Author: Sadie

Five Things

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I’m doing to improve my diet.

1.  Drink more water.  This is a goal I always have in mind, but I’m not always good about it.  I want to keep a water bottle with me at all times so I always have the option.  It will keep me hydrated and make me less hungry throughout the day.

2.  Minimize sugar.  I used to be a salty rather than sweet girl, but for some reason when I went on a serious (and effective) diet a few years ago, my cravings switched from salty to sweet.  But I know that sugar is addictive, and it’s not doing much for me in terms of nutrition.  My goal is to eat things to fuel my body, and too much sugar slows me down.  I’m cutting back on baking in my house to minimize temptation, and keeping an eye on the grams of sugar in the packaged foods I eat like yogurt, snack bars, and cereal.

3. Focus on protein.  I work out every day, so I need protein to help build and maintain my muscles.  Plus protein is supposed to keep your stomach satisfied for longer than carbs.  As I build and tone muscle, my hope is that the fat will burn off.  I want to be a lean mean fitness machine again!

4. Fill up on vegetables.  I love vegetables and we all know they’re healthy, but sometimes they’re problematic for me because they aren’t always as quick and easy as a packaged snack, or they go bad in my fridge before I can enjoy them.  The great thing about veggies is that they’re so low in calories, so there’s minimal guilt.  I just need to remember to put in the extra effort to keep them available and ready to eat in my house, and grab them first before I move onto other less nutritional options.

5.  Stop rationalizing bad choices!  This is probably my biggest challenge when it comes to my diet. I need to be able to eat a correct portion rather than always cleaning my plate.  If I go out to eat with my brothers I can’t go course for course with them, we do not have the same metabolism or nutritional needs.  If I have a good day or a bad day, I don’t need a cookie!

I’m no expert but these are just some of my goals based on the large array of reading I’ve done about nutrition.  Last year was a bad year for me when it came to my weight.  I rapidly gained back the large amount of weight I was previously so proud of losing.  I am not happy to be back to the drawing board, but my recent mantra is: progress, not perfection.  I loved the confidence boost of losing weight and getting in shape when I did it the first time, so hopefully I will experience that again, and maintain it!

My Signature Dish

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Everyone has a signature dish.  I don’t care if you’re the chef at five star restaurant or a TV dinner aficionado, I know there’s one dish that you make better than anything else. I love to cook and bake so I like to think that I have several signature dishes, but if I had to choose my most requested it would definitely be my buttermilk pancakes.

My favorite thing about my pancakes is that I’m the only person that makes them.  My mom doesn’t even know the recipe.  I hold the power!  The recipe was handed down from Sadie #1 (my great grandmother), to my maternal grandmother, and then to me.  When I visited my grandparents as a kid I always requested these pancakes.  I learned the recipe, because we simply made them so often.  And I started making these for my family at home when I was in middle school.  To this day, if I’m at my parent’s house on a Sunday, I’m probably making pancakes for brunch.  Even though my grandmother is still making pancakes, I hate to admit it, but I’ve been told the student has exceeded the master.

I’ve read hundreds of pancake recipes over the years, and nothing compares.  These pancakes are light because of the egg to buttermilk to flour ratio, and they aren’t particularly sweet.  They are the perfect canvas for syrup, butter, berries…  I actually refuse to put any add-ins in the batter, I’m a purest, but toppings are my key to success.

Today is your lucky day:

Sarah Church’s Buttermilk Pancakes

Yield: about 8 pancakes depending on size

2 large eggs

2 cups buttermilk

1 cup AP flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

3 Tbs vegetable oil

butter for skillet

Method

1. Turn on stove to warm up skillet/griddle.

2. Beat the eggs together with the buttermilk.

3. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Wisk until batter is only a little lumpy.

4.  Whisk in vegetable oil.

5. Add butter to the skillet and test heat by flicking a little water onto the skillet.  If the water sizzles and skips across the skillet then it is ready.  In this instance, I definitely like it hot.

6. Add batter to the skillet in desired size.  Flip after a couple minutes when there are bubbles on the surface.  If you peak at the underside, it should be golden brown.  After you flip them, the second side should take a minute or less.

7. Remove from skillet and serve.  Don’t forget to re-apply butter to skillet between cooking batches or as needed.

I highly recommend eating these immediately.  I usually put them on the griddle while my family is already sitting at the table.

I Made It Myself

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I just finished crocheting a blanket for my mom.  Blankets take me about a month, so I’m happy to be done and ready for my next project.

I made this with a pattern I found in a short Bernat booklet that I picked up at Michael’s.

I love the yarn which is Caron Simply Soft, in Ocean.  I don’t think the pictures do the color justice, it’s a rich teal.  Fabulous.  My mom is a very lucky woman.  Now if only the weather would be chilly enough to need a blanket…

My question is: what to make next?