Let’s go back in time for a bit, shall we?  Maybe 25 years ago, I ate TWO apple fritters on the way to work.  Then I would get a frappuccino with my co-workers when I got to work.  That would be 41 points right there and it wouldn’t even be 10:00 a.m.!

Lunch would be Sbarro – it was right by my old office and I used to get a combo – slice of deep dish meat lovers pizza with a side of bread sticks with garlic butter dipping sauce.  That meal would be 25 points on today’s program.

Afternoon snack?  Garrett’s combo popcorn – duh!   That would be 15 points.

And let’s say I met my friends out for dinner at an Italian restaurant – I’d order gnocchi alfredo, and have a couple drinks – dinner would be 43 points.

Total for that day?!  119 points!  And I would do it all over again the next day – no wonder I got to 211 pounds!

Work treats are a constant it seems.  But I made it work in my breakfast – I cut 1/4 of an apple fritter, had my egg, and melted two teaspoons of reduced fat peanut butter in the microwave to drizzle over my apple – this was a filling breakfast!  And guess what?  I savored every bite of the apple fritter.

The Biz and Jenn show is back on the air!  I think I hadn’t seen her in like 10 days with her work schedule and my vacation.  It was nice 

It was a perfect day in Chicago yesterday – 73 degrees, no humidity and blue skies as far as the eye could see.

I can’t wait to grocery shop this weekend!  Other than lunch, I’ve been able to put breakfast and dinner together with what I’ve had on hand.  Yesterday I grabbed a buffalo chicken side salad from Freshii, and added sliced apple and string cheese when I got back to my desk to bulk it up – this was really tasty.  Oh, and I added everything but the bagel seasoning – I put that shit on everything. 😀

I was thinking in my head on the way home from work about what I could make with shrimp.  I knew I had some in the freezer and that I had bacon, and suddenly I thought, “I can make my skinny shrimp carbonara!”  

Hannah, however, was giving me crap because she had a bag of chopped veggies – broccoli, bok choy and mushrooms – I asked if I could use that for my dish and she was like “but those are Asian vegetables.”  What?  They weren’t seasoned with anything, so they became pasta carbonara veggies!  I also had some leftover corn and jalapenos, so that went in the mix too.  Trust me, this combination works!

The egg and parmesan cheese is the sauce to this dish – I also reserve up to 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta water to add to the sauce – I probably added 1/4 cup of the water to the sauce.  To avoid cooking the egg/cheese mixture – once you add the hot pasta, stir for three minutes, adding pasta water as needed.

I cheated and used bacon bits, but the result is the same – a nice salty bite to the dish.  I cooked the shrimp in 1 teaspoon of grapeseed oil, and once cooked, removed to rest, then cooked the bacon bits, leftover corn and about 3/4 cup of the “Asian” veggies in a skillet and cooked for a couple minutes, then mixed it all together and topped it with the cooked shrimp.

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This dish is a food memory for sure.  It was one of the first dishes that Tony made for me after we got together.  I’d never heard of this dish before.  He cooked up about 6 slices of bacon, left all the bacon grease in the pan and tossed the noodles in the bacon fat – delicious, but holy balls I don’t want to think of how many calories that dish would have been.  My plate comes in at 9 points:  6 for the one cup of pasta, 1 for the oil, 1 for the bacon bits, and 1 for the Parmesan cheese.

And um, yeah, I am going to have to get this recipe from Hannah – she made it last night right before I went to bed – it was delicious and not too sweet, which is why I loved it.  It’s low carb and sugar free too!  I’m such a proud Momma 😀

I killed it on the steps, although I wish I would have paid attention to how close I was to 17k steps yesterday!

I had to work late yesterday so didn’t hit the gym – hoping to not have to work late tonight so I can get some strength training in – I know I am fine on the walking for cardio, but it’s time to kick it up a notch.

Happy Thursday!  Make it a great day!