Easy Like Sunday Morning Pancakes

Who doesn't love Pancakes on Sunday morning? I mean really, what else is there to eat for breakfast than pancakes with syrup and butter. Yummm....syrup. 

Unfortunately syrup and butter slathered disks of carbohydrates are not on my diet. Luckily for me I am sometimes rather creative and when I want something bad enough I will find a way to eat it. So I set out on a quest for healthy pancakes and found a recipe for Oatmeal Pancakes and thought with a few tweaks it could be awesomely yummy and healthy at the same time. 
I was right.
Hellooo...Oatmeal Pancakes. 
Let's be friends.

These were soft and fluffy with a  bit of sweetness. I'm in love. I adapted this recipe found on Tastepotting. 


Easy Oatmeal Pancakes:

1 cup oats (quick style is fine)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
2 Tbls. Stevia (or sugar substitute or even real sugar gasp!)
2 teas. Baking Powder
1 teas. Salt
3 Tbls. Egg White (one eggs worth)
1 Whole Egg
1 1/2 Cups Milk (I used low fat because that's what I had. Almond milk would be good)
1/4 Cup. Canola Oil

Mix together oats, flours, stevia, baking powder and salt in mixing bowl. Combine eggs, milk and oil in separate bowl and mix well. Add milk and egg mixture to dry mixture and stir until just combined. Pour batter by 1/4 to 1/3 scoops onto greased hot griddle or skillet. Turn when bubbles appear on top of pancakes. Flip and continue. Rinse and repeat. 

I had mine with a scant amount of butter, fresh raspberries and honey. They were delicious. 

Week/End Update!

Hi all! It's the weekend! I am done with school for the summer. Well, almost. I have a few hours of my internship to finish up next week and then I am done! And with the completetion of those I will also be completely finished at Lane and ready to move on to the big-kids-school! The start of summer also means that I have more time on my hands so that means I'll actually have time to blog again. So get used to me folks! I'm back!

I wanted to give you an update on the weight loss project. It's been a pretty terrible week to be on a diet. It was finals week, so pretty much everything except school ceased to exist. That means I didn't go to the store, I didn't plan my meals, I didn't work out, but I did try my best. I ate every three to four hours and I kept to the plan for the most part. I did stray a little the day I was done and have more of a cheat afternoon than a single cheat meal. Apparently, cheese and beer, then a taco salad followed by a giant frozen yogurt with 5 different toppings for dessert is not a thing I should do every week. Or at least not the day after pizza. Or the day before I weigh myself. 

I also wanted to share some progress pictures. I don't really think there is a difference but I'm hoping that in a few weeks it will look like something is different!

Here's where I started:

 This photo was taken on my field trip three days after deciding to change my weight. I was 203 pounds.
 Here's week one:

 Sorry for the bitch-face...it's just the way my face is sometimes. 

Here I weighed: 196 lbs.

Body Fat: 34%

Lean Body Mass: 129 lbs.

Body Fat (lbs): 67 lbs.

My measurements were:

Neck: 14"

Waist: 40.5" 

Hip: 46"

Thigh: 28"

I don't have a picture for last week, but it's okay because there really wasn't a change between last week and this week. Except that I gained a pound. And it was probably in frozen yogurt. Damn you Yogurt Extreme!

Weight: 194 lbs 

Body Fat: 33.5%

Lean Body Mass: 129 lbs

Body Fat: 65 lbs

Measurements:

Neck: 14"

Waist: 37"

Hip: 46"

Thigh: 26"

In total I've lost: 
Weight: 9 lbs
Body Fat: .5%
Lean Body Mass:none
Body Fat: 2 lbs


Every day is a new day. And I'm ready to get back in the swing of things this week! 


Have a great weekend!

The Worst Four Letter Word: the D Word.

Let's talk about that dreaded thing that no woman likes to talk about.Let's just get it all out on the table.and talk about what is constantly on any woman's mind:

Diet AND Weight.

Yeah I said it.

About a month ago I went to the doctor where I got weighed, and when I did I looked at the nice nurse lady and said, "uh..is that right? Can we do this again?" She was very sweet and told me that yes the scale was correct and then sweetly asked if that number was higher than I expected. Well yes, nice-nurse-lady it was higher than I expected.Way higher.Like 20-freaking-pounds higher!

So I did what any normal woman would do when faced with the fact that she is currently 50 pounds over her goal weight. I went and had drinks with my best girlfriend. And then I went home and cried to my mister. 

Note to self: When coming home from a doctor's visit, try to tell your mister what is wrong before helplessly falling into his arms and then crying like a baby. He may assume that there is something seriously wrong with you. He may even assume that you were just given a death sentence by your doctor and if he really likes you this may make him very worried. Mine was very worried. I think he likes me. 

