Healthier Pancakes

It is against the law for pancakes to actually be good for you in my opinion but there are ways to feel less guilty when you make them. Here is my adaptation:


1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons Agave Nector (or honey)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 egg
2 - 3 tablespoons oil (sometimes I use melted butter for a richer feel)
2 tablespoons wheat germ
3 tablespoons quick oates
3 tablespoons favorite dried fruit or 1 medium apple chopped finely




Mix the dry ingredients together, then add the other items. DO NOT OVER MIX, hand mix for 30 seconds and walk away for 5 minutes

Heat a skillet on medium heat. When heated, scoop the pancake batter recipe into the frying pan with a large spoon to make individual pancakes about 4 inches across. The pan will probably only take 1 or two pancakes at a time. Cook on one side until the top begins to bubble, then flip over and cook on the other side

Serve with your favorite topping...ie...strawberries and whip cream, honey, syrup, etc...

MMMMM Breakfast of Champs

Doesn't this look amazing????? Here is what I made: Quiche, Yogurt/Agave Parfait, and Berry Smoothie

The Quiche:

In a small skillet I added some fresh spinach, small potato cubes, and a few small broccoli florets...Saute until tender....In a blender combine 7 eggs and 1/2 cup buttermilk and seasonings of you liking....blend until smooth. In 12 small ramekins divide your potato/broccoli mixture. Then pour in your egg mixture....bake at 350 until middle is firm. I garnished with fresh spinach cut into ribbons.

Parfait:

In a parfait glass layer granola, then Greek yogurt, then honey, then yogurt, then granola, and top with agave nectar.

Smoothie:

In a blender add 1/2 cup fresh pineapple, 1/2 cup fresh mango, 1 cup fresh strawberries, and 4 cups grape juice...Blend until smooth and serve over ice or chilled.

Honey Mustard

Never Buy Honey Mustard again! You probably have these ingredients in your cupboard! 1/2 cup mayo 2 tbls mustard 1/4 cup honey 2 tbls orange juice S&P Combine all ingredients and enjoy!

Stay Hydrated

The old wives tale is that you need to have 8 glasses of water per day.....FALSE!

You need 64 ounces of water per day....but you receive water in other forms than liquid!

Some veggies/fruits are nearly all water......

Melons

Citrus

Lettuce

Others

And some other drinks count toward your daily intake of H2O

Teas

Coffees

Sodas (Diet I hope)

Enhanced Waters

Others

The 64 ounce thing is also a misnomer...it depends on your activity level.....a 180 pound man running 3 miles needs more than a 110 receptionist... Hydrate according to what you are doing.

I dont drink enough, and I know it...every morning I have a glass of water and some type of juice...usually have a Monster for Lunch...then one or two glasses of water before I go to bed....My goal this week is to add another glass of water while I am at work....Baby Steps

My tip....Before I leave in the morning, I will put my water in a travel containor (no plastic bottles for me) but I will use mostly ice, that way when I am ready for it...it will still be cold and I am not inconvenienced to walk across the building to the fridge to get my water....

New Diet!!!! yay....

Okay, you caught me, not really a new diet, I started this diet at the first of December 2010. It started with a 10 day herbal cleanse, ...lost 7 pounds....then it was a pill and shake program....up until today I have lost a total of 13 pounds and have not changed anything except having a shake every other day for either breakfast or lunch.

Starting today I am adding a little something different, I saw the book, 400 calorie meals. I bought it yesterday and have been reading it all day...I am going to add this to my plan and see if I can speed up the results...Spring and Summer are just around the corner and I want to look nice for it.

Here is an example of one of the meals that I am making for dinner tomorrow.

Spinach and Potato Salad

1 1/2 cups baby spinach
3 fingerling potatoes
3 cherry tomatoes
2 raspberries
1 tsp whole grain mustard
3 tsp olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Boil the potatoes in water just until fork tender, let cool.

Dressing, in blender (I used a coffee grinder due to the small amount) add the raspberries, mustard, olive oil, and apple cider vinegar, blend until smooth. Mix everything together and enjoy...!



My meal plan for tomorrow looks like this.

Breakfast.. 7AM..meal replacement smoothie with 3 strawberries and 1/2 banana blended in.
Brunch...11AM...Spinach and Potato Salad
Late lunch ....2PM...Black Bean Burrito
Dinner...6PM...Bacon and Spinach Salad
Dessert...7PM...1 scoop chocolate fat free frozen yogurt.

Mexican Food Videos

I am uploading 2 videos on youtube today

One is on how to make Refried Beans and one on how I make Beef Enchiladas.

http://www.youtube.com/user/cokkadudledue

*TIP* on the beef enchiladas I added a little flax seed and Wheat germ to the beef to make it a tiny bit healthier, I also used leftover steak as the beef, I just processed it in a food processor!

Turkey Salad

I made this the Day after Thanksgiving and took it to work...

2 cups chopped turkey (chicken)
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green olives
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup Miracle Whip
1/3 cup Helmans Mayo
S&P
Cayenne to taste

Mix everything in bowl and serve with crackers

My turkey was a honey brined turkey, so it had a sweet note to it that played well with the almonds.