It was chilly yesterday morning, but since I wore my long sleeve shirt and sweatpants and socks to bed, all I had to do was throw my hair back in a ponytail (just fits!) put on my glasses and threw on a jacket and I was out the door. For the record, I don’t think it’s required to put a bra on for walking around the neighborhood at 7:00 a.m. in the morning. Just sayin. At the end of 30 minutes the sun was starting to peak out, but that didn’t last very long. I love the signs at the end of our road. Literally a river right in front of you but there is a tree, stop sign and road ends sign. You know some asshole ran into the river without stopping, hence they had to put the signs up.
So I had some blueberries that needed to be used up, or thrown out. I went on Pinterest and put in blueberry pancakes, and I chose Todd’s Famous Pancakes. I did use almond milk for the milk and I left out the butter, simply because I forgot! The key to these pancakes is letting the batter rise – I normally let mine rest between 15-30 minutes, but these needed an hour! No worries, I just made them the night before last. I made the batter, left it on the counter, watched a couple shows and then it was time to cook them up.
My syrup? Almond Butter Sugar Free Pancake Syrup. I used 1 teaspoon of Justin’s almond butter and 2 tablespoons of sugar free pancake syrup. Then just nuked that for about 30-45 seconds, gave it a stir and poured it over the pancakes. To top it off, I added 1 tablespoon chopped pecans and had some deli ham on the side for added protein. I get lots of emails asking me how I can eat so many carbs. My answer is this: every diabetic is different, what works for me, may not work for you, but I can take insulin so I don’t have to rely on the food alone to manage my diabetes – which is good and bad. Bad because now I can eat whatever I want – just take more insulin! But if I eat carbs WITH protein, I don’t have the blood sugar spikes had I just eaten the pancakes and syrup by themselves.
I had a couple work errands to run at lunch, so I did a quick 20 minute walk on the trail near my office, then got the rest of my steps at the grocery store. I was going to have another naan panini, but the walk was chilly and I was going to Mariano’s anyway for work supplies (Hazelnut coffee creamer is in high demand at my office!) so I made my sandwich fixings into a side salad, and picked up their vegetarian chili. It’s really really good. I do add a bit of hot sauce to mine, but it’s really good. Interestingly enough, as you know I can’t go to the store without glancing at the cheese aisle, I saw this Cabot cheese wrapped unlike any other Cabot cheese I’ve ever seen. I’ve asked them about it, so I’ll let you know when I find out. It was tasty! I added some to both my chili and my salad.
After work I had legs for strength. Can I just say HOLY LUNGES! Side to side lunges with the medicine ball – 10 reps on each leg – 4 sets. Barbell Squats, front squats, walking side lunges. I am happy to report that my knee had no trouble with any of the leg exercises – they ended up taking me 35 minutes. Then I finished off with 2.5 miles on the treadmill.
So my Mom is leaving to visit my brother today for a week so I called her on my drive home from work to see how she’s doing. As I was talking to her I went to scratch my head and wouldn’t you know I felt a tick. WTF?! I know better than to try to pull it off, but knowing I had a tick in my head for the remainder of my 20 minute drive home can of grossed me out. Like a lot. I came home and told Hannah and Jacob what was going on, Hannah went into action, got the tweezers out until she tried to get it out and it moved and she screamed. Then I screamed! Jacob just took the tweezers from her and yanked it out, a couple hairs and all, and I was just happy to see it intact – no head of the tick was left in my head!
Hey, this isn’t just a food blog, it’s my life blog – but just looking at that creeps me out. By the way, that is the top to a bottle of alcohol, so you can see the proportion but just gross! All last night I kept feeling my head for more ticks!
So one of Hannah’s favorite dishes, and my Mom’s now that I think of it, to order in a Thai restaurant is Pad Thai. I suggested shrimp, Hannah said that would be okay, so we were all good. When I was at the store I bought a packet of pad thai seasoning, kind of like you would get packaged taco seasoning. But during the day I was thinking I didn’t want to waste $8 of shrimp on a shitty packaged seasoning, so I went to Kevin of Closet Cooking’s blog (so glad he’s back! Does anyone know why he went on hiatus for several months?). Anywho, when I saw that I already had all the ingredients to make my own sauce, that was a done deal. I did reduce the chili sauce because Hannah doesn’t like spicy food, and I subbed in fettuccini noodles because I couldn’t find the right rice noodles. And I used limes instead of tamarind. Since I reduced the spiciness of the dish, I just added some sriracha to my plate.
