Weekends should have more days….
Happy Weekend or I guess now it’s end of the weekend! It was so nice taking a weekend off….ok, Well, Saturday 
I might have to do that more often…just sayin’ 
We had such a fun and busy weekend celebrating Father’s Day. It all started off with a little “road trip” to Reno, NV & Lake Tahoe so The Husband could collect more casino chips. I told him we could do anything he wanted this weekend….so, at 6 am we were up and on the road.
We made a quick pit stop for breakfast at Starbuck’s. I got Perfect Oatmeal with the Berries, a sprinkle of brown sugar, no nuts (4 pts) plus a Venti Iced FF Decaf Latte with Caramel Drizzle (3 pts).
Road Trip Snacks ~ Baby Bel & strawberries (2 pts).
I still can’t believe that there is snow on the mountains and summer is starting this week.
After visiting a bazillion antique shops (which I am actually starting to enjoy now), we made a stop at Michael’s Deli. This place might be my absolute new favorite place ~ everything is homemade and I wanted to try everything on the menu!
I really wanted a sandwich but got a salad since I knew we’d be having Father’s Day dinner with my parents later. Look at how good it sounds and they had pictures on their walls of everything 
MMMMM!!!!! They used spicy sweet chili Thai Sauce as a drizzle over the chicken ~ awesome idea!
HUGE Salad, but, I pretty much ate it all!!! (7 point estimate!)
I LOVE you Michael’s Deli ~ please get locations in the Bay area If you are ever in Reno, NV ~ check out the place, you won’t be disappointed
The Husband broke out some snacks as we drove over to Lake Tahoe so of course I played along I love me some BOOTY!
I usually divide up the bag into baggies, but, didn’t this time.
So, I made sure to have only 3 handfuls and called it a serving (3 pts).
Both The Husband and My Dad are huge Steak & Potato eaters so there was no doubt that the Father’s Day Celebration would be at a steak house ~ Fifty Grand Steak House.
I had a piece of bread and then made sure it stayed on the other side of the table.
Our meals came with everything ~ soup, salad, entree, dessert – crazy!
0 pt Vegetable Soup!
Simple Salad ~ I’ve never had a pickled beet before, but, they are really good. I might like them better than plain beets. Must re-create! (1 pt with dressing using my fork to dip with each bite).
I think I got too excited over this HUGE 16 oz steak they brought out because my pictures were all blurry LOL. I cut off a palm size piece and save the rest for The Husband to have another day. (4 oz ~ 5 pts)
Baked potato dry ~ I did add a little chive sour cream, salt and pepper (4 pts)
I picked strawberry ice cream for dessert. (3 pts)
SUNDAY!!!
Happy Father’s Day to all the Papa’s out there!
The Husband continued getting spoiled today…Our first stop was Starbuck’s!
I had a 7 point Huevos Ranchero Wrap from Starbuck’s that was totally LOADED….I LOVED it! It has eggs, pepper jack cheese, black beans and pico de gallo.
Plus ~ A Venti Iced Non-Fat Decaf Latte with caramel drizzle (3 pts).
My gift to him was buying some of the poker chips he wanted, his trip to Reno/Lake Tahoe, dinner and creating a fancy excel file to organize his collection….ummm, ya, still working on that file – he has SO MANY chips! LOL.
The Nephew’s created the CUTEST “Rock Pet” for him for Father’s Day.
OMG ~ I LOVE how they made a tree, a door and there is a little froggy in the back too!
Lunch was BLTA’s ~ Another one of his favorites!
6 points of goodness!
1 point of cherries!
The Husband’s Mom came over for dinner and we had another Husband Picked Meal ~ Build Your Own Steak Salads! (Told ya, he would eat BEEF and BACON every day if he could….oh and maybe Hot Links too LOL)
I grilled up some Carne Asada that I bought at Sam’s.
Caramelized Fajita Veggies
Pepperjack cheese!
TJ’s Red, White & Blue Tortilla Chips
Everyone had a base salad with cucumbers & tomatoes.
Then, we layered it up with all the toppings.
