My friend Linda and I have attended the Dayton Metro Library book sale for the last 3 years and it’s something I look forward to every year. This year was even more fun than usual because my friend Mandy and my sister-in-law were able to join us. We all love to read so it was fun to shop and chat about books, all at the same time. Without realizing it, we spent nearly 4 hours perusing the tables. There were LOTS of tables. This is just a small glimpse of the setup:
Mother of the year right here. Peanut was at the book sale with us, but I didn’t snap even one picture of her. Yes, I took pictures of books and random strangers, but not of my own child. Thankfully Mandy was all over her camera and got some great pictures. Check out her blog for some adorableness. I’m talking about Peanut, not the photo with me in it. 
Too bad I was too obsessed with the books to think about getting a picture of Mandy and I together. 
I haven’t counted the books I bought, but I’d say it’s in the 30-40 range, all for just $14! I very rarely buy books except at this book sale so I was excited to have found some things that were on my wish list.
After the book sale, Linda, my sister-in-law and I went to PF Changs for lunch. We were STARVING so I treated the whole table to lettuce wraps as an appetizer. For my main meal, I had the lunch portion bowl of Moo Goo Gai Pan with brown rice and egg drop soup. I looked up the nutrition information later so that I could track my Weight Watchers points. Want to know what I discovered? The lunch bowl is actually considered TWO portions. Really? You get one cup of egg drop soup which is obviously one serving, but then the meal itself is designed to serve two people. I don’t get it. Can someone enlighten me to this logic? I knew I was splurging a bit on calories and had them budgeted. I was just disappointed with the marketing. The menu makes it sound like you’re selecting a reasonable portion but then, like most restaurant dishes, you end up getting way more than a healthy portion. I guess it could have been worse. Yes, I should know what a healthy portion looks like. Yes, I should have looked it up BEFORE I went to the restaurant. I just get tired of confusing marketing tactics that target people who are trying to choose something healthy.
*steps off soapbox*
Peanut and I’s weekend didn’t end there. After the book sale and lunch, we met my mom at a hotel outside of Dayton for a scrapbooking retreat. Yes, boys and girls. I’m one of those crazy scrapbookers. My mom and I got into the hobby when I was a junior in high school and we were immediately hooked. I do some scrapbooking at home, but most of my projects get accomplished at the various scrapbooking events (usually called “crops”) we attend several times each year. Working on my albums at these events is fun, but I attend more for the quality time with my mom and socializing with the other lovely ladies. This particular crop was a 2-day event so we stayed the night in the hotel and got back to work on our scrapbooks on Sunday.
I like being out and about, but it’s always nice to come home. Peanut’s eyes lit up when she saw my husband and again when she spotted the dog. I was happy to see them, too. My husband spent the weekend watching the NFL draft which is something that induces giddiness in him each year. Still, I think he was glad to see us when we returned.
While we were gone, he also watched an episode of Guy’s Big Bites. It’s his favorite show on Food Network. He was so excited about the recipe that he’d seen and I ended up making it for dinner last night because ingredients were pretty basic and we had them all in the house already.
I didn’t specifically make the blackening spice shown. Instead, I just sprinkled the chicken breasts with cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika & cayenne pepper while they cooked on the grill pan. I used fat free refried beans and 8-inch whole wheat tortillas instead of 10-inch flour tortillas.
We skipped the two topping recipes because my husband doesn’t care for corn and black bean salsa and we didn’t have chipotle peppers handy for the drizzling sauce. Instead, we just used reduced-fat sour cream, jarred salsa and fresh cilantro.
If you like Mexican, you NEED to make these. So good! In fact, they were so good that I tweeted @ChefGuyFieri to rave about the recipe. My husband requested that the recipe go in our “make regularly” file. That’s what he says when he REALLY likes something. As Guy Fieri would say, “Winner, winner, chicken dinner.”
Do you watch cooking shows? If so, what’s your favorite?
