Tempting Tea Time

Hi blog friends! I have to make it quick tonight as I promised big daughter she could get some computer time in before bed.

I slept in a little this morning - 7:30 a.m. Funny that I call that "sleeping in". It is still early as all get out, if you ask me! How I wish for the days when my daughters will be cranky teenagers and want to sleep until noon! Yeah, right;) Anyway, since I lollygagged (is that really a word??) around this morning, I got hungry and ate breakfast before my workout. I went with an unconventional turkey sandwich on an Ezekiel english muffin for 3 POINTS...


A little while after, I hopped on the elliptical for a huffy 30 min. I amped up the resistance gauge to toughen up the workout since I knew I only had time for a 30 min. stint. Mission accomplished! I was huffing after 2 minutes!

Then, it was off to shower and dress for a Ladies Tea that the daughters and I were going to this afternoon. I knew there would be lots of tempting goodies, so I decided to eat something before I went so that I wouldn't be starving and overindulge. I had a hummus pita which was 2 tbsp hummus (I revamped the recipe using only 2 tsp. oil, so it is only 1 POINT now), lettuce and pickles (a la Sharon )stuffed in a Weight Watchers 1 POINT pita. I also had a cup of sweet cantaloupe for a nice mini 3 POINT lunch...

The Ladies Tea was held at the husband's old Christian school and sponsored by a ladies group that does fundraising for the school. It is a yearly event and my mother-in-law is always so kind to treat us to this event. The gynasium is tranformed into a "tea room" with fancy tables, antique dolls, clothing, doll furniture and other Victorian-type items. The food is presented on a line of tables that must reach 30+ feet. Here is just half of it...

Many goodies donned these tables including a huge variety of tea sandwiches, brownies, cookies, scones, cheesecakes, iced cakes, nuts, fruit, puddings and candies. It was a bad, bad place. Thankfully, I had my "mini lunch" or I would have went nuts! I ended up taking a cucumber sandwich, fruit, and 4 little bites - 2 brownie, one oatmeal raisin cookie and one oatmeal bar...

Not sure how to count those guys. I'm thinking about 5 POINTS.

And I had a lovely cup of Bigelow Pomegranate Pizzazz tea. Delish....

It was a wonderful time shared with my mother-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, the daughters, Mom and Gram:)

After much chatting and a few errands on the way home, we got back just in time for me to make dinner! I made raviolis for the husband and daughters with a side of garlic and oil green beans. I searched around for something low POINT for myself and came up with this...

I blogged about this before here. I am a fan of this Lean Cuisine. The fish is delicious and even the pasta is fairly good (being Italian, I am not one to eat frozen pasta meals - it's a sacrilege!). I paired this with a side of garlic green beans for a fantastic 7 POINT dinner...

I felt like having dessert tonight, so I went with a serving of Turkey Hill Chocolate Marshmallow Frozen Yogurt for 2 POINTS...

Big daughter is giving me the hairy eyeball, so I will relinquish the computer to her so that she can participate in brain cell dissolving IMing with her friends:) Don't ya LOVE technology???

Big Eats!

Morning is no fun! I'm still having a hard time getting up at 6 a.m. in the dark. When I get big daughter off to school, I just want to crawl back into bed. As a matter of fact, big daughter asked me what I do after I drop her at the bus stop and I told her that I go exercise. She said she would go back to bed if she were me! I just love her so much!!! Some mornings I wish I could :) But, the princess life is not for me, so I headed to the elliptical. About 5 minutes into it, I realized something felt different. Whoops, I forgot to put on my sports bra! The girls were dancing up a storm, free to fly this way and that with nothing holding them back! Shear laziness and fear that I may not return to the frigid basement kept me from running up and retrieving the proper attire needed for bouncing. It was an interesting workout for sure:)



Then, it was time for a hearty breakfast of Ezekiel Sprouted Grain English Muffin (I bought the plain flavor in addition to the Cinnamon Raisin) topped with a wedge of Laughing Cow Light and a Yerba Mate Latte for a great 3 POINT breakfast...








I met up with Mom and Gram to do some shopping for Gram's new apartment. We made a mid-shop pit stop at Panera Bread for lunch. I went with the "you pick two" of black bean soup, a half Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich and an apple. I realized when I got there that I forgot my camera! Bad Food Blogger!!!! So here's some tiny pics that I gleaned from the internet...



The black bean soup is a standard for me (I love it!), but the Mediterranean was new to me and absolutely yum! It was a sandwich made with peppadew peppers, lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumbers, feta and cilantro hummus. It was a big, flavorful lunch for 10 POINTS!