Guacalicious! (7 points!)
I used TJ’s Avocado Salsa Verde for my dressing! It was the perfect touch ~ a little spicy, a little creamy ~ O POINTS!
Weekends seriously fly by too fast ~ I personally think they NEED to be more balanced ~ like 4 days working, 3 days off….5/2 just isn’t the same
Speaking of FOUR DAYS……just FOUR DAYS til Vegas!!! I can’t wait but we have so much fruit/veggies to eat
Night all
Spring Cleaning!
I LOVE Spring ~ I think it’s my favorite time of year aside from Fall. The weather is perfect ~ not too hot, not too cold and well, you just want to be outside ALL the time when it’s 70-80 degrees. My workout was Spring Cleaning ALL day ~ I cleaned everything from top to bottom including our ceiling fans and windows. It’s awesome to look around our house now ~ it sparkles
Breakfast: 2 slices Orowheat Light Whole Wheat Bread topped with 1 Tbsp Kettle Cashew Butter (3 pts)
I took a break after scrubbing 2 rooms to have a banana and Cabot Cheese (3 pts)
Lunch was “REAL SIMPLE”. I saw this recipe for Black-Eyed Peas With Bacon and Escarole when I was reading the March issue and knew I had to make it. I used Chickpeas for the Black Eyed Peas and minced my garlic versus slicing it. I have never had cooked escarole but I have to admit I LOVED it! This recipe took maybe 15 minutes to make and you can have it as a side or main dish. I picked main dish for 4 points. Such a deal!
For some additional protein, I had a TJ’s Organic LF Apple Yogurt. I like this flavor better than blueberry – surprising.
2 points a cup and nothing funky just like the other flavors.
Plus 2 Cuties for 1 point for dessert.
My afternoon snack was a Banana Berry Muffin with 1 tsp of melted Cashew Butter “frosting” (3 pts)
After I was finished cleaning our house, I ran to Trader Joe’s to pick up a few things for dinner. I know we honestly have enough food in our house that we can probably survive a month LOL, but, sometimes you just have to go with what you crave. As I was getting ready to walk out, I saw these Potato Latkes. I’ve never have Latkes and have always wanted to try so I picked some up.
3 points for 2 “fried” potatoes sounds pretty awesome to me.
I had planned on saving them for another time but The Husband saw them and was like let’s try. I ended up taking a bite, then, eating an entire one for 1 pt for an “appetizer” LOL. They are interesting to me – doughy like a pancake, but, potato/hashbrown like too. I like them.
As you all know I LOVE my Grill and BBQ year round even in the rain. But, there is something about spring that makes me feel the need to totally BBQ all the time. I have been craving a good burger, so I whipped up some “Works Burgers” sans mushrooms and with Muenster Cheese.
See, even my burger was happy that I made it
The best sandwich/burger topper ever ~ AVOCADO!
Stacked high for 8 points and worth every bite!
Side salad with more AVOCADO and topped with TJ’s Low Fat Spicy Peanut dressing (1 pt)
I think all my cleaning yesterday definitely earned me a big REWARD today! Today’s goal includes getting a pedicure, doing a little shopping and PLANTING our garden!
Happy Sunday all ~ see you all tonight!
I like being “Irish”!!!
Happy Clover Day all!!! I have to say I officially redeemed myself with tonight’s dinner of Corned Beef and Cabbage, but, I can’t take all the credit. Trader Joe’s saved me with their Spiced Up Pre-Marinated Corned Beef Brisket.
All I had to do this morning was take it out of the package, cover with beef broth and cook on low in the crockpot all day long. EASY!
I have to admit I was a little leary after my experience last night, but, tonight did NOT disappoint on that all. I guess I should tell you all how my day went down first before I get to the IRISH stuff
I think I LOVE St. Patty’s day because it’s the one time of year I get to wear this cool “Go Green” shirt
It’s the little things….On my way into work, I brought The Husband Starbuck’s again so I could have one Grande FF Latte with caramel drizzle on top (2.5 pts).
