A Must Try Harvest Grain Salad!
Happy Biggest Loser Day!! Do you all ever have days where you are so tired when you wake up that you cannot for the life of you think of what to eat for the day? This is pretty rare for me because I honestly I dream up what I am eating the night before. But, today, for some reason, my brain was broken and nothing came to mine.
I picked an easy breakfast that involved two of my FAVORITE Cereals ~ Kashi Cinnamon Harvest and the new “kid” on the Block Udi’s BanaBerry Granola.
Since I was running late for work, I packed the ENTIRE boxes to take with me to work (now you all know why my lunch box is a re-usable grocery bag 
28 Biscuits (since I didn’t have my scale)
1/2 c banana slices
Sprinkle of Banaberry Granola
1/2 c FF Milk
I LOVE cereal, but, for 5 points, I was STILL hungry after I ate it 
I waited my 3 hours though before snack and decided to have a high protein 3 point snack ~ Egg Plus Cheese!
As odd of a combo as it sounds, it totally did the trick in filling me up. When I looked at the other contents of my lunch bag (organic cottage cheese, yogurt, fruit, tortillas (not sure why) plus a frozen dinner, they just didn’t appeal (broken brain!). I happily accepted an offer to hit up Thai Kitchen!
I started off with a one won ton soup plus chili sauce ~ HOT! (1 pt)
I almost always order Broccoli Chicken when at Thai or Chinese food because it’s so low in points. 1 cup is only TWO POINTS!!! I added more Chili sauce ~ HOT! (2 pts)
Plus 1 Cone Cup of Brown Rice (4 pts) – I want to get a cone shaped cup just so I can make Brown Rice Mountains like this
I think today topped the charts as one of the LONGEST days ever. Long days make my mouth think it NEEDS something sweet even though my belly is totally happy.
My Co-worker offered up some of the ChocoLOVE Peppermint Bar I gave her yesterday and I happily accepted 2 squares for 1 point. I LOVED this flavor – it’s not too strong in mint, but, it’s super creamy and decadent.
Since I wanted to share back, I broke out the Qbel Peanut Butter Wafers that I picked up at Whole Foods this past weekend.
I LOVE the stats (130 cal, 7 g fat, <1 g fiber) for both bars….3 points.
But, only one bar is ONE POINT so of course I had just one. I LIKE how flakey and creamy and crunchy they are. I am totally buying more of the choco-peanut butter wafer sticks!
I have had this bag of Harvest Grains from Trader Joe’s for awhile now and have been trying to think of ways to have it.
I LOVE all the different grains and such that are included ~ who knew they made Baby garbanzo beans?
When I stopped at Trader Joe’s to buy some chicken tonight, they were sampling up a Harvest Grain Salad. I LOVE the idea of using this grain to make a salad and had to recreate it!
I portioned out 1/2 the bag (approximately 1 1/4 cups) and boiled it for 10 minutes in chicken broth to cook it. I omitted the butter that the packaged instructions suggested because well, I didn’t see a need.
After it was done cooking, I added the following:
1/2 jar chopped marinated artichokes
1/2 jar chopped sun dried tomatoes, drained and rinsed
1/4 c white balsamic vinegar
Big Dashes of TJ’s 21 Spice Salute
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Chives
Stir to combine and enjoy hot or cold. So delicious! Makes 6 servings, 1/2 cup for 4 points. It’s SO GOOD! Even the non-couscous eating Husband LOVES it 
I grilled up the Organic Chicken Breast Tenders with Gayle’s Original BBQ Sauce while I prepared the salad and The Husband’s Garlic Fries.
I decided to use these Lavish Bread’s I bought at Trader Joe’s to make up BBQ Chicken Wraps to go with out Harvest Grain Salad.
I LOVE Lavish Bread Stats ~ 1/2 for 2 pts, whole for 4 pts. I am totally thinking a LAVISH Pizza is in order this week using these
1 wrap topped with some Gayle’s Original BBQ sauce.
