Category: Memoir

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Banana Oat Pancakes

I took some vacation days in a valiant “use ’em or lose ’em” effort.  Today is the first day of an extended weekend in which I have nothing planned.  So without any work to be done I did what most people would do with plenty of time on their hands.

Make pancakes.

When The Architect and The Doctor were kids I made pancakes all the time.  Nowadays with just two in the house and one a non-pancake lover I don’t make pancakes that often anymore.  But I had time, two very ripe bananas, and buttermilk in the fridge.  And I was getting tired of banana muffins so…

Banana Oat Buttermilk Pancakes

  • 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose white flour
  • 1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 beaten eggs
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 tablespoons cooking oil
  • 1/3 cup low fat milk
  • 2 ripe bananas, smashed
  • Dash cinnamon

In a medium mixing bowl stir together flours, rolled oats, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate mixing bowl combine eggs, buttermilk, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture to flour mixture all at once. Stir batter just till blended.  Add two smashed bananas and fold gently into the batter.  Allow the batter to sit for 15 – 30 minutes before frying.
For each pancake, pour about 1/4 cup of the batter onto a lightly greased preheated griddle or heavy skillet. Cook several pancakes at a time over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, or till the tops are evenly bubbled and the edges are dry, then turn and cook until golden brown on the second side.

TIPS

The banana in the batter will burn easily so cook these cakes at a lower temperature than you normally use for pancakes.  I finally figured out medium was a good temperature.  The pancakes will take a little longer to cook but they won’t turn out dark brown.  These pancakes are pretty sweet by themselves but knock yourself out if you want to eat them with real maple syrup.  Fresh fruit would be better.  And peanut butter would be the best.

Peanut butter and banana pancakes.  Yup.

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What About Just a Little Meat?

 

Followed over time, vegetarian diets were associated with a substantially lower incidence of diabetes, indicating the potential of these diets to stem the current diabetes epidemic.

We see the same step-wise drop in rates of another leading killer, high blood pressure. The greater the proportion of plant foods, the lower the rates of hypertension, and the same with excess body fat. The only dietary group not on average overweight were those eating diets composed exclusively of plant foods, but again there was the same incremental drop with fewer and fewer animal products. This suggests that it’s not black and white, not all or nothing, any steps we can make along this spectrum of eating healthier may accrue significant benefits.

Source: What About Eating Just a Little Meat? | NutritionFacts.org

Source: PLOS ONE: Taiwanese Vegetarians and Omnivores: Dietary Composition, Prevalence of Diabetes and IFG

Source: Millennials and A Plant-Based Diet. Better Food, Better Choices.

Each and every meal is a choice.  Make good choices.  In my 20’s I pursued a vegetarian lifestyle for about two years.  Towards the end of that period I was eschewing dairy and eggs.  Then I stopped my veggie ways.  The reason?  I missed pizza.  The lessons learned however were not lost.  I thoroughly enjoy meatless meals now but if I want a piece of dead cow, I’ll eat dead cow.

Try not to get caught up in right vs. wrong.  Use your common sense.  Do not become the woman who fed her 11 month old nuts and fruit.  Just nuts and fruit!

Make wise, informed choices.  Understand as I have your need for calories decrease with age.  You have to eat less the older you are.  Strive towards more plant based meals and you’ll be OK.  Just don’t get too fruity or nutty about it all.

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Our Diets are Making us Sicker

 

The good news: fewer hungry people around the world. The bad news: Increased consumption of processed foods is pushing up global rates of overweight and obesity.

Source: Across The Globe, Our Diets Are Making Us Sicker, Report Finds : The Salt : NPR

So fast food and sugary soda makes you fat?  Seriously?

At my personal peak of adiposity I tipped the scale at 370 pounds.  Over the years I’ve done the classic weight loss and gain yo-yo from a low of 163 after my initial weight loss to a current  weight of 195.  I taught myself how to lose weight and the diet strategies to keep the weight off.

I should write a book.

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Father’s Day 2016

It came by mail
Small and light
Opened to see
I got a pick picked for me for
Father’s Day
Picked just for me

I will never use this pick
There are picks everywhere in the house
I would rather use than this
Pick picked just for me

Always carry a guitar pick I told the one
Who picked this pick for me
A man no longer a child
Who listened and remembered

I will never use this pick
I would rather carry this pick picked for me
Close to my heart always
A reminder of the love between us

 

 

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Beans May Help With Weight Loss

 ‘Pulses’ like these may help dieters feel fuller and reduce food cravings, new analysis shows

Source: Beans, Chickpeas May Help With Weight Loss

I have two bean stories.  I’ll start with my second favorite memory of beans.

I moved from NJ to Texas at the age of 25.  Talk about culture shock.  It was a big brand new world to explore.  And if you enjoy ethnic cuisine you try to eat whatever the locals ate.  I wasn’t quite sure what Texas cuisine was besides smoked brisket.  On one day of exploration I passed a rather cheap and gaudy looking fast food joint that probably no longer exists.

“I wonder what this is?”

So I stopped, went in, stared at the menu and had absolutely no idea what anything was.  So I ordered a bean burrito.  It was your typical fast food burrito, thick brown paste, a little cheese, a little chili sauce, all wrapped up in a flour tortilla.  This happened so long ago the only remaining memory was that I liked it.  A lot.

So ends my second favorite bean story.

 

 

 

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Random Thoughts 02.28.16

My problem is that with the two of us, I just need more people to feed. – Sue Lau

It took some time and effort but I think I’ve finally broken some old habits.  When I shopped for groceries if I found something, anything on sale I’d buy it.  Ten pounds of boneless chicken thighs at $1.77 a pound?  Bought it.  Organic carrots five pounds for $4.00?  Bought it.  Dried pasta on sale for $0.99 a pound?  There was a time when I didn’t have to buy pasta for six months.  I was particularly bad with fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy.  But when I started tossing stuff in the garbage because it went bad before I could use it I knew I had to change.

The other habit (which was easier to break BTW) was making enough of one dish to feed eight or more.  Gradually I reduced the quantities of the dishes I cooked so that the leftover collection in the freezer got to a manageable level.  Besides, I got real tired of eating leftover leftovers.

I shop more frequently but buy less.  I’m not wasting as much food due to spoilage.  The cupboard remains well stocked but not overflowing.  I have adjusted to just the two of us and it wasn’t easy.

The half and half in the fridge says use by February 26.

Unopened.

 

 

 

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What Would Seinfeld Say?

A recent study revealed that some young adults feel that eating cereal for breakfast is too much trouble.

Source: Will Millennials pass time crunch or breakfast munch on to their kids? – CSMonitor.com

Nearly 40% of the survey respondents stated cereal was a poor choice for breakfast because you had to clean up afterwards.  Let me think about this.  One bowl and one spoon.

This appears to be the Gladwell Tipping Point.  We’re doomed.

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Teaching Students to Cook Now Makes Them Better Doctors Later

Lifestyle factors — including nutrition, physical activity and stress — are critical determinants of health and, when poorly managed, can cause a veritable pandemic of chronic disease and unsustainable health care costs. Yet despite overwhelming connections between lifestyle factors and disease, most medical schools lack a cohesive approach to helping students translate their basic science education into practical patient advice and care.

via Teaching Students to Cook Now Makes Them Better Doctors Later.

I’m not quite sure if I actually taught my offspring how to cook.  But having a role model certainly helps.  My father did all the cooking when I was a kid.  One day I asked, “Why do you do all the cooking?” and his reply was,

“You’ve tasted your Mother’s cooking.  Survival.”

I taught myself how to cook because I thought all Dads did the cooking.  Don’t they?

 

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