If you're looking for a quick and delicious dinner (or lunch) idea, boy do I have a good one for you.

You know me and my special devotion to sandwiches. I think this sandwich blew any other sandwich I have created out of the water. Even my simple hummus and tomato grilled cheese. It may not look like it after the panini press smooshed it down, but that sandwich has goodness packed inside.

I took two pieces of whole wheat bakery bread (love the grainy/seedy crunch on the crust!) and slathered them with pesto. Then, I chopped up some fresh basil and spread it evenly over the bread. Next, I layered on a thick slice of mozzarella cheese followed by a pile of roasted eggplant, zucchini, and squash.

So much flavor!!! And filling too. Even with a belly full of Pumpkin Carrot Cake Bread I made room for this sandwich in my belly last night for dinner. And had take two of it for lunch today. If we had more leftovers I would likely have had it for dinner again tonight. It's just that fabulous. Mmm…mmm!

Am I ready to be a mommy???

A couple days ago, Caitlin posed a question on her blog about how you can know if you’re ready for kids and how much having children can impact your life. Of course, I had to weigh in on the post. I figured I would also share my thoughts here since I have received a similar question from some of you before.

First of all, I believe it is unlikely to EVER feel 100% prepared to have a baby. If you wait for that feeling, you very well could wait forever. There will always be questions if you’re ready, physically able, financially stable enough, etc. to have kids.

Peter and I planned both of our pregnancies, but we never felt completely ready. We decided the time to start our family came when both of us got a deep feeling in our guts that the timing was right. I went off birth control and we figured we would let things happen naturally. With Makenzie, it happened much faster than we anticipated (the first month!). I remember freaking out that I wasn’t actually ready.

Our hearts were right though, and having her brought a new level of happiness to our lives. We found a new normal and adjusted our lives to a family of three instead of two.

Kids do change things in life. You can’t just sleep in until 10 am anymore or pick up and go on a trip at the drop of a hat for instance. But, and this may sound wrong, I also firmly believe in not allowing life to fully revolve around your children. They should be one of the most important parts of life, but not make your life. I try to remember I am still my own person and the marriage partnership is still the foundation of the home.

Peter and I work hard on taking time for ourselves. I still make time to pursue all the things I love and that make me me. My children add to my life. They don’t consume my life. That allows a balance so that parenting doesn’t feel like a sacrifice, as some people can make it appear. It makes parenting a true joy. And it makes me happy I trusted what instinctually felt right in starting our family over 3.5 years ago.

I will never get over the cuteness of this picture!!!

• Are you a mom? What led to you starting your family?
• Not a mom? What do you wonder about most in parenthood?

Seems you all are just as amped as I am to see FFF hit 1000 posts. Or you want to get your grubby little hands on some NuNaturals Stevia. Have you entered the giveaway yet?

Besides getting pumped for such a fabulous giveaway for all of you, today has been a pretty good one. I’ve been quick and effective today. Just how I like it.

I started my day off at the gym because it always gets my day going on a positive note. Lately, I have been splitting up my Thursday run and full body weights workout by doing a Group Power class in the morning and heading out for a run in the afternoon. But that had to change for today. Peter wouldn’t be able to watch the kids for me to run outdoors this afternoon, so that meant some quality time with the dreadmill treadmill.

I couldn’t swing having Braedon and Makenzie in the gym childcare for long enough to do my 3 miles on the treadmill and hit up Group Power class. I had to make a game time decision on which workout to do at the gym. With half marathon training, the run won out. I reasoned that I would do a Physique 57 DVD during their naps this afternoon to get in some weights instead.

In my gut, though, I knew the DVD wouldn’t happen. It’s hard for me to stay motivated for afternoon workouts enough as it is. But to have to stay motivated for a workout and give up quality productivity time during their naps? That was a recipe for workout skippage no doubt!

Good thing I stumbled across this gem in the September issue of Fitness magazine I flipped through during my cool down on the treadmill.

Sweat drops on the page = sign of a GREAT workout!

It must have been fate! An express workout with “kettlebell blasters” for the lower body and abs sounded like the perfect fix to get in my strength training for the day.

It did just as promised. In 15 minutes I felt like I had worked every inch of my body for twice as long. Kettlebells really are so awesome for a quick and effective total body workout. And now I have a few more moves to tuck away for future workouts.

Thanks, Fitness Magazine for keeping me from skipping out on my weights today!

You can check out the full Kettlebell Express Workout on Fitness’ website too!

The quick and effective trend of the day kept on going with lunch. I had no desire to put much thought into making anything, so I turned to the trusty snack plate again.

Thank goodness I think to pre-chop some raw veggies for easy grab and go options during the week. It really does get me to eat so many more vegetables.

Today’s snack plate featured carrot sticks, “cucumber moons” (as M calls them), apple slices, a slice of nutty whole wheat bread with peanut butter, and a container of pineapple Chobani.

You know what just hit me. I cut up veggies for the week but I never pre-chop my fruit. Which is odd because I hate taking the time to slice things but a lot of my fruit I much prefer sliced over whole (apples and strawberries for example). I guess I just love fruit enough to give it that extra tender loving care chopping. Plus, fruit gets a blah texture really fast in my opinion if you don’t chop it just before eating. No room for mushy brown apples here!

And in the name of being quick and effective, I will leave you all here. See you in the morning! When it’s FRIIIDAAAAYYYY!!!

• What things add up to a recipe for skipping out on your workouts?
• Do you pre-chop your veggies? Any fruits?