Happy Monday all! I was so ready to hop out of bed and get back to running after my mini back break that I was up at 3:45 am. Wide awake – seriously….I do NOT need to be up that early but, if you can’t sleep why not take advantage of it and slam out a run. I took it easy lowering my run/walk intervals to 4:1 and a few 3:1 to go a total of 3.21 miles. The BEST part is my back didn’t hurt – yahoo! I am hoping that my new shoes make my back even better on my runs..I can handle knee issues, but, your back is totally different.
Last night I put BOTH my crock pots into use to whip of TWO recipes. I have one more crock pot recipe planned for this week as well so you all better get ready for some serious crock-potting.
The first recipe was a Crockpot Broccoli Cheese Quiche!!! Of course, I can NEVER stick to a recipe so I will be posting my modified version this week. One serving is 3 pts and it’s FANTASTIC.
I also had the BEST 3 point latte ever today ~ Grande FF, Decaf with 2 pumps of mocha. It was perfectly chocolately but not overly rich ~ LOVE it!
Usually eggs keep me going for awhile but I think my body was off a bit from being up so early. I was STARVING 2 hours later so I had a banana and a low-fat colby square (2 pts)
I was STILL hungry ~ mornings on my hungriest times (not nights). so, I thought I could break off a little Honest Foods Blueberry Vanilla Crackle to snack on.
OMG ~ I LOVE this granola. It’s a tad bit hard to bite into, but, the flavor is amazing. I LOVED the whole almonds, chewy fruit and sweet/salty/crunchiness of it all. I ended up eating the entire bar…..
Thinking that it was only 4 points for it. Ooops ~ When I read the fine print I realized I just spent 8 points on a bar *sigh*. It is delicious, but, I am not so sure it was worth that many points.
I headed out at lunch to enjoy the sunshine and do a little shopping at Target, TJ’s and Whole Foods (although I STILL want to rebel against WF for their fat policy!).
I was SO EXCITED to find Tiger Balm Patches!!! For those who asked me and told me about Tiger Balm ~ did you know they have patches for only $6.29 at WF? AWESOME!
I came back to whip up a lunch I was CRAVING since I smelled it cook in the crockpot all yesterday.
CROCKPOT KUNG PAO CHICKEN
I completely changed the recipe and will be posting it this week for you all. I topped my Kung Pao with Sriracha hot sauce for added kick.
Served over BEAN Sprouts instead of rice to save on points. All together my entire plate was 6 pts ~ BARGAIN!
This afternoon we had an Annie’s Deluxe Mac & Cheese Party to try out the NEW Creamy Organic Deluxe Pasta! I LOVE the new packaging ~ it looks so professional! 🙂
This version of Annie’s is like the Velveeta Shells n Cheese, but, with REAL ingredients you can recognize and 100% organic ~ you can’t beat that!
The stats are a little higher but I am sure that is due to the cheese sauce being ready to go in the pouch.
We were served up the Barbeque Chicken Pasta recipe that was on the back of the box. I HEART SMOKED GHOUDA CHEESE!
I have to admit this was pretty tasty ~ it reminded me ALOT of BBQ Chicken Pita Pizza (like my BFL Pita Pizza :D). I had 3 servings in my sample container and called it dinner since 1 serving of the recipe is 10 pts.
I am still a basic Annie’s Shells and Cheese girl, but, this was a fun alternative to try. For those wondering, Annie’s is also coming out with a GLUTEN FREE Deluxe too ~ fun!
Dessert…..4 creamy milk chocolate caramel DOVE chocolates. All of the sayings in these are by Martha Stewart….I miss the wisdom of the usual DOVE quotes 🙂
I hope to get my crockpot recipes up for you all at some point this week….but, tonight I am ready to relax.
I think the BEST part of MONDAYS is SCANDALOUS BACHELOR! It’s almost time – woohoo! Do you all think he will eliminate ONLY ONE girl or will he go on get rid of multiple girls like last time? I think I am rooting for GIA and/or maybe Tenley….but, just for the conspiracy, Vienna would be fun 😉
Night all!
i love those honest food granola blocks! the bars are even better!!!
That granola bar looks awesome! I couldn’t tell you how many times I have read the label wrong and thought the nutrition facts were for the entire thing, not just a serving. It can be so deceiving! At least you enjoyed it. 🙂
My hubs is addicted to Annies, he would love the microwave stuff! I’ve done that too with reading nutritional info, whoops!
Oooh, where were you when I needed you yesterday with my lame crock-potting! Can’t wait for your recipes! The husband…well… 😉
I love that they use pumpkin to color the cheese sauce–very blogger-like
Oh man Danica that looks sooooo Good!!! I can’t wait for the broccoli recipe! And I bet dh would like the kung pao.
What a bummer about the honest bar. That’s a lot of points for one bar. Good thing it was so good! I looked at them at the whole foods but decided to pass b/c of the nutritionals but I don’t think I knew it was for 1/2 a bar! LOL. I once did that with a trader joe’s pretzel roll. I ate one before realizing the whole thing was 9 points. Doh!
Oh and BTW me and my kids had teh annie’s whole wheat white cheddar shells this weekend. Very good! I like that it tasted more natural and had whole grains 🙂 The kids seemed to like it too. Not as much as the overly-processed kraft brand but I’m quite sure I can convert them…
I need my veggies so both of these look great! I definitely want to try the broccoli one! I think my husband would love the other one.
Those crockpot meals look so good! YUM 🙂
Great idea to use sprouts instead of rice!
Hi Danica!!! OMG all your posts make me wish we were friends in real life!! hhahah I love all the things you love…food wise you are just a ridiculous cook, as you can tell, that Kung pao chicken is ROCKING my boat/ship, whatever you wanna call it!!! and OMG the Bachelor…totally my guilty indulgence. 🙂 Hope you had a fantastic Tuesday girl!
My sister sent me a care package from a company..and they include Annie’s products! I got some bunny graham crackers..can’t wait to finally try them!
That quiche looks SLAMMIN.
I can’t wait to see your recipe for the Kung Pao chicken and love your idea to use sprouts instead of rice. I am not a big rice person and usually use noodles in my asian inspired dishes.
And The Bachelor looks like it will be super good next wk! If I heard him mention one more time how he is looking for a wife, I was gonna go bonkers!!! I am thinking of making a drinking game starting with that one statement there lol
ohhhhhhhhhh that crockpot quiche looks fab!!!
I am on a mission to find somewhere i can buy Annie’s stuff here 🙂
totally book marked this for crock pot wednesday!
I can’t wait to see the KP Chicken recipe!!! I looooove my crockpot and am always looking for new recipes for it. I also looooove Asian food, so you may just have invented the perfect recipe for me!!!
Yummy mac and cheese!