Happy Monday everyone!
Actually, I’m very glad this Monday is coming to a close because it has been a VERY looooooong day. 😉
I am happy to say I started my day off with some Oats in a Jar though! I always get so excited when we empty a jar of peanut butter ’round here.
I just made my typical Chocolate PB Oats (minus the peanut butter) and then put the hot oatmeal into the (almost) empty jar of peanut butter and topped it with some bananas and hemp seeds. It is so so good and SO SO filling!
I also had a pretty decent lunch too. Woo hoo!
I pulled out some leftover chicken from the freezer and served it with leftover brown rice and a yummy salad. This was fantastic.
Sadly, I ate A LOT of food over the weekend! It was healthy some of the time, but we did go out to eat several times. I also indulged in a couple treats. 🙁
A bunch of Kev’s family was in town for a wedding over the weekend. On Friday night, I enjoyed some (excellent) pizza with the fam and also had a slice a wedding cake.
On Saturday, we took Kev’s parent’s to visit City Creek Center in Salt Lake City. City Creek is a beautiful outdoor mall full of amazing stores and picturesque scenery. It’s such a fun place to walk around.
We also stopped and got some lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. I got the same Veggie Burger (off of the Skinnylicious menu) that I got a couple weeks ago when I went out with my friends.
It was fabulous and SO flavorful, but I think I enjoyed it a little bit more the first time. For some reason, the burger seriously fell apart this time and was very crumbly. It also had some kind of garlic spread on it that I don’t remember before. It was good, but I think I enjoyed it more without it.
We had a fun time at City Creek Center and I’ve decided Cheesecake Factory is one of my favorite restaurants in the world!
On Saturday night, we went out to eat AGAIN for dinner with Kev’s parent’s and some other family members. We went to Texas Roadhouse. Yum.
I wanted to keep it pretty lite, so I ordered the 6 oz. Sirloin Steak with a side salad (no pic, sorry!) and a plain sweet potato.
It was so good and seemed like a “real” and healthy choice. At least I could see all of the ingredients and knew exactly what I was eating.
Kev’s dad recently had his 81st birthday, so last night I made him a belated birthday cake! He really loves German Chocolate cake, so I decided to make him one.
I’d never made German Chocolate cake before, so I looked up a frosting recipe on AllRecipes.com and it turned out awesome! I just used a German Chocolate cake mix, but the frosting was heavenly! It wasn’t healthy at all, of course, but if you need a good German Chocolate cake frosting recipe, I highly recommend this one!
Anyway, we had a wonderful, food filled weekend! I’m still feeling very, very poofy and bloated (shocker), but I’m hoping to deflate a little this week as I eat food with less salt, fat, sugar and who knows what else.
I’m happy to say I had a pretty decent exercise week last week though! I got two really great cardio days and two great muscle days in. On Friday morning, I decided to run on my treadmill and I’m happy to say I felt pretty good! I ended up running an even 5k (3.1 miles) and kept my pace right around 10:00ish.
Woo hoo! That is just about Olympian speed for me right now! I was so happy to feel sorta, kinda normal. SO HAPPY!
I also went to the gym with Kev and one of my friends on Saturday morning. We just worked the upper body for about an hour and it was great. Exercise really makes me feel so good.
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I also want to tell you guys about a fun box I received in the mail last week.
It’s called a MercoBox and it’s made by MercoLocal, a Utah based monthly subscription company that includes a whole bunch of products from local Utah businesses. The cost is $19.99 per month, plus shipping ($5.32 within Utah.) You can subscribe to receive a box every month and you can cancel at any time.
I was more than happy to receive and review a MercoBox because I love receiving fun, surprise packages in the mail and I love supporting local small businesses! Here’s what was inside the April box that I received…
The box included:
Eco Treasures soap nuts ($9.99 value)
Fit Me Tea 3 tea samples and filter ($6 value)
Meals that Transform power bar & protein mix ($5 value)
Les Madelines 3 madelines ($3.75 value)
Mason Jar Coffee Roasters Colombia Guatica ($3.50 value)
Rodizo Grill Gift Card ($10)
Our Children’s Earth Gift Card ($5)
Downtime Yoga Gift Card (free class)
Ballet West Gift Card (buy 1 get 1 half off)
So fun! Here’s a closer look at some of the fun products…
Sadly, I’m not a coffee or tea drinker, so I can’t tell you first hand what I thought of those products. I can say that they looked to be top quality though.
