Happy August!

Happy August!! I cannot believe how quickly this year is flying. I am super excited for August for a couple of reasons:

1) Because it is honeymoon month!! I cannot wait for the relaxing 2 week trip we are taking to Maine

2) Rainy season has actually started so the lawn is doing much better

3) This month starts concert season for us down here

My goal for August is to stay on Points so I am going to post the points for everything I am writing about in addition to how many activity points I earn. I am allotted 26 points a day and 49 weekly points. 

Sunday I got to sleep in a bit today and woke up pretty exhausted. I decided to start with some ice tea and sparkling water because I was to tired to make coffee. For breakfast I made a breakfast sandwich using an english muffin (3 PP), a whole egg (2 PP), 0.5 oz of provolone cheese (1 PP) and deli turkey (1 PP). I then spent the day cleaning up the tailgating gear and downing water. I decided I wanted a snack and I have been craving ice cream, so I decided to make banana ice cream. 

Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream

2 ripe bananas cut up and frozen (3 PP, since they get blended)

1 tablespoon crunchy peanut butter (3 PP)

splash of vanilla extract

Blend all ingredients together until you reach a creamy consistency

Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream in an ice cream bowl from Papa

For Dinner we heated up some pulled pork (6 PP for 3 oz) and ate it with some simple sides of roasted corn poblano salad (2 PP), potato salad (4 PP) and three bean salad (5 PP)

Points Used:  28 PP, 47 Weeklies left

Monday For breakfast I made a quick breakfast sandwich: English muffin (3 PP), 1 large egg white (0 PP), 1 patty turkey sausage (1 PP) 0.5 oz provolone cheese (1 PP). I also drank some black coffee (0 PP). For lunch I brought a southwest style salad: romaine lettuce (0 PP), 3 oz. cooked ground turkey (5 PP), 2 tbsp salsa (0 PP), 2 oz roasted corn poblano salad (2 PP), and 2 tbsp guacamole (1 PP). I also brought cut up carrots and peppers in addition to LaCroix and an apple. After work I headed to the gym for a 45 minute treadmill workout. For dinner I decided to keep things simple. I made roasted broccoli and pulled pork pizza: tortilla (3 PP), 3 oz pulled pork (6 PP), 1/4 cup shredded cheese (3 PP). It was simple but delicious!

Pulled Pork Pizza and Roasted Broccoli

Points Used:  27 PP, 46 Weeklies left

Tuesday For breakfast I had an iced coffee with 1/8 cup of 2% milk and an egg sandwich for breakfast: english muffin (3 PP), turkey sausage (1 PP) and an egg white (0 PP).  I had a lunch meeting that unfortunately I was not the one that ordered the food. I did the best that I could based on the options. I ate Half of a turkey sandwich (5 PP) and half a plate full of salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing (2 PP). After work I headed to the gym for another work out session I did 45 minutes on the treadmill at a 5% incline and 3.5 mph pace. I then headed to the house to get dinner ready for me and the girls. I decided to keep it simple and make a strawberry chicken salad for dinner and 10 oz of white wine.

Strawberry Chicken Salad

Makes 5 servings 8 PP per serving

5 cups spinach cleaned 

1 cup strawberries, hulled and cut into fourths 

1 cup blueberries 

1 cup pecans

4 strips bacon cooked crisp

2 oz. goat cheese

3 chicken breasts

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 olive oil

salt and pepper to tast

1. Mix the last three ingredients together and marinade chicken in it to 30 minutes or overnight. 

2. Remove chicken from marinade and shake off excess. Grill chicken until cooked through. 

3. In a large bowl place cleaned spinach, strawberries, blueberries and pecans. Crumble goat cheese and bacon and place on top. Chop chicken into bite size pieces. 

4 Serve with your favorite salad dressing. 

Points Used:  30 PP, 42 Weeklies left

Wednesday For breakfast I kept it simple again with an egg sandwich. I also had a glass of iced tea with some sparkling water in it. For lunch I brought the Strawberry Chicken Salad and a big container of cantaloupe and strawberries. For dinner I made a sautee of kale, butternut squash and onions in 1 TBSP of butter (3 PP). I topped this with 3 oz of grilled chicken (3 PP). I also took some butternut squash and roasted it to make fries. It was delicious! A little later in the night I had a night cap of 1.5 oz of baileys (5 PP) and 2 squares of graham crackers (2 PP)

Points Used:  27 PP, 41 Weeklies left

Thursday For breakfast I made iced coffee and a very simple breakfast sandwich: English Muffin (3 PP), a whole egg (2 PP) and 1/2 slice of American cheese (1 PP). For lunch I brought my leftovers from the night before. 3 oz chicken (3 PP), kale, butternut squash and onion sautee in butter (3 PP), melon and strawberries (0 PP) and carrots (0 PP).  It was a delicious and well balanced lunch. For dinner we went down to Titanic Brewery for wing night. The deal is 10 wings and a pint for $10.

Friday For breakfast I made a basic egg sandwich. For lunch a couple of co-workers went to Chilis for lunch. I immediately found the lighter fare section of the menu and chose the Mango Chili Chicken which was 13 PP. It was delicious but in retrospect...I should have skipped the rice and just eaten the broccoli and chicken.

