I am lucky in the fact that Tony takes excellent care of our cars.  We both drive 2001 cars, which have been paid off for almost six years, and we love not having car payments.  But at some point, there are just some things that he can’t take care of.

Our Ford Explorer has been sitting in our driveway, because we thought it needed a new transmission.  We hemmed and hawed on what to do, and finally bit the bullet and decided to get it fixed.  We did some research and figured it was going to cost us around $2500.  We don’t have credit cards, so that’s a pretty big chunk of money!

We had it towed from our drive last week (FYI, if you have State Farm Insurance, check and see if you have unlimited towing.  It doesn’t matter what the tow is for, they will reimburse you.   We paid $69 for the tow, and I faxed it to our agent and two days later we got a reimbursement check!)

Hannah called me yesterday to say the auto repair place called and said the truck was ready.  I am not going to lie when I was thinking of writing a check for that sum of money at one time didn’t turn my stomach into knots.  So I called the guy back.  He’s foreign, Tony and I think he’s either Russian or Ukranian – doesn’t matter, but he’s difficult to understand.

So I hear the work “transmission” and am trying to figure out what else he is telling me, when I stopped him and said “can you tell me how much?”  It will be $120.   At first I thought “did he mean to say twelve hundred dollars?”

Turns out it was just the line to the transmission that needed to be repaired!  Hallelujah!  So Tony and Hannah went and picked it up yesterday afternoon and it is back home.  Whew!

Breakfast was an oldie but a goodie.  I haven’t made it in a while either.  5 oz baked potato (which was half of one giant potato).  I scooped out the insides and cooked that with 1 egg and 1/4 cup diced red pepper.  I stuffed the egg mixture back into the potato shell, topped it with an ounce of cheese and put it in the toaster oven under broil to melt the cheese.

I realized as I was waiting for the cheese to melt that this would be a great breakfast if you had guests over, because you could do it the day before then just reheat the potatoes and broil the cheese. 😀

breakfast comes in at 410 calories, 43 carbs, 17 protein, 14 fat and 6 fiber

For some reason I just did not want to work out yesterday.  I hadn’t worked out since last Thursday, and its amazing how once you take a couple days off, its hard to get back to it.  While part of me just wanted to go through the drive thru at McDonald’s (which is right next to the gym by the way!) I ended up doing a 5.3 hill climb on the bike machine.  OMG, I was dying after 10 minutes, but I stuck with it.  I then did 15 minutes on the treadmill to round out the workout.

My face gets super RED when I work out, so I made my sweaty picture black and white.

why hasn't anyone told me I have two caterpillars as eye brows?!

My inspiration for lunch was from another blogger – Kim of Stirring the Pot.   But since I think my family would throw up in their mouths a bit at the thought of spicy turkey meatballs, I adapted it for one serving, also using what I had on hand.

Biz’s Spicy Asian Meatballs for One

(268 calories, 9.1 fat, 9.8 carbs, .7 fiber and 34 protein)

  • 4 ounces ground turkey breast
  • 2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1/2 teaspoon sriracha sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried Szechwan seasoning (mine is McCormick) but crushed red pepper will work too
  • 1 tablespoon House of Tsang Szechwan sauce

Mix everything together except for the Szechwan sauce.  Heat Pam or oil in non-stick pan over medium heat.  Brown the meatballs all over.  When they are almost done, pour the tablespoon of Szechwan sauce in the pan and toss to make sure each meatball is coated.  Serve with rice and steamed veggies.

the cilantro is key - and I think next time I'll add just a bit of lemon zest to the mix too

Green Giant has a line of “steamers” out.  You just toss the bag in the microwave and call it a day.  While I don’t normally buy these products, it was in the 50% off bin, so I couldn’t resist.   The one I had was rice with carrots and green beans – 1 cup was 180 calories.

Lunch 449 calories, 43 carbs, 40 protein, 12 fat and 3.1 fiber

I am glad I decided to give ground turkey another chance – these meatballs were delicious!

I am happy to say that Tony is starting to feel better!  Not 100%, but he’s getting there.  So while he had buttered noodles for dinner, Hannah and I had my mock Panera Broccoli soup with grilled cheese sammies.

with a touch of crushed red peppers for my bowl to kick it up a notch 😀

And one of my favorite cheese for my grilled cheese sandwich:

550 calories, 44 carbs, 23 protein, 31 fat and 4.6 fiber

Stats for Tuesday:

  • 1409 calories, 131 carbs, 81 protein, 57 fat and 13 fiber
  • 37% of calories from fat
  • 109 average blood sugar

Who watched Glee last night? It was so good!  Alright, I am off to make apple pancakes with nutty topping for breakfast – it will be close to see if I can get it done and out the door on time this morning! 😀

Make it a Great Day!