Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Hooked on Pancakes

(Do you remember those commercials for Hooked on Phonics?  I wonder if that still exists...)

I've really been loving making brunch on Sundays recently.  This past Sunday I decided to make these strawberry shortcake pancakes.  I was a little impatient and didn't let them cook quite long enough, but other than that they were delicious!  Coffee on the side.  Buzzzzz.


I topped the pancakes with some sunflower seed butter, seared banana slices, and fresh strawberries.  I don't think I can ever go back to syrup.


I enjoyed the pancakes while reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  Have you read it yet?  It took me a little while to get into it, but when it got good, I really couldn't stop reading.  I had tried to finish it the previous night, but couldn't keep my eyes open when I had about 60 pages left, so I finished it while eating brunch.  So.  Good.  And very disturbing, too.  I can't wait to read the next book in the trilogy!  Probably after finals... :(  But maybe in Florida :)


In an effort to save some money, I decided not to do a big grocery store trip last week and instead just picked up some fresh food from GFS.


I got that huge bag of spinach, 13 bananas (some to eat fresh, some to freeze), a huge container of grape tomatoes (which are really flavorful!), and a big bag of carrots for $14.65 - not too bad!


In the spirit of being economical and not having time to cook much, this is what a lot of my meals are looking like lately.  Basically, I just pull out whatever is in the fridge/ freezer and put it together.  I had a plate of strawberries, grapes, and grape tomatoes with hummus for dipping.


And a bowl of cooked couscous, cooked bulgur, rinsed black beans, frozen edamame, frozen corn, and fresh spinach - all stirred together and heated up in the microwave.

After my classes today, I went to the gym and tried out the circuit workout I put together over the weekend.  I'd definitely call it a success - it challenged me, but I got through it and felt great afterwards.  I'll type it up in a chart or something and put it on here soon.  And my gym friend did some push-ups with me today - so cool!  I felt like I had way more energy with her rocking them out beside me.  I warmed up with 7 minutes on the elliptical and then did this treadmill workout after the circuit routine, followed by stretching.  Left me sweaty and exhilarated.  Going to the gym feels even better when school is stressing me out!

Post workout protein smoothie:


That lovely sludge had 1 cup almond milk, 1 T ground flax seeds, 1 T natural peanut butter, 1 scoop vanilla Sun Warrior protein powder, lots of spinach, a frozen banana, and 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, plus two ice cubes.  Not much to look at, but it tasted good!

Time for a shower, dishes, dinner, and paper writing :/  I might have to sneak New Girl in there, though - it's only half an hour, so it will make a perfect study break.  'Til next time!

Awesome sunset last night:


Song of the day:

"Take Me Home to Marlyebone" by Patch William.  My BFF Maryam told me about this band, and she found out about them because she met the drummer at a party while we were in college!  I can't get enough of their music - their lyrics are great, the songs are catchy, and I kind of love that you can actually hear their British accents.


8 comments:

  1. Lovely song! And I'm getting hooked on circuit workouts these days, though I could probably get hooked on pancakes if I let myself :)

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    1. I'm glad you like the song! Haha, I think getting hooked on circuit workouts is healthier than getting hooked on pancakes :) Thanks for reading!

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  2. those pancakes look delicious!

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    1. They were pretty tasty, and also very filling! Thanks for reading :)

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  3. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm those pancakes sound so tasty!! I love love love sunflower seed butter! I have to keep myself from sticking a spoon in there all day long!

    and hurray for fresh produce! i loveeeeeeeeee grape tomatoes when they are in season! nothing beats popping one fresh of the vine into my mouth! (Mama GC grows a bunch in her garden!)

    and BEAUTIFUL SUNSET!

    You also always remind me that i need to get back into smoothies. Maybe I'll make one today.


    HUGS!
    -gc

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    1. Oh yum, that's so awesome that Mama GC grows grape tomatoes!! Can't really beat that. I'm loving smoothies lately, although I do hate having to clean my blender so frequently, haha.

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  4. Omg, those pancakes look SOOO GOOD! I don't think I've ever made pancakes before! LOL
    And I simply LOVE "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo!" I've read it a long time ago, before even the swedish movie was out... and the swedish original movie is really, REALLY good too and I got extremely upset when they did an american version of it, kind of like "omg this is too good to NOT be american, let's redo it", wait what? :S I was happy enough that the new version was a disaster ha ;D

    BANANAS! I seriously eat like 20 per week. I think I put banana on every single thing I eat!

    I just wanna invade your pictures, it all looks delicious *_*

    xx

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    1. I hadn't made pancakes until really recently. I always thought they would be difficult, I guess, but they're not at all! I just got The Girl Who Played with Fire from the library - I hope I like it as much as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I'm pretty obsessed with bananas, too, I usually have more than one a day! They're so versatile - I eat them plain, with nut butter, mixed into my oatmeal, on yogurt, in smoothies, as banana "ice cream" - so many possibilities! Thanks for reading :)

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