Happy Monday all!  You might just be shocked to know……..

My thumb is SO GREEN THIS year….check out our garden after ONLY 1 month!

Look MOM ~ I can actually grow more than cactuses

Roma Tomatoes ~ totally trying to give the Cubanella Pepper a boot!

Check out all the tomatoes!

Bully #2 ~ The Zucchini….those leaves are bigger than my head!

Our crookneck squash is even scared, but, still holding it’s own in the jungle!

Have you ever seen cilantro get so big?! It’s insane and I keep cutting it back every week.

This is the FIRST and ONLY time I’ve ever been able to grow basil outside ~ I usually do well indoors, but, this year…..it’s working.

Rosemary.

Lemon Thyme ~ it really does smell like both lemon and thyme.

My one fail ~ I think….curly parsley.

I didn’t feature the other tomato, cucumbers, cherry tomato or pepper plant ~ next time because I forgot to take pics.

JUNGLE!  I wonder what this will look like in another month…it’s so COOL!

I woke up really wanting an egg-wich but we didn’t have any bread.  I bribed The Husband into going with me to Trader Joe’s with the promise of Starbuck’s.

Venti Iced Non-Fat Decaf Latte with caramel drizzle on top (3 points+)

A Brunch-Wich (6 points+)

Melon!

After breakfast, I got ready for our July 4th feast.

I wasn’t really “hungry” for lunch but I was snacky….I can admit it ~ I saw The Husband eating these Sea Salt & Vinegar Pop Chips and I wanted some too. (3 points+)

We picked up a few Annie The Baker Cookies at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday.  I had a "July 4th Version” of her Sugar Cookie ~ my FAVORITE one! (4 points+)

While I was busy in the kitchen, The Husband ran up to Home Depot and came back with a surprise for me.

He said he thought after seeing Tracey’s porch, that ours looked lonely and needed flowers.

So, he bought us flowers, transferred them and put them out in the sunshine on our steps.

LOVE!

Today’s BBQ was all about The Husband and what he wanted.  You see, he has to get a tooth pulled tomorrow (see HIS note on the calendar) and said he NEEDED to eat a lot because he won’t be able to eat much.

Are you all ready for this?! Keep in mind, I made this much food for THREE people (we invited his mom over)…he totally plans on eating it all before his appt tomorrow LOL.

2.2 LBs Tri Tip

I found these Artisan Fresh Chicken & Apple Sausages at Sam’s Club.

4 points+ each.

1 LB Chicken Apple Sausages (a couple caught on fire – oops!)

4.4 LBS Pork Ribs!

This is the first time I’ve ever made ribs with the bone in them.  I have to say, it was pretty easy.

I boiled them for 30 minutes first to get the fat to cook off.  Removed them from the water, dried them off and put this Carolina Rub on them.

I “crisped” them up on the grill by grilling for about 5 minutes per side, then, I started adding BBQ sauce every 5 minutes and flipped them twice doing this.

I LOVE RIBS!  They came right off the bone and it was all meat – no fat!

5 oz ribs = 9 points+

1/2 a sausage ~ 2 points+.  I didn’t love these as much as the ones from Trader Joe’s, but, they are not bad.

1 oz tri tip = 1 points+

1/4 cup Quick & Easy Slow Cooker Baked Beans (2 points+)

1/3 cup Healthier Potato Salad (2 points+)

Salad a la The Husband topped with 1 Tbsp Newman’s Light Lime Vinaigrette (1 points+)

All together with a few pickled veggies on the side.

The nephews are coming over in a few to watch the fireworks show with us…how cute are these Stacker Mallows I got for them to make S’Mores!

Yup, we are totally turning on the BBQ to make our S’mores because it’s what all the cool kids do

HERE IS WHAT IS ON OUR MENU THIS WEEK

* Leftovers, leftovers, leftovers LOL.

* Shrimp & Chickpea Salad (probably when he is having soup!)

* CEiMB ~ Chicken Pepian over cilantro lime brown rice with salad

* Grilled Pizza & salad!

* LUNCHES ~ Vegetable Gyoza with Edamame with Spicy Peanut Slaw

* and I totally want to make these 2 points+ Red, White & Blue Cookies!

Night all!

This morning I actually woke up late because I was “dreaming” I was hitting the SNOOZE button like 5 times….in reality, I actually DID hit it that many times!  I woke up with about 15 minutes before I had to leave for the train.

