Fridays Are For Dates + Pizza

I love Fridays!  I love them even more when the husband is off from work and the daughters have school.  Instant date time with no sitter required !  Our big date plan was to go for a walk together.  I know, we’re really wild and crazy ;P 

I made sure to get in some breakfast, but one that wouldn’t be too heavy.  Yogurt sounded good this morning, so I went with some plain nonfat Chobani with fresh strawberry “syrup”.  I topped it with some granola crumbs.  It was really good…

Because I was using the plain yogurt, I decided to sweeten it with a packet of NuNaturals NuStevia that I received a while back…

  Now, I have to say that in my quest to reduce the amount of artificial sweeteners (especially Splenda), I have tried stevia as a sweetener in my coffee/tea.  One word –blech.  I wanted to like it, but I couldn’t get past the bitter aftertaste.  The NuNaturals product claimed to be non-bitter, so I was interested to see if that was the case.  I used about half a packet in my yogurt this morning and it was great!  No strange aftertaste and just the right amount of sweetness.  I think with stevia, less is more and you do need to play around with the amounts to get the level of sweetness that you like.  For me, half the packet was perfect.  I’m looking forward to trying it out in some coffee or tea and see if it still holds the non-bitter claim.  Also, Ron at NuNaturals was kind enough to send me quite a few of their products to try out which included baking blends and extracts…

Might make for some good sugar-free holiday treats!  Thanks, Ron:)

After the daughters were off to school, the husband and I set out on our walking date.  With the dog :)  We walked at a good pace for about 50 minutes and 3.5 miles.  It was a beautiful morning!

On the way home, I had a craving for coffee, so we stopped for a small Pumpkin Latte Lite…

I can’t believe I’m saying this, buuuuut, I think this was better than Starbucks!  Gasp!

Lunch was a fiber powerhouse – Mixed Bean Melt and a pear the size of my head…

The Mixed Bean Melt…

• Joseph’s Lavash Bread 
• 1/2 c. pinto beans, mashed
• 1/4 c. chick peas, mashed
• 1 Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedge
• handful of baby spinach – you know I put it in everything

Spread beans and cheese on one half of the Lavash.  Add spinach and fold over.  Spray skillet with nonstick spray.  Cook until browned on both sides and warmed through.

Very filling…

As always in this house, Fridays are pizza night!  I usually make our pizzas and alternate between making my own dough and using Trader Joe’s pre-made dough.  I have fooled around with my own dough recipe quite a bit, trying to tweak it and get it just right.  I’m always open to new recipes and when I saw Biz had a No Rise Pizza Dough that’s ready in 5 minutes, I jumped all over it!  I doubled the recipe to get two pizzas and actually ended up making 2 and a small one for me.  For my pizza, I used Trader Joe’s Roasted Red Pepper and Artichoke Tapenade for the sauce, added some baby bella mushrooms, Chavrie goat cheese and a tiny sprinkle of mozzarella…

It was fab!  I ate quite a bit of it along with a side salad of arugula dressed with evoo, red wine vinegar and a shaving of parmesan…

Now, that’s a pizza!

ONE GOOD THING:  I indulged in pizza tonight.  Guilt free.  That hasn’t happened in a loooooong time :)

Happy weekend, everyone!

Fast + Slow

I had to keep myself busy this morning to take my mind off food!  I had to fast for an ultrasound appointment (just some stomach troubles getting checked out) and it wasn’t until 11:oo a.m. !Funny, when I’m told I can’t eat, all I want to do IS eat!  Finally, the time came and I raced to get to the appointment.  It was over  pretty quickly and I daydreamed about lunch the whole way home!  Sheesh!  Obviously, one of those “detox” fasts are not in my future!

Lunch had to be quick to appease my growling stomach.  I decided on a wrap made with turkey, a Laughing Cow Light cheese wedge, spinach and Trader Joe’s Roasted Pepper and Artichoke Tapenade.  It was all rolled up in a Joseph’s Lavash Bread and served with a ginormous pear and some Kettle Baked Potato Chips…

This was one of my best wraps, yet!  I loved all the flavors.  I noticed that food tastes extra good when you’re starving!  But, I made a conscious effort to put on the brakes and eat nice and slow:)

The afternoon flew by with errands and the remainder of the evening was spent at little daughter’s religion class – this time big daughter and I both got wrangled to help out!

I wasn’t into a big dinner when we got home, so I heated up some Trader Joe’s Organic Lentil Soup along with some cornbread I had in the freezer.  I took 55 pictures of this, but there is just no way to make lentil soup look pretty!

In the interest of full disclosure, I did steal a few big spoonfuls of the daughters’ mac and cheese, too!  It was too good to let it slip by without a taste :)

Overall, it was a light eating day, but I ate enough filling foods to feel satisfied.  I did manage to end with a little something sweet, though…

Don’t forget to enter to win a coupon for a free half gallon of Silk Heart Health!

ONE GOOD THING:  I took the time to enjoy all the flavors of my lunch.  Sometimes, if I’m overly hungry, I wolf the food done without tasting it!  This time, I savored each bite so that I would be satisfied when I was finished.

Question of the Day:  Have you ever fasted for more than one day?

First Day Jitters

It was the first full day of school for the daughters and they were raring to go!  It was a first day of sorts for me, too.  For the first time in 20 years, I was going to the gym!  I was a little nervous!  I had no idea what to do, how to work any of the equipment or what gym “etiquette” to follow, but I was still looking forward to going.  I armed myself with my “positive attitude” t-shirt…

Before I left the house, I quieted my jitters with a quick breakfast of  Smoked Salmon and Parmesan Omelet Muffins (from the freezer)…

then, it was off to the gym…YIKES!!!