Plus a Double Chocolate VitaTop with Kettle Cashew Butter Frosting (3 pts). I can’t describe to you how good this was ~ you just HAVE to try it
I am on a mission to get 110% back on track with my eats beginning today. My co-worker offered up a FANTASTIC TJ’s Blueberry scone to me, but, I refrained from downing it since it was 8 points,. I took a bite and saved the rest for The Husband. Along with it I had some “banana chips” (1 pt) and a Cabot LF Cheese (these are 1 pt too!)
Lunch today was at one of my favorite places in downtown Napa, Gillwood’s Cafe. I LOVE their menu because you can pretty much get everything there from breakfast to fancy dishes and everything I’ve tried is tasty.
I had an awesome Grilled Chicken Salad with Apples, Walnuts and Fat Free Raspberry Vinaigrette on the side (7 pt estimate) ~ it was so fresh tasting! (not bad for a cell phone pic, huh?)
Tonight was my WI and I gained .6 lbs ~ I honestly think it was probably earned with my antics yesterday and I am ok with it. I pretty much just broke even with the loss I had last week LOL. Our meeting was all about portion control and I actually learned a few new uses for my SCALE. Did you all know you can “TARE” after each food item you put on your plate. You know like measure your chicken, then, TARE, then measure your potatoes? All this time I used different plates each time Oops. I also learned that you can measure your salad dressing as your pour it on versus using a Tablespoon ~ I NEED to try this.
We all received samples of their new 1 point bars ~ Chocolate CARAMEL Pretzel Blast.
Usually I avoid the Weight Watcher Bars in all honestly because of the ingredient list first (lots of things I can’t pronounce or recognize), but, also because I am left still hungry after eating them.
Now THIS BAR is worth every bad ingredient in it! OMG – it’s like a candy bar ~ chocolate peanut butter, peanuts, caramel, pretzels…..AMAZING! Weight Watchers definitely got the flavors right here, now if they could just work on that ingredient list it would be perfect!
I was pretty excited to get home and work on our Irish Celebration. Because I am a dork and because I am NOT Irish at all that I know of (am I mom? LOL), I wanted to have a little shindig (is there an Irish Term for party?).
I took the Corned Beef out of the crockpot, shredded it and put it in the oven to keep warm.
I drained the broth through a strainer, then, returned the broth to the crock pot and added the chopped cabbage to let it steam for about 20 minutes.
I whipped out my MANDOLIN SLICER to slice up some potatoes with peppers and onion to cook as a side.
I LOVE this MANDOLIN SLICER because it slices everything evenly and super thin. You simply hook it onto your bowl and go to town. You can use or skip the safety glide too.
Perfect potatoes.
Plus “onion rings”” and bell peppers
You can easily slice everything up in a few minutes! This entire dish took maybe 5 minutes to thinly slice 5 potatoes, 1/2 an onion and 2 bell pepper halves. I know that the SwissMar Borner V-Slicer might be pricey for some, but, I honestly feel it’s worth every penny. I have also included a less expensive Quick Slice Mandolin that works great too. I don’t own this particular quick slice, but, I highly recommend a Mandolin Slicer. I use it all the time for vegetables in salad, cucumber salads and Healthy Au Gratin Potatoes.
I added 1 1/2 Tbsp of Olive Oil to my nonstick pan and “fried” them up with a little garlic salt and pepper. 1/4 of the pan is 4 points.
Can you believe I actually LOVED the Corned Beef and Cabbage? It tastes just like Pastrami and the broth gives the cabbage such great flavor ~ who knew that I’d LOVE being Irish today. The Husband said I redeemed myself and now he doesn’t have to go to McDonald’s for dinner – ha! I went back for another serving of cabbage while The Husband ate like 1 lb of Corned Beef LOL.
All together with The Husband’s decorating touches ~ “Lucky Charms”!
I think dessert might be a HEALTHY BANANA SUNDAE while The Husband has his late night “Irish Snack” (LOVE his shirt – he’s funny!)
I am off to spend a little quality time with my March REAL SIMPLE Magazine! I’ll be sure to post a review of what I like for you all.
Night all!
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