This month I am in the mood for salads, so each week I’m going to give you a new yummy salad recipe to try.

First up is the Mexican Shrimp Cobb Salad from skinnytaste.com. This is a great site to find low calorie recipes. I love it because I am a Weight Watcher, and this site not only gives you all the nutritional information, but the Weight Watchers points.

Mexican Shrimp Cobb Salad

Servings: 6 as main course • Size: little over 2 cups • Old Points: 6 pts • Points+: 7
Calories: 288.4 • Fat: 10.6 g • Protein: 28.7 g • Carb: 25.1 g • Fiber: 8.8 g • Sugar: 3 g
Sodium: 588 mg

For the Shrimp:

• 16 oz cooked large shrimp, peeled
• chipotle chili powder to taste
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• salt to taste

For the Salad:

• 6 cups romaine lettuce, shredded
• 15 oz black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup grilled corn kernels (I used Trader Joe’s frozen roasted corn)
• 2 tbsp red onion, divided
• 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 seedless cucumber, diced
• 2 cups diced tomatoes
• 1 ripe hass avocado, diced
• 1 cup reduced fat Sargento Mexican Blend shredded cheese

Directions:

Rinse shrimp and chop into large chunks. Toss shrimp with a little salt, chipotle chili pepper, and fresh lime juice.

Combine drained beans, corn, red onion, cilantro, lime juice and salt to taste.

In a large glass trifle dish or clear bowl, layer salad ingredients starting with the lettuce, black bean mixture, cucumber, tomatoes, avocado, cheese and shrimp on top.

When I made this it was thumbs up from everyone at the table!

You should all know by now that I am obsessed with lip balm. Or maybe I am just obsessed with having something on my lips to avoid that icky chapped lip syndrome. My latest obsession is the Maybelline Baby Lips. They run about $3 each. I have the Peach Kiss, Twinkle, Coral Crush, Grape Vine, Yummy Plummy, and Pink Punch colors scattered all over my house, purse, and desk drawer. When I obsess about something, I go all in. Go big or go home.

From Maybelline:

Moisturizing lip balm with SPF 20 sunscreen. Gives 8 hour moisture plus lip renewal. Clinically proven to make lips 82% visibly less dry, 94% less rough, 77% more supple, and 77% better looking after just four weeks of use. It’s clinical care for baby soft lips.

They go on smooth, and feel great for hours. I use alone, or add on over my lip stain or lipstick whenever my lips start to feel dry. I hate that feeling, don’t you?

If I had to pick one color, I would say the Peach Kiss is my favorite. Oh, I should mention that the Maybelline Baby Lips also come in two clear colors as you can see from the picture above. But who wants clear when you can add a punch of color?

Want to get Mom something great this year for Mother’s Day? Here are a few suggestions I love from Etsy.

I ordered these kitchen towels for my two brothers and myself at Christmas with one of my Mom’s favorite recipe. My brother told me when he opened the box and saw her handwriting he started crying. Mine hangs on my oven door with pride. These cute kitchen towels are at Sewing By Cathy for $15.

Everyone loves the monogrammed look now. These monogrammed keychains from vitabravo1 come in your choice of color for $20.99.

Mom would love this monogrammed spa robe from Nana’s Lil Boutique for $32.

And if you are still looking for that perfect gift, check out my prior post where I recapped a lot of really good gift ideas for your mom.

Say hello to my little friends. I love coffee. I love hot coffee in the cold months (of which I have about three in Texas) and iced coffee in the warm months.  I use the Toddy Cold Brew system to make iced coffee, but occasionally I run out and need my coffee fix. I used to have the Starbucks Iced Coffee Vias on hand, and although I like those, I like the Starbucks Bottled Iced Coffee much better. They come in 11 oz. glass bottles and I have tried all three flavors. The Vanilla did nothing for me. I love the Coffee and Milk, but when I found the Coffee and Milk Low Calorie version, I stuck to that. Let’s compare, shall we?

The low calorie version has 50 calories, compared to 110. Carbs are 5 grams on the low calorie, compared to 23 grams. Sugars on low calorie version are 3 grams vs. 21 grams. Taste? Exactly the same. Promise. And in the Weight Watchers world that I live in, the regular bottle is 3 points, and the low calorie version is 1.

These little yummy liquid treats run about $1.99 each. That seems like a lot, and I agree it is, but I don’t drink these on a regular basis and it IS cheaper than going to Starbucks.