It was great!  I walked in, found an elliptical, fooled around with the settings, hooked up my mp3 player and got my sweat on.  I planned on 35 minutes on the elliptical, but my friend Coleen showed up and hopped on the elliptical next to me, so I kept on going and gabbing for another 15 minutes.  After, she showed me around and took me though some of the weight machines.  I got in a few good arm curl sets and a couple leg curls.  I t was a good workout and I enjoyed watching the other gym go-ers’ workout styles – one guy was running on the treadmill while hugging the electronic panel instead of holding the side rails!  So crazy!

I left the gym and ran more errands –aaah, does it ever end???  By this time, I was starting to get hungry, it was already lunchtime!  I went for a turkey and cheese sandwich on a Pepperidge Farms Deli Flat, 1 cup Trader Joe’s Organic Lentil Soup and a perfectly ripe pear…

I was in the mood for some crunch, too, so I took the opportunity to try out these POPchips that were sent to me by the POPchips peeps via my friend at The Skinny Plate.  Thanks, Stephanie!

This flavor was okay, a little too peppery for my taste buds, but I liked the airy crunch of these chips…

When the daughters came home from school, I felt the old munchie feeling coming back.  Something about that part of our day has me wanting to snack.  I wasn’t actually HUNGRY though, so I tried to put the urge off with a cup of Teeccino…

And it worked for a while, but I did get hungry about a half hour before dinner and felt like I just couldn’t wait, so I dug into some Kashi TLC Country Cheddar crackers…(x2)…

and a string cheese, Wheat Thins and a few nuts.  I knew that this was a “compulsive eating” moment, but the difference this time is that I didn’t feel badly about it.  And because I didn’t immediately start berating myself when I started oversnacking, I was able to reign it in before things got really out of hand.  I continued making dinner, which was really just opening a bag!  Big daughter and I split  Trader Joe’s Chicken Chow Mein with added broccoli while the husband and little daughter had other leftovers from the freezer…

It was tasty and enough for me considering all the snacks I had, but for a hungry diner, it needs some bulking up.

I’m heading to the gym again.  I plan to go 5 days a week and workout at home on the weekends.  Pretty soon, I might be able to call myself a GYM RAT!

ONE GOOD THING :  I stepped out of my comfort zone and went to the gym!!

Question of the Day:  Do you prefer working out in a gym, outdoors or at home?

Bye Bye Christmas

See ya Christmas. Later. Don't let the door hit ya! That's how I felt today as I was putting away all things Christmas. It was a great holiday season, but I am ready to put it all behind me (unfortunately a lot of it ended up ON my behind) and start anew! Getting on the scale this morning did help me with this new found motivation I have today! Not a pretty number:(



I was so busy helping little daughter clean her room this morning that I "forgot to eat" breakfast. Okay, that phrase could never be part of my vocabulary, so in all honesty, I just didn't want to stop what I was doing to eat something. Weird for me. No, I don't have an extremely high delusion-causing fever! When we finished cleaning I noticed it was pretty close to lunch, so I decided to just go with a slice of apple cranberry bread to tide me over...







When lunchtime rolled around, I decided to go with something different - pasta! I don't usually eat pasta at lunch. I fear it won't hold me through the day, but today I gave it a try. I used 2 oz. of Ronzoni Smart Taste Penne and topped it with 1/2c. of leftover black eyed pea salad from New Years lunch. I also sprinkled 2 tbsp. grated parmesan over it. Oh my greatness, this was so delish and only came to 6 Points...




Suprisingly, it held me over pretty well. I was busy putting away the Christmas decorations and cleaning, so I'm sure that helped, too. When all was done and put away, I sat down to a lovely snack of sliced pear, Lighthouse Reduced Sugar Caramel Dip and a 1/2 serving of pretzel sticks...

Now I'm off to catch up on some reading. See ya!

Empty Nesters

The husband and I feel like empty nesters. The daughters are spending a couple of days with their grandparents - it's so weird without them! You tend to get into certain routines when the kids are around, so when they're gone it's different. No rushing around. It's kinda relaxing. And we sure do love the uninterrupted night sleep! Little daughter still wakes up in the night - we're hoping she will outgrow this by age 16! Anyway, on to the food...

I woke up, headed to the treadmill for a lame-o run (my heart just wasn't in it) for 30 min. and then had a leisurely breakfast of apple cranberry bread and a sliced pear for 3 Points...



Then the husband and I went grocery shopping. The husband would rather stick hot pokers in his eyes than go grocery shopping, but he wanted to spend our "empty nest" day together doing things! The deal was that he could come only if he promised to "be good" because, frankly, I would rather stick hot pokers in MY eyes than have him shop with me!! He promised to be on best behavior, so together we went. On our lovely excursion in Trader Joe's ( the most crowded place in the universe), I came upon these guys...


Well, you know I am all about the chips! The nutritionals were great: 38 crisps are 120 cal, 3 gr. fat and 1 gr. fiber = 2 Points. Sold!

When we got home, I put the Sea Salt and Pepper Rice Crisps to work on my plate (huge serving - I like that!) with a Cedarlane Beans,Rice and Cheese Burrito (I mentioned these before -so awesome!) and some leftover roasted cauliflower with a little cheese. A non-colorful plate of yumminess for 8 Points...

Not sure if I'll have a snack this afternoon; I ate lunch late and we are headed to my parents for dinner and to pick up the "birdies". I'll bring a bar with me, just in case. Don't want to overeat tonight because I plan on going to my WW meeting tomorrow morning. I know it won't be pretty, but I don't want to add any more ugliness to what will surely be my weigh-in tomorrow!

Be back later...