Saturday I was bad at tracking this weekend. We had friends over for breakfast and I made mimosa pancakes and an egg strata. I am sure I blew through all my daily points and my weeklies.

Time to try better on staying on track on the weekends!

Back to Life

Andy and I have been working on getting back into our normal routine. It is hard to remember what that normal routine is since we barely remember what we did before we bought a house and planned a wedding. We are trying to focus on cooking more and maintaining both inside the house and the yard.

Sunday- Sunday was a catch up on projects we have wanted to do day. First we had decided we would smoke pork for pulled pork. Andy started the Boston Butt at 8 AM. The night before we had rubbed with mustard and the spice rub and let it sit overnight. Once we were both up, Andy did a quick trip to the store for some sides and we got started. We started by trimming the trees around the roof. Then we did some rearranging of the shed to get bikes in a better position. We also cleaned up the porch which had become a dumping ground for all sorts of stuff.

Andy enjoying our new furniture!

We had some friends over to enjoy the pulled pork. Dinner was the pulled pork with homemade Carolina BBQ sauce, coleslaw, salad and baked beans. It was delicious!

Monday- I started my day with a smoothie. I have changes my smoothie recipe up a little bit. 1/2 c frozen blueberries( 0 PP) , 1 C spinach (0PP), 2 TBSP 0% Chobani (1 PP), flax seed (1 PP) and 2 scoops EAS Lean 15 Protein Powder (2 PP). For lunch I brought leftover salmon and quinoa. I also brought an apple and a Grapefruit LaCroix. After work I headed to the gym for a quick cardio session. Dinner was a half of a baked sweet potato topped with 3 oz pork and carolina bbq sauce. I paired this with a side salad and some coleslaw

Tuesday- Breakfast was another smoothie, just like Monday's. For lunch I brought my lunch to ensure I wouldn't eat the lunch that was brought in. I made a salad topped with 3 oz salmon and my homemade asian salad dressing. I also brought watermelon and an apple. For dinner I kept everything really simple. Turkey roll-up, baked sweet potato topped with a little cheese, salsa and guacamole. After dinner and doing a couple of chores around the house I treated myself to a SkinnyCow Ice Cream sandwich.

Wednesday I decided to change up breakfast a little bit because I had a busy day at work. I made a breakfast sandwich on a Light English muffin (3 pts) with a whole egg (2 pts), one slice of deli turkey (1 PP) and 1/2 oz of provolone cheese (1 PP). It always shocks me that an egg sandwich is 7 PP but I stay full throughout the morning and find that I eat less at lunch. Lunch was half of a Panera Chicken Poppyseed Salad (4 PP). After a busy day at work, I headed to the gym for some strength training. Then headed home for dinner. I decided to make lettuce cup tacos for dinner. It was simple enough. I cooked up some ground turkey with some homemade taco seasoning topped that with a little cheese, guacamole and salsa.

Taco Lettuce Cups and Sparkling water!

Thursday Breakfast was another egg sandwich with some adjustments. I used a Light English Muffin (2 PP),  one egg white (0 PP),  0.2 oz provolone cheese (1 PP) and on Jimmie Dean turkey sausage patty (1PP). I also had iced coffee with 1/4 cup of 2% milk (1PP).

Delicious 5PP breakfast

For lunch I brought a basic taco salad made with 3 cup romaine lettuce (0 PP), 3 oz of cooked ground turkey (5 PP), 2 tablespoons guacamole (1 PP), 2 tablespoons salsa (0 PP), 1/4 cup shredded cheese (3 PP) and cucumber. This was accompanied by an apple and sparkling water.

For dinner I sauteed some bok choy and onion and we topped it with taco meat, salsa, guacamole and 1/4c cheese. We also got ready for Dave Matthews Band and we enjoyed a relaxing night in the hot tub. 

Friday For breakfast I have a breakfast sandwich that Andy was nice enough to make for me (7 PP) accompanied with coffee and a 1/4 cup of 2% milk. For lunch we had a team lunch to celebrate our project Go-Live. We brought in some delicious Thai food, so it was a little harder to stay on track so I focused on avoiding the rice and noodles and really just ate the curry and the samrod chicken. After work Andy and I headed to the Dave Matthews Band Concert in West Palm Beach. Andy had smoked a pork shoulder during the day and picked up sides at Publix. It was not very good points wise but it tasted delicious and I spent 3 hours dancing up a storm!

Saturday Andy and I got up and met up with our new friend Nick. We went to a diner for breakfast. I got a delicious Irish eggs benedict. It was a toasted english muffin topped with tomato, corned beef hash, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce at Sara's Kitchen in West Palm Beach. It was amazing!! After that we headed to Twisted Trunk Brewing for a couple of beers before tailgating. I tried a watermelon saison, english pale ale and a session IPA. They were great beers. We then headed back to the venue for night two of DMB. We ate pulled pork again with sides of beans, potato salad, and macaroni salad. It was another great night of Dave music in the rain.

Since we are now in August, I wanted to set some goals for August which are realistic since it is also honeymoon month.