Super delicious and filling. Only one problem. Hannah has decided that she doesn’t like shrimp because it tastes too “seafoody.” I asked her if she would like it with tofu, and she said yes, so next time I make it I will use tofu.
Um, check out my steps for the day!
The only thing I would have loved more about that is if I walked 18,888 steps for 8.88 miles!
Oh, I almost forgot! My friends at Spartan Race are offering a special discount if you sign up for future races – just use the coupon code MEMORIAL to get $40 dollars off your entrance fee! I am so excited, not only for my race, but for meeting up with blog readers Jessica, Kris and Mel and her husband Jory! That’s my new hashtag for my life after Tony #adventures2015 – a part of me knows he let go so that I could live my life, and I need to honor that by doing just that.
Make it a great day!
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That shrimp Pad Thai looks amazing. I haven’t had Thai for awhile, mostly because my favorite Thai/Lao restaurant is in Fremont and I never get out there when they are open. I think the next time my Mom comes into Omaha I am going to have her bring me takeout from that place. Just thinking about that lady’s Pad Si Ew with chicken and a side of summer rolls…ok, now I’m hungry! 🙂
Your comment about eating the blueberries or they’d go bad reminded me of my grandmother (God rest her soul). She was famous in the family for saying “eat that, or I’ll have to throw it out!” Good ol’ Depression-era habits never died. I miss her!
WOW- that Pad Thai looks amazing! It’s one of my guilty pleasures for sure:)
AND Yes, starting now through this summer, the Mariano’s will have this new variety of cheese (Orne Meadows) for sale. Let us know how you like it! Thanks for asking 🙂
I love it Rachael! So creamy and delish. I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t fake Cabot cheese! 😀
Oh that tick: gross. I was just talking to a co worker of mine who has to go to the hospital with his daughter tomorrow, she has lyme disease from a tick. Scary stuff.
I never had one myself, neither did Bella but Roussy before that has had her share of ticks 🙂
hahah- Hannah and I would get along so well with our dislike of meat 🙂 . I will have to try that pad thai recipe! Ticks TOTALLY freak me out! You do such an amazing job fitting in what you can when you can! Rock star <3
Ticks totally freak me out. I had to pull one out of Chris hamstring once – horrible!!!
Oh how I love Pad Thai. I’ve never made it at home, though. It’s something I’d love to try someday.
Those pancakes are calling my name. Loudly. I am mildly obsessed with Justin’s maple almond butter. I love it smeared on warm waffles.
Glad you got that tick off. Ick! I had something similar happen a few weeks ago. I woke up and was walking to the kitchen, casually rubbing my head. I felt something crawling and immediately grabbed it and tossed it hard across the room. I actually heard a thump when it hit the wall. I don’t know what type of critter it was, but It gave me the heebie-jeebies to realize I’d either slept with it there or it crawled on my head during the night.
I live right in the part of Connecticut where Lyme disease was discovered so we are pretty tick vigilant around here. But I have to say between you writing about ticks, and Shelley writing about snakes, I’m afraid I am going to have nightmares tonight!
That tick is scary. My friend had a bullseye rash on his leg and I diagnosed his Lyme disease. Turns out I was right( shoulda went to medical school instead of law school). Now that I am not taking any insulin, I have to be so careful with my carbs. I’ve had a few highs and a few lows lately. Not sure why I’m low when I’m just taking metformin. I realized that I can’t eat white rice, that causes my BS to SOAR. Same goes for starbucks frapacinos( even the light). Hannah might like the tofu that you can get at Whole Foods, its premarinated and cooked, you just warm it up.
The tick is freaking me out. I hate bugs.
But on to happier things…I love your hashtag!!
ICK ON THAT TICK!!!!! Are you going to be on tick patrol from now on, after each walk?
I bet those signs are up because someone (drunkenly?) drove into the river at night. Still, it looks funny to see a stop sign right there…reminds me of that “Here’s Your Sign” comedian, where if you have to be told to STOP, you are pretty dumb.
Ticks freak me out! My kiddo had one on his shoulder the other day, ewwww. Anyway about the cheese, it looks like maybe the store gets it in a big wheel and then cuts off portions and package and label it in store? That would be my guess. Also Kevin posted when he first came back that he was tending to personal matters in his life. I’m sure glad he’s back too. Have a great day Biz!
That is scary about the tick! I am paranoid about getting Lyme disease; it’s pretty common in Colorado and it’s been in the news so much lately. Be careful and watch for any freaky symptoms. I know it’s rare but EEK!