eatingRD.com Food. Fitness. Nutrition. Life!

Friday night after getting home from work, all I really wanted to do was go out to eat and relax!  It has just been one of those weeks if you know what I mean.  I had a few snacks because I was starving waiting for Chris to get home and I had even contemplated going out to eat by myself!  I’ve actually never gone to a sit-down restaurant alone before.  Yes, I’ve been to places like Pei Wei and Panera Bread, but just not full-service, isn’t that funny?  Have you?

Chris finally made it home and we headed out, indecisive as usual.  Most of the time we hop in the car and then try to make a last moment decision before turning off at the exit.  This time, we passed a few of the exits we were thinking of and finally made our way a little further to California Pizza Kitchen.  I’m so glad we went!  It was fun to walk around Town Square and the meal was really tasty and not too expensive for two.  

The night was absolutely beautiful.  There was a slightly cool breeze in the air, but perfect for capris and a t-shirt.  Sure wish I would have brought the tripod.

I really need to get new shoes and clothes, but it seems I’d rather spend money on bike stuff 😀 So I guess I’ll have to work with what I’ve got for now.

CPK has a great small-cravings menu which I thought was a great idea, as long as you don’t go overboard with the portions at dinner, and they are fairly cheap.  They also have 1/2 glasses of wines, but I’m still saying ex-nay on the vino-ay until the century.  I just feel so much better 🙂

We started out with the new Moroccan Salad which was full of many different flavors.  There was romaine topped with aromatically-spiced chicken, shredded carrots, bell peppers, avocado, dried cranberries, diced egg, almonds and dates with a champagne vinaigrette on the side.  I would have never thought of putting dates on a salad, but it’s awesome!  Well, come to think of it dates are pretty much the bomb on anything.  I didn’t realize this salad would be so filling, and I would have actually been great with just the salad for dinner, but . . .

Here was my portion.  I had another 1/2 plate full.

We ordered the goat cheese pizza with a multi-grain crust as an option and this pizza is my fav!!!!!  They have a plethera of great pizzas, but mmm goat cheese on pizza with caramelized onions and bell peppers is heaven!  I had two slices.

We sat outside on the patio to enjoy the nice weather and messed around with the camera 🙂

After dinner, we walked around some more and somehow turned of the exit for Yogel’s Frozen Yogurt!  uh-oh it’s that time of year again!!  I can’t seem to get enough of this stuff in the summer time.

I filled up a cup with vanilla and peanut butter, then topped it with a few mochi, Andes mints and cheesecake bites.  mmm

We were thinking about renting a movie, but by this time it was already 9pm and we were crashing.  It’s crazy how 9/10pm actually feels late to me now.

Chris had to work today, so I joined Kristen for a fun spin class this morning.  I’m trying to keep in biking shape until my bike comes in to try.  Spin isn’t quite the same, but it will work!  Plus it was fun to see Kristen 🙂

Before leaving for spin, I had a smallish bowl of cereal and made a quick pumpkin spice smoothie to have afterwards.  It was delicious!  I’m having such a hard time finding canned pumpkin these days and I actually found the last can at our WholeFoods, whaaa?  Why don’t people carry pumpkin in the off-season?  This stuff is great year-round.

Here’s what went into the mix thanks to Brittany:

• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup Wallaby Vanilla yogurt
• 1/4 cup spiced applesauce from TJ’s
• 1/2 frozen naner
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1/4 cup BSN cinnamon roll Whey powder
• 1/4-1/2 cup cold water or ice to thin

Blend it all up in your favorite blender.  I have a Smoothie Elite, but I’ve been contemplating the purchase of a magic bullet.  Although I need something that will pulverize frozen fruit like butta’.

I put it in my handy dandy Jay Robb shaker bottle with some ice packs in a lunch box.

I also had to top it with a little bit of pumpkin-pie spice 🙂  This was just the thing after spin and very refreshing.

Most of the day I’ve been running errands, grocery shopping, cleaning and washing while Chris is at work.  For lunch I had the CPK leftovers which were just as good today as last night.

I love it when the salad takes up so much space on the plate that the others have to fight for a position 🙂

Not sure what we’re going to have for dinner, better figure that one out!!  Hope your having a nice Saturday!!

Have you enjoyed a full-service restaurant in your own company?