamins! And did I mention how tasty they were?? I served mine with some roasted broccoli, and it was a perfect fall dinner.
To recap the rest of my day:
I had a huge salad for lunch:
About 5 oz. of mixed greens, topped with alfalfa sprouts and quick dressing made of lemon juice, liquid stevia and olive oil. Very refreshing, and it tided me over while these babies were baking in the oven:
Butternut squash fries!!!!!! (served with organic ketchup, to avoid any HFCS) These were a bit of a hassle to make, since I find Butternut squash a little hard to deal with. Peeling it and cutting it take a little effort: (but it’s a good arm workout!)
But it was well worth it. I cut up half of my squash, sliced it into fry-like shapes, arranged them on a baking sheet, then threw them in the oven at 425 degrees to get crispy:
The recipe said to bake them for 40 minutes– but I thought they were almost ready after 20! Maybe my oven is super-hot? Who knows. I let them bake 10 more minutes after flipping them halfway through, and a few of them got a bit overdone. Next time I’ll lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees, I think. Still crispy and tasty, though!
I may have had a blonde macaroon from One Lucky Duck for dessert… 
By the end of my work day, I had plenty of energy for my workout! It started off with a 3-mile run (with 2 walk-breaks), then we did 5 circuits of strength training from Jillian Michaels’s Hot Bod in a Box! It kicked my booty! In total, we worked out for 90 minutes, and I was a sweaty mess by the end. In a good way.
To re-fuel, I had a quick snack:
A small-ish organic apple and one tablespoon almond butter, sprinkled with cinnamon. Yum yum!
It’s been a quite successful day, if I do say so myself.
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