Ebelskievers

THANK YOU HEATHER! This is a recipe my friend had on her family recipe blog and I was so excited to try. I got a pan on Amazon for very cheap and we had so much fun making these for our Easter Brunch after church. We tried so many fillings and had a lot of fun. I finally got very good at making them once I got to the end of the batch. This is definately a new favorite of mine!

Translation: Danish pancake-light and cakey in the middle, crispy and buttery on the outside! SOOO good and fun for a special breakfast or brunch! (or dinner!) Need special pan.

1 3/4 C flour
3/4 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 1/2 T sugar
1/2 t salt
3 egg yolks
1 1/3 C buttermilk
(If you do not have buttermilk, do 1TBS Vinegar or Lemon Juice with 1 cup milk. Let it sit for 5 minutes.)
1/2 C sour cream
5 egg whites
5 T butter, melted

Mix dry ingred. Set aside. Mix egg yolks, buttermilk, sour cream together. Fold in dry ingred. Whip egg whites until firm peaks form. Fold into batter. Heat pan, pour in maybe a 1/4 t melted butter in each well. (I used a brush to grease the entire well, this made it easier to turn them).

Pour 1 T batter into well, then add 1 teaspoon jam or other filling, then another T batter. (DO NOT OVER FILL, THEY ARE EASIER WHEN YOU USE LESS) Flip with chop sticks or skewers after about 3 minutes or until golden on the bottom and crispy. Then 3 minutes more to finish. (After trying many different things to turn them, a spatula worked best).

Serve warm with a dusting of powdered sugar. If you do not want to use the filling method, you can easily add things after. Just put some homemade jam on the plate with the pancakes instead of filling them! Madison's favorite strawberry syrup would be perfect with them. Whipped cream and strawberries would be good as well. Nutella filled or pudding filled was really good.


Nicole's Favorite Filling:
Cream Cheese with sugar and cinnamon mixed well together. Add sugar and cinnamon to taste. So yummy!!!

Nicole's Favorite Syrup:
3 cups frozen strawberries (about 1 pound)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Thaw the strawberries, mash them up/dice them. Add the sugar and water and stir it all together over medium heat. This is Madison's favorite syrup. She wants it on everything!

Heather's (my friend who I got the recipe from) Favorite Filling
1/4 C Mascerpone cheese at room temp. or cream cheese
1/4 C lemon curd
Whip together (add a little lemon zest to batter for extra lemon flavor!)

Cinna-bun:
1/2 C sugar
2 T flour
1 1/2 T cinn.
1/4 t salt
4 T unsalted butter cut into cubes and put at room temp.

Frosting for cinnabun:
3 oz. cream cheese-room temp
4 T unsalted butter-room temp.
1 1/2 C powdered sugar
3-4 T milk

DONE WITH DIET!!!

The day has finally come that I set 3 months ago to be done with my diet. I had my last official weigh in and it ended up being EXACTLY 35 lbs less than where I started. I am beyond excited and I did better than I ever thought I would. When I started, I tried to be realistic by telling myself that I hoped to loose 15 to 20 lbs in 3 months. Obviously, I passed that goal and I kept setting new goals. I never imagined that I would loose this much so fast and I feel great.

I plan on going to my parents for spring break and I will get in some much needed shopping. I have no clothing that fits me and I have no idea what I size I am. I usually hate shopping but this might actually be fun for me. Thanks to all of you that kept encouraging me along the way. Your comments always helped. I also want to thank my "gym friends" for always listening to me and working out with me. I definitely had a great support group. Most of all, I want to thank my children for "eating healthy" with me and my husband for ALWAYS listening to me when I needed to mentally process things. He was a very good sport through all of this and I hope that I can continue to look good for him. Let's hope I can keep it off now right?!!!

My Madison

Today, Madison and I were watching some high quality television together (the very informative and educational "Dancing with the Stars") and I told Madison, "You can never wear a dress like that!" She said, "why not mom?" I replied, "It is way too immodest". She then tells me, "Don't worry mom-it is way to big for me anyway!" If she only knew how tiny the professional dancers really are!

I went to Madison's open house last night at her school and came across a little story she wrote with very cute illustrations. Since it will take far too much time to scan them in for you all, I will do my best to describe them. I will also type it exactly how she wrote it. The story is titled,

"My Sister Scares Me A Lot"

"One day I had to hide in a really dark cosit and I wanted to bring a ligt but my mom sed no."
This has a large illustration of dresses hanging, a closet door, flowers, bees, adorable Madison saying "Pleas" and a smiling mommy saying "NO!" For the record, I have never put her in a dark closet. Nor would I...yet...

"I scrame and my sister fowned me. I fot she didin't hear me and she did and she scared me. I looked behind me and she said Boogale Boogale." Empty hangers this time and a closet door. A cute little girl with smiles and another one screaming "AH!" More flowers as well.

"And then my sister Ainsley hid and my sister hid behinde me and I cold not find her and she sared me agian." The End. Two little girls in the closet with no clothes saying "Ahh" and "Boogade" Random colored flowers are still there.

She had so much fun showing us everything in her class. Her teacher adores her and Logan LOVED exploring everything. We took Ainsley to see the kindergarten classes and she seems really excited now. Let's hope that remains!!! I will not bother to spell check on this blog post for obvious reasons, but she is doing really well for 1st grade. I am so proud of her and her enthusiasm for everything!

