The “Love” Train

Happy Valentine’s Day all!  Thank you all for all the nice comments on my BLTA Lettuce Wrap post.  It really made my day to wake up and read them.  I told The Husband that we were going to exchange our Hearts Day Cards tonight, but, he couldn’t wait.  When I walked into work and opened my bag, his card was sitting right on top of my computer.

Can I just say ~ every single Valentine’s Day he manages to crack me up into a million pieces with his humor, creativity and all the thought he puts into what he does for me.

I literally laughed out loud in my office with nobody around (I thought) when I opened his card.

When we were dating, I made these cupcakes for him using icing and candy to make a train-railroad going across the cupcake with little signs that said “I choo-choose you”.  He totally remembered that.

He actually drew this train on my card ~ notice how we are both “riding” the train and the train not only has heart wheels, it has “steamy” hearts too.

OMG ~ This is the ticket that made me completely bust up!  I am so glad it’s only good for 1 guest, non-transferable and non-refundable!  He even made up a number for it using our dating anniversary, wedding anniversary, Valentine’s day and our birthdays.

I just love that boy!

Breakfast ~ Healthy Egg Roll (SF + 1 WPA) – 5 points+

I was reminded 2 hours later why I usually add fruit with breakfast when my stomach started growling. Banana + Lite String Cheese (SF) – 1 points+

My co-worker and I had to run out at lunch to finish up a few last minute Valentine’s day things.  While we were out, we stopped at Don Perico for crunchy chicken tacos.

I counted out 6 chips on my napkin, added salt (bad habit!) and broke them into pieces dipping them into salsa.  I find if I do this, I can keep my portions in check. (SF + 2 WPA) – 2 points+

Two Crunchy Chicken Tacos A La Carte ~ I love that they made them salad tacos!

With just a little chicken in there. (SF + 5 WPA) – 10 points+

I did pick up a latte at Annette’s when she stopped to get chocolate.  I LOVE their lattes because you can have melted dark chocolate added.  I got a small, non-fat latte with 1/2 Tbsp. melted dark chocolate to make on tasty dirty latte. (SF + 1 WPA) – 3 points+

For Valentine’s Day I always try to find a special meal of his favorite things to make and I have to say ~ tonight’s dinner was one of the best I’ve ever made.

I’ve been waiting almost a month to make this Surf ‘n’ Turf dinner for The Husband ever since I saw Rachael Ray make it on TV.

ON THE MENU:

• Grilled Rosemary Garlic Steaks topped with a Tomato Bacon Salad (recipe here)
• Grilled Smoky Shrimp (recipe here)

Almost 100% Simply Filling!

I preheated the oven to 375, lined a baking sheet with foil, place a cookie rack on it and lined my bacon up in a single layer.  Bake for about 25 minutes or until the bacon is crispy.

Meanwhile, I heated our grill outside to medium high heat and prepped the steaks.

I combined one finely chopped fresh rosemary sprig with 2 garlic cloves and 1 Tbsp. olive oil.

I brushed it all over both sides of the steak making sure I generously seasoned the steaks with sea salt and black pepper.   I picked up these thin cut T-Bone steaks at our local market.

After putting the steaks on the grill, I got started on the Tomato Bacon Topper!  I did deviate from her recipe a little here by adding lemon zest and the juice of half a lemon.

Take 1 container of cherry tomatoes, halved, with 1/4 cup diced red onion and diced fresh basil.  Season with sea salt, black pepper, then, add 1 Tbsp. olive oil with the lemon zest and lemon juice.

Toss it together and set aside to let the flavors blend.  This is important because it helps take the bite out of the onion.

Look at how beautiful the bacon turns out ~ it’s perfectly crisp, all the oil is on the bottom (not your stove from splattering) and your house smells amazing ~ like bacon!

I removed the steaks from the grill (after grilling them for about 8 minutes per side) so they could rest while I finished the salad.

To the tomato mix, I added 4 slices of chopped bacon.

Plus a handful of mixed greens (about 1-2 cups) and 1 Tbsp. of parmesan.  Toss gently.

The last step is to grill the shrimp.  I topped my shrimp with smoked paprika, Old Bay, sea salt, black pepper and 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil before skewering it to grill for 3 minutes per side.

I didn’t make the chili sauce for the shrimp, but, would love to try it next time.

He asked for mushrooms too so I sautéed a batch in garlic salt, black pepper and a little Worcestershire sauce.

He was in charge of setting the table while I cooked.  I love that he grabbed our penguin napkins from Christmas to go with my hearts placemat.

This dinner is totally a keeper!  I could eat this salad by itself ~ it’s so fun finding little all the different textures with the crunchy, smoky bacon, salt parmesan, tang of the lemon and the sweet tomatoes and lettuce.  The steak was totally moist and this topper just added to the rosemary garlic flavor.

3 oz. steak with 1/4 of the salad and 1 shrimp skewer equals 10 points+ or (SF + 7 WPA for the T-Bone steak and a slice of bacon!)  You could use a leaner steak and that would save you 5 WPA on Simply Filling.

We ate by candle light and the Rainbow Light Up Heart he made for me a few years ago.

Here are my stats today:

I pretty much blew my Simply Filling WPA budget balance with today’s eats.  So, I am just going to focus on finishing the week strong with a good, on track day tomorrow.  Definitely ready to reset this week and start fresh on Sunday.

• Simple Filling (SF): 15 WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) used, 0 WPA remaining
• 31 Daily Points+ 0 WPA used, 27 WPA remaining
• My FitBit Dashboard:

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

Did you cook anything special for Valentine’s day or go out anywhere special?  If you cooked, what did you make? If you went out, where did you go?

Night all!