A Lovely Tuesday...

God is so incredible! This morning I woke up to my husband asking if he could hold me for a few minuets. We usually can't fall asleep cuddling, and lately we haven't been sleeping at the same times at all, so this was a really nice surprise, and it spoke my love language quite a lot!

Needless to say I got out of bed feeling very loved and grateful for a day off of school where I was healthy! 

Breakfast was Quinoa Oatmeal with Mango and Cinnamon:

Ingredients: 1/2 cup quinoa, 1/2 cup steel cut oats,1 cup boiling water, 1/4 cup cubed mango, a dash of cinnamon, a drizzle of honey, and a splash of almond milk (optional to add on at the end)                            

To make:

1. Bring water with quinoa already added to a boil for about 10 minuets (cover halfway with a lid)

2. Meanwhile cut up mango and mix with oats, cinnamon, and honey

3. When water is (almost!) gone, pour quinoa and boiling water (about 1/4 a cup) into the same bowl

4. Mix together and enjoy with some coffee! 

I took the bus to Starbucks for a date with my student's papers... They are very smart, but also very funny sometimes.... I choose to laugh instead of get frustrated with their antics; it's just easier that way :-) 

I also had a great egg, feta, and spinach wrap there for lunch! Which was very tasty and just what I needed to keep me warm with my hot mint tea. Then I began the 2 hour journey to go grocery shopping via CTA bus route, which was quite the adventure! I managed to get all of what I wanted to get, plus 2 honey greek yogurts, tomato soup, bananas, and 6 pink lady apples, all in my draw-string backpack and oversized bag. And I managed to get from the Beverly Starbucks to the Pullman Aldi, then to the West Pullman bus stop, all the way back to Roseland, and walk the three blocks to my house with only being asked for my number 3 times-- huge success!

When I got home, I had gotten a packaged from my mom with a pretty hot-pink mullet sweater (it's a thing, I swear...) a jury commission questionnaire (uh-oh!), and some throat-coat tea. What a nice surprise! 

After putting groceries away and warming up my numb feet (from the cold walk), I went ahead and got going with my Tuesday workout. I did these 3 videos, and even though the last one is only 10 minuets, it was defiantly the one that made me sweat the most...

So, God has really been wonderful! I'm about to shower off and get going on some whole wheat pizza dough for date night with my incredible husband tonight! I'll post that recipe for homemade pizza later... Have a blessed day!

Daniel Fast Recipe 2: Berry-Banana Oatmeal

Good morning!

This recipe is probably the easiest to make yet!

Ingredients:

3/4th cup oats

1/2 cup frozen or fresh berries

1/2 banana sliced

1/2 cup hot water

1. Find a bowl
2. Layer the ingredients above in said bowl
3. Heat a kettle on the stove until water boils*
4. Pour hot water in bowl
5. Cover and let sit for up to 5 minutes
6. Stir and eat!

*NOTE: I do not have a microwave, so heating the frozen berries was not possible. I let them sit out to thaw over night. If you have a microwave, you can simply heat the entire bowl with water in there, and forgo the 'kettle- method'!

What? Still hungry?

Add some protein by chopping up walnuts or pine nuts! You can also add flaxseed.

Or just double the recipe to have a bigger and heartier breakfast!

Have a great day! See you for lunch!!

Saturday Brunch: Triple-B Pancakes

Today was a wonderful Saturday!

I always love Saturdays because it's usually the only day of the week I get to sleep in. With my workout schedule and work schedule, I wake up at 5am every weekday morning, and I usually stay at work until about 5pm. During college, I always worked on Saturdays, and sometimes I would have to get up at 7am to work at 8 or teach yoga or cycle at the gym around 9am.

Sundays are now filled with Church, and then getting things ready for the week ahead of me, so usually Sundays don't feel a free or relaxing. Don't get me wrong though!-- I love Sundays as well... just for different reasons entirely.

