I had pretty much decided the night before that I wasn’t going to work out yesterday morning, but I still set my alarm for six. If I get in the habit of sleeping in, it will be that much harder to do it on the days I want to get up.
So I get out of bed, from underneath our down comforter and I was like “damn its cold!” I open our bedroom door, shut it, walk in the hallway and if it were lighter out, I swear to God you could have seen my breath. I walk to the thermostat with a flashlight, ready to bump up the heat . . . but there are no numbers. Its a digital thermometer. I turned the little nob from heat, to off, back to heat. Nothing.
So I go in the kitchen and turn the lights on and I was like “well it can’t be the thermostat because the lights are working!” Then I had the bright idea of going down and checking the furnace. As I am looking at it, I thought “WTF am I doing? I don’t know the first thing about heating systems!” There was a switch on it though and I did pause for a few minutes before deciding not.to.touch.a.thing.
So I was literally on the computer, with a hot cup of coffee and three blankets on! I decided I needed to warm up, and what better way to warm up then to get Bizzy in my kitchen!
I normally wouldn’t buy blueberries not on sale, but I was spending my Whole Foods gift card so to me, they were free. 😀
Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes with Lemon Zest
Course: main meals
PointsPlus™ Value: 2
Servings: 10
Preparation Time: 5 min
Cooking Time: 15 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Course: main meals PointsPlus™ Value: 2 Servings: 10 Preparation Time: 5 min |
Ingredients
1 cup(s) White Whole Wheat Flour | |
1 Tbsp sugar | |
2 tsp baking powder | |
1/2 tsp table salt | |
1 item(s) egg | |
1 cup(s) fat-free skim milk | |
1 cup(s) fresh blueberries | |
1 tsp lemon zest |
Instructions
Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl.
In separate bowl, mix egg and skim milk together. Stir in lemon zest.
Add milk mixutre to flour mixture. Mix just until combined, then stir in blueberries.
Using Pam, use 1/4 cup measuring spoon to cook pancakes – this batch makes 10 pancakes, or 2 points per pancake.
Now if you are looking for a sweet pancake, this isn’t it. But the sweetness of the blueberries and the 1/3 cup sugar free syrup I put on them – they were perfect. So here’s my question. I did the points for 1 pancake so you can figure out the points if you eat one or three. So I ate three – on the old program if something was 2 points, but you ate two, it would be 5 points, not 4. So while I have it in my eTools as 6 points of pancakes, not sure? With two slices of Whole Foods uncured Turkey Bacon and syrup, breakfast comes in at 10 PointsPlus.
So I ended up leaving Tony a note by the toilet “the box with the numbers on it and the thingy to move the heat on isn’t working – I didn’t know what to do!” Um, turns out our thermostat is run on batteries! One minute upon him waking up, putting 3 triple A batteries in and the heat was on – while I suffered in the cold for two hours before work! Note to self: have Tony show me how to replace the batteries! 😀
So since I wasn’t working out at lunch either, Hannah picked me up for lunch! Since she’s been off of school we have been like two ships in the night. She’s home during the day while I am at work, and she’s out with friends at night when I am home.


We both had water with lemon, and then their soup and 1/2 sandwich combo. I had the tomato soup (so good – it even was a bit chunky this time but I didn’t mind!) and then got half a California Club (no mayo) turkey breast, bacon, swiss cheese, lettuce and avocado. Now here’s where counting points becomes difficult. I ate 3/4 of the soup (4 points) and I am guessing the 1/4 of the sandwich I had was 8 – so 12 points all together. Does that seem too high or too low?

After I made my pancakes for breakfast, I still had time to put together my crock pot roast beef with potatoes and carrots. I swear I put it on for 8 hours, but about 4 in the afternoon Hannah calls me and says “it has water on the top of the lid, but its not hot.” I put the roast in completely frozen so I thought I was screwed. She turned it on high and I hoped for the best.
Here’s the weird part – the meat was cooked perfectly but the veggies were still almost raw. I ended up having to cook them on the stove for 30 minutes, but it turned out okay. 😀
I cooked the roast and veggies in beef broth, but I like to make this gravy on the side – it really should be in every pantry – and so cheap – my Dollar General sells this 2 for $1 and its only 20 calories a 1/4 cup 😀
My bowl: 4 ounces diced roast, 3 ounces potato, carrots and 1/3 cup of gravy.

