Eat it up

I never would have believe it but I actually had the urge to lift weights today. I wrote before that I abhor the gym and "working out" as an activity serparate from anything useful. But since I live in an apartment and not on the farm anymore, well there just isn't a boatload of things that need done that require physical activity. The biking has been great but we tend to do that on weekends. During the week we do yoga, walks, and even some Wii sports or fit. But reflecting on all the hours I poured into working out in the past, especially in college, I do remember fondly the wonderful "strong" feeling I always go from lifting weights. It never really seemed to help me lose or even manage my weight, but I did like feeling that ache in my muscles that reminded me I had used them. So without any other reason or explanation, I had the urge to lift some weights yesterday. Now granted I am much, much weaker than I was 5 or 8 years ago. But this time I didn't let that discourage me. I figure with my other success propelling me, this would be a good adjunct activity (at least for one night!). Though I tend to gravitate towards free weights, the machine offer much needed stability at this point. An hour and a half later I felt great about my (small) success of hitting most major muscle groups and proud that I had got off my ass. I guess it's true that "success begets success." The better I feel the better I want to feel the more I want to succeed which leads me to trying even harder the next go round.

Anyway, tonight I just wanted to do a quick post with some super easy and tasty recipes.
Oh these are potato-product/sugar free due to my potatoe allergy. But they are damn tasty and there's nothing like breakfast for dinner.

Pancakes:
1 egg
1 cup milk (rice, cow, whatever--I used creamline whole cow's milk)
2Tbsp oil (we used olive)
1 cup flour (unenriched--we used white whole wheat flour from King Arthur)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder (we substituted 1Tbsp corn starch + 1/4 tsp baking soda as baking powder affects my potato allergy)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt



Mix all ingredients well. We use 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Smother with real butter and some real maple syrup or...

Berry Sauce
1 cup raspberries
1 cup blueberries
1 cup blackberries
(I had two half bags mixed frozen blueberries, raspberries and strawberries and substituted. I'm sure any combinationg would be fine.)
1/2 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup maple syrup).
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

In a saucepan, combine berries, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water, stirring until it dissolves. Add the cornstarch mixture to the fruit to thicken. Stir until smooth and simmer slowly for 2 to 3 minutes.



Let me know if you love this or hate it, if you would like to see more, or if you end up skipping over it.