High-Protein, Low-Carb "Pancakes"

High-Protein, Low-Carb "Pancakes"

Wife: People who see me eat lunch probably think I'm so weird.

Husband, pointing to himself: You mean like this guy?

That was us yesterday discussing my recent brown-bag specials, which have consisted of turkey and cheese roll-ups and chicken salad made with Greek yogurt. I don't eat a lot of carbs - doctor's orders.

So even though the husband wasn't home this morning when I was eating breakfast, I could picture him in his usual spot across the table from me, saying the exact same thing he said to me yesterday afternoon:

Whatever makes you happy, honey.

Well, some might consider this a strange breakfast, but these "pancakes" made me verrrry happy this morning.

High-Protein, Low-Carb Pancakes

Inspired by This Guy

1/2 cup liquid egg whites

1 scoop 100% whey protein powder (I used vanilla)

a dash of apple pie spice

cooking spray

spray butter

Combine the egg whites, protein powder and spice in a shaker and shake for two minutes. The mixture will thicken and begin to look like batter.

Heat a griddle over medium heat and spray with cooking spray. Pour the "batter" onto the griddle. Cover and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until small bubbles begin to form. Flip. Cook on the other side.

Continue making "pancakes" until all of the batter is gone. Top with butter spray or your favorite syrup or fruit. Next time, I might even use a little Greek yogurt and see how that tastes.

Enjoy!

Serves 1

207 calories, 2.5 g fat, 5.7 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 38 g protein

Steak With Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Our refrigerator is in one of those rare states in which it is full. There are more items in there than I'm afraid I even know. This means one of two things is going to happen: I'm going to be very good about searching through the fridge and putting our ingredients to use, or I'm going to find green hard-boiled eggs, a moldy container of sour cream and a shriveled up lemon in about a week - or two.

Don't judge. If you tell me you've never found those treasures in your icebox, I won't believe you.

So in an attempt to avoid finding slimy mushrooms stuffed in the back next to an open can of diced tomatoes from who knows when, I decided to make a creamy mushroom and onion sauce to go with tonight's dinner.

The husband grilled away outside in an evening drizzle, and I stood at the stove stirring and stirring. Oh, and I washed spinach, too.

Time for a Coffeecake Break

Momma's Jam-Swirl Coffeecake

My grandfather was a carpenter. The smell of sawdust still makes me think of him and my grandparents' garage - and taking Saturday-morning rides in his blazer to the dump. Oh, how excited my cousins and I would get when Pa would give us our very own bags of garbage to throw into the big hole in the ground at the dump.


What's that nonsense have to do with food - or coffeecake, for that matter? Carpenters stop for coffee break. At least, Pa always had midmorning snack, and my father-in-law's a good one for coffee break. (Yes, he's a carpenter, too.)


And today I'm guest rambling over at The Country Cook's fabulous blog. So if you're interested in a good ol' coffeecake recipe from my momma, my Pa's fourth daughter, head over to The Country Cook's corner of the Internet and show her space some love. And then go hug a carpenter, or your grandpa or any hard-working man in your life who loves coffeecake.

I Can Make Peanut Butter Cookies. I Can.

The husband always wins when we play rummy. I try to beat him, but I can't. I can shuffle the cards, though, and do that fancy bridge move, so that's what I do.

I can't hold my breath under water. I always have to plug my nose. If I don't, it isn't pretty.

I've always loved curly hair, but I have no idea how to use a curling iron. No matter what I do, I always end up with a curl and then a crimp on the end. I stick with the straightener.

When I grow up, I'd like to be one of those football mommas who can whistle really loud with two fingers in her mouth. But I've tried; I just don't know how to do it. I guess I'll have to get a bullhorn or something.

What else can't I do?

I can't make blondies. 

Bananas for Somethin' Like Ice Cream

Banana "Ice Cream" and Walnuts

It's not the best photo, that's for sure, but it was the best I could do from the comfort of my loveseat. I had just whipped up some banana "ice cream" for myself and was getting cozy in the living room while the husband sat by shaking his head, wondering how I could eat something so strange.

So, how could I? Easily.

