They Say It’s Your Birthday

Hey everyone!  Hope you all had a great weekend :)  I had a really nice birthday and relaxing weekend with the family!

My birthday started off with a 3 mile run in glorious weather, then a cup of fall – Pumpkin Spice coffee…

in my “meanie” mom cup :)

When it’s your birthday, you have to have cake for breakfast!  No?  Oh, it’s just my rule I guess!  I made a Chocolate Brownie Cake Yogurt bowl using plain yogurt, crumbled Lucky Chocolate Cake (tastes like a brownie!) and chopped walnuts.  Yum in a bowl…

Part of my birthday wishes for the day included a visit to our church to help organize and pack up Thanksgiving food baskets for needy families.  I asked the husband and daughters to participate with me and we got the job done in no time!  Along with other helpers, we packed up close to 60 boxes filled with canned goods, pasta, cornbread mixes, stuffing , juices and desserts…

I was pretty hungry when we got back, but didn’t want to eat a huge lunch knowing that much more “birthday food” was to come later.  I opted for turkey and cheese on a Pepperidge Farm Deli Flat and some carrots…

Later in the afternoon, we headed to my parents’ house for my birthday dinner.  Mom started us off with proscuitto wrapped breadsticks…

Shrimp cocktail…

I had both…

Then, the hot appetizers came out :  mini crabcakes, raspberry and brie in phyllo, lobster tarts and scallops wrapped in bacon.  I tried not to go too crazy and plated a few…

But, ended up digging in to those x2!

After that settled, we sat down at the beautifully set table…

and began with a first course of Rigatoni with Bolognese Sauce…

I don’t drink often, but decided to indulge in a little vino…

Are you full, yet?  I was, but wait, there’s more!!!

The main course was served family-style and included all my favorite dishes :  Veal Valdostana, broccoli with garlic, marinated portabella mushrooms, salad and crusty rolls.  I filled my plate with tastes of it all…

The veal was delicious…

I ate my piece, but left almost half of everything else because I was stuffed!  That and I needed to save room for CAKE!!!!

And my MIL’s famous Pumpkin Squares…

I had a half piece of both!

I opened gifts (Mom got me a fun new exercise gadget – I’ll display that tomorrow!) and we called it a night.  The husband rolled me out to the car like Violet from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory…

I need juicing immediately!

Have a great day, everyone :)

ONE GOOD THING:  I was able to get in a good run before the eating marathon!

Happy Birthday Baby!!

Today is my little daughter's 7th birthday! Wow, time sure does fly! She and my big daughter made the grand plan as to what we were going to do today. Before we got started, I got in a quick 20 minute run, then showered and headed out to begin the celebration.



Our first stop was Starbucks. The daughters love fraps as much as I do, so they wanted to go there for breakfast. While the daughters dug into their fraps and donuts, I sipped my Mocha Light Frappuccino and dug into a BlueBran Vitatop that I brought with me for 3 POINTS...



We hung out at Starbucks for quite a while, then made our way over to a toy store for some browsing and playing. Such a fun little store! Of course, we couldn't get out of there without a small present for the birthday girl!

Then, we were off to pick up lunch at one of their favorite places - Chick-fil-A. They wanted to bring lunch home and have a picnic, so we did just that. I spread out the blanket and they ate their yummy lunch. I snagged a fry or two, but quickly made my lunch before things got out of control! My lunch was a Dr. Praeger's Tex Mex Burger on a whole wheat english muffin topped with a slice of Weight Watchers American and some sauteed peppers with onion. Delish! I added a serving of yellow watermelon and carrots for my side. A filling 6 POINT lunch...

After lunch, these guys came to the door....

HOLEY DONUTS!!!! I won these from Danica's giveaway and have been anxiously awaiting them! I was VERY tempted to dive right in, but I contained myself! Instead, I put each one in their own baggie and labeled it with the POINT value. That way, I won't be tempted to defrost a whole box and then "have" to eat them all! Looking forward to trying these soon :)

Our party-goers (grandparents) came for birthday dinner later in the afternoon. We got right to eating with a starter of Bruschetta with Asiago...

Then came the family favorite (and birthday girl's too!) - ravioli...

some rustic bread ( a must on our table)...

Grilled bratwurst and onions (left) and Chicken Sausage with spinach and feta over sauteed red peppers (right)...

I also made hot Italian sausage with hot fried peppers, broccoli and salad. I didn't get a pic of those before everyone dug in, but here's a pic of my plate...

I ended up eating another piece of bruschetta and a taste of hot sausage, but I was able to dodge the ravioli! Not too bad; I'm estimating about 13 POINTS.

For dessert, of course we had birthday cake - triple chocolate mousse cake! I didn't want to tempt anyone with a picture ;P In an effort to have a healthy alternative, I made a blueberry crisp...

I had a serving topped with fat free whipped topping for 2 POINTS...

It's super late now, but I'm determined to fit in my 10 minute strength routine, so off I go!

Have a great night everyone =)

Hmmm, Interesting

I decided to try a new veg tonight - collard greens. I bought a big bag of it at the grocery store and it's been sitting in my fridge because I have no earthly clue what to do with it! I know that traditional southern preparation of this green is VERY high in fat, so I figured there would be a better way to cook it. I ended up using an adapted version of the recipe on the bag which called for boiling it with smoked turkey legs which I was not doing. So I boiled it with chicken stock, drained some off , added 1 tsp. sugar and 1 tbsp. cider vinegar. It was, um ...interesting. I really love all green vegetables, but I cannot add this to my favorites list. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't ..."oooh, I can't wait to eat collards"!!! I'm sure it would be MUCH more fabulous made with the smoked turkey or bacon fat as they do in the south -duh! Along with the collards, I had some leftover chicken from my birthday-my mom's awesome Chicken with Proscuitto and Fontina. I also made "garlic bread" from an Arnold Sandwich Thin sprayed with ICBINB. Good stuff...





No big dessert tonight. Just had 2 Cafe Twists which are super sweet and low Point...

Have a great night!!!