Salad monsters

Day 4 of the salad challenge is over and I'm proud to say that I made it through the Phillies game Friday night without fail! I had a big salad before I headed to the ballpark (see below) and resisted the temptation of all of my girlfriend's cheese fries! Yay me! The beer however, was delightful and flowing very well!

It's now Saturday night and I'm lounging on the couch catching up with my DVR and magazines. I subscribe to around 10 monthly (1 weekly) magazines! Sometimes it's hard to find the time to read them all. Anywho, I wanted something sweet after my salad tonight, so I opted for half of this mini bag of mini eggs. Total satisfaction.

My salad tonight consisted of red leaf lettuce, cucumbers, roasted red peppers, carrots, cheddar cheese, mushrooms, broccoli, grilled chicken, tomatoes, olive oil vinaigrette and some hummus. It rocked.

A little blurry.....

I didn't have any coffee this morning because I woke up around 8:30, got out of bed, fed the cat, etc etc.... went back to bed and didn't get up until noon! I guess I needed some zzzzz's. I ended up working in my garden for about 45 minutes and after showering off all the dirt all I was craving was coffee. So, I made a strong pot and enjoyed 2 lovely cups.

Lunch was 1 and 1/2 cups of pasta and fava beans. Another one of my MIL's creations, with some parm cheese, this is the ultimate (healthy) comfort Italian food. One of them, at least. Love me some favies, as my (very) Italian FIL calls them!

Before the Phillies game on Friday night, I made one of my very favorite salads! Buffalo chicken salad!!! Red leaf lettuce, carrots, cucumber, buffalo chicken strips (store bought) and homemade low fat blue cheese dressing. My fav by far! This baby kept me full all night long and it really wasn't that hard to say no to the cheese fries! :)

My friend Erin turned 31 on Thursday, so we all went to the baseball game to celebrate. She is very Irish and it was Irish Heritage Night! Her father, who besides my FIL, has the greatest accent! Anyway, he had a bagpiper come into the bar - after the game was over - and play while Erin did a little Irish dancing! It was a total surprise and wonderful! Happy birthday Erin!

The salad challenge continues....

Wanna know why this picture is so blurry?? Cause I took it in mere seconds because I'm still frightened (or embarrassed) to take pictures of my food in public!! Ha! I got my camera out and took this shot so quickly, my fiancee didn't even notice! I'm guessing that the more and more I take pics in public, the more comfortable I will be.....

Alas, the salad challenge continues! Ruby Tuesday's is a great choice for healthy eating. Their salad bar is second to none. I got the salad bar and the white bean chili, but gave most of that to the fiancee. It was a light dinner and I felt so good afterwards. Not heavy and fat....

This morning for breakfast was none other than PINEAPPLE CHOBANI!!!! It's my fav, if you couldn't tell..... and a juicy pear and some strong coffee.

Lunch was a salad with radishes, celery and hummus. Totally delish, love the hummus as a dressing.

I finished off the egg salad I made earlier in the week on a bagel thin with some strawberries on the side. I'm now craving a Dove dark chocolate egg and some more coffee. I'm headed to the Phillies game tonight, but I will continue with the salad challenge. My plan is to grab a big salad from home and then head to the ballpark and consume beer for the rest of the night! Tata!

Willpower! I found a little...

I did find my willpower last night when we went out! I got the buffalo chicken salad! The best of both worlds - delicious buffalo fingers and a big, crisp, fresh salad with low fat ranch dressing! I ate every.single.bite. of that salad... Not bad. Also enjoyed some wine. The fiancee makes his own wine here at the house, so store bought (or restaurant) wine is never as good as his :) But I enjoy wine with dinner. He's Italian, so he's been drinking wine since he was, like, 4....

At dinner I got to thinking that I would like to challenge myself to really jump-start my weight loss. I need to lose a few pounds to help with my motivation! (I keep buying bathing suits for our honeymoon...but it's not working!) So, the fiancee and I came up with a 'salad challenge' - eating salads (of some sort) every night for a week or so. Could be a plain salad, caesar, grilled chicken, steak, shrimp, chopped, etc, etc. I feel like salad can be the perfect meal - veggies, carbs, protein, fat and fruits. I'd like to go longer than a week, but I think I will get bored with salad every single night. I'm hoping that if I reserve my carbs for the afternoon and morning, then go carb free for the evening, maybe my body will react and I will lose a couple of pounds. I don't know about you, but if I see a noticable difference in my body, then I am super-motivated to keep it going. That's the extra push I need right now. So, I did well last night, tonight we're headed to the mall to pick out the tuxes for the wedding and then having dinner at Ruby Tuesday's. Easy peasy. They have a great salad bar and great entree salads. Maybe I'll even find the nerve to take a picture in the restaurant!! Who knows.... The challenge begins!!

On to the eats for today - a delightful apple and strawberry-banana Chobani. love love love Tomorrow is pineapple! My favorite! I always save the best for last, so silly, but I'm really excited.... Sad, I know, but it's the little things in life that make me truly happy ;)


Nice side salad for lunch - cheese and radishes with Ken's olive oil and vinegar dressing.

And homemade lentil soup - 1 cup for 3 points. The MIL made it, she's a really good cook, just like her son :)

I came home and munched on a serving of reduced fat Cheez-its. 28 for 3 points. I think I will take a nap and watch the Phillies beat up on the Nationals until the fiancee scoops me up and we head over to the mall. Tata!

Seriously? 4 pounds?