No-Wasted-Watermelon Granita

Last weekend at the market I told the cashier I wanted to pick up a watermelon on my way out. She asked which size I wanted and I told her a small one would be fine. I thought they were all the same price, so I told her I wanted one of the $5.99 melons. The other girl who worked there said she had two left for $4.99. Well, there was no need to try to convince me further. I didn't even care what size it was - I wanted the cheaper melon.

Strangely enough, the cheaper watermelons were bigger than the more expensive melons. I guess you could say I got lucky. Or maybe not. 

Egg Sandwiches So Easy College Kids Can Make 'Em

5-Minute Egg Sandwich

I spent years and years not eating eggs. I can't even tell you what made me start eating eggs, but I think my college roommate K. Marie may have helped inspire my love of eggs. They made the perfect college breakfast. We made many an evening last until the wee hours of the morning. After we rose, when most of the world was gearing up for lunch, we'd hit up the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet - and that included mounds of scrambled eggs. 

There were plenty of mornings I swore those eggs had healing powers. I won't get into the details now, but I'll say that sometimes you just need a good shot of protein in the morning; it was during those three and a half years I spent in undergrad that I learned eggs sometimes have just what it is that you need most. 

Review: 125 Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes

125 Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes 
By Carol Fenster, PH.D.


I don't like to think the husband and I are superstitious, but we do have a habit of taking note of things in threes, good and bad. We simply know things haven't come full circle until we've faced three.

When we moved to our second nest, we arrived to find the hot water heater was busted, the fridge wasn't cooling and the water running into the washer was set up backward. (Luckily it only took a couple of washes to realize "cold" actually meant "hot.") Once we got those three discomforts straightened out we were good.

The husband has even tried - and disliked - meatloaf three times. (Yes, Momma, even your meatloaf.) So I've given the man the benefit of the doubt and promised him to never ever, ever, ever serve meatloaf again. I've resorted to ordering it restaurants, as strange as that sounds.


When I received Carol Fenster's 125 Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes cookbook in the mail I was quite excited. I'd never bought, or even been given, a vegetarian cookbook before, so I was excited to put Fenster's creations to use for Meatless Mondays. 

We started out with the Sherried Mushrooms on Crispy Polenta Rounds. Unfortunately, neither of us wanted to star this one in the cookbook. So we put the book aside for a couple of weeks. Once the husband got the taste of those sherried mushrooms well out of his mouth I decided to make Fenster's Creole Vegetables on Basmati Rice. The husband is all about Creole spices. I thought surely this one would win him over.

Venison-Stuffed Peppers

We ate venison burgers for dinner last night. And since the venison was packaged in about a 45-pound container, we had a lot of leftovers. (Really it's only about 2 lbs, but it goes a long way in this house.)

I've wanted to make stuffed peppers for awhile now for no reason at all. I'd never had a stuffed pepper before and wasn't even really sure what I should stuff in them, but I wanted to make them. And when the husband agrees to eat something I've never even eaten before and, therefore, have no ground to stand on when trying to assure him dinner will taste good, I have to take advantage of the situation.

Since the closest I'd ever come to a stuffed pepper was the deli case at our local market, I wasn't really sure how to go about cooking them. I wasn't even sure what I was going to stuff them with, besides the venison. 

But I wasn't about to tell the husband that.

Back Where I Come From

"Back where I come from
Where I'll be when it's said and done
I'm proud as anyone
Back where I come from

Some say it's a backward place
Narrow minds on a narrow way
I make it a point to say
That that's where I come from

That's where I come from
Where I'll be when it's said and done
I'm proud as anyone
That's where I come from"

- Mac McAnally

Instead of telling you about how the husband and I ate leftovers for dinner I'd just like to take a minute to be thankful we had dinner and that we have a house to come home to and that we were spared from last weekend's storm. We were spared during the storm last weekend. Others were not as lucky. 

I know I'm supposed to be running a food blog here. But when I can't stop thinking about what happened last weekend and how so many people are suffering right about now, I can't really make myself write about counting calories and feeding the husband vegetables.

So bear with me for now. I promise we'll be back to eating as usual around here, and I'll be sharing our experiences with you again soon. Till then we'll be glued to YouTube, praying for those suffering from Irene, and thinking of ways we can help.

Be good to each other.