Exercising the Mind

Today's raining morning was the perfect setting to craft this Rest Day into exactly what we wanted to do ... play!

We started the day off with a breakfast we've come to crave: Scrambled eggs with chorizo!! I'd never even used chorizo until trying the Shrimp and Chorizo Paella recipe almost a year and a half ago (you know it's a family fave!!), and I never considered finding another use for it until a friend of mine made us breakfast at her house around Christmas. She cooked up a dish comprised of chorizo, cubed potatoes, cheese and eggs. She scrambled it all up, and presto! It was not only a most tasty dish to me, but all four of us devoured it. When that happens, my brain wheels start turning to incorporate it into our world!

Like my friend, I picked up (and will stick to) the soy version of chorizo. Trust me: It's fabulous. I can taste absolutely zero difference, and it's oh-so-very good for you in categories to which I pay most attention:

I'm delicious. For real!

After comparing this to a variety of pork chorizo options of the
same serving size, the soy variety wins in the calorie department
(90 for this soy versus double -- or much more -- for pork
options), in the fat column (4 grams of fat for this soy versus
about 20 grams for the pork), and in the protein department (6
grams in the soy, zero in the pork).

For our dish, we only use the chorizo and eggs. For the four of us, we use 7 egg whites, 1 or 2 whole eggs (2 if the eggs are on the smaller side of large) and four ounces of chorizo. All you have to do:

• heat up the chorizo evaporating the majority of its liquid
• pour your whisked eggs over
• scramble it up
• serve!

You can't make chorizo look pretty amidst the eggs ... but, it's
totally delicious! It's always the first thing gone off of PC#3's
plate, and that is saying something!

That is a protein punch to start your day for sure! And, alongside orange slices and pancake bites ... that's the way to start a weekend morning!! The whole plate is a big whopping of fiber, by the way, so, if you try it, time it well. Just. Sayin'.

While we ate our super-delish breakfast, Elly honored Rest Day:

Okay, then I had to share this with you -- Aaron's Mom got us the best game for Christmas. Have you heard of it?

We can't get enough of playing it! The short of the game is that you have a hand of letter cards, and you need to make a word or words from those letters. You have to have the words plus a discard to go out before everyone else. Points are awarded for letters played, number of words, longest word, etc. Whoever is behind creating this game gets a huge ovation from us -- it's designed perfectly so it's both a challenge but totally reasonable to often have word options, and you're not always stuck having to create the same words hand after hand (or game after game).

Of course, there are those hands you're dealt that totally suck:

PC#3 is totally thrilled with his hand of no vowels. There's
nothing quite like it. (And, yes, we are at McDonald's ... it's
one of our favorite spots to play games -- started that when
the kids were little and easily distracted by home things.
We relocated to McD's, and it totally worked. And, it totally
stuck. No food required. Maybe just a Diet Coke!)

I was way behind when we just played until lady luck showed up. I was dealt a great hand, went out before everyone else and turned the game around:

That's me going out ... going out bonus, most words bonus ...
oh, yes, mama's bringing on the pain! And, don't you like
how one of my words was very Puppy Pacer thematic? I did.

My going from last to first was total payback for PC#2 cleaning our clocks yesterday! So, while the body was chillin', the brain was in overdrive trying to regain some of my pride!

It's been a great Rest Day and is sure to be on through the evening! I love such a Sunday since you're never quite sure what Monday is going to throw your way ... am I right? Whatever comes, though, the day will start off with a run, so I'll see you after! Start your week off with whatever makes you feel strong!