BEST pumpkin pancakes. period.

Happy Friday to everyone!!  This week went by pretty fast and I actually got some good gym time in, yay!  I think this weekend is going to be packed already, and there will be no room for dilly dallying like last weekend :)

Tonight for the Viva Bike Vegas Ride they are having a pasta party for all the riders and friends/family.  Frankly I could make a butt-load of pasta myself for $10, but I want to go and support Chris and chat with the other riders.  I’ve been having Chris eat predominately carbs towards the end of the week to maximize his stores and calories.  I also told him to go easy on the pasta.  Just stuffing your face the night before won’t help and will make you feel bloated and icky in the morning.  He still needs to make sure to get a substantial meal in, especially since it will start early in the morning and will last at least 6 1/2 hours. 

Saturday is the ride!  Gosh, I think I’m more nervous than he is.  I don’t want my guy to ‘hit the wall’ and end up like that video I recently posted.  I think he’s going to do awesome, but I still worry like always :) Consistency will be key and making sure to fuel up at every station. 

This weekend I have to study for my research methods midterm on Monday . . . eek!  I also have to paint, organize and decorate the guest room for my mom when she comes in less than two weeks.  Wednesday I leave for the SCAN sports nutrition workshop at the Olympic Training Center.  Lots to do!

One of the high carb meals we had this week was breakfast for dinner!!  Who doesn’t like warm pancakes at any meal?!  I decided to make my favorite WW pumpkin pancake recipe from Pinch My Salt.  They come out golden, fluffy and full of spicy, pumpkin flavor.  You can find it here. 

Instead of whip cream, I like to use Greek yogurt. 

I added one vanilla bean and it was out of this world, bursting with intense vanilla flavor. 

I’ll save the rest of the beans for vanilla ice cream or pudding.  Any ideas?

I put the rest of the pod in the sugar jar to give it some more vanilla flavor.  Yum!

 

Along with it I made a little omelet, with roasted red peppers, grilled chicken and spinach, and of course real maple syrup.  Yum!

 

This is really easy to prep before hand too.  Just separate the wet and dry ingredients and then mix together when you want to make them and enjoy!  I just couldn’t resist and had to have another one ;)

 

Buster likes to help with the dishes too.

It’s funny he has to be right in the middle of the kitchen and I have to be careful I don’t trip over him!

 

Each time I go to the farmer’s market I plan to get a new variety of mushrooms to try out.  This week I decided on this . . .

Looks very strange!  It’s a wild Oregon mushroom, but I can’t remember the exact name of it.  Maybe one of you mushroom experts out there can help.  It sure looks similar to a Maitake?  I’m not sure exactly what to do with it, but I was thinking of some kind of mushroom Bolognese, we’ll see!

I hope you have a great weekend :)      

quickest back-up dinner

Usually in my meal planning I like to include an easy prep meal that I can fall back on if something comes up during the week, or if I get home later and just don’t feel like putting something together. 

Well, it was one of those days yesterday and I love having something for plan B that is simple, healthy and filling! 

It has finally started to cool down somewhat here, well, it’s still in the 70s during the day which is like summer for many of you.  I am enjoying being able to open the windows and having a considerably lower power bill.  Another great thing about the cool down that I absolutely adore is starting to make more soups and casseroles again!!!!  Yay!  I think those are my favorites to make because they are so easy and can be adjusted based on what ingredients are on hand. 

On to the easiest recipe in the world. . .

• TJ’s Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup (I get the low-sodium version)
• 1/2 box low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 cups frozen veggies and big handfuls of torn spinach
• 1 cup grilled balsamic-marinated chicken or you could sub chickpeas/beans
• Various spices, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, cinnamon (gives it some warmth)
• 2 cups cooked pasta, or some rice, quinoa, etc.

In a pot place all the ingredients and warm to your liking.

These are also great if you don’t have fresh basil on hand.  It’s not as flavorful as fresh, but it works.  I used about 8 cubes for the soup.

 

That’s it!  I like to serve it with a nice grilled cheese or cheesy naan for dipping (fontina with oregano).  I am addicted to naan with pretty much anything at the moment. 

 

What’s the easiest back up meal you like to make?

lackadaisical weekend

Hope everyone else had a great weekend!  I just wanted to give a quick recap.  Overall my weekend was very unproductive, but there were some good eats!  This month I am working a little less hours, so I’m hoping my lackadaisical tendencies won’t be too detrimental.  I think this unfortunate lack of motivation always comes to me at the start of that certain time (wink, wink).  I don’t know what it is but I feel sooo tired, cranky and blah.  Needless to say, I was a bum.

