A Valentine's Treat

I missed you all last night, but the husband and I had a date night and got home a little too late for me to blog! Well, actually we had a date "day and night" since the daughters are sleeping at the grandparents! So, here's a quick update on my day....


It was beautiful in the morning, so I decided to get in my 5K Sunday(making up for Saturday!) in the great outdoors. It was a nice run and my foot felt fine during it, so I'm glad I gave it a rest. When I came in, I settled into a bowl of 1/2 c. quinoa granola, 1/2 c. blueberries and 1/2 c. unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze for 4 POINTS...



Lunch was a bowl of Tabatchnik vegetable soup and leftover whole wheat veggie pizza for 8 POINTS...


A little while after lunch, I did Level 1 Shred. I noticed my foot acting up part way through. I toughed it out because I knew I was going out to eat with the husband and I wanted to make sure I burned those calories!!!

And here those calories are...

We went to our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner. They make their own chips and salsa - to die for!!! I had planned to only eat 4, but the restaurant was packed and we had to wait a bit for our dinner, so I ended up eating more like 12! They were delish! I have no idea how to count them; they aren't greasy, but they are fried, so I don't know - maybe 6 POINTS?? I'm not gonna get too crazy about it - they were good!

For dinner, I chose the vegetarian fajitas which were made up of peppers, onions , mushrooms and tomatoes...

Since there wasn't that much to these, I counted them as 3 POINTS mainly for the oil that they use to make them. They were served with small corn tortillas of which I only ate 1 for an additional 1 POINT. For a side, they give you a salad of shredded iceburg lettuce, tomato, 1 tbsp. guacamole and sour cream -the real kind! I took off the sour cream and added a little of the salsa to my salad instead.

Very tasty, although I only ended up eating about half of it. I also left about 1/4 of the fajita dish, too. So, I'm guessing I didn't do too badly...

After dinner, we went to the movies to see the Oscar-nominated, Slumdog Millionaire. It was an amazing movie. I don't usually go for oscar-type movies; they are generally hyped up, but this one deserves the hype. An interesting story of survival, love and destiny.

The husband and I came home to our quiet home and snuggled in for a great night of......

UNINTERRUPTED SLEEP!!! Whooo hooo! Any of you that have kids that don't sleep through the night KNOW how important and special this is!!!!! LOL!!

All in all, a great night with the husband and a good night's sleep! A wonderful Valentine's treat!

Pizza And POM

Hey, happy Friday! This has been a fun weekend type of day since the husband and daughters were off today. We got to sleep in a little and mosy around. I went for an outdoor run this morning for about 30 minutes, then hopped right in the car to pick up some groceries for our pizza night with my in-laws. I didn't get to eat breakfast after the run, so I picked up a Starbucks coffee with sugar free vanilla syrup and some nonfat milk for 1 POINT to get me through...


When I came home, I made a yogurt granola bowl. I used a Fiber One Vanilla Yogurt topped with 1/2 c. of quinoa granola for 4 POINTS...


I bet you're asking "what the heck is quinoa granola?" Well, I came across this recipe in Bob Greene's Best Life Diet Cookbook. I have never been a fan of quinoa, mainly because I didn't really know how to use it. I know it's a "wonder grain" being that it is considered a complete protein. I'm always willing to try something again, especially if has the word "granola" in it! I LOVE granola. So, I made this last night in anticipation of eating it for breakfast today. I tweaked the recipe a bit to make it a little more POINT friendly; basically I just dropped a tbsp. of the nuts to lose a POINT. I used a combo of dried cranberries, raisins and almonds. If anyone wants the recipe, let me know. I forgot to copy it down before I came to post! Too lazy to venture to get it ;) Anyway, I liked this and it stuck with me a really long time (about 3 hours)! After breakfast, I got in my Shred. I must be honest - this was a half-assed Shred. I was tired from my run and not in the mood to do it, but I knew I wouldn't be able to fit it in later tonight. I mainly concentrated on the strength training and sort of bagged the cardio. I think it still counts though, right??!!! Only 15 days left!

When I was finally ready for lunch, I was READY for lunch! Funny how it hits you all at once! I needed something quick, so I threw together a turkey sandwich using 2 oz. turkey, lettuce, tomato and a squirt of dijonnaise on an Arnold Sandwich Thin. I also had a serving of TJ's Sour Cream and Onion Rice Chips (love these!) and a juicy orange. A fast 5 POINT lunch...

After lunch, we went for a "neighborhood clean-up" walk. I have been noticing during my outdoor runs that my neighborhood was getting "trashy" with random items that didn't make it into the trashcans or blew away, etc. We put gloves on, got a big trashbag and walked the whole neighborhood picking up all the debris. We filled the whole bag! It doesn't look like much when it's strewn all over, but it adds up! So, not only did I get another exercise in, I also did community service!! Two birds, one stone :)

The in-laws came for pizza night and to hang out with the daughters. I made 3 pizzas: 1 plain, 1 pepperoni and a whole wheat with lite mozzarella, baby bella mushrooms and baby spinach. I went with 2 slices of whole wheat and a salad dressed with Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch for 8 POINTS...

Along with our dinner, I made everyone a fancy POM spritzer! Diana at POM Wonderful was kind enough to contact me and ask if I would be interested in sampling this POM Wonderful 100 % pomegranate juice. I have been intrigued after seeing it at many of the grocery stores, so I was excited to have the opportunity to try it! Our pizza party was the perfect opportunity to make these lovely spritzers...

Everyone loved it! It is not as tart as I thought it may be. The husband and father-in-law loved it straight up the best! After reading about all the health benefits of this "wonder" juice, they loved it even more! Especially the parts about prostate health and erectile function - you know how men are! LOL!! The website is full of amazing recipes, too (love all the cocktail recipes- see you can be healthy and have a few drinky poos!). An 8 oz. serving is 3 POINTS, which is a little POINTY, but when cut with some sparkling water, it's basically free. I only used 2 oz. of the juice and the rest was water; put in a wine glass and garnished with a slice of lime. Fancy and free!

For dessert, we had some amazing chocolate covered strawberries that my parents gave us for Valentine's Day! I had two of these guys. I'm not exact on the POINTS; I did some searching and came up with 2 POINTS. I don't know, but hey, I'm goin with it! They were DIVINE...

Well, tomorrow's the big day! The day that CHOCOLATE swirls all around you. Everywhere you go! The husband loves me and hopes to live a long life, so I'm fairly certain that he will NOT be giving me any chocolate ;) How about you??? What are your VDay plans? Are you worried about the CHOCOLATE???