Recovery Run

Thanks to all for your nice comments about my friend's Dad. I feel sad for her and I have been moping around the house all day, not doing much of anything that I should be doing. Well, except eating. I always manage to get that in. I think that even if I had my jaws wired shut, I would find some type of food that could fit in between that labyrinth of wires :)

I decided to try out a treadmill run this morning since the last of my stitches fell out yesterday. I think I am pretty well healed, so I cranked up the treadmill and did my 40 minute run. Yay! It felt so good! I can't believe how much I miss it when I don't run! I threw in 20 tricep dips and 15 wall pushups, too!

After that, I fixed a quick breakfast of an Ezekiel English Muffin with a wedge of Laughing Cow Light for 3 POINTS...


I fiddled around on the computer and did a little cleaning (very little), then it was time for lunch. I made a salmon salad wrap with a side of carrots and TJ's Sour Cream and Onion Rice Chips for 5 POINTS...

I still felt a little hungry, so I had 2 very sweet clementines -YUM for 1 POINT...

Before taking little daughter to dance class, I broke out a snack...

Another great Gnu Bar! I crumbled it onto 1/2 c. nonfat Greek yogurt for a filling 3 POINT snack...

While little daughter was in class, my friend ,Coleen and I went for a walk around the parking area and solved all the world's problems. We walked at a pretty good clip, so I got in an extra 30 minute exercise today! I love when bonus exercise happens :)

I was not into providing a creative plan for dinner that no one would appreciate anyway, so I gave the husband and daughters sandwiches and fruit and I had my leftover Polenta with Smoked Gouda and Mushroom Sauce for 8 POINTS. I added some roasted peppers to it to change it up tonight...(sorry about the pic; hard to make it look "pretty")

Here's the recipe for this full flavored dish:

Polenta with Smoked Gouda and Mushroom Sauce

• 24 oz. tube of prepared polenta
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. flour
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 3/4 c. skim milk
• 2 oz. lite smoked gouda ( or lite smoked mozzarella), grated
• 1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
• 8 oz. container of baby portabella mushrooms, sliced

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a 11x7 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Slice tube of polenta into 1/2" slices and layer in baking dish.
3. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in salt and pepper. Sprinkle flour over butter; whisk quickly and cook for about 1 minute. Whisk in milk and cheeses. Stir in mushrooms.
4. Pour sauce over polenta slices and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Makes 3 hearty servings at 8 POINTS each.

I ended the day with some Righteous Rounds for 2 POINTS...

And a handful of little chocolate eggs and bites, licks and tastes of Cookies and Cream Ice Cream. Ugh! Glad I took that extra walk today ;)

Looking forward to getting in bed early. Have a great night =)

Easter Bunny Says Whoa!!!

I slept like a big fat log last night! I think I was weighted down with all that food! This morning when I woke up, I had no desire for any type of food at all. Usually when I overeat, I feel more hungry the next morning, but not today -blech! Since nothing was appealing, I decided to try out something reaaaaally different. I have been seeing "green smoothies" all over the blogosphere lately. Basically, it's a smoothie made with a mix of veggies and/or fruit. Some use a form of milk, some just use water. I have been intrigued by them, although a bit hesitant to try them because they look, well, like swamp water! Since no food was going to pass my lips this morning, I thought it a good time to try this out; plus I had a huge bag of kale waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. Here's what I came up with...

• 2 handfuls kale
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 c. pineapple
• 5.3 oz container Oikos Nonfat Vanilla Greek Yogurt
• 1/2 c. water

Isn't it swampy pretty?????

But, how does it taste??? Yeah, I was thinking the same thing! I was a little nervous to try it, so luckily the Easter Bunny was left lying on the floor by the messy daughters still hanging out at my house and was happy to try out this 4 POINT wonder...

And he said...

Whoa!!! It sure was interesting! I didn't dislike it, but wouldn't say I loved it:) I think what threw it off was the addition of the yogurt; it added a little too much tang for me. I put it in because I was worried that just the veg/fruit wouldn't stick with me for very long, so I thought it would add a good protein shot. I'll definitely try this again; I bet with some tweaking of ingredients, it would be really good. If you've tried this, I'm open to any suggestions!

After my green experience, I headed to the treadmill for another run. I felt tired, but I managed to crank out 45 min. Glad I did; I always feel so good after a run!

Lunchtime was paninis for everyone. Mine was leftover ham, 1 oz. Cabot's 75% reduced fat cheddar and a squirt of dijonnaise on Trader Joe's Sprouted Flourless Wheat Bread. I had 1/2 apple, pineapple and some carrots for the side. A very healthy 6 POINT lunch...

Later in the afternoon, I started to feel munchie. I had just the right snack in mind. Last week, Robyn from Gnu Foods sent me these cool bars...

I was looking forward to trying them! Not only are they all-natural with no high-fructose corn syrup, but they have the most fiber in a baked bar - 12 grams!!!! Best of all, the bars are only 130-140 calories and between 3-5 gr. fat which works out to only 2 POINTS!! I received samples of Banana Walnut, Peanut Butter, Cinnamon Raisin, Orange Cranberry and Chocolate Brownie. They all sounded so good, I had trouble picking which to dive into first. I was tempted to go with Chocolate Brownie, but I decided on the Peanut Butter...

It is a very healthy looking bar...

As soon as I opened it, I could smell the peanut butter! I have to say that I absolutely LOVED this bar!!! It had a great peanut butter taste and a nice chewy texture. A little "seedy"; I believe that's the millet, but I enjoyed that bit of texture. This was a terrific 2 POINT snack and good for you! These bars are available at Trader Joe's and The Vitamin Shoppe stores along with www.GnuFoods.com . I'm looking forward to trying out the other flavors. Thanks, Robyn!!

That bar held me over so well that I wasn't in a big hurry for dinner. Actually, I made dinner for the husband and daughters (and daughter's friend!) and waited a bit for my own. I decided on Stuffed Pepper Soup from the freezer. I also added 1/2 c. leftover cannellini beans. This made it an extra hearty 4 POINT bowl...

I also dug in to an Arnold Sandwich Thin with 1 tbsp. white bean hummus for another 2 POINTS...

Ugh, I was full after all that! However, this caught my eye ...

and I "forced" myself to have 1/2 c. for 4 POINTS. Boy, real ice cream tastes gooooood....

Glad I was able to get back on track today and not let the overindulgence of yesterday continue on. Although, the leftover ricotta pie was calling my name! I didn't answer. Today ;)

Have a great night!!