In a mad frenzy, I forgot my make up bag and my umbrella (it poured today), but, I managed to pack plenty of GOOD EATS lol…..

Pre-workout snack ~ a banana, COCONUT COFFEE and water!

I hopped on the treadmill all ready to get my C25K on when I realized…..ugh ~ I forgot my inhaler.  As much as I would’ve LOVED to run, I knew I couldn’t take the chance with my asthma.  So I IMPROVISED!

Today’s workout session was a face paced weight workout with no downtime.

5 minute warm up on the treadmill followed with a little stretching

Then, I did 3 sets of 10-12 on each of the following always in constant motion

* Leg Press and Chest Press

* Calf Raises and Bicep Curls

* Hamstring Curls and Static Tricep Press

* Lat Pull Downs and 60 Crunches (regular, oblique’s and leg raises)

* Seated Row and Sumo Squats

* 30 pushups in between sets with 30 second plank holds after each set

* 5 minutes of deep static stretching

I couldn’t wait to dig into breakfast.  I had planned on making a Cheesy Sausage McMuffin but I forgot my cheese….

Morning Star Breakfast Sausage (2 points+)

Orowheat Double Fiber English Muffin with 1 Tbsp Whipped Butter (5 points+)

Plus a big bowl of fruit! 

Breakfast kept me going for over 5 hours…..it also helped that I was busy planning The Husband’s birthday surprise at lunch

When I grilled our chicken last night, I also grilled a few burgers for lunches.

Trader Joe’s Chili Lime Chicken Burger (3 points+) ~ I LOVE These!

I saw these Lesser Evil Krinkle Sticks in our vending machine and was intrigued.

What is up with the .2 of a serving LOL….I shared with my co-worker and counted them as 3 points+ for my 1.0 serving.

It was fun to have “fries” with lunch….they sort of have a just out of the oven flavor.

I rounded out lunch with a BIG Salad topped with 2 Tbsp TJ’s Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette (2 points+)

Oh and that CHEESE I was looking for this morning ~ oops! (1 points+)

Since it poured RAIN all day long, I decided to change out our planned BLTA’s for Chicken Tortilla Soup.

I picked up this Plentiful Pantry Tortilla Soup awhile back at a Home & Garden Show we went to.

I couldn’t resist when the soup itself is only 2 points+ a serving and you can add a bunch of mix-ins to bulk it up.

I added 1 lb Organic Chicken, 1 Bell Pepper, 1 Onion, 1 can creamed corn and 2 additional cups of water ~ it made 20 cups!

While the soup cooked, I made a little “toppings” bar so we could add everything to our soup!

The salsa I am IN LOVE with at the moment.

Organic Blue Tortilla Chips!

Real Deal Pepper Jack Cheese!

Toppings make eating soup for dinner fun!

2 cups All dressed up with 1/4 avocado, salsa, tomato, green onions, cilantro, tomatoes and 8 g cheese. (6 points+)

As everything was cooking I kept thinking about how good the pepperjack cheese would taste on nachos.

So….I made “cheesy” nachos and used them to scoop up my soup!  BEST IDEA EVER….way better than crushing them in my soup.

1 oz tortilla chips plus 20 grams pepperjack (6 points+)

Last week I had a chance to participate with a bunch of bloggers in the launch of Hungry Girl’s new Crystal Lite Mock Tail Flavors ~ Margarita, Mojito & Appletini.  Thanks to the folks over at Crystal Light for sending me a sample to try as part of the launch.

They challenged everyone to take the Crystal Light Flavor over Fizz Challenge and give up soda in exchange for these delicious new flavors. You can read about the challenge here.

If you can find these flavors ~ check them out.  They are a limited edition for this summer only…once they are gone, they are gone.

I LOVE them ~ they totally taste like a refreshing margarita complete with the tequila flavor.

Margaritas + Mexican Food are totally the perfect match!

Off to bond with my new issue of Clean Eating Magazine!

NEW AT FRIENDS FOR WEIGHT LOSS

* Beth shares her 1st week of the Chalean Extreme Challenge & her before pictures.

My Things to Do in Vegas List is coming up tomorrow and my Pop Chip Giveaway will be coming up on Thursday…..FUN!

Night all!

Happy Sunday All!  I LOVED reading all your replies on my last post.  I think it’s safe to say that EVERYONE LOVES cutting their sandwiches diagonally, but, I am now intrigued to try triangles and squares too.

