Blueberry Oatcakes

Happy Easter!

For Easter breakfast, we made up some healthy oatcakes.  Now, oatcakes are not the first thing that comes to mind when you think Easter, but it was a recipe that I wanted to try out.

Vince's daughter gave me a few old Self magazines from last year and while I was thumbing through one of them, I came across a few yummy, albeit healthy, recipes.  I don't mind healthy recipes, but I feel bad subjecting others to it (only sometimes, some recipes are so good that you can't tell they are healthy).

I will share the recipe, so everyone can eat healthy in the morning, too!  

Yummy!  (Really!!)

The recipe is from the September 2011 issue.  They are called Blueberry Oatcakes.  This is a gluten-free recipe, and they were really good.  Here it is:

Blueberry Oatcakes

Yields: 4 oatcakes

Calories: 341 for all 4 

(does not include the optional ingredients)

• 4 egg whites
• 1/2 cup rolled oats (old fashioned oats)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp water
• 1/3 cup blueberries (or more, if you like)
• 1 tbsp sliced almonds
• 1/4 cup fat-free greek yogurt (optional)
• 1 tsp maple syrup (optional)

1. In a bowl, combine the egg whites, oats, cinnamon and water; whisk for 1 min.
2. Stir in the blueberries and almonds.
3. Heat a skillet to medium heat.  Spray skillet with cooking spray.
4. Spoon the batter onto hot skillet and cook until the egg is set on the bottom (~2 min).
5. Flip the oatcakes over and cook for another min.
6. Optional: Spread the greek yogurt over the oatcakes and top with the syrup.

At first I did not think the yogurt would be very good on these, but it actually was.  The syrup is needed, but everyone uses a different amount, so I did not include that ingredient in the calorie total.  I just put the syrup in a small cup and dipped my cut up pieces in it.  The oatcakes soak up the syrup like crazy, so this way you control the amount of syrup to a decent portion size.

Really, these were good!  The recipe makes about 3-4 oatcakes, and this really is one serving size.  But because it has oats and almonds, it will keep you going in the morning.

You can always substitute any diced up fruit in these oatcakes.   

If you don't have time in during the week to whip these up, try them on the weekend.  Let me know what you think!! 

Thank you Self magazine, I never would have come up with this recipe!

5K Shrug

This weekend I ran my first official 5K in Fishhawk Ranch in Lithia, FL (where I live).  It was called the 15th Annual Fishhawk Ranch Road Race.  There were just under 800 total runners either participating in the 5K or the 10K. 

When we woke up on Saturday morning, it was overcast, in the high 60's and a bit drizzily.  Normally, that would've been considered a dull day in Florida, but for a day that you will be running, it was a perfect day.

On a day like Saturday, you arrive at the race with a few layers of clothing on, like wind pants and/or long sleeve shirt or a fleece, but then you get to running and you definitely don't want to be wearing all those layers.  It's a pain to have to keep running back to your car (esp if the parking is not near where the race starts) or tying a bulky shirt to your waist.

That's where I got the idea of a 5K shrug.  Basically it is a long sleeved t-shirt cut up so you are wearing only the sleeves, like a regular shrug that you wear with tanks or dresses.  This means a lot less bulk when you are running.  Here's what I did:

Take an old long sleeved t-shirt or athletic nylon/quick-dry/whatever shirt you have.  This one came from my I-want-to-donate-but-I-might-wear-it-one-day pile.  Then cut the bottom straight off just below the armpits.

Cut it up the middle.  (Or not, it won't really be a shrug, but it can be your 5K I Love the 80's Half Shirt)

I then matched up the two fronts, wrong-sides together.

I took chalk and drew where I wanted to cut so that it is rounded in the front.

I did the same for the neck area.

Here we are...a 5K shrug.  This t-shirt was a loose one, so you can choose to add a button or a pin to the front to keep it closed, in case it is windy or you might actually want to run with it on.

It's now tied around my waist with very little bulk.  Since it's all cut up, you may even be able to place the shrug somewhere in the race start area or by a bush or something until the race is done.  The likelihood of a cut up t-shirt still being on the ground when you get back is pretty good.  I would advise doing this to a shirt that you won't be sad if someone else thought your idea was fabulous and really did take it (junk pile/Goodwill/yard sale/gift from old boyfriend that you forgot to burn).

Back to the race.  This was a chip-timed race, which is nice, but they still took the guntime as your official time, so I don't really see the point of the chip.  I also timed it with my heart rate monitor watch.

I did a thorough job of stretching out before the race.  Vince and I had been running at least 3 times a week for months now, and we recently added a boot camp style training workout 2 times a week (so awesome, its right after work and work pays for it - how can you say no?).  The boot camp has improved my running measurably.  I'm also sticking to the My Fitness Pal calorie counter and a healthy diet.  That has to be helping too.

My public goal was to run the 5K in under 33 minutes.  That is about an 11 minute mile.  During our practice runs, I would be able to run 2 miles at a 10 min/mile pace, then the last mile it would drop down to 13 minutes.  It just took practice and pushing to get a more steady pace.

My personal, more private goal was to run the 5K in under 30 minutes (less than 10 min/mile pace).  I have not run that distance in that amount of time since running a weekly 5K running series in Mass in 2005.  That's a long time ago!!