Um, I may have kicked it up a notch 😀
- 31 Points (14 Flex remaining, 37 activity earned since Sunday)
- no exercise (felt really weird, but I feel great!)
- average blood sugar 112
I am going to have a great giveaway tomorrow – completely unplanned but I couldn’t say no – get your thinking caps on for your favorite lower fat dish that lets you enjoy something that used to be a once in a while treat to an every day one – think cleaner Mac N Cheese, muffins – and it doesn’t even have to be your recipe, and you don’t have to have a blog! 😀
p.s. I am off to the gym to swim 😀 Can I just say I wish it wasn’t so damn dark outside?! 😀
I am so thankful for you that batteries is all is was!
Hi Biz, what a rude no head awakening for you. brrr….
Glad you had a nice time with Hanna. Hope your swim went well and that the rest of your day is a good one.
what doesn’t taste better with tabasco?!
That sucks about the heat! Glad it was just the batteries though! Yay Tony!
Your meat looks delish (TWSS) – maybe next time try cutting the veggies smaller? I never have had that problem before. I put in the veggies on the bottom, then the meat on top, then liquid. I read somewhere that putting them on the bottom helps – so if you don’t do that, maybe try? Otherwise I have no clue!
No heat = extra snuggles!
Those pancakes look fantastic! I am a sucker for a good pancake. Ugh, I so miss beef! I am mildly allergic so I can’t eat it, but when I see good cuts like that it makes me miss it so much!! I LOVE the pic of your daughter! She is beautiful =) Oh, and totally love her piercing =) I, too, am a sucker for a cool looking piercing.
Hey Biz ~
Of course you’re welcome to do a burger for our Burger Extravaganza month in June. The more the merrier!!! You can email me if you’re interested: foododelmundogmailcom
~ Mary
I guess it took my at and dot as HTML.
That email address again: Foododelmundo at gmail dot com
At least it was only the batteries right? 🙂
Jen
Too funny about the furnace. I am with Helen, I would have woke my hubby up immediately for help!
Eating out can be tricky when it comes to figuring out the points. Sometimes you just have to give it your best guess and go easy on the eating the rest of the day.
How strange that the roast got done but not the veggies. I do buy those little packets for gravy and they are a life saver.
Enjoy having time with Hannah! My daughter leaves tomorrow and I sure am going to miss her.
oh my gosh! The same thing happened to me the other day with our thermostat! I like freaked out 🙂 The pancakes look fabulous. We had pancakes for dinner last night- so yummy. Fun lunch with Hannah! The tomato soup looks out of this world.
i think lemon and blueberry are a match made in food heaven!
Lower fat snack that I can’t have the regualr version of? I’m eating it RIGHT NOW! Yum!
Sorry about the heat. Stinky way to wake up! I’ve been using more tabasco sauce too.
I actually LOL’d at the battery story! You must have strict instructions not to wake up your husband, because I totally would have!
That is weird about the veggies, but maybe because the roast was frozen solid? Turned out ok though, it looked good
I would marry my crockpot if at all possible, but I still am sometimes vexed when veggies don’t come out correctly with the meat (mostly potato fails). Your finished product looked so good though – and I’m all about pantry staples from the dollar store! I even did a post about it a little while ago! (Although judging by the lack of reader response on that one, maybe I love my dollar store a little TOO much?).
Also, blueberry pancakes…..aaaauuuuuuugghhhhhh drooooooool….
Haha…I love the furnace story. That is precisely what I would do, too! Love it! It’s great you and Hannah have been able to hang out despite the difference in schedules. You guys are so cute 🙂 I think your Points sound right on, but then again everything seems SOOOO high in points compared to the old program. Still getting used to that…
I bet mine is battery operated, too. I better check when I get home…
I kind of like the idea of just cooking the roast, putting the veggies on top and then the gravy in a bowl.
That soup looks awesome!
Thanks for the PSA. My furnace has the digital as well so will have to check and see if it runs on batteries now!
Oh welcome to my world! We don’t have heat in our house and it is made of concrete. Some times it is warmer outside than in our house. We have one butane heater in the living room and a dehumidifier that blows out warm air. We use an electric blanket to help keep us warm at night. I hope you are keeping warm today.
That’s so funny that it was just the batteries! I would have steered clear too. It’s best not to mess with anything you don’t understand. Man, your soup and sandwich look so good. I’m ready for lunch now and it’s not even noon yet. Your pot roast looks so good! Glad it turned out.