Did She Cave?

I'm sure my millions of readers are waiting to know the answer to that question.

The answer is yes and no.

I seriously thought about going through Wendy's drive through today while I was out running around. But, then it ocurred to me that I could actually....now get this...cook something! Yes, I could cook my own low-cal, low-etc. version of burgers and fries.

Flashback....(skip to the next paragraph if you're bored already) I'm finishing grad school, working on my MA. I think at this point I was working as a bank teller (and yes, I sucked at it) and also part-time in a clothing store (which I rocked at) and I also was a grad research assistant (which was fun). I have a cute but small studio apartment, and it's my first place all by myself, sans roommates of any kind except for my rabbit, Mr. Bunny, and later, a cat named Magic. I lived in this place for about a year, maybe more, and the entire time I lived there, I never, ever turned on the oven. I did once in awhile turn on a burner in order to heat water so that I could de-flea my cat, and I had to borrow the pot to boil the water in. I have one plate, one fork, and one cup. In my frig, you'll find a gallon jug of cold water, some carrots, and some cabbage.

It's about 20 years later, but little has changed when it comes to my expertise in the kitchen. In fact, my husband actually gets nervous when I try to cook. Heck, one fire, and a few ruined pots and you are marked for life!

But, today, I said to myself (and didn't mention my venture in the kitchen to my hubby until after it was over), "Girl, you almost have a Ph.D. You can do this. You can cook your own burger and fries."

And I did, and they were good. Actually, pretty damn good if I do say so myself.

I looked up the equivalent on Wendy's:

1 jr. cheese deluxe = 360 calories; 880mg of sodium
1 small fry = 440 calories; 430mg of sodium
(and of course who get's the small fry?)

According to fitday, my version was:

1/8lb ground beef = 192 calories; 284mg sodium
baked potato (I broiled mine w/Pam) = 145 calories; 376mg sodium
2 lite/multi-grain English muffins = 200 calories; 336mg sodium
sprinkle of fat free cheese, slice of tomatoe, lettuce, mustard, pickles, etc. Boy, I'm just going to round that off to maybe 50 calories, probably less, b/c I counted the cheese as 1 tablespoon (it was shredded and just added a tiny amount to each little burger) as 24 calories.

Okay, I'm not that good at math (which is one reason I was such a horrid bank teller), but isn't that like Wendy's version, 800 and Fatand40's version, like, 587? Really, I saved just a few hundred calories and sodium, but more important here is that I made this (for the most part) from fresh ingredients rather than ate processed stuff that someone handed me out of a window. So, okay, it wasn't a bowl of 2% cottage cheese and fruit, but I'm okay with that, and my craving has been satisfied!