Today was insanely productive but in such a good way.  It all started off with my Weight Watcher’s meeting and losing .4 lbs which I will 100% take because this is the one week each month I usually maintain or have a slight gain.

When I got home, I decided to bust out the BEST FLAPJACK Mix in Salt Lake City recommended by Janetha at Meals and Moves ~ Kodiak Cakes.

I LOVE the ingredient list and that they use “oat flour” which I use in every pancake I make.

2 pancakes for 4 points+ is pretty darn good too!

I LOVE how fluffy they get when you grill them and that my pancake hating Husband LOVED them so much he ate 4.

I made up 1 cup of batter and made 6 pancakes out of it.  I had TWO pancakes topped with 1 Tbsp PURE Maple Syrup, unsweetened coconut flakes and a banana (5 Points+)

I am actually surprised that the pancakes kept me full for 4 hours without any added protein.  I spent the morning doing laundry, straighten up our house as much as you can while it’s under construction and planning meals for the week.

Lunch today involved a little Panda Express and a whole lot of fiber goodness!

Mixed Veggies instead of Chow Mein or Fried Rice.

Kung Pao Chicken because sometimes you just need a little spice.

Broccoli Beef!  I put my entire meal into their Build a Meal and it came up to 13 points+! AWESOME!! I think that’s A LOT of Chinese food for the points+ and I probably checked off my 5 a day Veggies LOL

As I mentioned to you all last week, we are remodeling our living room.  The Husband doesn’t want me to show you everything yet, but, here a few pictures of what he has accomplished this week.

He tore out all of our old sheet rock and insulation.

Added new insulation, sheet rock, mudd and texture.

Even though we have sort of sealed the room off and covered things up, there is SO MUCH DUST!

Meet “Snow White” LOL

This afternoon I helped him dig out our old hard wood floors….I definitely earned my activity points.

After we made a trip to the dumps where I earned MORE activity points, I planned out our meals and headed to the grocery store.

I know, I know….I stocked up and bought all this great food for the recipes below, but, when it came down to it, I wasn’t sure hungry and I had NO ENERGY to cook.   Sometimes you just have to channel your inner snacker cracker and have a dinner like this.

I discovered these Trader Joe’s Social Snacker Crackers and Cheese Squares this Christmas and pretty much became addicted.

3 points+ for 8 cracker’s isn’t too bad when you are eating a buttery, crispy, melt in your mouth sociable!

I am pretty darn excited to tell you that these BIG SQUARES are only 1 points+ a slice!

I think I could “almost” sustain on cheese and crackers!  6 points+ and worth every one.

HERE IS WHAT’S ON THE MENU FOR THE WEEK

* Clean Eating Spaghetti & Meatball Casserole with my twist on it

* Creamy & Cheesy Chicken over Brown Rice (One of this week’s FFWL recipes!)

* Weight Watcher’s Cheddar Stuffed Burgers with “Frites”

* Chipotle Apricot Glazed Pork Chops with Yukon Gold Smashed Potatoes

* Weight Watcher’s Chicken Fried Rice or Mushroom Chicken over Brown Rice

* Tortellini with a Turkey Cabernet Sauce

There are FOUR ways you can enter to WIN your very own Danica’s Daily T-Shirt ~ Only ONE more day to enter!

Q’s

What’s on your menu this week?  Any new recipes or favorites?

Our ENTIRE menu except 2 things (Fried Rice & Tortellini) is ALL NEW ~ I am so excited to try it all!

Night all!

Today was such a Monday to start…I hit snooze 4 times and missed my AM workout   I blame the rainy weather because it makes you wanna stay in bed   My day definitely improved when I got home with some garden surprises and a little bit of PHO goodness.

Nothing sounded good for breakfast so I went with my usual stand by of what sounds good when nothing sounds good

2 slices Trader Joe’s Fat Free Multi-Grain Bread topped with 1 heaping Tablespoon of Nut Barn Almond Butter (4 pts).  I LOVE how the hot toast melts the almond butter.

Plus some “banana chips” for dessert (1 pt).

I decided to break out a new flavor of the Alouette Spreadable Cheeses today.  This is part of the 3-pack I bought at Sam’s Club awhile back.  I LOVE this cheese because it’s like having flavored Laughing Cow & it has the same stats (2 Tbsp = 2 pts, 1 Tbsp =  1 pt)

I topped 6 Olive Oil & Rosemary Triscuits with 2 Tbsp’s (4 pts)….Crunchy, salty, creamy & just plain delicious!

