Healthy Baking: Ginger Snaps and Blueberry Pancakes

Afternoon,

The other day I had the brilliant idea to attempt to cook two recipes that I've wanted to cook for a while now.

I tried my luck at two healthy recipes - Blueberry Pancakes and Ginger Snaps.  Both recipes are off my two favourite blogs Ittybitsofbalance.com and nourish-and-flourish.net.

My "Lightened Up Wheat-free Ginger Snaps"

Ginger Snaps close up

Brittany's Ginger Snaps ( http://ittybitsofbalance.com/2011/12/20/lightened-up-wheat-free-gingersnaps/ )

To my disappointment both recipes were a complete fail.  The ginger snaps were wheat-free and tasted slightly odd, they tasted pretty much like brown rice flour and water.  I'm sad that these didn't work for me as they looked so cute on Brittany's blog.

Sara's Blueberry Pancakes ( http://nourish-and-flourish.net/2012/06/wiaw-blueberry-cheesecake-pancakes/ )

As for the blueberry pancakes this was an awesome recipe!  The recipe is so healthy and the pancake batter is super tasty the problem is that because they contain almost zero fat you need to cook them in an awesome non-stick frying pan.

I attempted the recipe twice - the first time the whole mixture stuck to my horrible pan and I ended up just throwing the whole thing out.  The second time instead of frying the batter I baked it in a ramekin.  It came out awesome and so pretty.  Because I'm still getting use to taking pictures of everything I cook/bake I don't have a picture for my baked pancakes (sorry) but take it from me it looked sooo tasty and colourful.

Top 10 Plays On My Ipod

2pac - Open Fire

2pac - Staring Through My Rear view

2pac - My Block

2pac - Better Days

2pac - Keep Your Head Up

2pac - Hell For A Hustler

Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

George Harrison - As My Guitar Gently Sleeps

Led Zeppelin - Black Dog

Metallica - Until It Sleeps

No guesses as to who my favourite artist is.  I LOVE 2PAC more then anything!! In my opinion he is the most intelligent and amazing character.

Love one to Pac!

Worst Moment In My Life To Date

Four months ago my mum was rushed to hospital due to complications with her thyroids.  While in hospital she almost died because her blood pressure was so low but amazingly she overcome this like nothing had happened and was released a few days later.

Looking back that was one of the scariest moments of my life as I have never had anyone that I love so much and would die for ever be so close to death.  It was such a shock and made me release just how precious family really is.

I spent a few weeks with mum after she came out of hospital and it was great!  My whole family and I were so happy to have my mum alive and well and we thought that was the end of the scare..... until the doctors got hold of mum and told her that she has stomach cancer a week later.

Now my mum is the absolute strongest person I know and as gut wrenching as the news was for my family and myself to digest it was toughest for my mum and it was the first time I have ever seen my mum cry.

My whole family felt helpless and were in shock for a while it was hands down the worst news I have ever experienced.  From the beginning my mum always said she will get through this and was so unbelievably positive since day 1.  She started YouTubeing videos of the operation she would have to go through and all information about stomach cancer.

Mum went through 9weeks of Chemotherapy and an 11 hour operation (it was supposed to only be 6 hours) and although the past four months have been tough on mum she has done so amazing and keep 100% positive.  The oddest thing is you would never ever know she has cancer we keep forgetting as she has been so wonderful.  She looks better then she ever has and even mums personality has changed for the better she no longer stresses about the small things in life and apreicates everything.  Her outlook on life has become so positive.

We have had many complications on this journey with mum almost dying multiple times,  the Chemo leaking on the outside of mums body and other things like mum being discharged from hospital only to be admitted back in the next day.  All of this stuff has happened and my mum has gone through so much pain but always maintained to smile and keep positive.  The surgery was a success and all the cancer was taken from her stomach.  This was the best news ever all mum has is 9 more weeks of chemo and we can put this whole journey behind us.....

Except we can't.  Just as we start celebrating life without cancer mum goes back to the hospital today for a routine check-up and they have informed her that everything is great with her stomach cancer and she is healing wonderful and it no longer exists in the stomach but she now has cancer in her Lymph Nodes - cancer is in 6 out of the 9 Lymph Nodes.

Just when things start to look up they come crashing down.

Turbo Jamming / A Sign

While I was back home for the madres operation I found a Turbo Jam DVD amonugst a bunch of books on my mums cabinet.

