I AM Loved!

Happy Saturday all!  Did you all think I had abandoned you for “How-To’s” and “Recipes” only?  No worries, I didn’t.  Sometimes I have so many things I want to share with you all but I don’t have time to do that with my recaps too.   So I improvise – I post the extras I want to share and play catch up later.  Plus, sometimes it gives me a chance to breathe a little versus getting overwhelmed with all I want to share.  I still have a few more extra posts to share so hopefully you all will get the bonus plan this weekend too with more extras 😀

Ok, let’s get down to business with a little backtracking.

THURSDAY

I woke up craving a savory eggwich.  I whipped up this eggwich in less than 10 minutes and for /12 the points of a certain eggwich you’d get if you bought it.

I took 1 Morning Star Veggie Sausage for 2 pts.

 

Then, I added a “fried” egg on top of two slices of TJ’s FF Multi-Grain Bread.

And devoured my 6 point sandwich on my way into work ~ so, so good, I know all the drivers passing me were all jealous at my eggwich as they drove by 😉

My protein eggwich did an awesome job at keeping me full for 4 hours.  It was raining once again outside (booo!) but I needed to get out of the office.  So, I decided to head to Panda Express for lunch and blogging.  Yes, I am a total multi-tasker and honestly I CRAVE their veggies….could be worse, right?

3 pt side of mushroom chicken

Plus a side of their NEW not fried Fire chicken ~ estimated 3-4 pts.

All together my lunch completely rocked and I’d say did an awesome job at helping me to check off those veggie and protein healthy guidelines 😀

Ok, so let me confess, I had an ulterior motive.  It’s been forever since I’ve have Froyo and well it’s right next door to Panda!  I mixed up the BEST combination of 1 c Fat Free Froyos ~ Boysenberry, Pineapple and Vanilla with sprinkles and a couple yogurt chips.  I LOVE that FF froyo is 4 pts for a cup (I know I won’t get the 1/2 cup serving so I am honest and go for the full cup).

Total bonus ~ the Over The Top Shop peeps gave me a 10% off coupon for next time – woohoo!!!

They had a celebration at work for the January birthdays but I was so content with my lunchtime treats.  I found a new secret way to avoid eating cake though ~ Serve it up to everyone and they won’t notice you didn’t take any 🙂

When I got home I had yet another birthday package ~ Seriously, you all amazed me…I am SOOO LOVED!  The super sweet Jasmine from Sweet a& Fit sent me a Pink Birthday package.  I LOVE how she wrapped it and mailed it in birthday wrapping paper.

HOLY SURPRISE!!! Jasmine, You amaze me.  I cannot believe that she baked me a ton of treats, plus tea, plus chocolate (including my new favorite!)

Oatmeal raisin bars (which might be my new favorite thing!) & butterscotch cookies!

Plus banana bread squares ~ i LOVE banana nut everything!

Fun tea and FAVORITE chocolates!  I am super excited to try everything.

The Husband said we could each share a few to try….since  he knew I could totally spoil my dinner on cookies :D  I had a bite of this caramelly butterscotch cookie – so good!

The, 1/4 of these fully loaded Oatmeal Raisin Bars.  OMG ~ they are so chewy, buttery and melt in your mouth.  Jasmine you are seriously an AWESOME baker!  Thank you so much, I honestly LOVE everything.  I did put 2/3 of everything in the freezer so I can make it all last awhile and not have it go to my rear 😀

I also received another package from Mrs. Dash in honor of National Salt Reduction month.  Fun, I LOVE having new spices and herbs to play with.

For dinner I was craving MORE veggies, in particular a Mary’s Pizza Shack salad.  I LOVE this salad.  The Husband wanted to eat out too so it worked out perfectly.

With our salads they brought out some cheesy garlic bread.  YUM!  I actually resisted a bit…

And had that piece on the end you see without really any butter or cheese on it.

We ordered the Couples special where we each get soup/salad, drink, bread and then share spaghetti with meatballs for $20 – cheap, huh?

