Pumpkin Pancakes

When fall comes we like to eat pumpkin stuff.  These are best if you mix the batter the night before.  I have made it right before eating and they were fine but it does make a difference.  You want 3 bowls for this: one big and two medium sized.  Our favorite way to eat these is with the caramel syrup.  I always use the left over pumpkin for Pumpkin Bread that tastes just like Great Harvest's.  Saturday I'll post that yummy recipe.

Pumpkin Pancakes
by: Home Run Recipes

 2 Cups Flour 
2 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 Tbsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Salt
4 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups Milk
1 Cup Pumpkin
3/4 Cup soft butter
1 Tbsp Vanilla

Mix the dry ingredients in a medium bowl: flour, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg, salt.  Separate the eggs.  Put the yolks in the big bowl and the whites in a medium sized bowl.  Beat the egg whites till stiff peaks form then set aside.  Beat the yolks then add milk, pumpkin, butter, and vanilla.  Then add the dry ingredients.  Fold in the egg whites.  Store in fridge till morning.  Cook pancakes on warm griddle.

Clean Eating

I just wanted to share something with you that has been changing my energy level, way of eating, and most importantly, my waist line. Look at my weight loss tracker. I started shedding pounds when I made a few simple and 1 not so simple changes. 1 was hard for me, but other's in my class found it was very easy to do, but those same individuals struggled with things that I found very easy to do. So keep that in mind when you are reading this post.

First: Read THIS book! It has been so empowering to recognize how food affects me mentally and physically. It is really easy to be healthy with this new knowledge. Just being aware of how I am feeling has been a huge eye opener. I have struggled so long with depression and this book has helped me gain some major ground (along with my AMAZING counselor Helen Bair. You can read more about her HERE).

I took a class from the author of this book and learned a few things I wanted to share with you.

Make sure you are getting enough protein in every meal. I am WAAAAAYYY under and it has been a stretch to get myself up to the right amount. This was one change that wasn't really easy for me, but has made the biggest impact on my weight loss. I am fuller longer and eat less.

To calculate how much protein you should be consuming The equation is to take your weight in pounds..let's use 180 as an example.

Then you divide that by half so you would get 90 as the total number of grams of protein you want to have each day.

You will want to have about 1/3 of that at each meal or about 30 grams.

In the class she recommended eating HARD CORE proteins. That means eating items with denser protein per serving. (ex: a cup of yogurt has 8 grams of protein, a cup of cottage cheese has 28. Cottage cheese is more dense)
To find a list of proteins go HERE. Click on the W on protein for the list.


We also talked about eating within 1 hour of waking up and eating breakfast EVERY day. It jump starts your metabolize for the day. Don't eat breakfast and your body goes into starvation mode and actually hangs onto fat instead. Did you know sumo wrestlers do this to bulk up quickly? It's true. NEVER skip breakfast. This wasn't an issue for me because I always wake up hungry and ready for breakfast.

Lastly, we talked about getting enough complex carbs. Whole grains, brown rice, oats, etc.  per meal. So, the bowl of cold cereal isn't going to work well for breakfast anymore because it doesn't help me reach any of these goals.

All in all, I have learned that my usual easy bowl of cereal is not working for my health goals. I have been planning ahead for breakfast because in the mornings I want what ever is easiest. So, I started making breakfast items in advance. Here is my FAVORITE breakfast item that is easy, loaded with protein and healthy:) I found this recipe in the Clean Eating magazine


Make-ahead breakfast quiche

2 cups chopped mushrooms (I don't like mushrooms, but you can't tell they are there in this recipe)
3/4 chopped roasted red peppers (from jar) squeezed of liquid
1/2 cup chopped artichoke hearts (in water not marinated) squeezed of liquid
1/2 cup finally chopped green onions
1 tbsp. olive oil
liberal sprinkle of herbes de Provence
cooking spray
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 oz goat cheese
1/2 oz grated parmesan

Preheat oven to 350*F
Saute mushrooms, red peppers, artichoke hearts, and onions in olive oil and herbs de Provence until softened and warmed through. Prepare pan by spraying with cooking spray. Then Place mixture in a round cake pan, or divided among 4 large ramekin. Cover with eggs and small drops of goat cheese. Sprinkle with parmesan. ( I actually mix everything together and put in a large muffin tin then put cheese on top! Also, I just add what ever veggies I have on hand. No bottled or canned stuff for me because I don't like the taste of most canned items.)
Cook in oven for 25 minutes or until set. Cover and store in fridge.

You can use what ever veggies you have on hand. I am KNOW it is still quite tasty.

Nutrients per serving (quarter of quiche with 1/2 cup vegetables) calories: 168, total fat: 8g, sat. fat: 3 g, carbs: 7 g, Fiber: 3 g, Sugar: 2 g, Protein: 17 g, sodium: 367 mg, cholesterol: 8mg

Puffy French Toast

My husband and I make these every memorial day for his family.  5 years ago we decided to try these on his family while we were camping and it's turned into a tradition. It was soooooo cold this year that I was focused on keeping my family warm not taking pictures.  The post below has the recipe for the honey butter we serve on them or go to the post for the caramel syrup we love to put on them too.  We love to experiment so this year we tried strawberry sauce and it was heavenly with the caramel syrup. 

   
STEP 1  Mix of all the dry ingredients for the batter.
I double the recipe,add it to a ziploc bag, then write on the outside of the bag how many eggs and the amount of milk for that one bag.  If you are camping it's easier to have the dry ingredients mixed before you leave the house. 

STEP 2  The bread is actually better if it's a little stale.  That sounds gross so I usually take a big bread knife and cut down the center of all slices of bread(while it is still in the bag) and leave the bread bag open to the air while I get everything ready.  You can certainly take the bread out of the bag to cut each piece in half. 

STEP 3 Heat the Oil

STEP 4 Add the eggs and milk to the dry ingredients.  Mix it well.

STEP 5  Coat half a slice of bread in the batter and add to the pan of hot oil.

STEP 6 When it's time to turn the bread we use 2 wooden skewers or chop sticks.  These work very well.  Then we use metal tongs to take them out of the hot oil when they are completely done.

STEP 7 Enjoy!

PUFFY FRENCH TOAST
By: Home Run Recipes

1 Cup Flour
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 Cup Milk
8 Slices of Bread
2 Eggs

Cut bread slices in half.  Mix all the ingredients together except bread.  Dip bread in batter and fry in hot oil 1/2 inch deep.