I was excited because I wanted to buy it when I first saw the informational way back in 2006.

Back in my younger days 2006/07 I use to spend anywhere from 2-4 hrs in the gym most days as I was a student studying and had nothing better to do with my time.

I'd finish course at 1pm then spend the rest of the day in the gym until my mum finished work at 5pm where we would then go home together.  I use to do a lot of boxing back then and it's fair to say I was in SOOO MUCH better shape.

When I first saw Turbo Jam advertised it appealed to me as it incorporated boxing and kick-boxing moves the only thing I was always to screw-gee to pay the ridiculous price of 200.00 for the box set.

Fast-forward 6years and too many delicious burgers and desserts later I was ecstatic to find the disk on the cabinet,  it was like a sign!

I tried out the "Learn and Burn" workout and it definitely makes you sweat! I feel like I'm getting in a good amount of cardio and personally find it more entertaining then Zumba.  Zumba I find boring and end up quitting half way through so this is good though I must admit the first time I tried this I ended it only 4mins in as I was exhausted but it was 1am in the morning :)

I'm going to try do Turbo Jam at least 3 times a week and see how we go.  I want to get back into boxing and start UFC (Ultimate Fighter) and MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) so this is a good place to start to get my fitness up.  I get through all the punches and kicks imagining that I'm an awesome UFC fighter haha

Along with my "Learn and Burn" workout today I have also dusted off the cobwebs of my "Ab Circle Pro" as I never really did complete the "Lose 10pounds in 10 days Challenge",  a killer Body Rock workout and a Blogilates "Glad You Came Calve Challenge" - http://blogilates.com/challenges

Mum

Flowers from Dutchbydesign.com

My mum is amazing...That's all :)

What I'm Currently Doing

Baking the above Banana Bread from Sara'a blog - http://nourish-and-flourish.net/my-favorite-banana-bread/.

It's close to midnight and I have to wake up at 4am for the journey back home to see my madre before her operation.  I still have to wash the clothes that I plan on taking with me and then pack those same clothes.

Instead of packing and making sure I have everything I need I'm baking yummy Banana Bread and G/F Pumpkin Muffins....typical of who I am really.  I take such a relaxed not fazed approach while everyone stresses out panicking that I wont be ready on time I make it with minutes to spare,  much to their amazement.

Fingers crossed my bread tastes good as my kitchen currently smells amazing!  The beautiful aromas of cinnamon,  vanilla and sweet bananas are filling every nook and cranny of my house.

I changed Sara's recipe slightly by replacing the butter with olive oil and using splenda instead of real sugar.  I also added cinnamon by mistake as I was baking my g/f pumpkin muffins at the same time and cinnamon went in the banana bread instead of the muffins (oops).


Banana Bread

2 cups oat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar (Splenda granular and Truvia work well too)

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)

1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt (2% or 0%)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.

3. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed
until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating
after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until
blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Spoon
batter into a bread loaf pan (or muffin pan) coated with cooking spray.

4. Bake at 350° for 1 hour (for bread), or 20 minutes (for muffins), or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes
out clean.

Serves 14.

Nutrition per serving: Calories: 187; Fat: 4.3 grams; Protein: 3.9 grams;

Nutrition with Splenda: Calories: 136; Fat: 4.3 grams; Protein: 3.9 grams

Latest Obsessions

Multitude Hair Ties - from Anthropologie

Multitude Hair Ties - from Anthropologie

I'm currently beyond obsessed with the above hair ties.


Multitude Hair Ties from Anthropologies.  These are the cutest hair ties ever! They come in a range of colours that are too cute for words.  I'm in the process of ordering some these babies and can not wait until they arrive.

I'm been daydreaming about these hair ties for quite awhile now and will be soo happy once I get my hands on these.

Apparently you can make your own version of the hair ties at home using a head band - http://thatsinfluence.blogspot.com.  Wouldn't mind giving this a try some time.

Essie Nail Polish - Muchi Muchi

Essie Nail Polish - Mint Candy Apple

What can I say I love all things Essie!

O.P.I is HUGE and seems to be all the rage amongst most girls but I'm yet to get on that bandwagon.  I've always been a massive fan of Essie and personally prefer it to O.P.I as I believe it stays on longer without chipping and glides on the nails much smoother resulting  in the same professional finish that you get in salons.

My two favourite Essie colours are - Mint Candy Apple and Muchi Muchi.