I was an okay student.  If I really put my mind to something, like a project, I would give it 110%.  Daily homework however, hardly happened, or maybe happened the morning it was due.  I think I graduated high school with a 2.9 – enough to get me into college, but probably barely.

Which is why I don’t know where my daughter gets her school work ethic.  Maybe its her Type A (a bit OCD) personality that everything has to be in order.  All I know is that she has loved community college so far, but only to an extent.  You see, Hannah chose to go there to save $$ on general ed classes.  She could have gotten into many colleges – she graduated high school with a 3.8.

But she shares these community college classrooms with students who didn’t have a choice, and their work ethic (i.e. never showing up for class) bugs her.  Especially when she has to work on a project with a group, its her nature to do more just to make sure her grade is good.

So she met with her advisor yesterday.  While her interest is still in speech pathology, the advisor told her that only 5% of students who get a bachelors degree in speech path will actually be accepted to a masters program.  Does that sound right?  Anybody have any insight?

She’s given her lots of information to go over, and 4 year schools to transfer to . . .I wish I had even a clue at that age what I wanted to do.  I really think I was born in the wrong time – I would have loved to live on a farm and bake bread every day (think Little House on the Prairie).  But then again, I wouldn’t have been able to watch Food Network back then could I?!

My store had new potatoes on the $1 rack, and Tony quickly put two packages in our cart when we were at the store.  I took one package and drizzled them with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, and then roasted them for 45 minutes at 350, then just put them in the fridge to use whenever.

I decided to make another version of my crustless quiche – I can’t believe how long its been since I’ve made one!

  • 5 eggs
  • 1.5 cups skim milk
  • 1/2 cup half and half
  • 2 cups cooked broccoli
  • 2 ounces cheddar cheese
  • 2 ounces shaved parmesan cheese
  • 4 ounces deli ham
  • 8 ounces cooked new potatoes
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 teaspoon paprika

Slice cooked potatoes and layer on bottom of pie plate.  Sprinkle chopped broccoli over that.  Mix everything else together and bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes, or until the edges are browned and the middle is set.  Let cool slightly before slicing.  I hit the ground running when I got to work, but I took a picture before I left for work – love the potato layer!

I made this four servings:  each serving: 346 calories, 14 fat, 25 carbs, 2.4 fiber and 25 protein, or 8 PointsPlus.

This was really filling – I didn’t go on my 50 minute walk at lunch until 1:00 and I was good to go – no insulin at breakfast either – my blood sugar was 206 before my walk, and 98 when I got back – perfect! 😀

I decided to make a pumpkin chili over the weekend for lunches.  However, when it was done it had the texture of baby food.  Not sure if its because I reduced the amount of meat to 8 ounces (vs. 1.5 pounds) but it was nasty.  So I decided to make it a chili soup!  I added chicken broth and cooked macaroni and it turned out so good – my Momma even loved it so I sent her home with some since this made a lot.

Pumpkin Chili Mac Soup (makes six, 2 cup servings:  333 calories, 8 fat, 47 carbs, 9.9 fiber and 19 protein, or 8 PointsPlus)

  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 yellow pepper
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 8 ounce ground sirloin
  • 28 ounce canned diced tomatoes
  • 2 cups pumpkin puree
  • 1 can black beans
  • 1 can kidney beans
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 cups cooked elbow macaroni
  • 4 cups chicken broth

Heat olive oil and brown meat until no longer pink.  There wasn’t a whole lot of fat, so I didn’t drain the meat.  Add remaining ingredients except for macaroni, simmer for 30 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in macaroni.

I added some cheese to mine – this bowl comes in at 9 points.

When I met Robin for lunch last week, our appetizer had a black olive tapenade (sp?) on the base, and while I don’t normally like black olives, I loved this spread.  So imagine my surprise that Tony made some yesterday afternoon – he made me some toast and spread the olive tapanade over the top and sprinkled with Tabasco – yum!  Thanks Tony. 😀

I had pork chops on the menu.  Hannah doesn’t do pork chops, so she made herself some skinny sliders – ew – look at the onions!  Putting ham on her burgers was her idea too and she loved the combination.

I just put a bit of Green seasoning on the chops – I love this cast iron grill pan to use when its cold outside, but it smokes up the whole house!  These chops took about 20 minutes to cook – I made quick twiced baked potatoes on the side.  I just microwaved potatoes, scooped out the insides, added some milk and butter, salt and pepper and a bit of cheese and put them under the broiler – dinner took 30 minutes. 😀

My plate:  (sans vegetables, unless you count the potato as a veggie!)

Super juicy – and turns out the dog liked the bones. 😀

Stats for Monday

  • 32 points
  • 50 minute walk at lunch
  • average blood sugar 128

Hope you have a great day!  We have a luncheon at work today, and I was making cheddar dropped biscuits this morning for our luncheon – and I made pecan pie and double chocolate cookies – maybe I won’t count points today?!  (Not!)  Hopefully I can get a 30 day shred in tonight!