Bust Out the Fat Pants

This weekend, I ate to my heart's content. I'm talking about a "bust out the fat pants kind of weekend." On Friday night, I met up with some girlfriends at Chili's (which btw has the best happy hour) for some serious girl talk since I haven't seen them in forever. I ordered their Skinny Malagro Margarita, which I know is kinda silly because if I'm going to drink I should do it right. But it was actually really good. I was half-expecting it to have that awful aftertaste that is usually present in diet drinks; however, taste-wise this drink could easily pass as a normal margarita. Besides, I figured that it justified letting me chow down on their bottomless chips & salsa bowl, southwestern egg rolls, nachos, and queso. =)

On Saturday morning, I went to a very fun Super Bowl & Beer Tasting Cooking Class at Maggiano's in Costa Mesa with my sister. The dishes on the menu comprised of Spicy Chex Mix, Steak Chili, Pulled Pork with Chipotle-Molasses BBQ Sauce, the Chipotle-Molasses BBQ sauce itself, Black Pepper Vinaigrette, Cheddar Jalapeno Bread Pudding, Guiness Stout Float and Chocolate & Guiness Cupcakes. Overall, it was fun (minus some annoying people who asked wayyy too many questions. Seriously people, it's just sauce...). My only complaint is that it wasn't nearly as hands-on as their Thanksgiving class. Most of the time, we just watched the chef cook as he explained all the how-to's for each dish. What I did like was that we got to take home the bread pudding and pulled pork we made so that we could cook it at home. I also liked that they prepared all of those dishes ahead of time for us to eat afterwards and just kept the food coming. Imagine a buffet where the food is brought to you instead of you having to get up and get up yourself. Now that is service! Other highlights: the beer tasting where each dish was paired with a certain beer, the Guiness Float, and ....the Chocolate & Guiness Cupcakes with Guiness Frosting!

Afterwards, my sister and I decided to walk around the mall to walk off our buzz to check out some sales and watch the special Lunar New Year's celebration. We also stopped by Champagne Bakery to get something to drink where I saw these delectable treats I really really wanted to buy but resisted.

 Of course, my sweet tooth wouldn't let me leave the bakery without some yummy treat. So, I ended up purchasing a bag of mini chocolate chip meringues that I definitely will not be eating for breakfast.

And today, after eating some delicious dim sum with my sister and friend at King Lobster Palace in Orange, I went grocery shopping to prepare for next week's meals. After picking up the essential items, I headed over to the sweets section where I bought Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Spread. Now, I am already in love with their Cookie Butter (which has been out of stock for over a month now!!!!) So when I saw this on their shelves, I immediately put it in my shopping cart. I mean, a dark chocolate bar FILLED WITH the cookie spread?! OH MY GAWWWDD!!!!!

 I also bought a Hazelnut Chocolate Cherry bar produced by Bakery On Main. It's gluten free, non GMO, and high in fiber. BUT, most importantly, it has hazelnut AND chocolate in it. I can't wait to try it  =)

Now, I am off to plan/cook the meals for this week and get ready for another week of work. Toodles everyone!!