Then, I added the rest…
TJ’s Organic Herb Spring Mix Lettuce
Red Bell Pepper Slices
2 oz BBQ Chicken Tenders
1 Tbsp Finely Shredded Low Fat Cheddar Cheese
1/8 AVOCADO
Wrapped like a Pro ~ Lavish bread makes wrapping E-Z! The Husband decorated my plate with a few of his fries, some “greens” and a little Harvest Salad.
MMMMM!!! 7 pts for the wrap, plus 2 pts for 1/4 salad and my fries 
.
The Husband was pretty proud of his plate with THREE wraps (with salsa tortillas), so he took pictures to share He does a pretty good job at plating, huh?
BIGGEST LOSER TIME!!!! Hasta Manana!
Unintentional Product Reviewer
I hope you all are ready because some how I managed to make this post all about reviews and FUN finds when I wasn’t even trying too ~ oops! I LOVE being able to share everything I find…the problem is I always want to try/share it all at one time
I LOVE that so many of you have shared your stories and questions for the Foam Roller. I wasn’t sure if everyone was going to “get” why I paid $$ for this solid piece of hard foam and how it made my hip pain go away.
I was going to attempt to take some pictures to show you all how it works, but, I think my fellow Open Sky ShopKeeper, Candace (a Personal Trainer) demonstrates how to use it perfectly. Plus she looks AMAZING doing it too ….Me, not so much ~ I am pretty much making scary faces and cursing my way through my 2 minutes
She only touches on a few ways to use it, but, you pretty much follow this process for any part of your body you want to “massage”.
I am a TOTAL believer in my FOAM ROLLER and spent 15 minutes this morning using it on all my muscles and doing some deep stretching ~ ahhhh! Might just leave me feeling more relaxed than Yoga (crazy, huh).
I bought mine at Sports Challet because I wanted it ASAP and paid $25. However, you can get one for less than $20 in My Open Sky Shop and get 15% off too!
EATS
I have really been resisting opening this jar of Dry Roasted Cashew Butter that My Secret Valentine Bloggie (Thanks, Paula!) sent me because I have too many jars of nut butter open. But, today was a day that just called for it.
I went rummaging through the freezer this morning in search of something good I could use with my nut butter when I found two of the Homemade Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes that I froze a little while back.
I reheated them for 30 seconds in the microwave to thaw and then toasted them. Topped with this AMAZING cashew butter (I have to say I LOVE it more than the raw cashew butter).
While my pancakes were “cooking”, I chopped up an apple, poured cinnamon all over it and added 1 teaspoon of this RAW Organic Agave Nectar I got at Trader Joe’s.
I LOVE Agave Nectar because a little goes a long way and you rarely need more than a tsp.
I cooked it for 1 minute to make “MOCK” Baked Cinnamon Apples for 1 point!
You know I ended up making a big ole cashew butter cinnamon apple PANCAKE-WICH for 7 points. My hands were too messy to grab the camera so you have to use your imagination
I was missing protein in my breakfast so I had a perfectly hard boiled egg ~ 2 points of Protein. I was still hungry after this so I had a couple of cashews for 1 point and it did the trick.
Since I was resting my hip for one more day, I ran to Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s today for lunch to get out. I LOVE that they are right next to each other in Napa.
Lunch was some leftover Baked Cheesy Bacon Mac & Cheese (6 pts).
Plus a Big Salad on the side with Annie’s Lite Balsamic Dressing (1 pt).
I LOVE Marinated Mushrooms and that they are 0 points!
Dessert was a new find for me ~ Trader Joe’s HONEY Plantain Chips.
2 points a serving is AWESOME!
They are super crunchy, like banana chips, but the honey makes them taste CARAMELIZED! I had about 10 of these (I divided the bag into 3 servings and ate one) since I didn’t have my scale to weigh.
Here are couple of other COOL FINDS I picked up while I was out today.
A NEW to me ChocoLOVE Flavor ~ DARK CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT!
Don’t worry, I didn’t keep it ~ I gave it to my friend who I now have hooked on ChocoLOVE
Then, for my co-worker who is doing Weight Watchers and LOVES popcorn, these SniKiddy Pizza Puffs. (I bought these at Whole Foods ~ Love that they are Gluten Free!)
