Home & Garden Show=New Gadgets ~ FUN!

Hiya all! I am soooooo SAD that my long weekend is over, but, it was definitely a FUN weekend.  I think sometimes I need to just plan a break from myself – give myself ONE day of nothingness because somehow I almost always manage to fill every minute.  This weekend was no different. 

We had a blast on Saturday meeting my parents for lunch, then, at the Home & Garden Show then dinner.  I honestly think The Husband is turning into my parents because well, he LOVES those shows, just like them.  I have to admit though, it was interesting for probably the first time in my life 🙂

Sunday was supposed to be my relaxation day, but, I managed to fill my day with grocery shopping, Home Depot trip with The Husband, NEW RUNNING SHOES for me (well, they had to be ordered, out of stock :() and lots of food prep.  I cannot wait to try out and share the WW CROCK POT recipes I whipped up today.

Now, it’s time to get down to business, catch you all up and hopefully leave myself a little bit of relaxation time 🙂

SATURDAY

I had really good intentions of actually DRINKING the Tall Latte we picked up for breakfast, but, I forgot about it as we chatted on our drive up to meet my parents ~ oops.

So, my day basically began with lunch at Dos Coyotes!  I LOVE this place ~ it is probably one of the places I miss the most since moving.

I hit up the salsa bar to start……

Sipped on my Tropical Ice Tea ~ LOVED this tea!

Then, the salad I’ve been dreaming of all week long appear and it was BIGGER THAN MY HEAD!  The YucaTan Chicken Salad is filled with awesomeness!

“Charbroiled chicken breast on green leaf lettuce, red onion, carrot, sweet peppers, cabbage & corn in Southwest vinaigrette served on a flour tortilla with fruit salsa and chipotle cream.”

It’s 10 pts for the salad w/o the tortilla (14 with).  You could possibly save on points by not getting the chipotle cream or the tortilla strips.  I managed to get through about 2/3’s of my salad with a few bites of the tortilla – SO GOOD!

HOME & GARDEN SHOW HIGHLIGHTS

This is what my Garden Box is going to look like when it’s all done and flourishing with what I grow 😀

Crazy Magic Beans that actually grow with writing on them.

How weird is that?! They say they are edible but I’d be scared 🙂

Fun signs….I totally wanted these two for FUN!

I had total VITA-MIX envy when I saw them whip up smoothies, soup and ice cream.  OMG – I TOTALLY WANT ONE NOW!!! :D  I think I NEED to review one! LOL…ok, well, a girl can always dream….I still LOVE My Magic bullet though 🙂

I NEVER knew that you could be WHOLE FRUIT in there CORE and all.

I sampled the fruit smoothie concoction and it rocked!

Plus some Mock Pina Colada Cheesecake Ice Cream ~ I couldn’t get paste the ingredients he used (they had transfats, high fructose corn syrup, etc) so I gave it to The Husband because well he eats anything :). 

I bought some fun new sauces to play with and The Husband’s FAVORITE marinated mushrooms.

He paid it forward by picking me up this super cool Blogging Heros book for only $5 – SCORE!

 

I think this is what I am MOST excited about.  These little ceramic dishes are made in Spain and imported. 

This is a spice mill – you can finely ground or course grind any dried herb or fresh rosemary or time.  Ohhhh they also used it for crushed red pepper flakes too!

This is probably the COOLEST grater I’ve ever seen ~ first because you can’t grate your hands up and second because it grates everything EASILY.  Parmesan, chocolate, garlic, ginger, nuts….EVERYTHING!

It comes as a set with a cute little brush and a garlic clove skin remover.

After all that walking, we worked up an appetite :)  We ended up going to the Buggy Whip for dinner.  I LOVE the name ~ it makes me think it’s all old fashioned and such.

I LOVE that they put lights up all year round too!

You get a TON of food for your moolah!  I started off with a slice of wheat bread.

Then, we had the second course of a  delicious minestrone soup.  I think I could’ve made a meal of just this soup.

 

Third course ~ salad with ranch on the side.  I was craving Ranch so I went with it…I used my fork and dipped to eat it with each bite.   By doing that I ate only 1/3 of the container.

Fourth Course ~ steak &  scampi with a baked potato.  I actually ordered the combo to give The Husband my steak (I just wanted the SHRIMP).  I did have about 2 oz of steak too.  It was all pretty tasty.

SUNDAY

I woke up today wanting something for breakfast but not really knowing what to eat.  Do you all ever get like that?  What is your quick goto I don’t know what to eat thing?

I finally decided to whip up a MOCK CINNAMON ROLL!!!

1 Earth Grains Whole Wheat Thin

1 Laughing Cow Lite Wedge

Freshly Ground Cinnamon Chips

ORGANIC RAW Agave Nectar

This was SO AWESOME and totally a random breakfast of everything that sounded good….Not too bad for 2 pts 😀

I added a Perfectly Hard Boiled Egg for 2 pts of protein.

 

Mid morning I snacked on a 1 pt low fat Colby cheese square.

Working on my MISSION TO CLEAR THE FREEZER, I whipped up an AWESOME VEGETABLE GYOZA WITH EDAMAME SOYCATASH for 5 pts a serving!  This recipe is a FAST and EASY favorite that I tried during my Vegan Adventures.  It is from Vegetarian Times Mag and it only takes like 10-15 minutes from start to finish – I LOVE recipes like that.  You can click HERE for the recipe.

I had a Blood Orange on the side that my mom brought us from my grandma’s tree.  So fun to eat since they are so vibrant….sweet like an orange, tart like a grapefruit.

Afternoon snack was MY FAVORITE Milk Chocolate ~ DOVE Caramel filled Milk Chocolates.  (4 pts)

I couldn’t wait to break out my two new sauces so dinner tonight was built around them.  I used the Chipotle Apple Brandy Marinade (like a spicy Jack Daniels sauce) on Chicken.

Then, I used the Whisky Pepper Steak Sauce (like a sweet & spicy A-1) on Tri Tip Steaks.

I will be the first to admit, some things in life you just LOVE!  Pasta Roni is one thing I grew up on and I LOVE it.  I do not really buy it as an adult since it has transfats 🙁 however, I was excited to see that they have come out with a Nature’s Way version that has REAL ingredients and isn’t all processed with NO Transfats!!.

6 pts a serving, not bad!

SO GOOD!  I LOVE doughy, gooey pasta….I think i could’ve eaten the whole box 😀

2 pts of Tri Tip Steak deliciousness!

I burned my chicken :(  I think I should’ve used the pan method to grill it *sigh* next time! 2 pts

Southern Greens sautéed with a little EVOO, garlic, sea salt and pepper.  Then, steamed in chicken broth ~ YUM! 0 pts

Dinner was awesome, but, I was STILL hungry after.  I hate spending 10 pts on a meal and still being hungry.

So…I whipped up a COCONUT CARAMEL BANANA SUNDAE for 2 pts!

1 small banana sliced

1 Tbsp Mrs. Richardson’s Caramel, heated and drizzled

Sprinkle of Unsweetened Organic Coconut

FF Whipped Cream

Sprinkles

I LOVED this….I definitely need to make “banana ice cream” next time to do this with, but, it worked fantastic when you wanted something sweet.  I may or may not have licked the plate clean 😀

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend too.  I am off to relax before the busy work week starts!

Night all!