Wednesday's are my weigh-in day for Weight Watchers. For the past 2 weeks, I've maintained my weight - which is ok - better than gaining! But today when I got on the scale, I was shocked. Up 4 pounds. How does that even happen? I only used a couple of extra points this week and I had a great week of exercise! WTH???? I'm really upset. On the other hand, my clothes definitely feel better and I can see the definition coming back to my muscles. Maybe it's just a fluke.... I sure hope.... :(

And, of course, I was starving when I woke up. I can't understand my body! Peach Chobani and some coffee did the trick and a dove chocolate egg.. :)

Lunch was pretty good - the last of the bag of coleslaw with Trader Joe's Soyaki = deliciousness.

Weight Watchers egg salad (1/2 cup for 3 points) on a bagel thin with a slice of swiss cheese and a mound of romaine lettuce. Totally rocked!

This pear has yet to make it to my mouth because I've upset my stomach on chocolate eggs.... MUST HAVE WILLPOWER! No more eggies, the chocolate kind at least...

Headed out tonight to watch teh Flyers first playoff game! The place we're going to has some good healthy options. Hopefully their buffalo chicken fingers don't get the best of me.... they're SO good! WILLPOWER!!!

To eat chocolate or not...

I cannot seem to keep my grimy little hands out of this bag! Ahhhh! I know they are dark chocolate, but eating half of the bag is not a smart or healthy choice. Oh bother....



I wasn't in the mood for breakfast, I think it's hormonal.... Sounds weird, but I have been feeling really bloated and large for the last couple of days, then I get really hungry, really quickly and then I fill up really quickly...??? WTH? I don't get it. Lunch was pretty delish, however. A small sweet potato and some veggie baked beans.

Dinner was another one of the fiancee's creations. There is this place in Sea Isle City, NJ called Welshie's. You go to Welshie's after the bar and you order a sidewinder. Nothing else. And it's delicious. Obviously I have a thing for all things covered in buffalo sauce, well this is no exception. The original sidewinder has nothing but bread, cheese, chicken and buffalo sauce. OMG it's so good. Our version has bread, chicken, mushrooms, green peppers, onions and a low fat blue cheese sauce I made. And buffalo sauce, of course.

First, the onions and peppers saute for a few minutes.

Then the mushrooms were added. I'm glad to get all those veggies in!

Then he sauteed the thinly sliced chicken breast until there was no more pink. Added some buffalo/blue cheese sauce and cooked until gooey and yummy!

Serve in french bread and enjoy! I had some extra sauteed veggies on the side. :) Gotta get them in anyway I can! I had 1/4 of a long piece of French bread for 6.5 points according to the Weight Watchers recipe builder. Not bad!

Here's how I made the blue cheese sauce -

1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles

6 oz. fat free plain Greek yogurt

1 TBSP low calorie mayo

1 TBSP lemon juice

1 TBSP white wine vinegar

1/8 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together and let it chill for a while. Delicious salad dressing or dip!

Sore, so sore

I don't think I've ever been this sore in my life! Mulching and gardening is definitely a workout! I've been stretching all day here in the studio! My legs, my back, my arms, my obliques....you name it, it hurts! A good pain....

Yogurt is back for a Monday morning!! Vanilla with Kashi Honey Sunshine, yummo!

Lunch is the final installment of chicken and rice! I feel like it lasted forever! I guess that can be good and bad - - oh well, it's done! I figured I needed some fruits and veggies in my life, so I packed and orange, strawberries and radishes with hummus for lunch! I ate everything except the orange, maybe I will have that on the way home.

Beautiful chicken and rice.....not really, but it does taste SO good!

Check out this baby Coke Zero! It's 7.3 ounces! So cute - I heard the Coca-Cola company was going to be making mini drinks, but I assumed it would only be for their sugary sodas, not the diet ones.... I love all things that are small, so I love this! That's a regular sized Sprite Zero that I had in the fridge at work, just to compare sizes.

Dinner will be on the fly tonight because I'm going to the city (Philadelphia) to get my taxes done. So, I will probably grab something on the go later. And there will be some Dove dark chocolate eggs in my future..... Tata for now!

The mulch monster

Bright and early Saturday morning, the fiancee and I were out and about picking up last minute essentials for our big mulching day! First stop was for coffee and breakfast! I had a yummy kaiser roll with ham, cheese and egg. Delish! The fiancee had a sausage and egg, he has a thing with cheese on sausage, as in he doesn't like it. I happen to love it, however I opted for ham since the calories are lower. Both were delightful!

We had to make a last stop at the fiancee's parents house to gather asparagus. They are out of town for a few days, so we got to load up on fresh asparagus from their backyard. (evidently it grows quite quickly!) If you've never had fresh asparagus straight from the ground - you don't know what you're missing!! It's SO much better than anything you can find in the store. Thankfully we have our own batch of the green stuff in our yard, but we only planted it a couple months ago and I hear it takes a year to come up. So, in the meantime, we can steal some from the in-laws!

After all of our running around, we were finally ready to mulch. We started at 1pm....and finished at 6pm! Can you believe it??? And we're not really finished, we still have some more beds to mulch, but we just couldn't do anymore last night! I think by mid-week, we'll be completely done. And then it's time for the garden!! I'm planting peas, sugar snap peas and lettuce next weekend. Hopefully everything comes up!

While I laid on the couch (so tired from mulching!) the fiancee got busy in the kitchen. He made cuban pork - pork loin stuffed with ham, swiss cheese, mustard and pickles! Just like a cuban sandwich! Grilled up with fresh asparagus! Twas great!

I fell asleep during "A Few Good Men" Sunday night....sleep was wonderful!