Coffee + Carb Loading

I’m in love again.  With coffee.  I know this is a volatile relationship.  I fall hard, then I get burned.  Literally.  My throat and my stomach hate me when I get back together with coffee. 

So far, things have been going well.  We’re getting along famously.  But I know, there may come a time when we have to call it quits again.  For now, we meet for breakfast every morning…

with another old love…

Mock Egg McMuffins + coffee = a happy meal :)

I spent most of the morning cleaning out my really messy closet then headed out for grocery shopping.  Why does that take forever?  Hmm…could be the fact that I still go down every aisle even when I only need a few things!  I’ll never learn…

But, I did pick up some Ezekiel Hot Dog Buns for something new!  I put one to work with an Applegate Farms Organic Uncured Beef Hot Dog as soon as I got home, along with a sweet Honeycrisp apple….

When the daughters came home from school, I went right to the pantry for a snack.  I’m convinced it’s a Pavlovian response.  Good thing I walk down every aisle of the grocery store or else I would have missed out on these babies for a snack…

Paul and Nell said that I could have 20.   I chomped on about half, then decided I better put it in a bowl before Paul and Nell gave me the raised eyebrow.   I added a cheese stick …because…

To round out this carb-a-rific day, I split some Annie’s Shells and Cheddar with the daughters.  The husband was working and it was just us girls with our mac and cheese.  I doctored mine up with the leftover butternut squash and broccoli in the fridge and about 1/4 c. of black beans for a teensy bit of protein…

I know it does not look that fab, but it was really tasty and filling!  I sure did it up with the carbs today.  I was craving them all day.  Must be my body needing to carb-load for my big 3 mile run tomorrow – LOL!!!  This is my running training week and my body knows!  That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it ;P

I ended the night with a cup of STASH…

This STASH stinks:(

ONE GOOD THING :  Coffee doesn’t :D

Have a great day, everyone!!

Dance The Day Away

Whew, I am so tired tonight, so I'll try and make this quick! I woke up at 6:00 a.m. this morning (on a weekend!) so that I could make an early WW meeting. The husband wanted to take my mother-in-law out for a "surprise" Mother's Day breakfast(how cute is that!) and I needed to get back in time. I went to the 7 a.m. meeting which was surprisingly packed with members! I'm happy to report the scale was my friend and I am down 2.2 lbs.! Only 4 pounds til goal! Whoo hoo!

I rushed home after the meeting (which was all about positive self talk - very good topic!) and went straight to the elliptical. I watched really bad TV that kept me entertained during my 40 minute weighted workout. After that, I was ready for some breakfast. I went with an old favorite - Mock Egg McMuffin for 4 POINTS...



I tooled around on the computer, read some blogs and got myself and little daughter ready for an afternoon of dance! Little daughter had her dance rehearsal and she had to be in full costume and makeup. It took quite a while to put it all together. Before we left, I ate a quick lunch of turkey, baby spinach and dijonnaise on an Ezekiel bun with a side of carrots and soy crisps for 6 POINTS...

The dance dress rehearsal was an all day affair. After little daughter did her dance, she wanted to stay to watch the other dancers. We were there about 4 hours! Good thing I brought a snack (2 POINTS)...

I finally made it home, right about dinner time. I had planned ahead for the family and made Chicken Parmesan for them. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to eat and my stomach was letting me know that I had better figure it out quick. I looked in the freezer and pulled out these guys to try...

Look at the nutritionals; what a POINTS bargain!

A serving is 4 pieces, but I was starving so I went with 3 servings! That's 12 mini wontons and it only came to 3 POINTS. Now, they are little guys, but having a lot of them on the plate helped make them seem more filling. They taste terrific, too. I made a dipping sauce with 1 tbsp. soy sauce, 1 tbsp. water and 1/4 tsp. rice vinegar. I paired the wontons with a cup of fresh pineapple for a delicious 4 POINT dinner...

With plenty of room for dessert, I decided to end the night with a Fudgy Peanut Chip Vitatop with PB2 for 2 most delicious POINTS...

I'm off to bed! Have a great night, everyone =)

Happy Spring...I Think

Today is the first day of Spring -yay!!! Wouldn't know it by the weather...brrr. I had trouble sleeping last night, too because I was so cold. The husband tried to use his furnace-powered body to warm me, but even that didn't work. He thinks it's all in my head. He actually lies on top of the covers while I am snuggled under 2 blankets wearing sweats and socks. I would wear a parka if it wasn't so uncomfortable to sleep in. I look like I'm in Anartica, he looks like he's on the beach. I'm fairly certain he will spontaneously combust one day. Anywho, I braved the cold outside this morning and went for a lame-o 30 min. run. I say lame-o because I felt weak while I was running. Not sure why, maybe it's the running every day that is doing it. I think I will take a day off from running tomorrow and do the elliptical instead. I'll see what I'm feeling like in the a.m.

After my run, I had a delicious breakfast of a mock egg mcmuffin made with an Ezekiel English Muffin, egg white, slice of canadian bacon and a slice of 2 % cheese for 4 hearty POINTS...




I spent the rest of the morning doing lots of errands and couldn't wait to come home to this yummy Chicken BLT salad...

I used 2 oz. chicken, 2 slices of center-cut bacon (50 cal), lettuce, tomato and 1 tbsp. of Kraft Light Three Cheese Dressing. It is one of my favorite salads and only 4 POINTS!