I liked the Spinach Artichoke Flavor, but, I still think Garden Vegetable is my favorite to date.

I LOVE Triscuits because they keep me full for hours.  4 hours later I had lunch.

I started off with 5 Homemade Chicken Pot stickers (Recipe coming tomorrow).

Mixed Greens & Broccoli Slaw topped with 1 1/2 Tbsp’s Trader Joe’s Low-Fat Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette (the BEST dressing ever!)

Super fast, super good, super cheap in points ~ 4 pts!

I also had a 1 point Cabot Cheese square because I wanted to make sure I saved room for my afternoon snack.

My Co-Work made Smitten Kitchen’s Dark Chocolate Dark with Gingersnap Crust ~ doesn’t it look beautiful?!

I quickly calculated the stats and determined I could have a small sliver (1/20th) of the tart for 5 points.  Yup ~ completely worth EVERY BITE ~ totally rich and decadent.  I LOVED the combination of butter plus ginger snaps in the crust!

When I got home, I check on our garden to see how it weathered the storm we have had the past two days.  I had the COOLEST surprise when I walked out.  We already have baby tomatoes!!!!

My basil is growing like crazy.

But, I don’t think the burpless cucumbers are going to make it   One out of all of them not making it so far, isn’t bad, right?

Our dinner plans changed last minute when The Husband and I decided to get PHO from The Noodle House!  I should say, he decided to go with me…I LOVE PHO and totally crave it! It’s healthy, spicy and LOADED with fun flavors.

We started off with some Fresh Spring Rolls dipped in gobs of crunchy peanut sauce (the best part!)  Each roll is only TWO points when you get them steamed versus fried.

PHO is a gigantic bowl of steaming hot broth that cooks your food as they add it….They add rice noodles, onions, cilantro, green onions and your meat of choice ~ I picked chicken and shrimp.  Everything is steamed in the broth as it cooks which makes it relatively healthy if you pick lean cuts of meat or Tofu.

You get a side plate of crunch and spice ~ Jalepeno’s, sprouts, cilantro and a lemon or lime.

I dump everything in except the lemon.

Topped with Sriracha Hot Sauce & Hoisin/Plum Sauce (sweet/spicy/salty)!  I make up a side plate of sauces that I dip things in as I eat it.  It’s not graceful, but, it’s delicious and perfect for a cold, rainy day like today.  I managed to eat about 1/2 my bowl (all the meat, veggies and 1/2 the noodles) for 6 points.

If you’ve never had PHO, I highly recommend you try it ~ you might be surprised by how much you like it.  Some places make it better than others, but, the cooking philosophy is still the same.  It’s lean, healthy, a little high in sodium (Asian food always is), but, absolutely tasty!

Be on the lookout tomorrow for my Healthy Homemade Chicken Pot Sticker Recipe ~ you get 8 of them for FOUR points (242 calories!).

Q: Have you ever tried PHO or made your own?  How do you like yours? 

I usually order it out, but, I did attempt to make a PHO type soup a little while back with pot stickers

Off to actually pay attention to the movie The Husband picked out

Night all!

Yup….that would be me!  Last week I sorta entered a little food funk where I just felt rebellious…I sorta just went with it and ate what I wanted and didn’t care about fruits’/veggies/dairy or any of that.  Today, I took that to a bigger extreme and I think I ate pretty much everything in our house…..well, (except a few crumbs) ok, maybe not that bad, but, I FEEL like that now.  I think sometimes you need to just have a “day” and for me today was “THAT DAY”.  I didn’t track in writing (but I did with my pictures LOL) or count my points :/  I am pretty sure I would’ve ran out of room on my paper journal and the online version would’ve gone to page 2 or 3 .

The good thing is that I feel like I am ready to re-focus and get back to it.  OH and I learned to NOT work in the kitchen. So, for what it’s worth….here it goes!

After opening my package last night from Kristin, I knew EXACTLY what I was having for breakfast.

Isn’t this the CUTEST bottle of PURE Maple Syrup straight from Canada you’ve ever seen?

I whipped up a batch of my Protein Pancakes and decided to replace the BLUEBERRIES with shredded coconut after I saw Janetha do it on Pancake Sunday.

