So every Saturday I debate between
1) Going to the gym early and having breakfast after (which means I enjoy breakfast more having gotten in a good workout) and
2) Having a leisurely morning and breakfast and going to the gym later (when I feel gross and want to cut it short to get going on my day).
It’s always a hard decision!!! But this morning I felt a little stiff and it’s gross and dreary out again, so I decided I wanted an All American Saturday morning breakfast and will go to the gym at 10.
The most All American thing I could think of? Pancakes!!
I’ve had this mix of buttermilk pancakes for a long time and just haven’t broken into them because I love oatmeal pancakes. But this was great – it tasted like cornbread in pancake form (thanks to cornmeal in the batter)
The recipe called for the following for 6-8 pancakes:
- 3/4 a cup of mix
- 1/2 a cup of milk
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp oil
Well I hate having to save leftovers because the portion makes too many for one sitting, so I decided to play with the recipe. Here’s what I did instead:
- 2/3 cup mix (= 2 servings)
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 egg
- NO oil (who needs oil!? I compensated with more egg)
It turned out great!! We split the recipe in half for 183 kcal each for 2 pancakes. But I also added 14 grams of walnuts to the batter, which raised it by 46 kcal each. Actually the pancakes made 2 big, 2 small, and one tiny, which we split. Next time I need to just make the second round a little bigger to have 2 medium sized pancakes each!
Lattes in the making…..
My two and a half, topped with mashed banana and 1 tsp or so of real maple syrup
The pancakes were just calling peanut butter to the table, so I added 10 grams 🙂
All together for ~400 kcal:
It wasn’t the most filling breakfast (I sort of missed oatmeal by the end) but they were good. Maybe not as good as oatmeal pancakes, which are certainly less work to make, but these will be fun for weekend mornings to come, All-American style 
Off to watch Good Eats and then hit the gym!!
Lunch = sweet potato fries!
Breakfast looks delicious. And I love the placemats!
I like the idea of adding some peanut butter to accompany the pancakes – yum! you made a good decision, having a leisurely breakfast instead of going to the gym early – it's good to give your body a bit of a break! :0)
"Good Eats" is on this early in the morning?? We must have different Food Network channels then…
Buzz,
Got them from my sister for Xmas from World Market!! They go great in the green dining room.
Veg,
We have DVR – tons of episodes recorded to watch!
Hey I love the lattes you have been making, am thinking of getting a espresso maker. any suggestions?
I have read so many different things about weighing yourself. I know that you said you don’t weigh yourself anymore, but how did you do it while you where losing?
How often did you weigh yourself? Was there a certain time of day you did it? What brand of scale did you use?
I love your blog!! It has been a great motivation and I have learned a lot.
I would also love to know what kind of espresso maker you have! 🙂
You are so creative and full of positive energy, Kath! You inspire me to experiment w/ recipes and get out of my rut of the same ol' same 'ol. I forgot how enjoyable cooking could be…it's sort of therapeutic too! I am off to Whole Foods now to find ingrediants for a good hearty soup. (I love making soup, as it's pretty difficult to make a mess of soup!)
First I just wanted to let you know what an inspiration you are! I love seeing all the healthy food you make, it all looks delicious! It's so easy to just slip into the frozen meal/fast food/restaurant eating instead of making healthy meals, but you inspire me with all your ideas. I just feel so much better when I know exactly what's going into my food and eating what I cook.
I just wanted to let you and all the other readers know about the most AMAZING!!!! diet/nutrition website! I don't know if you've heard of it before…. http://www.sparkpeople.com it's free and there are food and fitness trackers, hundreds of great articles, message boards, blogs, and more. *I feel like a walking advertisement and I don't even work there* it seriously changed my life and helped me lose 20lbs. There is such a great community there and it is definitely worth your time to browse a little. Enjoy : )
Anna and Brooke,
Here's a response the husband wrote about our cappuccino maker a while back:
We have a Krups coffee maker/espresso machine. Got it as a wedding present! Here it is:
http://www.krupsusa.com/All+Products/Coffee+Machi…
When we have “lattes” what we’re really doing is brewing coffee, and topping it off with about 3oz of steamed milk. That’s not to say that we haven’t made a real latte with espresso, but that takes a little more time.
Which brings me to our only real criticism about the machine: it takes too long to use the machine because you can only do one action at a time, and by action I mean:
brew coffee
warm up the espresso maker
make espresso
warm up the steam arm
use the steam arm
I’m guessing that each of these requires most or all of the machine’s electrical capacity, so you can only do one. Also, the warming up of the espresso maker and the steam arm takes about 60 seconds- which doesn’t seem like much, but because you can’t be doing much else, you just stand there staring at the machine until the “ready” light pops up.
The other complaint I have is that the steam arm is activated by a button, not a dial that you turn to release steam. Somehow I feel like this contributes to the length of time it takes to warm up.
Despite all this, we’ve been pretty pleased with it.
Trish,
When I was losing I weighed myself every morning, after going to the bathroom, naked 8) I think I had a Homedics scale. Now I have a Tanita that measures body fat, but I never really got used to it because I stopped weighing myself shortly after. I think any old scale will work fine!
I think the most important thing about tracking weight is to understand the way your body responds to things. For example, during my monthly cycle, I would lose 1/2 a pound during the first 2 weeks, then nothing the third, then two pounds the week of my period. I have no idea why my body did it this way, but it helped me not get frustrated during that third week to know that a big drop was coming. I also know that my body doesn't fluctuate that much (some people do a few pounds each day!) but if I ate out in a restaurant or ate a ton, the scale would be up. It's just good to watch how your body responds so you can mentally prepare yourself for ups and downs.
Karen,
I find cooking to be very therapeutic too – when you're not starving and have time to enjoy it. That's why I try to have an afternoon snack around 4:30 – so I know I won't be starving while I'm making dinner. Even a few almonds takes the edge off. I'm SO excited about tonight's dinner that I want to get started now and it's only 5:30! I think I'll make myself wait until 6 🙂 Have fun with your soup!
Sarah,
Thanks for sharing! I have an account with Sparkpeople and think it's a great free site. The community, recipes, and articles all have wonderful information. I think its biggest drawback, though, is its food and exercise tracker, which I find to be very slow and difficult to navigate. My CalorieKing diary (which does cost $50 a year – its biggest drawback) is all on one page and is super-fast to use and log my meals and recipes.
Kath
Peanut Butter+Pancakes=Super Delicious looking Breakfast. Please consider entering your recipe in Peanut Butter Exhibition #2 Breakfast