Healthy Pancakes

As I'm following the Weight Watchers program, I'm always looking for healthier recipes of the foods that I love and crave...like pancakes.  And oh boy did I find one that I love!   It's by Marcy @marcys_cleanplate on Instagram.  She even has a video of her making the pancakes if you want to check that out.  And get this...the entire pancake recipe is only 4 smart points...and it makes about 5-6 pancakes!  Add some sugar free syrup (1/4 cup which is more than enough) for another 1 point and that's only 5 smart points for the whole meal!  And it's delicious!! Don't let the strange ingredients fool you.  You can't even taste the cottage cheese.  Honestly.  : )

Here's what you'll need...



1/3 cup of oats
1/3 cup liquid egg whites
1/3 cup of 1% low fat cottage cheese
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
sprinkle of cinnamon
blueberries (optional)

1. Put oats in a blender and blend until it turns into oat flour.  It should be very fine and have the texture of flour.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend for about 30 seconds.  Scrape down the sides and blend for another 30 seconds. Let sit for a few minutes while you preheat the griddle or pan.

3. Pour onto a hot griddle coated with some cooking spray and cook.

Add blueberries (if you like) and flip.

I'm telling you...they are really good!

And all those pancakes for only 4 smart points.  Marcy says they are about 200 calories and have about 20 grams of protein.  And they keep you full for a long time!

Long Weekend

Boy...I thought this long weekend was extra l-o-n-g for some reason.  Not that I'm complaining.  It's always nice to have a break from work and our usual routine of driving here, there and everywhere. 

Julia asked us to take her and Lizzie to Boston for the day so we did just that.  It started off kind of cold and raw but cleared up very nicely.  Sad to say I went off my diet today.  It was the first time in FIVE WEEKS that I ate whatever I wanted and didn't bother to count, measure or track.  I thought it was worth it. We had a delicious lunch in the North End.  I had some bread & butter, fried calamari and pizza!!  Yummy!  Then of course we just had to go to Mike's Pastry for some dessert.  I got a black and white cookie.  It was soooo good!!  And I also shared some of a chocolate chip cannoli and whoopie pie. 

We walked around Faneuil Hall for a while, did a little shopping and watched some street performers.  It was a really fun day!  

From the mouth of teens...

Going clothes shopping with Julia is always an experience.  She gets annoyed with me soooo fast.  It can be funny actually.  This last shopping excursion she picked out a top that was kind of low cut.  I said "You could wear a camisole under that and it would be fine".  She replied...."OMG Mom...no one says camisole anymore.  It's called a CAMI!!  You sound like you're from the 1800's!!!!"

Then yesterday I was telling Gianna that I saw she failed her last math test.  She says, "You know Mom. This is a fact. You get your smarts from your Mother."   She was serious!! 

Both comments were insulting but very funny at the same time.  That's life with teenagers!

Middle School Art Show

Gianna had a piece of her artwork displayed in the Middle School art show.  It's a magazine collage of our cat Eli.  I think it's pretty amazing!

 Just look at all this artistic talent of the Middle School kids.  I seriously would buy some of these...

KoKo

Anytime a box comes into our house KoKo crams himself in it...no matter the size...

Love my boy!!

Gone way too soon

Danny lost his cousin, Diane, in a horrific car accident.  Around 6:15 last Thursday night...a gorgeous spring evening...Diane said goodbye to her nephew and husband, put her German Shepard, Blitz, in the car with her and headed out to a dog training class.  Just a mile down the road from her house a drunk driver slammed into her head on and took her life as well as her dog's life.

Diane was a beautiful soul. I never ever saw her without a smile on her face.  She was so happy all the time and she had the most wonderful laugh.  Diane was a loving wife, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin and friend to all.  She and her husband, Michael, were THE best couple.  Just so incredibly happy.  They did everything together.  He is just lost without her. Diane had so many hobbies.  She raised and trained German Shepards and entered them into competitions.  She bred rabbits, road motorcycles and traveled all over.  She absolutely lived her life to the fullest enjoying it all.

I actually knew Diane before I knew Danny.  Isn't that something?  We went to college together at Dean.  It was only after I graduated and met Danny did he tell me his cousin went to college there too.  So I've known Diane for well over 30 years.

This is Diane with one of her dogs...

and this is Blitz...her dog that was killed along side of her...

Today's memorial service was simply beautiful.

One person made the most awful and irresponsible decision to drink and drive. That person took the life of a beautiful soul and her beloved dog and caused the most unimaginable pain.

DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE.  That's all.   

Down 10!!!

I'm so excited!  I joined Weight Watchers three weeks ago and have officially lost 10 pounds so far! I received these tokens to help remind me that yes...I've got this. 

I'm finding the new program super easy to follow and I'm loving how it encourages you to eat fruits, vegetables and healthy proteins.  This new program is way way better than the older ones I've done in the past. 

This is how I eat breakfast these days...

I used to eat Frosted Mini Wheats every single day...and I know I wasn't watching the portion size either.  I don't ever want to go back to my old eating habits.  

My goal is to lose 20 more.  I know it will take a while for that to happen and that's OK.  I feel soooo much better.  My clothes are fitting better and I have a lot more energy.  I used to conk out every day around 4:00.  Not anymore!!  : ) 

Mother's Day

We had a really fun Mother's Day today.  My brother hosted and we spent the whole day outside eating yummy food and playing games.

Me and my beautiful Mama.  I'm so blessed to still have my Mom so youthful, funny and wise at the ripe age of 83!!  She most certainly doesn't look it at all...



Me and my beautiful babies...



Gianna and her Daddy (Daddy is still very tan from his trip to Cancun)...

Playing a Corn Hole tournament...

My sweet Julia...

My silly Mama...

Kimmy and Mom...

Playing virtual reality games in the man cave. My kids are so jealous of their cousins hangout...

Beautiful roses given to me by my nephews...

Ricky and Mom...

Me beating my sister at corn hole ; ) ....

Kerry and Mom...

Me and my sweet girl...

Me and my handsome boy...

Me and my little cutie pie...

Last night before bedtime, Nicholas surprised me with some flowers and a card.  Bought and paid for all by himself.  It made me cry!!  He is so thoughtful and loving.  

I'm been following Weight Watchers so instead of buying me a treat he got me some zero point tic-tacs...haha!!!

I adore my sparkly flowers...

Danny also bought me a gorgeous bouquet of flowers.  I've been blessed with an incredible family.

First Car

We bought Nicholas his first car...

He'll be sharing it with Julia in about a year as she'll have her license too.  How lucky are they?  Nicholas had a dentist appointment today so after he drove himself back to school.  He is so excited to not have to take the bus anymore.  How cool is that?  I never had a car to drive in high school.  I hope they know how fortunate they are. 

My Immortal solo pics

Julia's solo from Starquest...