And after I wallowed for a respectable amount of time I decided to go on a diet. And I cut my calories down while not really changing my eating habits. I quickly lost 4 pounds but I felt like, well, I felt like crap. All the time. I was constantly hungry. I was cranky and moody. I was so tired all I wanted to do was sleep. I couldn't concentrate on anything which made school very annoying which only added to my crankiness. One day, about a week in, I was at school and stood up only to get so dizzy that I almost had to sit back down in my seat. That day I knew this wasn't going to work so I started searching for a diet plan. 

Let's get one thing straight. I don't like diets. I don't think they work, I think they're unhealthy and unnatural. I grew up watching the women of my family try almost every diet on the planet. They would go on the diet and lose weight, then they would go off it and gain it all back. I didn't want that. I wanted something that was going to teach me healthy eating habits give me the tools to not only lose the extra weight I had on me now, but be able to easily maintain the loss once I got there. I also want to say that I don't think I am fat, I am one of the lucky women that gains weight in all the right places.You know, my curves just get more pronounced. This is one of the reasons I didn't think I had gained the amount of weight that I had. And I don't have any dreams of being stick thin, I just want to be healthy. Is that so much to ask?!?! 

So after some research, which may or may not have included watching an episode of Chelsea Lately.I decided to go with this diet:

 

 I actually bought the book on Kindle because it was cheaper, and then had it sent overnight to my house after reading about half of it in one night. What he says makes sense. All my meals are balanced between protein, fats and carbs and I eat every 3-4 hours.The entire diet is focused on changing my metabolism and focuses more on losing body fat then what my weight is. I've been doing this for two weeks now, and I just finished the ten-day jump start, where I didn't eat bread or dairy and had only high-quality meat and food. My energy has increased, my sugar cravings have almost completely gone away and I generally just feel better. I've also lost some weight. Oh, you want to know how much?

For the case of full disclousure when I went to the doctor I weighed 203 pounds. This was on May 4th. 

When I officially started the Body Confidence diet I weighed 199 pounds, that was on May 23rd. 

When I finally got my fat calipers (something every woman wants to buy) and could take my body fat measurement I weighed 196 pounds, and that was on May 26th. 

Here's my progress:

Week One (5/26):

Weight: 196

Body Fat %: 34%

Lean Body Mass: 129 lbs

Body Fat: 67 lbs

Body Part Measurements:

Neck: 14"

Waist: 40.5"

Hip: 46"

Thigh: 28" 

Week Two (6/2):  

Weight: 193 (- 3 lbs)

Body Fat %: 33% (- 1%)

Lean Body Mass: 130 lbs (+ 1 lb)

Body Fat: 63 lbs (- 4 lbs)

Body Part Measurements:

Neck: 14"

Waist: 38" (- 2.5")

Hip: 45" (- 1")

Thigh:  26" (- 2")

I'd say that's pretty good progress! So far I've lost 10 pounds total and that makes me very happy!

Tomorrow I'll post my progress pictures. 

Have a good night everyone!

I put the pro in procrastination

At this moment, this is how I feel.

Hi peeps! I'm currently sitting in my second home, the Science Resource Center, and trying to figure out what to write my paper on that is due in..oh... an hour. Since I'm such a pro at procrastination I decided to say hi to all of you instead. Don't judge. I am a very responsible student (I swear) and I know my teacher won't care if I email it to him tomorrow. Plus this paper isn't even graded. So there.

Anyway, life has been good lately. I've been super busy with school, and Botany has taken over my life. I have three weeks until I graduate and am trying to calmly make it through. I still have no word from the big kids school, and it is very stressful to know I am done here and have nothing lined up for next fall. Patience is not a virtue I was blessed with and I have to come to terms with the fact that this is out of my control (which is also hard to deal with). I guess I'm learning to roll with the punches, let the tide take me where it will. Something like that.

Any ideas on how to be patient?

A week in review...

Ummm...is it really Saturday? Where did this week go? Let's rewind:

Sunday: baking day and Scream marathon with Sparkles and Ashley

Monday: School.

Tuesday: Homework and housework then Scream 4 with Sparkles and friends. Oh and the car battery died at the movie theater. That was AMAZING!

Wednesday: School which included a field trip for  me and the mister getting a new battery in the car. Then an impromptu Survivor night with Sparkles. 

Thursday: Early morning bike ride with Amy and then errands.

Friday: Volunteered at an Earth Day celebration for Oregon Toxics then drinks with Sparkles and Amy. I also bought a new bike seat and lost my iPod. Wah, wah. On the plus side I did conquer a little of the fear I have of riding my bike in traffic. So that was good. And I also found the way NOT to go when I want to bike downtown in a hurry. Another plus.

So that leaves us with today. Today I joined my friend Jessika and went to Saturday Market then out to the Oregon Country Fair site for a wildflower walk. It was really neat to be out at the fairgrounds when it was empty, it is such a beautiful area. 