In the mix this morning:

1/3 c ff cottage cheese

1/3 c uncooked oatmeal (quick cooking or old fashioned)

1 egg

1 Tbsp freshly ground flax seed

Splash of vanilla & COCONUT extract

Dashes of cinnamon & sea salt

Sprinkle of shredded coconut

Topped with a little whipped butter, sprinkle of coconut and my new PURE Maple Syrup drizzle.  AMAZING!  I was sad when it was all gone

But, my day quickly brightened when The Husband surprised me by dropping off a Venti Iced Decaf Latte with Caramel Drizzle on top

I had to hang out at home today for this project to begin…..

Never in a million years did I ever think I’d be so happy to see a BIG Central Heat & Air Vent in our hallway.  I know when summer comes around and it’s 110+ degrees, we will be sitting COOL!  

Just one more day and we will officially have CH&A throughout our entire 1940’s house – I cannot wait….it’s the little, or, um, big things

Mid morning, I couldn’t wait to dig into another one of my Canada Goodies…this amazing looking Trail Mix.

I LOVE that they use maple syrup in it ~ it’s so Canada of them lol.

I’ve never had soybean nuts before today….they are delicious ~ this mix is the right balance of sweet and salty.

My lunch options were sorta limited to the microwave or fridge so I opted for some reheated Oh My Squash Pot stickers topped with Sriracha and sesame seeds.

Easy sides!

Since I seem to want to try EVERYTHING in my Canada pack, I found a way to justify having a couple of these for dessert.

What exactly is “fancy” molasses and how is it different from “normal” molasses? Anyone?? It’s funny to me

Healthy, organic chocolate chip mini cookies ~ totally crunchy, yet, they melt in your mouth.

I spent the afternoon listening to lots of drilling and working away on a project for work.  I think we I work in the kitchen, I want to eat EVERYTHING in the kitchen.  I found myself munching on some Pirates Booty for my afternoon snack even though I am not so sure I really NEEDED it.

And because I really didn’t NEEDED another snack, I made up a cheesy quesadilla roll up.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to use our stove tonight since it’s gas, so we headed out to Round Table Pizza for dinner.  I probably could’ve cooked, but, why, when you can have a salad like this.

I went a little crazy on the doughy goodness ~ 2 parmesan twists, 1 slice veggie pizza and 1 slice Hawaiian Pizza.

I was ready to be ROLLED home, but, I still managed to find room for their mini cinnamon twists.

I am totally suffering in a BIG Food Coma, yet, I am settling in to watch The Biggest Loser ~ oh the irony, right?!

Some days I can be so spot on and other days not so much.  The good part is I feel pretty awful so I think I reminded myself why I like to eat clean 90% of the time.

Tomorrow is a new day to get 110% back on track!

Night all!

Happy Weekend All!  I am glad to hear for the most part you all dig the concept of “Photo Fridays”.  It was fun to just put the pictures up and then hear that you all can imagine the commentary. 

We kicked off our weekend on Friday by taking a little trip to the SEED BANK!  This place is SO COOL. 

They have almost 2,000 different types of seeds, including ORGANIC seeds and rare varieties.  I LOVE companies that support GMO FREE!!!

The Seed Bank is actually located in an old historical BANK in Petaluma, Ca.  I LOVE the play on words…I was almost waiting for them to open up the VAULT for the rarest seeds of all

It’s BEAUTIFUL inside ~ I LOVE the architecture.

There are so many seeds and varieties that it can be a bit overwhelming.

Especially when they have an entire shelf dedicated just to tomatoes.  I “almost” wanted to buy those Hill Billy tomatoes for FUN …I can see myself shouting ‘”yeehawww!” when a tomato showed up LOL.

This was all herbs ~ you can even buy/grow Stevia – crazy, cool!

It was hard to narrow down my choices, but, I picked things that I thought would be fun.  I LOVED the purple artichokes and green beans.  All of their seeds can be harvested and replanted next year and their Heirloom seeds have been around for over 50 years.  Everyone that works there has such cool knowledge, it totally made me want to be an organic farmer by the time we left.

Fast forward to Saturday morning ~ we headed out to Starbuck’s where I got a grande ff decaf latte with a caramel drizzle on the foam (makes it marshmallow tasting top!)

We ran into Target for a couple of things and I couldn’t resist getting these mini $1 container plants   I totally had gardening on the mind.