This big lunch kept me full for the rest of the afternoon, although I did have a few real kettle chips when the daughters came home. Then I got to work making some marinara sauce for tonight's dinner: stuffed shells! I decided to indulge in some for dinner, too. I had 3 shells and a big salad with olive oil, vinegar and topped with some chick peas. I also had a whole wheat roll to round out this 9 POINT dinner...

The big finish was a 1/2 c. serving of Turkey Hill Chocolate Marshmallow Frozen Yogurt for 2 POINTS...

And now for the Biggest Loser!!!!! See you all tomorrow!

Short And Sweets!!

I'm gonna try to make this a quick post tonight; I promised the husband I would cut out early and so we can spend some time together. I am really tired, too. I can't believe how the time change has thrown me off; I mean, it's only an HOUR, what's the deal??!!! Anyway, here I am already rambling!! I have some new food finds to tell you about, so let's get to it!

The weather was beautiful today, so I decided, in addition to my strength training today, I wanted to go for an outdoor run. I normally don't eat breakfast before I work out, but I was hungry this morning, so I grabbed what I thought wouldn't be too heavy in my stomach: turkey slices and a lite string cheese. A nice protein start to the day for 2 POINTS...


I enjoyed my 30 min. run, then headed straight to the supermarket. I had an apple with me, too just in case I got hungry, but my little protein breakfast lasted all the way to lunch!

I was looking forward to tofu for lunch again! I decided to make a tofu scramble burrito. I crumbled and "browned" 1/2 block Nasoya Lite Tofu ,added a bit of chopped red and green peppers, a few tbsp. leftover bruschetta and a slice of 2% cheese. Isn't it purty...

When it was heated through, I rolled it up in a La Tortilla Factory Smart and Delicious Tortilla. I had a side of carrots and a serving of TJ's Sour Cream and Onion Rice Chips. A filling 6 POINT lunch...

Now for some goodies!!! I picked these up at the supermarket today...

They caught my eye and when I looked at the nutrition label, I knew they were coming home with me! These Manischewitz Chocolate Macaroons may be a seasonal item. They were on an end cap with other Passover/kosher foods. I have never noticed them otherwise, but I haven't really looked for Kosher foods in a long time- little daughter used to have a severe milk protein allergy and could not eat any dairy foods, so during that time, Kosher foods were my saving grace (and hers)!! Anyway, 2 macaroons are 90 cal., 4 gr. fat and 4 gr. fiber which comes to 1 POINT!! I couldn't wait to dig into these! They are really moist and delicious. They are little guys, but are flavorful and satisfying. I had 2 macaroons with a warm Yerba Mate Latte...

This tea was another find today! It was on the clearance aisle in my supermarket, so I'm not sure if it will be a discontinued item. I have had this brand of Yerba Mate before but not this flavor. I know they still sell the original flavor at Trader Joe's. I have to say that this Chai Spice Mate had a nice flavor to it. The neat thing about Yerba Mate is you can make lattes with it; it actually enhances the flavor. I made my Yerba Mate Latte with unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze and a bit of Splenda. Fantastic and free......

Dinner was an Asian pork tenderloin. I marinated the pork in teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, honey, garlic and green onion, then baked it all in the oven. To go with it, I made fried brown rice. I tried a new way of making brown rice and it came out amazing!!! Instead of using the traditional 2 to 1 ratio of making rice, I boiled it like pasta!!! Sounds strange, but it works like a charm! My brown rice has always come out kind of mushy or weird texture-wise, so I researched and came up with this method. I took 2 cups of brown rice, rinsed it and then added it to a large pot of boiling water and stirred. I boiled the rice(no lid) for 30 minutes then drained it and placed it back in the pot(off the heat) and put a lid on to steam it for 10 more minutes. It was perfectly fluffy and delicious! I mixed some of the cooked rice with green onion, peas, 2 scrambled eggs, soy sauce and "fried" it in a bit of oil. Delish!

I had 1 c. of fried rice and 3 oz. pork for 9 POINTS...

And last, but not least, I got this yummy treat today, too...

Chocolate Marshmallow Frozen Yogurt!!!!!! How bad can that be??!!! This fat free froyo is only 110 cal, o gr. fat and 1 gr. fiber for 1/2 c. serving which comes to 2 POINTS. It even contains active yogurt cultures and has 20% Calcium and 20% Vitamin D. I knew dessert was good for me ;) Look at the yummy whipped marshmallow...

Those are my "sugar and spice" food finds for you!! Hope you had a sweet Monday =)