August 15 - Doing The Numbers

  I felt much more chipper this morning.  About a half an hour after I posted yesterday's blog my phone rang.  It was 11:30pm at night so I ran for the phone knowing it could only be one special person.  Sure enough, my inquisitive hello was rewarded with the sound of Gub's voice.  She realised we hadn't talked in a while and had a funny story to tell me.  It was good to hear her voice.  It's like a big aural cuddle.
  She and I had a long chat while I got ready for and into bed.  We mused on the ways of the world, the pressures other people unknowingly put on us, our priorities in life and how we viewed ourselves and our upbringing.  We also examined in detail one of the big questions I've been contemplating and she helped me reach an important resolution on it, one that I am happy with.  Sisters are the absolute best.
  For breakfast, I had forgotten the berries again (yes, even after writing it in yesterday's blog) so I had two slices of toasted Bürgen Wholemeal & Seeds Bread spread with butter and Vegemite instead.  It made a nice change though I think the density will mean a darker toaster setting in future!
  I got through the morning without a snack.
I was trying to catch up on a data analysis task that's been sitting there waiting for attention for a while and I'm pleased to say that by the end of the day I had all the data entry side of it done so tomorrow I can focus on the discrepancies in the data!  Thrilling stuff I know, but I actually enjoy this task and I don't get to do it very often.  I like finding what went wrong in the figures and then fixing it!
  Also had a lovely email from Jodes this morning.  She sent me a link to a blog called [n-er-gise] which had some low-fat snacks ideas.  The low-carb banana bread recipe sounds particularly enticing!  Jodes has been really great since I started this whole thing.  She often sends me recipes, tips and interesting links so a big thank you to her!

  For lunch I had a sandwich made with two slices of Bürgen Wholemeal & Seeds Bread, about a quarter of a Hass avocado mixed up with a handful of rainbow salad (or broccoli slaw as Coles call it) and two slices (100g) of D'Orsogna leg ham followed up with a nice tart Tangelo.  As you can see, two slices of that ham is probably too much once you fold it to fit.  I think I will switch to one slice per sandwich next time I buy ham.  I like the D'Orsogna one though, it has a nice heavy smoke.
  I got through invoice entry this afternoon too, at least for those ones requiring prompts payment.  I did stay back a little tonight to make sure all my data entry was complete but I was soon home.  Tonight I actually made a plan for dinner.  Two nights ago I got the last serve of my chile con carne out of the freezer.  I find it takes two nights in the fridge to properly thaw something, but it's cool that it's not just dying of freezer burn!  I'm actually starting to think about what's in there and use it up!

  But I digress.. I put some water on to boil and put 100g (dry weight) of wholemeal/veggie spiral pasta on to cook.  In the eight minutes it takes to cook I put the chile con carne in my Pyrex Loaf Pan and gave it a stir, picked some lemons for Mr Smart, then got changed into my workout gear.  Once it was cooked I drained it and stirred it through the pasta and topped it with three slices of Bega Extra Light Tasty cheese and bunged it in the oven for 40 minutes at 160°C.  That's right, 40 minutes!  So I did my cross trainer and then dinner was ready!  It made two serves so I ate one and put the other in the fridge for an early Friday lunch.

  After eating I had a yen for some chocolate so I finally got to try the Balance 72% Cocoa Dark Chocolate with Cocoa Nibs that Captain Cupcake got for me last week!  It was a 100g block of 24 pieces so I broke it up into 6 serves of around 17g each.  It was odd at first.  The cocoa nibs meant crunchy bits and it has a crack to it reminiscent of compound cooking chocolate.  I really liked it though, the flavour was very pleasant once you adjusted to the texture.  Thank you Cupcake!

  Eating done for the day, I turned my attention to more numbers.  It was pay day today so of course I had to work out where it was all going this month.  Car service, new slow cooker hopefully, present for one of my nieces, dinners with friends, petrol, bills etc.  I think I'm getting better at budgeting slowly.  I'm actually managing to save a little, which will come in handy towards the end of the year!

  Then I did a little scheming and planning.  I know I said just yesterday I was going to try to live more in the moment, and I will, but some things require a little planning and forethought dammit!
  I also finally remembered the berries!  I had bought the half kilo bags of berries this time as it's a lot more economical that way, but I was mildly irritated at the thought of trying to measure out 75g each day (to match the sizing of the individual serves I've bought previously).  I needn't have worried.  It turns out that my smallest Tupperware container holds almost exactly 75g, so I will simply use that as my 'scoop' each day!
  Tonight has felt quite productive so I think I'll quit while I'm ahead and go get ready for bed.  I even have time for a little read!
  Jess