Shredheads

Healthy Recipes - Easy Pumpkin Pancakes

Okay, it's not quite fall yet, but our kids LOVE these pumpkin pancakes, and so do we.  They're super easy to make, and as an added bonus, our pediatrician told us that pumpkin helps, uh, let's just say it helps "keep things moving" and leave it at that.  *laugh*

And I guessed at the number of servings.  2-1/3 cups of Bisquick makes a lot of pancakes.

Ingredients

2 1/3 cups reduced-fat Bisquick
1/3 cup canned pumpkin (Not Pumpkin Pie Mix)
1 1/4 cups nonfat milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup Egg Beaters (egg substitute )

Directions

1. Stir ingredients until well blended.
2. Pour a little less than 1/4 cup of batter onto hot griddle (use non-stick spray if necessary). Cook until slightly bubbly and edges are dry.
3. Flip, and cook until done.
4. Top with sugar-free syrup - it's not bad, really!  OK, it doesn't hold a candle to real maple syrup, but it's practically calorie free.  I think it's worth the tradeoff, you might not.  The nutritional info assumes no toppings.

Nutritional Information (assuming 10 servings)

Calories	134
Total Fat	1.9g
Dietary Fiber	1.0g
Protein	4.4g

Keeping a food journal

The only time I've ever kept a food journal was when I was breastfeeding my oldest and I had to do that stinkin' Total Elimination Diet. Granted, I lost a ton of weight, but I also only ate five things every day for almost a year.

Blech.

But then, the journal was really meant to figure out what my daughter was reacting so strongly to, not to count caloric intake, fat levels, or nutritional values.

And so, I figured since I'm not breastfeeding as much and I seem to be extra tired and just "bla" overall, maybe I should take a look at what I'm eating. I'm generally pretty sensitive to dairy, and while I've been okay with it during my pregnancies, I'm pretty sure my stomach doesn't love it again.

And since my meals have been pretty shoddy lately - consisting mostly of what I can grab out of the fridge and eat on the move or whatever is left on my kid's plates or that I can heat up quickly, I think I need a little attention to my diet.

Don't get me wrong. I'm actually a pretty healthy eater. Even the "to-go" choices from my fridge are basically health bars, applesauce, yogurts, fruit, etc. And it's probably good to eat smaller things than sit down and eat a whole meal.

But when I do the snacking thing, I find it's really hard for me to keep track of what I'm eating.

So I'm going to start a little food journal to get a sense of what's going in my gullet. And I'm also going to pay attention to what I'm shopping for. My new couponing habit is great for the essentials, but it has caused me to neglect the meal planning - mostly because I've already got a slew of frozen veggies and chicken and I just figure out some sort of combo thing to cook and I'm ready to go.

But good lordy is that boring.

It's going to be a challenge to keep the journal, and cook anything that doesn't involve some thought because I'm alone a lot these next few weeks (and months) with all three of my kids. I'm definitely going to check out the healthy recipes Bill has been posting here. And I'm a huge fan of the Morningstar Farm stuff because I can pop a sausage or two in the microwave after my room and that holds me to lunch time.

But I'd love some suggestions for healthy snacks, and easy on the go mini-meals that will help me transition.

Today's food:

Multigrain cheerios with blueberries and almond milk

String Cheese (whole milk - it's what the kids have)

Applesauce

Hot tea

WATER WATER WATER

Oat pretzels and kashi crackers (a handful)

Roasted Turkey Breast lunch meat

How am I doing? And don't worry. I won't be posting my food journal here every day.