Costa Vida Sweet Pork Salad

All day on Wednesday I was feeling like I wanted "something" but I wasn’t sure what.  It wasn’t that I wanted sweets but it also felt like my leftover meals were not satisfying me either.

I really wanted to eat out on Tuesday but I didn’t have a whole lot of PPVs left.  Since I’ve been splitting up my WPPAs over my week and eating seven a day I don’t have a large majority left over at the end of my week like I used to.  Saving most of my WPPA for the end of my WW week is what would get me into trouble and cause me to ruin my whole week with just one day of food.

Trust me though; my mind knows I’m not “splurging” on Tuesdays anymore.  I know it and I struggle with it.  I really wanted a sweet pork salad from Costa Vida.  It is A LOT of PPVs and I just didn’t have the points to spend on Tuesday.  Plus, I didn’t need to be spending the money to eat out either.  So, I sucked it up and just dove into my leftovers when mealtime rolled around.

Same thing with Wednesday: more leftovers.  I was feeling pretty bored with my food despite feeling happy about not having to spend money on groceries just yet.  I knew the reason I was searching for something else to eat was because I was still thinking about that sweet pork salad.  I did some pre-tracking/pre-planning on Wednesday night and yesterday I had my salad!

It was worth all 22 PPVs!  My taste buds were so happy and I kept saying, “man that was good” for a long time afterwards!  I love the sweet pork salad and the fresh tortilla it is served with.

Costa Vida is very similar to Café Rio so I use the NI for Café Rio.  The salad is very pointy, mostly because of the fresh tortilla.  I hate when restaurants serve a salad in a fried tortilla.  Yuck!  The benefit of the fresh tortilla is that I can tear it and roll up bits of my salad as I eat.  It is like having both a burrito and a salad all at the same time. 

I am sure I look like a homeless person that hasn’t eaten in a while though!  It is just that good!

I always get the large salad but they do offer a small size too.  They also offer a beef and chicken option but sweet pork is totally the way to go!  As with most restaurant visits I do have a “special order” and so I factor up the PPVs for how I order my salad.

The tortilla is 11 PPVs.  I don’t usually eat all of it as I try to shave off a few PPVs and the very center of the tortilla can get really soggy so I often have that part left over.  Today I ate a little more than usual because I was super hungry when I showed up.  And it was just super yummy!

You have a choice of beans and rice.  I never get rice.  This is just one more way that I can shave off some PPVs.  I do like rice but at Mexican restaurants I just skip it.  I’d rather use my PPVs for other stuff.  I do love beans though so I always get black beans for 3 PPVs.

I always get sweet pork.  A 2 oz portion is 3 PPVs.  I try to watch them assemble it but it is always hard to gauge the actual amount of pork being put on the salad.  I usually count 5 PPVs for the sweet pork.

A 1 oz serving of tortilla strips is 4 PPVs.  I get a few for some crunch.  If they really do just put a few on I count it as 1 or 2 PPVs.

I get the tomatillo ranch on the side and I ask for a small side as I only add a little to my salad.  I like just enough for a nice mix of flavor between the sweet pork and the ranch.  I count 2 PPVs for this. 

Lastly I get a little bit of the powdery cotija cheese.  I count this as 1 PPV if they only give me a little.

The best part of both Costa Vida and Café Rio is that they also serve Coke Zero.

So…there you have it!  A very pointy meal that is VERY yummy!!!  I always get the sweet pork salad when I visit but one of these times I might get the sweet pork nachos.  Just you shake it up a bit.  Ahhhh...who am I kidding!  I love me some fresh tortilla.

Since I pre-planned/tracked ahead of time I paired my large meal with some leftovers to get me through my shift at work.  Later in the evening I had leftover spaghetti squash bake.

And for my early morning food I typically eat close to the end of my shift I had some fresh pineapple with non-fat Greek yogurt.