Couscous Stuffed Bell Pepper for 1

Today at lunchtime I took Harley for a hike at our nearby park.

Though I have a spoiled puppy who gets to go on daily outings the vast majority of days, today’s park trip was definitely the highlight of her week.

Why?

Because we ran into a class trip of about 40 8-year olds all asking if they could pet her. Now, Harley is one of the friendliest dogs you’ll ever meet and is excited to see anybody, but kids she especially goes nuts for. At one point there were about 20 little person hands touching her all at once, and I really wish I could have gotten a picture. She was just in heaven! I was cracking up.

Today’s Workout

After yet another hardcore, dripping sweat kickboxing session yesterday, I decided to take it easy on my legs today. I headed to my usual gym to focus on some upper body strength training. I touched on a little bit of everything – biceps, triceps, shoulders & chest. Here are the exercises I did:

I also biked for 40 minutes afterwards. I know that doing cycling cardio might not seem like taking it easy on my legs, but biking is low impact and nowhere near as much work as all the squats, lunges, power kicks, and running around I’ve been doing at my boxing classes!

The dinner I put together post-workout is a yummy one:

Couscous Stuffed Bell Pepper

Serves 1

• 1 fresh red bell pepper
• 1 cup couscous (I used some of my whole wheat couscous leftovers from dinner the other night)
• 1/2 medium zucchini, chopped (around 3/4 cup)
• 1 TBSP roasted pine nuts (TJ’s)
• 2 slices provolone cheese (Sargento)
• A few sprigs of both parsley and basil to taste, chopped
• Salt & pepper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preheat oven to 400.

Cut the pepper in half, then chop off the stem. Hollow out the pepper so there’s room to stuff it. Put the pepper in a small baking dish.

 

In a bowl, mix together the couscous, zucchini, pine nuts, parsley and basil.

Spoon the couscous mixture into the peppers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then top with cheese slices.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until cheese is lightly browned.

Nutrition stats: 425 calories, 18 g fat, 20 g protein, 49 g carbs