 It was also really cool to be out there with Jessika. I've never been to Country Fair but she goes every year so she knew what empty booths are what. She told me what this one was but I can't remember now...

The main reason for being out there was to see the massive amount of wildflowers that are in bloom around the property. It seemed like wherever we looked there was a new type of flower and, we probably looked at thirty plants. I took tons of pictures but not all of them turned out like I would like.

I'm adding here the ones that are decent and because I'm a huge plant nerd now I have the Latin name and common name on them. I'm sure nobody will appreciate this more than my Botany Buddy Ashley! Anyway, I just wanted to warn you...so now you've been warned...beware of the flowers, they have names. I think my brain is about to implode from exhaustion...that's probably what I should have warned you about. 

Oh wait...

There are two different types of Trillium... 

One of these things is not like the other!

The Giant Trillium has its flower sitting directly on the leaves while the Western Trillium has some stem between its leaves and flower. 

Show us your stems Trill!

Not to be confused with....

 That Solomon...he's a trickster!

 

 Next week I'll be working on my time management skills and I hope to do more than one post a week.

I have some new recipes to share so stay tuned!

A Dream Come True...

Here's a funny story. It happened just last week while my Mom was in town. Really this is hilarious. Prepare yourself.  

Honestly it's not that funny, but it is really sweet and still worth reading. So continue...

It just so happened that my mother's arrival coincided with me running out of various items that can only be found at Costco. Funny how that happens sometimes, right?  

Also because my momma was in town the mister was on his best behavior, and because she has magical-super-mom-powers she somehow convinced him to accompany us on our trip to Costco. These powers she has, they are crazy. I think she's a wizard. 

After eating every sample available and going down every aisle at least once,  I start to hear some commotion happening between the mister and my mother. Instantly I can tell they are in cahoots. This is not good. 

Suddenly I am surrounded. I try not to panic.

"You know she never lets me buy her anything." the mister says on my right.

What? Where does he come up with these things? What is he trying to pull?

"Really mister? Daughter, I think we need to revisit this gift receiving subject." 

Right. 

"What's the one thing you've always wanted that you haven't got yet?" 

Oh, he's just walking into this one!

Holding my left hand in the air and batting my eyelashes I innocently reply...

"A diamond."     

Sometimes I just can't help it. 

"Right, besides that."

Damn.

I don't know.

A working dishwasher?

A trip to Spain?

New flooring in my kitchen?

A free for all shopping spree at Nordstroms?

I was so caught-up with trying to remember what I really wanted that I failed to notice we had crossed the store and were suddenly standing in front of the Kitchen-Aid mixers. 

Oh right!

This is what I have always wanted!

So what ensued was a highly annoying debate between the mister and me over what mixer would be going home with us that day. Apparently it wasn't an option to leave the Costco premises without one. 

    Isn't it just so pretty! 

I couldn't believe it, I still can't actually.

It catches me off guard sometimes and then I remember that it's mine and I get giddy.

  

Thanks mister! 

And mom the great wizard!

Hello? I'm not dead!

Hello interweb peeps! Thank you for your patience and I'm sorry I've been absent the last, well...ahem...month and a half. What?!? I've been really busy with school and life and just needed a little break from blogging. But the gray shell of winter is starting to melt off and I'm ready to come out of hibernation!

During my hiatus I thought of ways to revamp this little corner of the web and am really excited to share them with all of you. So get ready for some new projects, new recipes and new ideas that I can't wait to share. 

To start off I wanted to do an update on my 29 before 29. Probably more for me and to see just how on track I am with my goals. Eekkk..this could be scary!

29 Things before I'm 29:

Read 12 for pleasure books (2/12: My Horizontal Life and Empire Falls)

Read 6 books that will teach me something

Get accepted to UO

Win a scholarship to UO

Get a job in my future field (whatever that is)

Become a better far-away friend/relative

Buy, wear and look damn good in a bikini this summer

Take a trip with the mister

Get the car into the garage

Organize all my craft stuff

Make a compost pile

Plant a garden

Spend more time with my girl friends (check!)

Bring back date night

Do something creative 30 minutes a day

Make 12 new craft projects

Take more pictures

Go on a mini-road trip with Sparkles

Have dinner with my sister

Do a body-cleanse

Put together my family recipe book

Start a family picture wall for our little family

Graduate from Lane with a 3.5 GPA or better

Go to a play

Acquire grown up living room furniture (a futon for the office sort of counts, right?)

Purge the house

Organize what's left

Become a volunteer (check, I start volunteering at Oregon Toxic Alliance tomorrow!)

Be a better blogger

Alright so I still have a lot of work to do but at least I can check some stuff off the list. Progress counts, right?

 

Stay tuned friends for new posts, I'm setting aside time every day for a new post. And please subscribe to get email updates every time I post. The gadget is just right up there in the corner. Can you see it?