Low On Time, High On Good!

Today I have for you fast solutions to two problem areas: Mealtime and Slipping In Exercise. Let's hear it for fast and solution!!

Let's start in the kitchen! It's like this ... I was going to make a share a new recipe with you today, but it calls for chicken, and I forgot to thaw any. Whoopsie!! There goes the dinner plan!

So, it's going to be the throw-together dinner night, and that's okay because I love my Plan B! It's possible I've shared this recipe before, but, here it comes again because it's just that good!

It's a Hungry Girl recipe I adapted from this most fabulous book:

Fab-U-Lous stuff!!

The recipe is called "Big Bad Burger Wrap," and it literally takes me less than 5 minutes to put together and clean up. (It's like it is wrapped in lightening shoe strings, but it's not!)

Lisa Lillien's recipe is below. I've put in purple what I do with that ingredient:

• 1 large La Tortilla Factory Smart & Delicious Low Carb/High Fiber tortilla (super yum!)
• 1 Boca Original Meatless Burger (double yum!)
• 1 wedge The Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss Cheese (I swap for a pinch, literally, of shredded cheddar)
• 1 pickle spear (or slices)
• 1 teaspoon mustard (I swap for 1 teaspoon mayo)
• 1 teaspoon ketchup (mmm ...)
• 2 dashes Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce (I've never used simply because I don't buy it)
• I also add as much baby spinach as my wrap will tolerate

It being a tortilla, I'm certain the directions are self-explanatory. I will tell you that in the time it takes the burger to cook in the microwave, you can get the rest of your ingredients out and ready to use. So, when the burger's finished, it takes no time at all to throw it all together, wrap and nosh!

It's so yummy!! Look!!

La Tortilla Factory makes big and small tortillas ... this one is
the smaller size with 6 grams of fiber (the large have 12 grams),
so I made two: halving the ingredients, doubling the goodness!

I love fast and easy meals, and this one wins for both lunch and dinner! It's a great fallback meal, AND, it's good for you!! High in protein (about 23 grams!) and high in fiber (about 16.5!!)! Yahoo!! It's also quite yummy even when not piping hot, so it transports well when, say, meeting a friend for lunch! (I did that the other day and was so hungry when I saw her that I had one of Aaron's, "Can't talk. Eating." moments while I chowed this down. It's that good.)

Whew! I was glad to have this as a back up as I realized I'd not thawed the chicken when I was out and about, and there was no way I'd be home in time to deal with it. ('Been there, huh?!)

Part of my outing included attending a chair exercise class with my Mom and Dad which is where I stumbled upon a fast solution to an exercise issue that's been on my mind for quite some time! You see, given the amount of time I devote to running (which I -- mostly! -- love to do), I do not work to carve out even more time to do other formal exercising (which I don't tend to like to do). Even though there are strength issues on my radar that I want to be proactive about as I get older, I haven't inspired myself to take on anything new and stick with it. Seriously ... time, anyone?!

So, there I was, between my Mom and Dad doing the chair exercises (which was fabulous because my Dad and I kept purposely poking each other now and then) when one of the exercises made a light bulb go off in my head with respect to keeping my lower back limber and, hopefully, stronger. It went like this with modeling compliments of PC#3:

Sit in your chair with your feet flat
on the floor.

Hey! Elly! Get outta the way ...

 Bend forward as though you are
picking something up off of the floor.

Bring your arms in toward you while you
sit back up until your back is again straight.

That's it, but it was soooo good!! We did it just 10 times, and I could feel my lower back stretching and working in exactly the strong way I want it to. It seemed like I could have figured out to do this on my own ... but, I never did! So simple!

The lower back is an area I've been wondering for a while "what to do" with because it seems it's a spot that could really become vulnerable with age. There are tons of exercise classes and dvds (like a great Pilates one I have) that can work with this, but that's a time investment I choose to give to running instead. And, let's face it, finding time to exercise is hard!! So, this quick exercise is a really good place to start that I can slip into pockets of the day to accomplish without having to carve out another stretch of time! Sweet!

And, now that dinner time is sneaking up on me, it's time to whip up the meal and enjoy the remainder of Rest Day! First, we do so with a great pic from the "I Love To Run" FaceBook page (seriously, they're killing me with the good stuff lately!):

And, here's how Lizzy participated in her Rest Day eve:

She's intriguing, fabulous and a bit creepy all rolled into one ...

Tomorrow's another one! If my brain is plugged in and I get the chicken thawed, I'll share the new recipe. If not, oh well, it'll still be a great day!! Happy Friday! I'll see you tomorrow!