How expensive life is.  Check this out:

I drive a Ford Explorer to work.  There are no good gas stations on my way to work, so after dinner I went to fill it up.  I normally never fill it up all the way.  I find it mentally easier to fill it up twice at $35+ a week, but decided to fill it up last night – the price of gas is $4.16 in my neck of the woods – so crazy!

My first “real” job was at a bank in Richmond, Virginia.  I was 20, living with my Aunt.  My sister had decided at that time to move to Florida, and I was like, well if she’s moving, I am moving too.  Her plans fell through but I went ahead with mine. 

I intereviewed at this bank to work in their international division, converting checks from foreign countries into U.S. businesses.  I thought the interview went great, and literally by the time I got back to my Aunt’s house, I had a phone call that they wanted to offer me the position.  Sweet!  I’ll never forget calling this woman back, and her telling me my salary was going to be $13,500 a year. 

I was so excited!  That meant I was going to make over $1,000 a month!  Well, when you are 20, and only pay your Aunt $50 a month for living expenses, that’s a lot of discretionary income.  Way before a mortgage payment, real estate taxes, prescriptions, utilities, life and car insurance, college tuition, etc.  Tony and I both think that we were the “richest” when we were in our early 20’s!

Do you remember how much you got paid for your first real job?

Breakfast was so delicious yesterday, I may repeat it this morning.  Two of my pumpkin scones and 2, 1 point string cheeses.  I just put the scones in my office toaster oven for about 5 minutes, I swear they tasted as if they just came out of the oven the first time.

10 PointsPlus for breakfast

Over the weekend I roasted a butternut squash to make soup.  I decided to make this recipe, except I threw in a peeled apple and 1/2 a chiptle pepper, and ditched the goat cheese crostini.  I love the sweet/heat combo of this soup – a generous 2 cup serving is only 6 points.  I had a romaine salad on the side with diced apple, 1/2 ounce sharp cheddar and light balsamic.  Lunch comes in at 8 points.

I didn’t puree it all the way and liked the little chunks of potato

Note to self:  Don’t bring soup in a ziploc bag because 1/3 of it will spill out in your lunch bag on the way to work.  Yep, it took me about 10 minutes to clean up my lunch bag once I got to work. 🙁

I got in my 50 minute walk at lunch.  I told you the other day I found a bike path near my office – it takes 20 minutes to walk to, so I really only get to walk on it for about 5 minutes before I have to turn around and go back.  I need to see if I can drive there and just walk on the path – I saw lots of bike riders and moms with strollers – and its absolutely gorgeous scenery. 😀

I knew I was going to make a cauliflower gratin for dinner, so yesterday morning I just put a whole head of cauliflower, in the plastic (just poked holes in it) and hit “fresh vegetable” on my microwave.  Then before work I just stuck it in the fridge.  When I got home I made a stove-top version of cauliflower gratin, which came together really quickly since the cauliflower was already cooked.

Stove Top Cauliflower

  • 6 servings (2/3 cup) is 3 points, 4 servings (generous 1 cup) is 5 points

Ingredients

  • 1 head cauliflower (about 1 pound)
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 cup skim evaporated milk*
  • 2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs
  • 1 tablespoon dried parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon table salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese

In an oven-safe dish, melt the butter and add the garlic.  Cook until the garlic starts to brown.  While the butter melts, cut the cooked cauliflower into bite sized pieces.  Add to melted butter and sautee until the cauliflower starts to brown, about 5-7 minutes.  Sprinkle flour over cauliflower and cook for 1 minute.  Add evaporated milk and stir until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and add parsley, salt and pepper.  Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of shredded parmesan cheese over the top and put under the broiler for a couple minutes until the cheese is browned and the gratin is bubbly.

I did breaded pork chops on the side – I was at the bottom of my panko bread crumb container, which was good – it was almost like a powder so I got away with using only 1/4 cup of bread crumbs for two chops.

Breaded Pork Chops

Using 8 ounce bone-in chops, each pork chop is 10 PointsPlus – but you get your healthy oil in for the day! 😀

  • 2 bone in pork chops
  • 1 egg beated with 2 tablespoons water
  • 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 teaspoons olive oil

Salt and pepper the chops generously.  Heat oil over medium-high heat.  Dip in egg mixture, then into bread crumb mixture.  Cook approximately 5-6 minutes per side, depending on how thick your chops are.

 

Worth the 10 points for the crunchy goodness of that chop – dinner comes in at 13 points

I get a double dose of Hanging with Hannah today – she’s coming to my office to have lunch today.  She babysits for one of my co-workers and they are comparing schedules to see when Hannah can babysit.  Then tonight after dinner we are going to see Bridesmaids now that the movie is actually out!

I am taking a rest day for exericse today – it’s rainy today, so I think I picked a good day to rest. 😀

Stats for Tuesday:

  • 38 points (including 2 glasses of wine while watching Biggest Loser last night!)
  • 36 flex points remaining
  • 20 activity points earned
  • average blood sugar 122

Happy Wednedsay – make it a great day! 😀