WW Chicken Salad Wrap

I am posting this more for my reference. I LOVED this recipe for a great healthy lunch and I want to be able to reference back to it easily. You can add apples and walnuts if you want to, but I like my chicken salad very simple. You can have this with lettuce for a salad or wrap it like I did. It is only 3 points a serving and 1 with the wrap (wheat tortilla) so it is a light lunch. Perfect with my new favorite Special K Crackers!

3/4 pound cooked chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces (I used the Costco Grilled Chicken so it was really easy and really good)
1/2 cup celery, finely diced
1/3 cup dill pickle finely diced (I used sweet relish because I like that better and it was good)
1/4 cup reduced-calorie mayonnaise
2 TBS reduced fat sour cream
2 TBS parsley, fresh, chopped (I just used dried and put less in)
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp fresh lemon joice
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Serving size is about 2/3 a cup.

Random Comments

So, I know I have not been good about posting lately, but I have really not had a lot to say. Ben has been working so much and the kids and I are just doing our own thing. We go to the gym, the park, Carl's Jr, library, the gym, the park some more and the gym. Did I mention we have been at the gym lately??? The kids love it and ask to go (thanks to my awesome friends that are there so my kids have play dates at the gym-thanks guys!!!). It is a great distraction for me with Ben gone and I have been working out a lot. I feel great and I look at it as cheap therapy!

Some funny quotes this week:

Today a guy at church came up to me and said, "Nicole, you are withering away! You are shrinking to nothin'. You are not smoking the pipe right?!" I was laughing so hard and informed him that "I just say no" and I have been doing it the old fashion way - diet and exercise. He replied, "That's good, I have been worried as I have been watching you withering away." Too Funny!

Ainsley and Madison have been watching Pocahontas and Ainsley says, "I wish I were an Indian mom." "Really, Ainsley...why do you want to be an Indian?" "Then I can hunt and kill animals whenever I want to." She is just too cute for words, isn't she??? Crazy!!!

Madison has been really sick for the last couple of days. I have allowed her to take a bath in my bathtub to relax and not play. Today she is in the bath and I hear, "Ahhhh, this is the life. I think I need to do this everyday." Yes, Madison, that is what mommy says too!

My next weigh in is tomorrow. The progress has gotten very slow. I am lucky if I get a pound off. I think my body is telling me something!

Sheet Pan Pizza

I tried a new pizza recipe tonight that I LOVED and the kids loved it as well. Definitely not a weight watchers recipe, but I had a small serving and loved it. I cut the recipe in half and did it in a 13 x 9 pan. I think it would be really good as a cookie sheet size though. I also did pre-made pizza sauce and added ham and pineapple to half of it. Do what you want, it will be yummy! Serves 12 (unless your family really likes pizza-more like 6!

Oh, and I get most of my recipes from a magazine called Cooks Country. They take recipes and try them over and over again until they get it right. They then have tasters test all the recipes and they print the best ones. This might explain some of the weird things they ask you to do when you are cooking. By pre-baking it with the Parmesan, it helps so the sauce does not slide off easily. By pre-cooking the sauce, it helps it for some reason...I forget. But, it turns out great. Just an FYI.

If you are interested in the magazine, I actually would recommend just purchasing the hardbound annual they have at the end of each year. It is only $20.00 and it has all the magazines from that year. I just do that and have fun all year long with last years recipes and look forward to my new one in December.

Dough
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (I used veggie and it worked fine)
1 3/4 cup water, heated to 110 (I heated it for 1 minutes and it worked out)
1 TBS sugar
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 envelopes (4 1/2 teaspoons) rapid-rise or instant yeast
2 tsp salt

Sauce and Toppings
(I used a pre-made pizza sauce and it worked)
2 TBS extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 TBS tomato paste
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 TBS chopped fresh basil
Salt
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella (I used a mix cheese and it tasted fine)

1. For the dough: Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 200 degrees. when oven reaches 200 degrees, turn off oven. Grease large bowl. Evenly coat 18 by 13 inch rimmed baking sheet with 1/4 cup oil.
2. Combine water, sugar and remaining oil in measuring cup. In bowl of standing mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix flour, yeast, and salt on low speed until combined. Increase speed to medium-low and slowly add water mixture until dough is uniform in texture, about 3 minutes. Transfer dough to prepared bowl, cover with plastic, and place in warm oven. Let rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
3. For the sauce and toppings: Heat 1 TBS oil in large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Cook garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomato paste and cook until just beginning to brown about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and simmer until reduced to 3 cups, about 10 minutes. Off heat, stir in basil and season with salt.
4. On lightly floured work surface, use rolling pin to roll dough into 16 x 12 inch rectangle. Transfer dough to prepared baking sheet and stretch dough to cover pan, pressing dough into corners. Brush dough with remaining oil and cover with plastic wrap. Set in warm spot (not oven) until slightly risen, about 20 minutes. Heat oven to 450 degrees.
5. Remove plastic wrap and using fingers make indentations all over dough. Sprinkle dough with 1 cup Parmesan and bake until cheese begins to melt, 7-10 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven and spoon sauce over pizza, leaving 1 inch border. Bake until sauce is deep red and steaming, 7-10 minutes.
6. Sprinkle mozzarella and remaining Parmesan evenly over sauce and bake until cheese is golden brown, about 12 minutes. Remove pizza from oven and let rest 5 minutes. Serve.

I went dark!!!

I decided it was time for me to try something new with my hair. Here is a picture of my new hairstyle.