Then, we were off to Home Depot to pick out our garden.  I learned a COOL LESSON ~ go in the mornings because the “Plant Guy” delivers everything then.  We were able to pick out what we wanted off his truck – AWESOME!

One last stop at Trader Joe’s for one of my yearly Basil Plant!

I LOVE that Home Depot is supporting being EARTH FRIENDLY with their Green Going, recyclable containers.  You simply cut the plastic off, cut a whole in the bottom of the container and plant your plant WITH the container.  The container dissolves in your soil – AWESOME!

The Husband helped me map out where to plant what.

We planted our seedlings and none of the seeds from the Seed Bank ~ maybe we will do those later:

* Sugar Snap Peas

* Yellow Bell Peppers

* Red Bell Peppers

* Crook Neck Squash

* Zucchinis

* Burpless Cucumbers

* Japanese Cucumbers

* Mr. Stripey Heirloom Tomato (The Husband picked out these 18 oz tiger striped tomatoes!)

* Lemon Thyme that really smells like lemon and thyme

* Rosemary

* Sweet 100 Cherry Tomatoes (in the big container)

I think I will also plant my window sill herb garden for cilantro, parsley, oregano and chives because I LOVE using fresh herbs.

All watered and ready to GROW.  I hope at some point we can add fresh lettuce and chard maybe too.

After feeling accomplished with our FIRST GARDEN EVER, we headed off to The Joy of Eating for lunch.  The Husband and I shared this side salad with Italian Dressing.

Then, I had what I think might’ve been the BEST SANDWICH I”VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE.  A sunrise sandwich ~ Bacon, lettuce, tomato, AVOCADO, and melted provolone on their homemade sweet bread.

I ate all of the sandwich and about 1/3 of the fries.

After lunch, our kitchen turned into a bakery as I whipped up a TON of cupcakes.  Homemade Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting & sprinkles (recipe coming soon).

Then, I worked on testing out two types of Healthy Tiramisu Cupcakes.  I am making a healthy version for my friends birthday next week but I NEED to try them out first to make sure I get it right.

FIRST ~ one without Mascarpone Cheese filling and with a homemade vanilla cupcake.  It wasn’t bad, but, I think you need the fluffy whipped filling.

SECOND ~ Definitely prettier!  This one has a Mascarpone Whipped Cream Cheese filling with a cream cheese frosting but I used TJ’s Vanilla Bean Cake Mix (lightened up).

THE VERDICT ~ I NEED to still work on it.  I think I have come to the conclusion that the homemade vanilla cupcake is the best with the filling and a lighter frosting.  So, my quest is to be continued!  When I get the right recipe, I will share it….for now, does anyone want some of these cupcakes??? I NEED to get rid of them LOL.

Dinner was FAST and simple ~ Homemade FRESH Tomato & Basil Soup (recipe coming soon, but, it was a spin on the Homemade Tomato Basil Soup I made before).

Grilled Cheese on TJ’s FF Multi-Grain Bread with TJ’s Shredded Pepperjack blend ~ NEW FAV!

After dinner, it was time to Hang out with Dudley’s!  Doesn’t he look so intense when he colors Easter Eggs?

Jay (aka The Husband) and his Mini Me ~ Jay The Egg!

He dunked it so he would get a “tan”

Meet Jay The Egg!

Next up, he made Earth! LOL

Then, we both must’ve thought alike.

A sunshine!

Sporting The Brand

Just another reason why you should ALWAYS color eggs, no matter what your age is or if you have kiddos or not   SO FUN!

Check out my Guest Post for Lazy Chicken Enchiladas with Red Sauce over at Cook, Bake & Nibble.

I have a super busy day in the kitchen making up more cupcakes, deviled eggs, healthy potato salad then Easter Dinner!

HAPPY EASTER ALL!

All week long I have been excited for my 10 MILE long run with my sis.  I was all ready for it yesterday and then the rain got in the way.  You would think I’d wake up amped and ready to go..but, this morning I was slow moving and running was the furthest from my mind.

I knew not going wasn’t an option so I got down to Bees Knees with a 6 point breakfast to fuel me for my Long Run.

2 slices toasted Sour Dough (I need to buy bread!)

1 Tbsp of The Bees Knees (LOVE this honey PB)

Small Banana

Starbuck’s VIA & Aqua

All packed up and taken on the road!

