Not your typical day + St. Patty’s Day ideas

I am completely without words (don’t be shocked! :D) from all the support you all have shown during before, during and now after My ShamRock Half Marathon.  I mean, I know I have some fans out there, but, I guess I never realized HOW MANY and how much you all care.  I seriously feel lucky that you all came along for the ride to cheer me on and I am glad to know each/everyone of you 😀 :*  It’s not every day that you realize that so many people out there really do care about what you have to say, what you eat, and more importantly, what you accomplish in life.

Ok, ok, I’ll stop being sappy….I already felt amazing for completing the half, but, today, you all kept the buzz going ~ so Thanks for that!!!

I also realized today I never showed you the cool metal & Brooks Running shirts they gave us for crossing the finish line.

I smile every time I look at it 😀

Yesterday after some great stretching and my ice bath, I felt great.  However, when I woke up this morning, I am pretty sure that a train came along last night and ran me over.  Holy soreness!!  I slept in a bit, did A LOT of stretching and started my day off with some Homemade Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes I pulled out of the freezer.

3 Homemade Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

1 Tbsp Kettle Cashew Butter (so IN LOVE with this!!)

1 small banana

1 Tbsp Drizzle of Pure Maple Syrup, warmed

Organic Unsweetened Coconut Sprinkles

1 BIG glass of water since I woke up STILL thirsty. (7 pts)

After breakfast, I found a new use for my Eat Smart Precision Pro Food Scale.  I was putting together a box of Trader Joe’s goodies to send to Kristin since she is going through TJ’s withdrawals since moving to Canada.  I wanted to make sure I maximized my 4 pounds.

I packed up the box and put it on the scale ~ How is that for being less than 4 lbs ~ LOVE it.  Who needs a postage scale when you have a Eat Smart Precision Pro Food Scale?!

On my way back from the Post Office (which weighed my package in at 3.96 lbs!), I picked up a Grande FF Decaf Latte with Caramel Drizzle on top (2.5 pts).  I wanted some chewing satisfaction so I had 2 pts of honey roasted cashews.

I pretty much spent the day reading, relaxing and catching up on the Food Network.  It was AWESOME!  I wasn’t really feel lunch at all, but, The Husband wanted to bring me something.  He picked up a Wendy’s Grilled Chicken Wrap (250 cal, 10 g fat, 1 g fiber) – 6 points.  I honestly do not think this was worth it at all because if I was hungry, this would’ve done nothing for me (it’s really small).  So, um, not my typical lunch.

Dinner tonight was provided by the awesome peeps at Bertolli.  As part of last night’s Taste & Tweet Up for Bertolli’s new webisodes “Into The Heart of Italy”, they provided us each with a gift card to make a complete Bertolli Meal at home (wine included!)

I scoured the shelves and checked out all the meals they had to offer to find one with stats were not too bad.  I’ll be honest, some of their meals have a little too many calories and fat grams for me.  As much as I LOVED the Meat Lasagna Rustica at BlogHERFood09, I wanted to venture out and try something new too.  I ended up with the Roasted Chicken & Linguine.

8 points a serving isn’t too bad and I like that I can recognize the ingredients.

I have to admit that although I LOVE preparing my own food, it was pretty nice to see all I had to do was pour it into a pan and cook it ~ Easy!

Since it’s only Monday, I passed on the wine.  However, I think it’s nice that they provide you with what wine would work with each meal ~ See you can take your frozen dinner up a notch 🙂

I sprayed my pan with nonstick spray and poured everything in.  I LOVE the linguine curls.

You didn’t really expect it to look like it does in the picture did you?!  Each package makes 2 servings that are about 1 cup each.  I like the portion control for me, however, I think The Husband would need the entire bag to fill him up.

So, I served it up with some delicious garlic bread (3 pts)

And big salads topped with low fat balsamic dressing. (1 pt)

We both actually LOVED this pasta ~ the sauce is awesome and you can totally taste the CHEESE~ it doesn’t taste like a frozen meal at all.  They should’ve served this up at BlogHERFood09 :D  I think the only thing I’d change of course would be to make the servings bigger (maybe more veggies and less calories/fat :)  Not my typical dinner, but, it was a nice change.

Dessert was a BIG bowl of organic strawberries that we snacked on during the 20/20 Behind The Rose Bachelor Special. I may have pulled out a can of whipped cream too.

GET READY FOR SOME ST. PATTY’S DAY RECIPE INSPIRATION!!

For some reason, I am feeling the need to be a bit IRISH this year ~ maybe it has something to do with the Shamrock Half!  That being said, I am making TWO St. Patties day recipes this year beginning with this one.

Guinness Beer Pot Pie – I am cooking it all day in the crockpot then finishing it in the oven when I get home.

Then, for The Husband, I plan on making the Corn Beef, Cabbage and Red Potatoes in the crock pot on St. Patrick’s day.

Here are some other FUN RECIPES I came across in case you wanted to be IRISH with me this year 😀

Corned Beef with Cabbage & Red Potatoes

Beef, Bacon & Mushroom Stew (YUM just by the title and then the picture!!!)

Shepherds Pie

Cheddar Beer Soup ~ This soup might be awesome with some spicy sausage added.

Serious sounding dinner – Guinness Beer Roast with Horseradish Mashed Potatoes

How to Make GREEN Beer!

Want the whole meal ~ Different menu ideas

Ok, so you know I have to know ~ ARE YOU GOING TO BE IRISH THIS YEAR?  How are you celebrating St. Patty’s day?

Night all!