I just find it CRAZY that 1/4 of this entire bag (it’s a chip sized bag) it only 2 points!
That’s a whole lotta puff. I tried two and they really do taste like pizza ~ COOL!
Dinner tonight was super easy and everything to make The Husband feel better ~ Poor him ~ he keeps going around saying “I Hate OAK (his nick name for Poison Oak), I never want to get it again!”
His friend who helped him put the fence up has it too so ya – it has to be Jungle Ladies back yard…..booo! I think I am cracking him up with my “all natural” products I keep busting out Aveeno, Tea Tree Oil and Technu Fingers crossed it all works soon!
As you all know, I LOVE my whipped butter!
You can get an entire Tablespoon for 2 points and the ingredient list is CLEAN/recognizable. The only draw back is that it is higher in Saturated Fat, but, a little goes a long way.
Awhile back the folks at I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter gave me a ring to say that they are no longer including Transfats in their spread. I used to LOVE this stuff and the spray bottle, but, when I realized it included Transfats, I stopped using it.
I like that they replaced their hydrogenated oils with soybean & canola oils ~ it really lowers the Saturated fat. 2 points per Tablespoon as well.
It’s always a toss up to me which to use butter or margarine. I am not sure that it 100% matters because I think you can make a valid case either way. What matters is that whichever you use, you use it in moderation. I like the consistency margarine lends in baking so I know this will be an awesome choice when I want to use 1/2 butter and 1/2 margarine to bake.
What do you all think ~ butter or margarine??
I wanted to give the new ICBINB a try and used 3 Tbsp’s with a little parmesan, sea salt and black pepper to make “buttered” noodles. It’s not bad….I can tell “it’s not butter” but I like the flavor still. (1 c for 4 pts)
I grilled up a Tri Tip marinated in TJ’s Island Soyaki and measured out 3 oz for 3 pts.
While the pasta and noodles cooled, I whipped up a quick baby Bok Choy stir fry in my fancy All Clad Pan. Topped with garlic salt and freshly ground pepper.
You all seriously need to try out All Clad Pans ~ this cooked up in 4 minutes (as long as it took me to slice the meat). (0 pts)
All together with some super crunchy watermelon & cantaloupe for dessert (1 pt).
MONDAY FUN!!!
Recently, I participated in the Monthly Morsels Question of the Month over at Recipelion.com. The question was…
If you could live with only one utensil for the rest of your life, what would it be and why???
Click HERE to find out my answer and leave a comment below telling me what you all would pick….I want to know what you all eat with
Night all!
Foam Rollers are AMAZING!!!!
Filed under: Open Sky, Product Reviews, Restaurant Reviews
Today was an AMAZING day ~ it was so sunny that it was actually “hot” in the 70’s today. It definitely felt like spring is around the corner. Spring and Fall are my two favorite seasons because like Goldy Locks the weather is not too hot or too cold, but, just right
My hip kept me up most of the night aching every time I turned. Finally at 3 am I gave up and got up to have breakfast ( I was surprisingly starving).
Toasted Wheat Bagel Thin with 1 tsp of whipped butter (1.5 pts).
Plus some TJ’s Organic LF Banana Yogurt (2 pts).
I LOVED this combination ~ easy,simple, good.
When The Husband was up we headed out to Starbuck’s on the way to help out our friends. Sometimes you just have to GO BIG! I had a Venti Iced Decaf FF Latte with caramel drizzle on top ~ only 3 Points!!! I think that is why I LOVE iced drinks, you get more for your points.
While The Husband and his partner in crime worked, I took my niece over to Walmart to do some shopping. I had to get The Husband some Poison Oak soap and lotion We think he got it from our neighbors jungle yard when he did the fence.
Lunch was at Chipolte! Chipolte scared me because their points are high for everything and their portions are HUGE. However, if you check out CHIPOLTE FAN BEFORE you can, you can make sure you create something that fits into your points budget. I LOVE how you can add what you are ordering to see how it impacts the nutritionals.
