Food Diary: 16 June 2012

 French bread (60 Cal), a fried egg (80 Cal), a tomato (40 Cal)

Another uneventful day, I'm afraid.

Food Diary: 15 June 2012

Mixed baby greens with avocado and tomato (100 Calories)

Today I went to the doctor and had a procedure done which means that I can't do any strenuous physical activities for about a week, so I will be postponing the completion of my 30 Day Shred. This is much more disappointing than it should be. 

Food Diary: 14 June 2012

Unsweetened and iced black tea with a slice of lemon (2 Cal)

Another uneventful day. However, I am thoroughly pleased to have leftovers to eat for the first time in weeks. It's surprisingly exciting!

Food Diary: 13 June 2012

Oatmeal pancakes with maple syrup (280 Cal)

I may have failed to mention this, but I forgot my camera charger in Seattle. So, since my battery died this evening, I've started using my dSLR (Canon XSi) that I tend to avoid using because it's so bulky and I don't have a macro lens handy. The quality of the images is noticeably better (see oatmeal pancakes, for the recipe), but it'll take some getting used to: for example, I can't hold food and take pictures of it at the same time because this camera requires the attention of both of my arms. I might take it back up with me, though, if I can figure it out.

Also today, I went to the dentist twice (!), so I was very unwilling to move or eat for the first half of the day. To make up for it, though, I cooked! I boiled some black beans and pieced together lunch, and then for dinner I made the oatmeal pancakes I've been craving (even though I'd never tried them before), and they turned out pretty well (although I did need to put the top one, above, back on the stove for another minute as it was a bit undercooked). These are two things I've never made before, and I didn't bother using recipes for either! In fact, I even made my own oat flour in the food processor with steel-cut oats because I couldn't be bothered to go to the store to buy some. It turned out surprisingly well. They are also much more photogenic than my oatmeal that has been refrigerated and reconstituted, see below, although really oatmeal stores very well in the fridge.

Recipe: Oatmeal Pancakes

Oatmeal pancakes with maple syrup (soaked in)

All of the below measurements are estimates since I generally make things up as I go when I cook. Additionally, if you are missing an ingredient, do not bother going out to buy it if you can avoid it: things like wheat germ and buttermilk, especially, are not necessary.

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup dry oats or oat flour

1/2 cup white flour

1/4 cup wheat germ

1-1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, ginger)

1 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:

1 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt

1/2 cup nonfat milk

1/8 cup buttermilk

1 egg

1. If you do not have oat flour, measure out one cup of old fashioned or steel-cut oats into a food processor and pulverize until a course flour. Small pieces of oats left over are okay. Flour should stick to the sides and collapse when the processor stops when it is done.
2. In a clean and dry bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.
3. In another clean and dry bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (it should be mostly lump-free). It is important to use another bowl in order to make sure that the leavener (baking soda) doesn't react with the acid in the wet ingredients before you are ready.
4. Heat your pan until the oil "shimmers". I prefer olive or coconut oil on a seasoned cast-iron skillet, but it doesn't really matter. You can use more oil if you want a "fried" texture, or less if you want a "cakey" texture.
5. Quickly combine the wet ingredients into the dry (don't worry about lumps here), and commence pancake cooking! These cook quickly, and don't bubble very much like normal pancakes: flip when the underside looks brown, and if you aren't sure if they're done cut into them and see if any batter drips out.
6. Eat! These are excellent with maple syrup, or would also be good with fresh fruit (bananas or strawberries especially).

Tips:

• If you have baking powder instead of soda, you can use milk instead of yogurt/buttermilk. If you are using baking soda, though, it is very important to use yogurt or buttermilk in order to make fluffy pancakes
• If you have overripe bananas, mash these into the wet ingredients before combining them with the dry ingredients. You pancakes will be sweeter and more moist
• If you prefer gluten-free recipes, skip the white flour and wheat germ. They are added for texture but aren't essential.
• You can swap out the pumpkin pie spice for vanilla or any other spice mixture you prefer.
• Don't skip the salt
• This batter is pretty thick-- if you prefer thinner pancakes, add more water or milk; if you like them thick and cakey, cut the liquid and add as you see fit

Note: This recipe makes about six medium-sized pancakes, which have about 200 Calories each.