Needless to say, I love--and I mean like- Loooourve- the fact that Saturdays are now my day off! I don't have to do anything, which means I get to do what I want to do on Saturdays, which is usually a treat!

Today, Saturday, I woke up at around 8am, then went back to sleep until 10:30. Dennis left to meet up with someone at our church to catch up on our new members class, and then I did my usual Jillian Michaels' workout DVD (she's crazy btw), then went on a run using my new phone app Mapmyrun Gps Running which tracks how far I go, how fast I go, and my improvement from last time (can you tell I really like my new iphone?).

Anyway, it was a great start to the day, but when I came back from my run, I really was craving some pancakes.

Now, last night I made some awesome Roasted Chickpea Taco Salad (which I'll post about later), which included something I have never had before: Kasha. Basically, it's whole grain buckwheat, which I also have never had before. The directions for making this are on the box, so I won't go into details about how to make it, but the point is, I had a TON of this stuff leftover.

So, I made my own recipe to satisfy my craving. 

I call them Triple-B Pancakes: Blueberry-Banana-Buckwheat!

Here's how to make them:

First, make a bunch of pancake mix. I store mine in a recycled oatmeal container (those big cardboard cylinders), but you can use tupperware. Just store it in your pantry.

Ingredients for Claire's Pancake Mix:

5 cups of whole wheat flour

1 cup of regular or all-purpose flour

2 cups of oats (I use steel cut oats, not quick oats)*

1/2 cup of sugar (you can use stevia if you want to)

2 1/2 tablespoons of baking powder

4 tablespoons of baking soda

4 teaspoons salt

*NOTE: The recipe I followed called for 5 cups of whole wheat flour and 3 cups of all-purpose. I changed it because I wanted to use oats in my pancake mix. 

1. Whisk or stir all ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Store in container of choice, or use right away to make Triple-B Pancakes!

Ingredients for Triple B-Pancakes:

1/2 cup Claire's Pancake Mix (see above)

1/2 cup buckwheat*

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt*

1/2 cup soy milk (you can use regular milk if you like)

2-3 tablespoons of apple butter or apple sauce* 

A handful of blueberries (I used frozen ones)

3/4ths of a banana, sliced

*Notes: the recipe that I (didn't really) follow did not call for the yogurt, but did call for an egg. I wanted to see if the thick yogurt would hold it together like the egg would (Dennis eats soft-boiled eggs everyday so I didn't want to use them in my pancakes). It also did not call for the buckwheat, but instead, for a full cup of pancake mix. And apple butter/sauce is my substitute for a tablespoon of oil-- it makes it much healthier and tastier!

1. Stir all the dry ingredients in a bowl, add the yogurt and the milk and the apple butter/sauce.
2. Stir again. Toss in the blueberries, then slice up the banana. Stir loosely.
3. Heat a large pan on the stove and spray lightly with cooking spray.
4. Allow the pan to get hot, then scoop a large spoonful of the mixture onto the pan.
5. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, or flip once you see the mix bubbling in the center.

Wha-la! Triple-B Pancakes!

So, how'd they turn out, you ask?

The pancakes were a little gloppy because of the buckwheat, blueberries and banana slices; it wasn't your typical smooth pancake mix. I did not mind it at all, but I was worried that it would make it difficult to flip over because I didn't use an egg. And yes, once they were on and off the griddle, the pancakes did struggle slightly to stay together. 

However, they tasted excellent! I liked the texture and the heartiness that the buckwheat added, yet the fruitiness that the, well, the fruit gave these tasty cakes. Next time, I will try adding that egg (which will hold the pancakes together and make them easier to flip), but I enjoyed the vanilla taste from the yogurt, so I'll keep that ingredient in along with it.

I ate five little ones for brunch and refrigerated the others for later. Dennis ended up snacking on them cold later during the day, so no leftovers for us! He enjoyed them as well, so I would call this recipe a success!

All in all, a successful Saturday as well :-)