I made a FANTASTIC Burrito Bowl Sans Beans and Rice (saves a TON of points!)
Romaine
Grilled Chicken
Fajita Vegetables (Peppers and Onions)
Corn Salsa
Tomato Salsa
Hot Salsa
A small sprinkle of cheese ~ I told them must a pinch LOL
GUACAMOLE because it’s totally worth ALL the points to me.
This salad game in at 10 points (not too shabby because it tasted like more). You can save 3 points by skipping the guacamole, but why would you???
We did some house shopping (bought a fancy new front door that we got 1/2 off plus used a $50 rewards card – LOVE it!) I bought a FOAM roller for my sore hip flexors. After all that shopping, I FINALLY got the BayBerry Froyo I’ve been wanting all weekend.
FF Strawberry & FF Chocolate topped with sprinkles, mini yogurt chips, 1 tsp of mini M&M’s and 1 tsp of Reese’s PB cups. SO good (5 pts).
Dinner was made up of everything I was craving….sort of random, but, I knew I wanted a BIG salad, some Hawaiian Sweet Rolls, Chicken! and this NEW Annie’s Lite Herb Balsamic Dressing.
Romaine & TJ’s Organic Herbed Mixed Greens
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Mini Peppers
1/2 oz LF Sharp Cheddar Cheese
3 TJ’s Candied Pecans, broken into pieces
1/8 AVOCADO
It was everything I dreamed up in my head!
Plus 2 points of fluffy soft, Hawaiian Sweet bread ~ I could probably eat a million of these straight up.
But, I refrained. I settled for one and put 3 oz of baked chicken (another craving) inside with spicy mustard to make dinner a chicken sandwich plus salad. (7 points)
I was sort of excited and sort of afraid to try out the Foam Roller I picked up to help out my sore hip flexors. I have been pretty cool strutting my stuff today with a limp/gimp so I was pretty desperate to make the pain go away. My hip hurt so bad it was painful just to lift my leg in and out of the car.
I’ve heard great things about foam rollers helping with deep tissue massage and knots you can get in your muscles from running. I have resisted so far because they are pretty expensive, but, this weekend I had a REAL NEED. I didn’t work this hard to let my body stop me ONE WEEK before our race.
OMG!! I wish I could describe to you all the MAJOR relief I felt AFTER I used my roller. During, not so much, several not so nice things were coming out of my mouth as I felt like I was rubbing my hip on concrete. I am a TOTAL BELIEVER in these things….The Husband is now too ~ he tried it out and LOVED it.
You can check out all the exercises you can do with it by clicking HERE!
You can BUY ONE just like this in My Open Sky Shop (complete the puzzle on My Open Sky Page to get 15% off everything your order!)
The other fun Gadget ~ My sis got us this super cool Electric Tooth Brush & Crest Toothpaste kit! This brush makes your teeth feel SO CLEAN like when you visit the dentist & The Husband swears it makes my teeth whiter (woohoo!)
I am a total sucker for brushing my teeth for 2 minutes now because you get a smiley face when you meet the time. Oh and if you go OVER the 2 minutes, it winks at you So I am easy to please, what can I say….it’s the little things.
Alright all ~ I am SO TIRED and bed is calling my name!
Have a great Monday!
12 MILES!!!
My Sis and I rocked our last long run before the Shamrock Half Marathon Next weekend. We ran along the same trail we did last week, deciding to do an out and back route. The funny thing is we were flying through the first HALF and though, wow, this is pretty easy, why not go farther?? Ha! In the end we went 12 miles, instead of 11….it was tough, but, we were like super fast PENGUINS. I think what I learned is don’t make decisions like that when you are only HALF way through and still have another 6 miles to go back
It felt amazing to complete it and I honestly cannot wait for our race now ~ it’s one week from today – woohoo!
I started off my day with some Sour Dough Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter and Co Toast for 4 points. I think next week I’ll add an egg too for some protein since this didn’t last long on our run.