Since I wasn’t super hungry, I had a little pasta, a bite of the meatball and my piece of garlic bread.  And…..The Husband ate the REST 😀

I LOVE ending the work week without having to cook 😀 I was pretty pumped all day since Thursday was my Friday and I had a long 3-day weekend ahead – yeah!    

******************************************************************************************************

FRIDAY

Do you all find as much as you try that you cannot sleep in that much on the weekends?  I am such am morning person, I was up bright and early at 6 am to start my day – Fun 😉

I have been CRAVING real homemade pancakes ever since I saw Janetha make her Blueberry Pancakes in celebration of National Blueberry “Pancake” day.

Since I happen to have a little extra low-fat buttermilk on hand from a guest post recipe I recently made, I whipped up a batch of Cooking Light’s Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes.   The recipe can be found on myrecipes.com by clicking HERE.

I LOVE that you can “hide” the whole wheat taste by using 1/2 wheat and 1/2 white flours.  The Husband NEVER notices the whole wheat when I do this.

I used Trader Joe’s ~ Baker Joe’s 100% Whole Wheat Flour.  Is it just me or do you all LOVE how Trader Joe’s gives their products funny names, like Baker Joe’s or Mexican food is Trader Jose, Chinese food is Trader Ming’s etc?  It’s so funny to me

Since my regular whisk was dirty, I FINALLY found a reason to use my Fancy New Whisk I got at the FoodBuzz Blogger Festival.  So cool!

 

The batter turns out perfectly thick/thin.

I added 2 tsp PURE Vanilla Extract and 1 Tbsp Organic Maple Flakes to the Cooking Light Recipe.   I will see if I can have Maple Flakes added to My Open Sky Shop….I’ll let you all know when and if I can….They ROCK!

The secret to knowing when to flip your pancakes is when they have bubbles on top and they are slightly browned on the edges.

I LOVED how fluffy the got ~ I seriously felt like a pancake pro!

Served up with a little Whipped Butter (1/2 Tbsp for 1 pt) plus a 1 Tbsp Drizzle of Warmed PURE Maple Syrup (1 pt)

YUM ~ I totally want to have these all over again.  So glad I froze the extras to have on another day I CRAVE pancakes.

After breakfast we did a quick 2 mile loop (or square according to my Cardio Trainer).  Then, I filled my afternoon up working my todo list – it felt AWESOME to get so many things done I’ve been wanting to get done.  Lunch was FAST and made up of things we had on hand in an effort to use up the pantry/freezer.

BIG baby broccoli steamed and sprinkled with garlic salt (0 pts).

Annie’s ~ Simply Organic M&C.  You know, this is my least favorite flavor and it was running versus creamy and not as cheesy like the shells. (5 pts)  I still ate it all though :D  I heart M&C cheese!

Homemade Cheaters Buffalo Nuggets = Trader Joe’s Baked Chickenless Tenders tossed in hot sauce….(4 for 2 pts x 2)

Then dipped in Annie’s Organic Ketchup.  Pretty tasty but I wish they got crispier.

The Husband worked on my Garden Box in the afternoon while I worked on our taxes :D  It’s getting so close to being done, I CANNOT wait to start planting stuff.  I am totally ready for spring to start already 🙂

We headed out to an early Matinee to watch Edge of Darkness.  We both thought it was REALLY good and has some intense parts. I can’t say I am a huge fan of Mel Gibson, but, he did some great Lethal Weapon type acting and I LOVE movies that make you jump in your seat.

After the movie we headed over to MS Tasty for some more of THIS….

I honestly think I could eat plates and plates of her vegetables.  I don’t know how she does it, but, they are cooked so simple ~ garlic, black pepper, salt or soy sauce ~ perfect crunchy and delicious.

Ok ~ I’ll spare you all the fun of how today went down…It was a FUN day spent with my parents, but I am completely ready to relax now. 

See you all tomorrow for a Weekend Recap. Night!