Banana Streusel Muffins

I took 238 pictures from Friday night until last night.  I may have a bit of a problem. 😀  It was a good long weekend.  I didn’t really have any plans except with my Mom yesterday.  It was a nice balance of productivity, cooking and lazy.  I will admit that we ordered pizza on Saturday night and I may have eaten half of a small pizza and three glasses of wine.   I tracked it, but I had wine Friday, Saturday and Sunday and yesterday decided to ditch the wine.  It’s just empty calories and I have a goal to lose 6.6 pounds this month.  

One of the things I made this weekend were these 4 smart point banana streusel muffins.  I am a sucker for the bananas on the discount rack, and bought 17 bananas for $1.79.  

I used the Premier Protein bananas and cream shake in place of milk in this recipe.  I absolutely love how the crust came out on these – slightly crunchy but tender on the inside. 

I spent yesterday morning sipping coffee, hanging outside with the dogs.  The weather was perfect.  I took a shower and got ready to meet my Mom for lunch at Big Bowl and a movie.  I went as Sporty Spice – I wore sweat pants and a comfy t-shirt.  #klassy

Only one tiny problem with that – because it was Labor Day, Big Bowl didn’t open until noon and our movie was at 12:45.  So on to Plan B – Uncle Julio’s.  I am not sure how long this chain has been in Illinois, but this was our first time there.  Such a cute bar area!

We sat outside and tried to contain ourselves over the super thin tortilla chips and salsa.  

We both were in awe at how thin these chips were.  The salsa wasn’t too spicy, and I was going to ask if they had a spicier one, but then that would mean I would eat more chips, so I decided not to.

We both got the shrimp tacos.  So good.  Mine came with a habanero mango sauce which was so good.  I didn’t care for the rice too much – lots of onions but for some reason it had no flavor to me.  The beans were amazing though.  We both said next time though we would order the tableside guacamole 😀

It’s been a while since I saw a movie, and was a bit shocked at the $11.87 cost for a matinee!  But then I was reminded that the seats are super comfy, so that in itself is worth the ticket price.  This theater also has beer and wine that you can bring into the theater too.  I think they are trying to compete with iPic.

My Momma told me I was a great date, which without her actually coming out and saying it, she basically said “Biz, you are my favorite child.”   And spending time with my Mom?  #priceless

I meal planned using my freezer and defrosted a sirloin tip roast.  My Mom bought me a new remote thermometer for Christmas and I love it.  It has two parts – one that clips on the grill below and a second transmitter that can be 100 feet away from the grill and I can still monitor the temperature.  That way I can do stuff in the kitchen and keep an eye on the temperature.

You have to take into consideration the residual cooking that the beef does after you take it off the grill.  Also, don’t wrap a roast in foil after it comes off the grill to rest, because you are basically continuing to steam the meat wrapped up.  I just put it on a plate and stick it in my microwave to rest.

I had a 3 pound roast and it took about 50 minutes to cook on indirect heat.  My goal internal temp after resting is 125 and it was absolutely perfect.  The best part is that I have lots of leftovers.  Today I have leftover beef fried rice for lunch.  I had 4 ounces of lean beef (4) 3/4 cup homemade mashed potatoes (4) and I made a bone broth mushroom jus for 2 points with grilled zucchini.  Sunday dinner at its finest.  Even if I ate it alone because Hannah and Jacob were watching a movie and ate in their room.

I am hoping my sister is able to walk today, I think we only walked once together last week.  

There’s still time to enter my blog anniversary giveaway – you can check it out here.

Show of hands how many will forget today is Tuesday and not Monday?!  Make it a great day!