This is my 2nd favorite Peanut Butter & Co Flavor (The Bee Knees is 1st)….You can definitely taste the cinnamon and I LOVE the BIG chunks of raisins.
I started to get really hungry during the last few miles of our run. When we got back, we shared this Cashew Cookie Lara Bar from the depths of my workout bag (2 points).
I decided to give the last packet of drink mix I picked up at Fleet Feet a try. I was sorta scared after last week, but, I figured, this might be safer because there wasn’t any Whey Protein Powder.
I LOVED the fact that this was simply 10 calories. The flavor isn’t bad either – sorta just like watered down Gatorade. Not sure if it really did anything or not, but, it was fun to drink after all the water I chugged on our run.
We refueled at Whole Foods where I made a salad as BIG as my head
Let’s see if I can remember everything:
Romaine & Mixed Greens
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Cioppini Onions (The BEST!)
Marinated Mushrooms (These are the BEST too!)
Kidney & Garbanzo Beans
A little Cheddar
2 tsp raisins, 3 pecans and a sprinkle of walnuts/almond slivers
Asian Noodle Salad (that was so ICK, I took it off)
1 Tbsp Balsamic Dressing on the side
SO GOOD!!!!
I also made up a hot plate that we shared. We each had a Black Bean Tamale (only $2.49 – deal huh?!) (4 pts) It was pretty tasty, but, I wish I had got salsa and it had more filling. I had a bite of the egg roll & potsticker but decided they were ick. We split the Teriyaki and Hawaiian chicken too. (4 pts estimated)
We did a little WF shopping after and then went shopping to buy matching running shirts for next weekend. Totally dorky, but, totally fun.
When I got home, I hopped in another ICE BATH!!! I managed to hang out for 20 minutes reading my latest US Magazine with The Bachelor Gossip I honestly think that the Ice Bath completely reduces the damage done by your long run and your soreness the next day. My hip flexor is still a bit sore, but, that’s about all I am feeling today ~ awesome!
I was totally ready for a snack when I was done so I pulled out this Udi’s BanaBerry Granola that Kristina sent me in our TJ/Colorado Goodie Swap.
Simple, clean ingredients.
I have to say I totally dig that its only 2 points for a 1/4 c serving.
But, you know I weighed it because you get MORE!
Bananas & Strawberries are IN the granola – LOVE it!
I added a little granola to some TJ’s Organic Vanilla Yogurt and washed it all down with a Sobe Agave Lemonade Life Water. I actually didn’t like this Sobe flavor as much as the others. (3 points for my granola + yogurt – awesome!)
The Husband was so cute when I had left in the morning. He was like I’ll miss you even though he was working on his projects outside. I really think he DID because all our laundry was done when I got home I should go running all day more often LOL/
We decided to go out for a date night to Mary’s Pizza Shack. I had another AWESOME salad with my dressing on the side (2 pts) I so met my fruit/veggie quota today LOL.
Plus a piece of fresh hot sour dough bread for 1 point.
They serve everything family style….The first dish up was Fettuccine Alfredo. I typically avoid this because it makes me feel really sick, but, I had a dumb though ~ I burned 1,200 calories today so maybe….
The other dish was a HUGE plate of Spaghetti with two meatballs.
I requested a small salad bowl and served up a little of each including some a little of a meatball. I had all of the spaghetti (5 pts) and about 3 bites of the fettuccine (3 pts). It just tasted so bland to me I decided it wasn’t worth the calories and I was full.
In cased you didn’t see it earlier, be sure to check to see if you are a WINNER of the SCALES.
I posted the recipe below for the BAKED CHEESY BACON MAC N CHEESE too!
Have a relaxing Sunday all ~ see you all tonight!
I LOVE Pizza & Bacon & Mac n Cheese & …..
Happy Weekend all! I am old and fell asleep last night I think right after the credits of our movie and totally forgot to blog. I didn’t realize it until this morning…..LONG WEEK I guess ~ Oops Let’s get down to business with how yesterday went down!
Breakfast #1 sounded really good in theory. I mean I LOVE Eggs with hot sauce and I LOVE Grits! One of my AMAZING friends (who happens to be Southern) told me to try them together, so I figured why not??