I needed some crunch with that, so I had a serving of 96% fat free New York Style Mini Bagel Chips for 1 POINT...

I still felt a little hungry after that, so I cut up some perfectly ripe cantaloupe and added a few blueberries for 1 POINT...

I hung out with the daughters for a bit after school, then went through a bunch of old cooking mags and pulled tons of recipes. I'm such a recipe hound! I have 3 binders full and now, I just started a "try-me" folder that I will keep out and hopefully, do some advance meal planning with. I would love to be that organized!!

It was Pizza Night for dinner and I was not fretting one bit! I was really looking forward to my Margherita Flatbread pizza. I used one of the flatbreads that I made the other day and topped it with 1 tsp. garlic oil, sliced tomato and 3 small mozzarella balls sliced and a sprinkle of fresh basil. I put it in the oven for about 10 min. until the cheese was melted. YUM-O! I had some carrots and cantaloupe for a super tasty 7 POINT dinner...

Ah, and finally, an old friend...

I've missed my Vitatop/PB2 dessert!! It is always so filling and hits the spot! Gram's birthday is coming up and we are celebrating this weekend; I think I'll bring my Vita dessert so I won't be tempted to eat the regular cake!!! Hold me to that, okay??????

Have a great night everyone!!!!!

It's A Great Day For My First Giveaway!

It's Friday! I am so excited to offer my first Giveaway to my awesome blog readers! The uber-cool folks at NuruPlanet recently sent me their Exercise Anywhere cards to check out and I have to say this couldn't have come at a better time! I have been interested in changing up my workout routine and want to incorporate more strength training, but where to start??? Well, this solved my dilema! This deck of 30 cards has fully illustrated exercises for every major muscle group, includes sample weekly routines and even a Cardio Lab that features at-home interval training workouts. This is everything you would find in an exercise book or on a fitness website, but all contained on these portable cards that are small enough to fit in your pocket or purse. How cool is that????




And it's all in the palm of your hand...

So, NuruPlanet has offered to send these Exercise Anywhere decks to 2 lucky winners-USA and Canada only - sorry my overseas friends:( Just leave me a comment to be entered to win; I'll announce the winners on Monday!!!

Now, let's get to the food! I ate an early breakfast this morning; the husband and I had a "workout date" planned, so I ate before heading out. I went with a "mock egg McMuffin" using a Thomas' Light English Muffin topped with egg white, a slice of 2% cheese and a slice of center cut bacon. Better for you than Mickey D's and only 3 POINTS...

The husband and I dropped the daughters off at school and headed out for our "workout date" (with the dog!). We went on a 40 min. hike through the steep and hilly woods. This always makes me feel so out of shape! I am huffing and puffing up the hills like nobody's business! The husband walks so fast, too , so it's hard to keep up! It was nice though and the dog had a blast crashing through the woods! He got an awesome workout. Then, we came home and the husband suggested we do the Level 3 Shred together! He does the advanced moves and I do the scaled down version, but it is still darn hard and I am SO changing my name to "Anita" when I am done with this Challenge tomorrow! LOL!!

After Shred and shower, I went to meet my friend, Jenn ( HI Jenn!!!) for lunch at Cosi. This was my first time at Cosi; it's a neat place. My eyes immediately went to the desserts, but I shielded them like a horse with blinders and settled on a Bombay Light Chicken Salad with fat-free balsamic dressing and 1/2 of their delicious flatbread. A nice lunch for 6 POINTS...

After a nice chatty lunch, I ran some errands. One of my stops was Trader Joe's where I found this yummy High Fiber Fruit and Nut Multigrain Medley cereal...

Seriously, could that name be any longer?????? Anyway, it is a delicious mix of high fiber clusters, raisins, cranberries, almonds and pecans (although, not much in the nut dept.). A 2/3 c. serving is 90 cal., 1.5 gr. fat and 7 gr. fiber for 1 POINT. It was a great snack mixed with a Weight Watchers Berries and Cream Yogurt for 2 POINTS...

That held me over nicely until dinner. The husband and daughters had pizza but, I had a craving for burgers so I made a Buffalo Turkey Burger! I took 4 oz. of ground turkey breast and added to it some finely minced onion and celery, a dash of salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and 1 tbsp. Frank's Hot Sauce. I mixed it all together, formed it into a patty and pan fried it in a nonstick skillet. Then, I put it on an Arnold Sandwich Thin, topped with lettuce and 1 tbsp. Marie's Lite Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing. So delicious, lots of flavor and a hearty serving! I had a side salad with some additional blue cheese dressing to go with this awesome burger, all for 5 POINTS...

I did have a few nibbles of pizza, but only about 2 POINTS worth. Thankfully, I wasn't that into it tonight. The burger really was satisfying, in flavor and volume. But, I always have room for dessert! My combo tonight was a Banana Fudge Vitatop with 1/2 c. Breyer's Fat Free Double Churn Caramel Swirl Ice Cream and a squirt of fat-free whipped cream for 2 POINTS...

Banana, fudge AND CARAMEL!!! Yes, it's a beauuuuuutiful thing =)

Don't forget to leave a comment here for your chance to Exercise Anywhere!!!!!!

Have a great night!