Lotsa Fruits and Veggies!

Yay, the sun came out today! Still bitter cold, though. I felt so thankful for my basement exercise equipment as I headed to workout knowing that I didn't have to brave the cold to get my sweat on! I opted for the elliptical today instead of another 5K. I think my knees appreciated the break!



For breakfast, I tried the "beef it up" experiment to see if it might make a difference in my afternoon munchies. I was kinda stumped as to what to have. I don't like to spend more than 3 POINTS, so my choices are a bit limited. I decided to not pick a breakfast-type item and went with 2 oz. ham, 1 Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedge and a handful of baby spinach on an Arnold Sandwich Thin. Delish! I loved it and it stuck with me until lunch...







I had major grocery shopping on my agenda today. My first stop every week is always a produce store. They have a massive selection of fruits and vegetables. They bag mostly everything and you just ask at the counter for the items you would like, so the only downside is that you are not "hand picking" your items. Every once in a while, I get a bad apple or something, but generally everything is awesome and dirt cheap. Here's a look at my loot...





That's red leaf lettuce, celery, strawberries, 2 dozen eggs, 3 bags carrots, large navel oranges, green seedless grapes, golden delicious apples, gala apples, tons of plum tomatoes, sweet potatoes. parsley and broccoli. This abundant crop was only $23.00!!!! Can you believe it?? It would have been almost double if I bought all this at the regular grocery store. Now, who says eating healthy is too expensive!



Then, I was off to the grocery store for everything else. I perused the natural foods aisle while there and found this...

It's a dry falafel mix that just needs water added to form delicious falafel patties. If you're not familiar with falafel, click here for a description. I thought this would be a great lunch, so I made up the patties and cooked them under the broiler. Falafels are traditionally deep fried, but the broiler is obviously the healthier choice! Although, the package states there are 8 servings per container, I got 13 patties which came to 80 cal., 1.2 gr. fat and 3 gr. fiber per patty. That is 1 POINT per patty or 3 POINTS for 2 patties. These falafels are generally served in a pita which is soooo amazing, but I forgot to get some at the store. So instead, I made a Falafel Salad with 2 patties, lots of red leaf lettuce and chopped tomatoes. For dressing, I happened to have some tzaziki dip (cucumber yogurt dip) which is perfect with falafel. I used 2 tbsp. (35 cal. = 1 POINT) of the dip thinned with a splash of fat free milk and drizzled it over the salad...

This was AMAZING!!!! I will definitely have this again! Mmmm.... for 4 POINTS!! Even though this was filling, I felt like something sweet afterward. I cut up one of those huge navel oranges and munched on that, too...

The rest of my afternoon was spent helping with homework and cutting up vegetables! When they are prepped, it's easier to want to eat them, right?!

It was just the daughters and myself for dinner tonight. They campaigned for breakfast for dinner which was fine by me! I decided on the same for myself. Another food find that I got at the store today was these Weight Watchers Petite Bagels for 1 POINT!

I haven't been able to get the Western Alternative Bagels at my local supermarket. They stopped carrying them for some reason and I really don't want to spend the bucks to order directly from the company. I do miss my 1 POINT bagels :( So, when I saw these, I thought they may be a good fill-in, even though they are a bit smaller. Well, actually they weren't as tiny as I thought; here's a visual...

So my dinner was an egg white omelette with mushrooms, onions, baby spinach and Laughing Cow Light Cheese, a "petite" bagel with 2 tbsp. hummus and 2 orange slices. A delicious 6 POINT brinner...

Okay, one last "new" food find. I got these guys today, too (um... for the kids)...

CHOCOLATE frosted mini wheats??!!!!! Yeah, I can't pass that up. Oh, and I had a coupon, so it was meant to be! One serving is 52 biscuits. Who the heck is going to count out 52 biscuits??? Life's too short. I use a scale to weigh almost everything I put in my mouth, so this would be no exception. If you do the same, 52 biscuits = 55 grams. This serving size comes out to 200 cal., 2 gr. fat and 6 gr. fiber = 3 POINTS. A little on the "pointy" side, but a half serving (26 biscuits for you counters) is only 1 POINT. Makes a yummy topping for some yogurt...

And that was my dessert! I love those little guys. Nice and chocolatey.

Well, this was a super long post but, I do want to say that I think the "beefy" (or should I say "piggy") breakfast was a score! In case you didn't notice, I ended up not having an afternoon snack!!! I did have a cup of coffee and for today, that was enough to take me to dinner! Works for me! I'll take all the non-supersnacky days I can get!

Gonna finish watching the Biggest Loser; have a great night :)