I just have to say that my SISTER seriously rocks!  She had an amazing run today and whipped out 10 miles like it was nothing.  I, on the other hand, ate her dust….Ok, well, maybe not quite ~ I did pretty good through mile 8 and then my legs thought they were all done.  I am proud of myself for pushing through when I totally wanted to say screw it and walk the rest of the way.

I decided to give Accelerade a try after our run because I’ve heard it helps your muscle recovery time post run.  It’s what they give all the runners are Fleet Feet post run so I figured why not ~ if it will make me GO FASTER .

Sounds good right ~ the stats are not too bad.

The ingredients ~ ya, well, it’s pretty much sugar plus protein powder plus sugar, and a bunch of not so good stuff.

All I have to say is ~ if you are tempted to give this a go, DON’T DO IT!  Nasty, nasty! LOL….it tastes like Gatorade mixed with Whey Protein Powder ~ bleh!  We tossed the bottle and headed out for some REAL food at Baja Fresh!

I think we pretty much picked up everything you can get at the salsa bar plus a little GUACAMOLE and QUESO!

I had 3 FANTASTIC TACOS that I loaded up with salsa, Pico de Gallo, jalapeños and guacamole.

I had one 4 point shrimp taco.

Plus two 4 point chicken tacos. 

SIDE NOTE:  if you are looking to save on points, you can use just ONE of the tortillas they give you versus TWO and you save a point.

We did a little shopping before I headed home and took my FIRST EVER ICE BATH.  I have to admit it was a bit chilly and totally hard to convince myself to just get in, but, after I was in I didn’t want to get it.  It felt so AMAZING on my aching legs and joints.  When I got out of the bath tub and shower, I was not even as sore as I was going in.  My muscles were probably frozen still

FENCE UPDATE!!!!

The Husband has been working hard for the past two weekends to fix our 60 year old fence that finally fell down.  (Note: The Jungle is our next door neighbors yard )

BEFORE

AFTER

I took these before he had a chance to remove the cement forms and clean up the extra cement.  It’s SO tall now.

I LOVE how it matches My Garden Box!

The new gate door is going to look so cool when all is said and done.  P.S. Yes, that is our other neighbors PINK house in the background ~ you have to LOVE the Bay area

I was ready for a snack when I came in.  I picked up these NEW Organic flavored Yogurts at Trader Joe’s Yesterday….Vanilla and BANANA!

Not bad 2 points each!

I LOVED how thick and creamy it was ~ it’s close to Greek Yogurt consistency.  I had banana and it rocked!  These might be my new favorite things.  They had other flavors that I know I NEED to try now.

I was still sorta hungry so I made up a 2 point cheese Sandwich using 2 Kashi Bruschetta Crackers and a LF Colby Cheese.

We had planned on taking our friends out to dinner tonight to the Texas Road House to thank them but they couldn’t go.  I knew The Husband was bummed since it’s his FAVORITE place so (I didn’t feel like cooking) I treated him to dinner for all his hard work on the fence.

He ordered the combo appetizer and I played along.  I had one 4 point potato skin.

Plus one of these Rattlesnack Bites (like a Jalapeño Popper) – Guesstimate 2 pts.

I actually wasn’t super hungry so I decided to stick with sides.  I had a garden salad with Italian Dressing on the side.  I gave my croutons to The Husband ~ they were too salty for me. (3 pt estimate)

Plus two or maybe three of their AMAZING soft rolls!

It’s the CINNAMON BUTTER that does me in every time. (Bazillion point estimate ok, probably like 3 pts each plus 2 pts for the butter!)

My other side was a HUGE Sweet Potato that I had NO ROOM left for.  That’s ok ~ lunch tomorrow!

I asked for all the toppings to be put on the side, but, I didn’t expect this.

Toasted Marshmallows with a BUTTERY CINNAMON CARAMEL sauce on the side.  I had to have a couple of bites before I put it aside ~ SO, SO GOOD, you know it’s bad!

In case you missed my post earlier, you can CLICK HERE to find out who won the Perfect Night in Giveaway ~ it could be you!

I am totally PUMPED for Monday, not because it’s Monday, but, because it’s The Scandalous Bachelor finale and AFTER the Rose shows!!! Ahhh ~ 3 hours – Can’t wait!

I will catch up with your emails, comments, etc tomorrow ~ for now our cozy bed is calling me.

Night all!!!