Playing Hooky!

Happy Memorial Day all!  I played hooky yesterday and didn’t blog at all :D  Sorry, but, it was totally necessary.  Sometimes you just have to unplug and enjoy life without thinking about the computer or finding time to write.  That was exactly what I did and I know you all can totally relate so Thanks!!!

This weekend has been AWESOME ~ not in a super eventful type of way, but, just in that it actually FEELS like it’s been a LONG, THREE DAY Weekend where I got a ton done and had time to enjoy it.  Here we gooooo…..

SUNDAY!!!

I picked up this Quaker Pancake mix awhile back….

Although I normally prefer to make my own pancakes (it’s so easy), I couldn’t resist this mix that is only 2 points for 1/3 cup (translation ~ 1 point per pancake!)

I decided to follow the Heart Healthy Recipe by using egg whites and adding a few things.

Like coconut and fresh blueberries 😀

I LOVE it when pancakes get super puffy and you can see all the blueberries.

I had 2 pancakes (got The Husband to eat one and froze the rest) topped with 2 tsp whipped butter, PURE Maple Syrup and a handful of blueberries (5 pts).

I really liked the Quaker mix, but, you can tell it’s a healthier pancake as it has a grainy texture (that I like ~ The Husband, not so much).

After breakfast we were off to the Napa Flea Market.  There wasn’t anything really exciting there, but, I was intrigued by these bushes I kept seeing people selling.  Any guesses on what they are?

Fresh Garbanzo Beans….crazy, cool, huh?!

After the Flea Market, we treated The Husband’s Mom to Buckhorn Grill.

I decided to venture out from my usual salad and have their Little Buck Tri tip Sandwich ~ “4 oz. thinly sliced tri-tip. Served with Au Jus dipping sauce” It was smokey and tasty. I ended up having only half my sandwich and using some of their BBQ sauce inside instead of the Au Jus. (4 pts)

For my side I picked a green salad with their honey basil vinaigrette.  I LOVE this dressing and really need to figure out how to recreate it ASAP. (1 pt)

I decided to only eat half my sandwich so I could have some sweet potato fries – I seriously have not met a sweet potato fry I didn’t like….totally worth the trade 😉 (4 pt estimate)

We spent the afternoon being tourists driving around Napa, St. Helena and to the Castle of Love ~ one of my FAVORITE places.

Along the way, we stopped to “refuel” at Starbuck’s.  Ironically I wasn’t feeling my latte so I tried a Frappucino My Way….ya, the Starbuck’s Peeps are a bit challenged with that.

I ordered a Strawberry Banana Frap made with FF milk….it was ok, but, not all that – I had a few sips before giving it to The Husband because it was too sweet.

We both weren’t super hungry we when got home. so I snacked on some Stacy’s Pita Chips for no real reason while we decided (3 pts).

Dinner ended up being simple ~ Annie’s BUNNY Mac (5 pts) and a little leftover carne asada (2 pts)

MONDAY!!!

I woke up completely on a mission today.  I decided to make another SMALL LIFESTYLE CHANGE!  I have to confess that I usually pay someone to wash my car (how can I not when the places do everything for only $15!)  But, today, I told myself I could use the CALORIE BURN and I could save the $.

One Venti Iced Latte and 3 hours later, my car is seriously like brand new!  The best part is that I now have another 3,000+ calorie burn day – woohoo! (3 pts)

After cleaning house and doing laundry too (told you I was on a mission!), I was STARVING.  We stopped at Subway and I tried out a new Baked Lays ~ Parmesan & Tuscan Herb.

Eh ~ ok, ingredient list, but, Baked Lays are just like that.

Great stats!  They are pretty powerful in flavor….they seriously taste like spaghetti sauce.  I probably wouldn’t buy them again.

My REAL incentive for getting chips is because I LOVE putting them in my sandwich.  I had a turkey/ham on honey oat with honey mustard & all the veggies sans AVOCADO because they had none 🙁 (5 pts)

Mid afternoon snack was an un-pictured slice of LF Sharp Cheddar Cheese (2 pts)

Since it’s Memorial Day, we kept up our usual tradition and BBQ’d a ton of stuff.  I was really excited to try out this BBQ Sauce we bought in the Caribbean.

I LOVE how they list some ingredients, then, in Caribbean style, just get tired of that and show “etc.” 😀

Since we had company over for dinner, I BBQ’d Chicken, Tri Tip, Hot lInx, Turkey Burgers and Corn on the Cobb then kept the sides simple.

2 oz tri tip (2 pts) and 1 BBQ chicken leg (2 pts)

Plus a side salad with Newman’s Own Light Lime Vinaigrette. (2 pt)

CORN!!! (1 pt) and a slice of sweet French bread (1 pt).  Delicious and the best part is we have leftovers!!!

Off to enjoy the rest of our long weekend…..I need to go pick out my next book to read  from my book stack 🙂

Night all!