A Pancake , A Panini & A Pizza

I have never been a “get out of bed and eat right away” kind of person so I don’t know what came over me this morning but I was so hungry when I got up that my arm was in danger of being gnawed off! My stomach howled like a cat in heat for the entirety of my shower so I rushed through the whole make up/hair thing and flew downstairs to make a humongous pancake.



This is my go to pancake recipe that I use when the craving hits. I swapped out the cottage cheese for yogurt and splenda for agave and added a tablespoon of pumpkin puree to the mix. It was topped off with a drizzle of ED Smith sugar free maple syrup. Oh, satisfaction!

After my post last night I ate a pumpkin yogurt. Basically 1/2 a cup of plain fat free yogurt, 1/3 cup pumpkin puree, a drizzle of agave and some cinnamon sprinkles.



I sipped on this Yogi tea this morning around 11am along with a pumpkin muffin and a chocolate timbit from a box that a lady who just became a new grandma brought around.




After that, my tummy was content until a late 2pm lunch! Back to the Yogi tea…it’s quite spicy on the tongue and it hit me today that the after taste reminds me of a stick of Extra Cinnamon gum. I haven’t had cinnamon gum in ages!

I went to watch my daughter in the third and last cross country meet of the year. The weather was miserable….cold, wind and rain. UGH! I am very glad that I packed her rain coat and a pair of mitts. I also made sure she layered up this morning in a tank top, t-shirt, hoodie and jacket. As well as all that, I sent an extra pair of socks and shoes for when she gets back to the school. It might sound like over kill, but I don’t relish the thought of a sick kid! Anyways, all that aside…she did GREAT! I’d say there were approximately 90 girls and she placed 29th. I almost missed getting her picture crossing the finish line because I wasn’t expecting her so soon.
Here they all are a the start....my daughter is on the left, blue t-shirt, gray track pants...



There just so happens to be a Starbucks conveniently located across the street from the track so I had to stop and get a grande non fat green tea latte to warm up. My first instinct was to suck that baby back but I made a deal with myself…..I could only take a sip as I passed through a set of lights. This worked like a charm! Here’s what I started with...



And after a 20 minute drive, I arrived at work pleased to still have half of my latte!



I really liked the inspirational message on my cup today...

“Why are we inspired by another person’s courage? Maybe because it gives us the sweet and genuine surprise of discovering some trace, at least, of the same courage in ourselves.”
Author—Laurence Shames

For lunch I tried something new to me...a Lean Cuisine Chicken, Spinach & Mushroom Panini.



I was skeptical of how a sandwich would become crisp out of a microwave, but I was pleasantly surprised! This sandwich was really, really good! And only 270 calories, 7 grams of fat and 3 grams of fiber...5 WW points for those who care! The ingredient list was kinda long, but I don’t eat frozen meals as a habit so I’m OK with that. I’ll definitely keep one in my freezer at all times for an emergency or quick meal.




For dinner I made a "pizza". I started with an Italian Herb flatout wrap, topped it with some marinara, mushrooms, meatless chicken strips, and shredded feta.




I popped it in the oven at 350* for 15 minutes. When it was done, I paired it with a small lettuce & carrot salad to up my veggie intake.



All in all, a good meal. I think it would be better suited to lunch, though. It did the job of filling me up, but I don't know for how long. My sweet end was a Curves bar. Yum!

After dinner I made Roni's Whole Grain Zucchini-Pineapple Bread only I turned it into 24 muffins. The only changes I made were 3/4 of a cup of egg beaters for the 3 eggs and because I ran out of applesauce, I used a jar of Gerber baby food bananas. So I guess I turned them into Whole Grain Zucchini-Pineapple-Banana Muffins! Here they are getting ready for some serious baking time.



And 30 minutes later....yummy kitchen smells and these beauties! Too bad they're still too hot to eat!



Well, it's been raining here all day and we've even had the occasional bouts of hail...what fun! I'm going to make a steaming cup of tea and curl up with my new Reader's Digest that was waiting in my mailbox when I came home.

Bye for now!