Totally and completely NOT my thing. I think it’s a texture thing of maybe a flavor thing…bleh! I think the only SAVORY grits I like are butter and cheese and my egg should be kept separate….oh well, down the sink they went and I came up with another FAST breakfast I could take on the go.
3 points of deliciousness! A Whole Wheat Bagel Thin topped with 1 Tbsp Whipped Butter!
2 points of TJ’s Banana Froyo!
1 point of crunchy grapes. Such an awesome back up breakfast…then again, when can you ever go wrong with bagels plus fruit plus yogurt.
Mid morning my ChocoLOVE was calling my name, but, I had to remind myself that it was Dipped Chocolate Peanut Butter Mojo Bar only 10 am and I didn’t need to start the “crack” that soon! So I pulled out this that the awesome people at Clif Bar left at our work when they stopped by for a visit.
Since I wasn’t willing to spend 5 points on a bar, I had half and called it good! It’s funny the WW Calculator with the nutritionals in 1/2 says 2, but, the online tracker says 2.5 pts – hmmmm!
Thick layers of chocolate, WHOLE ALMONDS and Pretzels…Sweet, salty and totally like a candy bar. I will definitely be picking some of these up….Plus they are BIG – half was plenty!
Since I have been good ALL week and I didn’t have any leftover Cheesy Chicken Plantain Enchiladas to have , my co-worker and I headed out for Salad & Pizza at Fazarrati’s. I LOVE that you can make up a GIGANTIC salad with a slice of pizza and a drink for only $5.99 ~ DEAL!
My GIGANTIC salad included:
* Lettuce/cabbage blend
* Tbsp Kidney/Garbanzo Beans
* Beets
* Mushrooms
* Cucumbers
* Tomatoes
* Red Bell Pepper
* 1/2 an egg sliced
* Tbsp Sunflower Seeds
* Tbsp Crunchy Noodles
* 4 croutons
* 2 Peppercini’s
THE KITCHEN SINK all with the dressing on the side using my fork dip method with each bite ~ AWESOME!
I totally ate it all then dug into this cheesy slice of Veggie Pizza. It was the PERFECT lunch out and a great gossip session.
My lunch kept me full all afternoon long, however, while sitting in traffic on my way home I wanted something sweet. I know I didn’t need to spend a crazy amount of points (chocolate) when I wasn’t hungry, so I whipped out some 1 point Annie’s Organic Fruit Bunnies….So Good! I honestly think Sunny Citrus is my FAVORITE flavor well because it’s sunny like me Haven’t you all noticed I am just a ray of sunshine??? Kidding LOL.
Dinner was courtesy of the FANTASTIC TJ (My Bay Area Blogger Meet-Up Team Co-Captain!)! I put a spin on her Baked Macaroni & Cheese to make a Cheesy Bacon Vegetable Mac n Cheese that ROCKED!!!!
I LOVED the addition of bacon and extra veggie plus two types of cheese and spice. I will be posting the recipe (hopefully today) so I can add it to my collection (to make it again!) I am thinking that mine comes in at 6-7 points, but, I have to calc it next.
I made up a fast side salad to go with it 1 pt.
Yum, I cannot wait for leftovers tonight!
You all didn’t really think I was done with that and that I’d go all day without chocolate did you? Sometimes you really do just NEED to have milk chocolate and I knew I couldn’t have a couple of pieces of the ChocoLOVE and stop there.
So, I decided to keep it in check and eat the ENTIRE bar of TJ’s 100 Calorie Milk Chocolate bar for 3 points for dessert.
Today is my LAST LONG RUN with my sis BEFORE OUR RACE next weekend!!! Ahhh, so excited and so nervous., We are shooting for 11 miles and then heading to the Whole Foods Salad bar to refuel! Wish us luck!
If I don’t get a chance to post before then, I will post the Cheesy Bacon & Veggie Mac N Cheese Recipe and announce the scale winners when I return later today/tonight.
Have an AWESOME Saturday all!
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