Friday night we went to a high school dance show to see our friend’s daughter, and it brought back a lot of memories and made me want to dance again!!  Boy I miss it terribly sometimes.

Saturday morning I woke up pretty early and had a great urge to bake!  This was the extent of my motivation this weekend.  I saw Veggie Girl had made a banana butternut pecan bread recently and I thought that would be awesome because I had been craving quick breads, and had 3 large bananas getting browner and uglier by the minute on my counter.

Instead of butternut, I had a sugar pumpkin from the farmer’s market begging to be roasted up in the oven.  I also added about 1/3 cup chopped dates into the mix because I’ve been addicted to dates lately.  It turned out really good!  The only thing is I don’t think I baked it quite long enough at 55 minutes, and it probably needed a good 10 minutes longer.  I always seem to do this.  For some reason I get scared that I’m going to dry it out or something.  I would also reduce the nuts down to 1/2 cup, it was nutty!  It sure tasted yummy and Chris really enjoyed it.  I put 1/2 in the freezer, and the other 1/2, well, it’s already gone!  Chris REALLY liked it!   

So then of course I had to break out my favorite quick bread topping, also known as heaven on earth . . . TJ’s Pumpkin Butter!

Just a little closer . . . ahhh yumminess 

That was pretty much the extent of my Saturday during the day.  I did a little bit of wash and forgot about it in the washer, dorked around on the computer, and also tried very hard to concentrate on reading for school while doing this.  Not so good, but I was feeling blah.  Chris and I also did a few errands and ordered the thresholds to finally finish our floor, yay! 

Saturday night we took Chris’ mom and step dad out for dinner at Maggiano’s since they are always so kind to take us out.  Have you ever been here?!  Oh my gosh the food is amazing, the portions are gigantic (good for leftovers), and the ambiance is nice too.  The service was a little slow, but I’ve always had pretty good service otherwise, plus they were busy!

I didn’t want to drink too much, but Chris’ mom had ordered a glass of wine and I can’t really turn it down.  I just really enjoy a glass of wine with dinner. 

Funny, I used to hate the stuff when I first tried it.  I had the Ruffino Chianti which is always a safe choice.

We sat by the window so it was pretty good lighting while it lasted.  Here is our view from the table . . .  Hello downtown Vegas!

We also decided to get the set dinner menu where you can choose 2 appetizers, 2 salads, 2 pastas, 2 entrees and 2 desserts!  Yikes, it was a lot of food.

We started out with the spinach salad, stuffed mushrooms and garlic bread.  Here is my plate . . .

Next came the pastas and entrees.  We got the beef braciole, which is one of my favorites there.  It is basically flank steak stuffed with veggies and meats and is very tender like meatloaf.  For pasta we ordered the spinach manicotti with red sauce instead of alfredo.  They ordered the roast chicken, along with fettuccine alfredo.  Their portions are just crazy.  Even the half portions are shareable.

 

 

Here is my plate . . . I ate 1/2 of everything, I was so full plus we still had dessert coming and

nothing would prepare me for this . . .

 

 

When the waiter came out he had mistakenly ordered the cheesecake instead of the chocolate cake, so he said he would go bring us the chocolate cake too!!!  Oh my gosh, no stop it already please!  I was in dessert heaven and yes I did eat too much.  I was uncomfortably full, but it was really good.  Eating out like that always quickly brings me back to eating better again.  I just can’t do that all the time.  This week I have vowed to lay off the desserts because I probably ate enough calories for 3 days, yikes!

The chocolate mousse cake was amazing and gigantic.  You should have seen the size of my eyeballs as he brought this to the table.  I could only muster 2 bites.

Needless to say we had tons of leftovers and the rest of the cake and cheesecake went straight into the freezer not to be touched for at least a couple weeks! 

Sunday was yet another pretty unproductive day.  I did make it to the gym for jump rope and body pump, but I think I was still recovering from my food and wine coma and didn’t quite feel right.  Chris and I also went out to Art in the Park benefitting the Boulder City Hospital Foundation.  This is an annual festival where tons of artists come and set up tents over a huge park and sell their awesome work/crafts.  My mom and I used to always go every year.  It was super windy, so we just stayed for a few hours and just perused the tents.

From now on I’m going to be pretty busy because my mom is coming to town in 2 weeks!!!  I’m so happy, but our guest room still looks like a storage shed . . .eek!  We still have to paint, get a bed and a comforter, finish the thresholds, and spruce up the rest of the house.  Of course I want it to be perfect for when she comes, but I’m going to try not to stress myself too much. 

Hope you all have a great week!