The madelines (little cakes) were so good and we a light lemony flavor.
I absolutely loved the power bar and protein mix! The power bar tasted just like a fabulous homemade protein bar and all of the ingredients were “real.” Bonus!
I loved that the protein mix came in it’s own bottle. It would be so easy to take it to the gym, fill it with water after a workout and enjoy a quick protein shake.
I haven’t tried the soap nuts yet, but they sound so interesting. They are an organic berry that come from a tree. The berries are an all-natural producer of soap and a great and healthy way to wash your clothes. They are also reusuable and can be used 4-5 times before being discarded. Pretty cool! I can’t wait to try them.
I loved receiving my MercoBox. If you are interested in receiving a MercoBox of your own, you can visit their website or Facebook page for more details. You can also use the coupon code, BLOGBOX to receive your first subscription box FREE; you only pay the shipping. FYI, if you live in Utah, the shipping cost is $5.32.
Yay.
Well that’s all folks. I hope you all have a fantastic night!
I received the complimentary MercoBox, but the opinions and text are all my own, as always! 😉
I remember when I used to TAKE DOWN jars of peanut butter!! OMG why is that stuff so crazily addicting, it’s nuts – Oh wait…. AHHH HA HA HA AH HAA HA! Although no, peanuts are actually legumes!
But any who – I could never go to Cheesecake Factory at lunch, I’d definitely need a nap after that delicious feast 😉
I know, I love PB so much too! I love Cheesecake Factory too. Everything I’ve ever ordered there is delicious!
What a cool concept for a monthly subscription box. Using local ingredients is so important! I think your eats were pretty good overall! I think a little treat here and there is ok. 🙂
I really love supporting local companies! I agree about the occasional treat here and there too. Sometimes it’s hard for me to stop once I start though, lol!
I was going to say what Britt did – looks like you ate pretty healthy most of the time – plus y’all were moving around a lot!!! Glad you had a good time with Kevin’s family!
I hope I didn’t do too much damage. It just felt like we were eating all weekend long! We had a wonderful time though. 😉
I’m always starving after I read your new posts and look at the luscious pictures! (I want a steak at Texas Roadhouse right now!) We don’t have a Cheesecake Factory where I live, but you make me wish we did! One thing we do have that I can try is the peanut butter oatmeal. I never thought of doing that before, but what a great idea! My kids have statewide testing in school beginning tomorrow, and I am going to serve them oatmeal mixed with leftover peanut butter for a good breakfast. Thanks for the idea!
I love Texas Roadhouse and Cheesecake Factory so much! They are two of my all-time favorite restaurants. If you try the peanut butter oatmeal, I hope you love it!
Kev’s dad looks great. Happy birthday to him! You’re such a sweet daughter-in-law and it’s so nice you got to spend time with them. I had a veggie burger two weeks ago in Niagara Falls and didn’t really care for it. Probably because I love the real thing! Lol.
Thanks so much! We had a fun weekend with Kev’s family. 😉 I’ve never been a big fan of Veggie burgers because they seem so “mysterious” to me. This particular one was wonderful though!
The MercoBox looks like a lot of fun, and you can never go wrong with German Chocolate Cake.
I really enjoyed the MercoBox AND the German Chocolate Cake. I really haven’t had German Chocolate Cake many times, but I’m now a huge fan!
This may seem sad but I”ve never gotten to the bottom of a pb jar unti lit goes bad 🙁 Maybe I need to step up my PB usage! I love SLC, hopefully you had great weather.
Wow! I’m sure it would take me a long time to get through PB if I didn’t have a bunch of kids around helping me eat it, lol. We’ve had wonderful weather in Utah lately. I’m lovin’ spring so much!