Over the weekend I found a lone can of pumpkin in the back of my pantry.  Since it still feels like fall around here, I decided to make me and my boss pumpkin buttermilk pancakes.

I really, really loved how these came out.  While my boss loves all things sweet for breakfast, me?  Not so much.  These had just the right amount of sweetness since there is only 2 teaspoons of sugar in the whole recipe.  Paired with sauteed apples and 1/4 cup of sugar free pancake syrup, it was just the right amount of sweet.

Light Buttermilk Pancakes

  • makes 12 pancakes (I used a 1/4 cup measure per pancake)
  • per pancake:  117 calories, 2.7 fat, 476 sodium, 16 carbs, 2.6 fiber and 5.7 protein

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups whole wheat white flour (I used King Arthur)
  • 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1/4 cup slivered almonds
  • 2 teaspoons of sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups non-fat buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  In another bowl, mix together the pumpkin, buttermilk and eggs.  Combine the two and just mix until all the flour is incorporated. Let the batter sit at least 15 minutes.  This is what produces fluffy pancakes because the baking powder has time to do its magic.  I actually made my batter within minutes of waking up, and my batter sat for about 30 minutes.

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Using my 1/4 cup measure, once I poured the batter into my non-stick pan, I put a heaping teaspoon of slivered almonds in the pancake, pushing down a bit to make sure they stick before flipping.  I had a couple pieces of deli ham on the side, which was a nice salty balance to the breakfast.  My boss couldn’t believe this whole plate was only 295 calories!

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A check of my blood sugar gave me the green light to workout.  I know I need to add more strength training to my routine.  I am a cardio woman through and through.  I was going through some apps on my phone and found a 60 strength training program.  It cost .99 cents on iTunes.

Since yesterday was Day 1, I had to do a 25 minute fitness test.  The reason being that after 60 days, I should be better than I was yesterday.  Holy shizz, 2 minutes of jump squats, 2 minutes of burpees?!  After each exercise there was a 30 second break and I had to type in my results after each exercise.

Then I ran a mile and then walked for 5 minutes for a cool down.

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My blood sugar before and after – perfect! 

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I ended up having leftover veggie chili that I made a while back for Souper Friday and had in the freezer.   I had a cup of that and added 1/2 a cup of cooked white rice.  It was really hot so I let it sit and as it did, it became more of a dip than soup, but it was still delicious!   I had a serving of tortilla chips on the side.

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I actually had Nicole’s pretzel chicken bites on my menu last night, but at the last minute I decided that I wanted Buffalo Chicken Balls.  And I knew I was going to be deep frying the chicken and I thought the pretzels might burn before the chicken was done.

This is really a super easy weeknight dinner.  And it cured my buffalo jones I was having!  And you knew I couldn’t go a whole week without having the word balls in my blog post, did you?!

Buffalo Chicken Balls

  • makes 4 servings, 6 balls each
  • 312 caloires, 6.8 fat, 735 sodium, 2.6 carbs, 1 .8 fiber and 32 protein

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound of chicken breasts, cut into bite size balls
  • 1 teaspoon seasoned salt, divided (Tony said it could have used a bit more salt, but he didn’t have buffalo sauce on his)
  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour (King Arthur)
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 cup of non-fat buttermilk
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup Frank’s Wing Sauce

In a shallow dish, mix 1/2 teaspoon of salt with the buttermilk and egg.  Let the chicken soak there for about 5 minutes.  In a ziploc bag, add flour, 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt, black pepper.  Toss in six pieces of chicken at a time and completely coat the chicken.  Heat a fryer or a pan with oil to 375 degrees.  Cook for 3 minutes.  Toss in Buffalo sauce.

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So good – with a couple steak fries on the side, 1/4 cup of tzatziki sauce and carrots, this was a winning dinner. 

After putting my stats in though, I realized yesterday that I had 4000 mg of sodium!  Eek!  Which is no surprise that my WI today, I am up .2.  Well that, and maybe the afternoon of beers and cheezy beef and tots on Saturday!

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I am still under 170, so it’s all good.

Stats for Tuesday:

  • 25 minute fitness strength test
  • 11:14 mile
  • 5 minute cooldown
  • 1337 calories, 30 fat, 200 carbs, 26 fiber, 65 protein

Today I will be running for Boston.  Will you?

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Storms are coming in and its time to get my shit together for the day.  Make it a great day!