I was able to run the 5K in 30:12 (30 minutes and 12 seconds)!  I'm so excited.  My watch time was actually 29:32, but I will just stick with the official guntime of 30:12.  So, I can positively state that I beat my goal.  Whoo-hoo!

A perk of running the race, you get free stuff at the end.  They had hot dogs, bagels, pumpernickel rolls, chic-fil-a breakfast biscuit sandwiches, Gatorade, water, energy bars, granola bars, water bottles, towels, Beef O'Brady's refillable sippy cups and best of all...booze.  They had hard iced tea (Mike's Lite) and Sam Adam's beer.

Even though I did not win a medal for my running efforts (I came in 202nd overall out of 519 runners, 65th out of 285 women and lastly, 9th out of 40 women in my age group of 35-40 yo), I had a great time!

Craft-no-lutions

I have been reflecting on my Craftolutions from 2011 and I have not really accomplished many of them (to be truly honest).  I attempted to do something with a few of them, but then forgot about them and never completed what I started.  Go figure.

I will highlight them quickly:

1. Complete UFO's:  I did give away some yarn that someone else can repurpose, but I have not finished any of my UFO (unfinished object).  There is a reason why they are unfinished and it is because I don't really like them.  Life's too short to work on something that you dislike.
2. Organize Projects in Binders:  I did buy a binder and page protectors, I grabbed all of the projects, patterns, ideas and the such and placed them in a project bag, but that's about it.  I have added to the bag occasionally, but have not put them in page protectors.  One thing I am doing is my current patterns, I'm putting them in the page protector right in the beginning so when I do get to that binder, they are good to go.
3. Have Patience: Yes, I believe that I have gotten better at this.  I give myself more time and often come up with a Plan B, in case something goes awry. I can give my first Check to this one.
4. Craft for Charity: I did not do this.  I feel awful not having time to do this; I have no excuse.  I have enough extra yarn and extra scraps of fabric, I just need to commit to this.
5. Teach Someone to Knit: I think a friend or two may be interested in learning, but I have not pressed anyone to learn.  I can't make someone learn!  They know I do it, I knit in public (in front of them, often) and some read this blog.  If that's not enough to convince someone that this is the hobby they have been missing out on, then I'm okay with that.
6. Realistic Projects: I was very realistic with projects this year.  So realistic, that I only knitted 4 toddler hats for Christmas.  I knew I was not going to finish a project for each family member and friend, so I just went real and bought gifts.  So much less stressful.  The hats came out cute, that is good enough for me. Check #2.
7. Jog in 5K's: I have been jogging.  I jog about 3 times a week, but I could never get past 2 to 2.5 miles.  A 5K is 3.2 miles.  This year I have signed up for a 5K this February and have been jogging a 3.5 mile loop in my neighborhood once a week.  It ain't pretty, but I can do it.  It's all in my head, I convince myself that it's too hard, but I just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and I will eventually get to the finish line.
8. Read More: I already did a post on this just this month and I am no longer putting a "must read" number on my leisure book reading.  I was only one book short and I could have squeezed it in, but I just did not care for the pressure.

So, if you have been counting, I only completed 2 Craftolution.  To solve this issue, I've changed it from Craftolutions to Craft-no-lutions.  I have already made a few (although they may seem sort of self-centered).  I might be able to stick to these better:

1. I will make less for other people and consider myself for projects first.  I get the feeling that not all handmade gifts are appreciated.  So, that being said, I will make what I like, for me.
2. Read as many or a few books as I like.  This was an internal battle for me, but it is for the best.
3. Not stress over things that I have no control over.  This is a huge one for me.  I am a worry-wort, big time.  I worry about everyone else and not enough about me.  This has already taken effect a few months back, so I'm managing the real stress by jogging, thinking with a clearer head and not being such a perfectionist (Just let it go...).

That's it.  Yes, no "I will do this and I will do that."  I will do it, if I feel like it.  Yea to the new me.

I have started a new fitness thing (so cliche, I know), that counts calories.  It is called MyFitnessPal.  It is an online data base and food diary (also have apps for the iphone, Android and Blackberry).    My sister turned me onto it and I started it for fun.  Now, I am thinking that this is a good thing and I really want to stick with it.  It allows you to search their food and exercise database for just about anything and everything.  It shows nutrition info and helps determine calories burned during an exercise.  It teaches you to take notice what you eat and how much of it.  It is a tool to help you change your mindset on food and how you live based on that.

I am learning about portion size.  My portions were not normal; they were too large.  If you want to eat more, guess what?  You have to exercise to build up your calorie bank again.  It makes me want to get out and get moving so I can eat something good.  I'm sure after a time, I will not crave bad stuff.  You have to make the switch from eating a little bit of bad-for-you food, to a lot of good-for-you food.  It is hard at first and I almost quit (I know, it happened after only 1 week on the food diary/calorie counting) but I came to terms with how I'm living now (bad eating habits and an embarrassing waistline) and how I want to live (healthy eating habits, an active lifestyle and a toned body).  That is my goal.

I've only lost a few pounds and don't look any different, but I feel so much better, physically and mentally.  It's a great feeling.

If you check it out and join, add me as a friend.  My username is silvermox.  We will motivate each other!  Go ahead, try it!!