Protein Shakes and Pancakes

  This past week has found us in a lopsided cycle of trying to stick to our goals, failing occasionally, rallying in an epic fashion and then defiantly ignoring the rules we have set for ourselves. I think it may be due to the fact that there is a big ball of fire in the sky here in the northwest which is scorching our typically frosty fortitude right out of us! No, it hasn't been HOT weather, but when the clouds part and the grey dissipates into a beautiful blue, Washingtonians tend to lose our minds a little bit. We become blinded by the bright light. So I'm going to blame the sunshine for our unbalanced commitment. Yeah, that seems legitimate.

  Katie challenged me to a little basketball earlier this week. I held my own for the first round, but as she got warmed up, my teenage competitor wiped up the court (ok, driveway) with me. Yeah, I kinda figured that would happen. Or maybe I LET her win. Yeah! Let's go with that!!! I did get in a couple of pretty cool shots-one from behind the backboard and one left-handed-over-the-shoulder-tossed-behind-me. No, I have no idea how I did either of them and No, I will most likely never be able to do them again. Also, Katie is the only one who saw them, my only proof that I'm THAT cool. No video. No photos. Maybe Google Earth caught some of my super-smooth moves? If somebody finds those, can you send me the shots? 

Me sharpening my skills. Jeff and Katie are going DOWN!

  Katie had her wisdom teeth pulled on Wednesday so her career in basketball has been put on hold (someone alert the Seattle Storm WNBA team). She had all four teeth yanked out. I have a hilarious video of Katie right after surgery (she ASKED me to video her!). She would put out a hit on me if I posted it, so I won't, but it is so funny! Whatever the oral surgeon used to knock her out caused her to be able to "See Colors", so it must've been some pretty good stuff! The healing process has totally revoked her capacity for tolerating a low-carb diet. She hasn't exactly been able to gnaw on a steak or crunch up veggies. I suppose I COULD put all that in a blender and make her a "low-carb protein shake", but I'm 100 percent certain there is no way she would even attempt to consume it. Bacon and eggs shake anyone? Are you sure you want to pass on the chicken and asparagus smoothie? Probably a good call. Katie has been surviving on yogurt, pudding, soup and over-cooked macaroni and cheese. Starches and sugars are what her mangled mouth can handle right now. But we'll get her back up to par as soon as she can masticate once again. (Yes, I said masticate. I know big words, too.) 

My new diet strategy. THIS one's gonna work!

  As an employee for a school district, I have the incredible good fortune of the freedom to enjoy SUMMER VACATION!!! WooHoo!!! And although this allows me the liberty to move about the cabin freely for the next couple of months, on the downside, I have very little reason to actually force myself out of bed in the morning. Oh, I was acting in a nursemaid capacity for Katie for a few days and was attentive to her needs. But there is not a lot of physical activity involved in serving pudding and meds, fetching ice packs and warm compresses and administering the healing properties of snuggles. And now that she is feeling better, I find myself with less motivation in the morning.

  And then there was my birthday (what? 29 again?) on Friday when, although I ate a low-carb brunch of bacon and eggs, a healthy dinner of salmon and salad (all lovingly prepared by Jeff, current champion and title-holder of Best Boyfriend Ever), I also was treated to cake and ice cream and a "slightly" indulgent serving of wine. Hey! It was my birthday!

  The latest gig for Katie and I is "Operation New York!", which involves contradicting components for our health management. Let me explain-Katie is involved in the choir program at her school, Bremerton High (Go Knights!!!). The choir goes on tour to regions outside the great northwest every other year for spring break. This year she went to DisneyWorld in Florida. 2018 will be Katie's senior year of high school and the choir is heading to NEW YORK!!! I will be going with her this time as a chaperone, which is going to cost us about $4,000.00. I don't have $4,000.00. So to raise that money, Knights on Tour (the choir booster club) has a deal with Ivar's, a Seattle-based seafood restaurant chain. Ivar's has concession booths at our local sports arenas-Century Link Field (home to the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Sounders), Safeco Field (Home to the Seattle Mariners) and Husky Stadium at the University of Washington (Go Dawgs!). We get to work events and money goes into an account for us with the choir. 

  The good news (other than the money!) is that we can walk from the ferry to the Clink and Safeco and then walk up to the food stands (so far I've been on the 300-level. Yay for the uphill climb!) and of course, walk back to where we came from. So that can add up to some serious steps! The bad news is that once we're there, we pretty much stand in one spot for a few hours. Rough on the knees and back, totally destroys step count. Oh, and they do feed us for working. But the food is all high-carb. I LOVE Ivar's fish and chips and chowder! SO GOOD! But it's not diet-friendly food. The work also leaves you with a pungent aroma. With the overpowering scent of garlic fries, I'm pretty sure I'll be vampire-free for the year. And after so much quality time with frying fish and clams I find myself with an entourage of stray cats following me to the ferry home. Yep, pretty popular with the feline population after a hard days work. Jeff, however, does not appreciate the "Eau de Seafood and Stinking Rose" aroma that accompanies me into his car. I can't imagine why.

We know you have the fishes! Hand them over and nobody gets hurt!

  Last Saturday Jeff offered to chauffeur me to one of these events (sans Katie). He was stranded in Seattle for 4 hours waiting for me to get off work so we could go have dinner with friends and decided to take advantage of the opportunity to get caught up on his step-count. He walked the streets of the Emerald City while I stood in one spot at the top of the Clink. Jeff racked up an impressive 22,433 steps-more than TWICE our daily goal! Even more amazing-he didn't seem tired or sore at all! We met with friends and had sushi for dinner, drove home and CRASHED! I am going to have to get way more motivated if I'm going to keep up with Jeff!

  In my previous post I was so excited about how successful my low-carb baking exploits have been. That came to a screeching halt with my first attempt at a low-carb pancake recipe I found on Pinterest. This was an EPIC FAIL!!! The photo that accompanies this recipe showcases beautiful, fluffy pancakes. With strawberries and whipped cream made with sugar substitute, this seemed like a viable option to shake up our breakfast routine. Um, nope! I followed the recipe exactly and tried frying these things up in a pan, just like it said. The result was a hot mess that looked like very pale scrambled eggs. And tasted very egg-y. The recipe has 6 eggs in it, so yeah, that makes sense. My mother happened to stop by while I was elbow-deep in this culinary disaster and suggested I microwave the slop. This resulted in something more cake-like, but microwaved food turns chewy REAL quick. Next attempt was to bake it in a glass pie plate in the oven (I was running out of batter and didn't want to waste any more ingredients. Coconut flour is expensive!!! The texture was WAY better, but the flavor can only be described as sweet scrambled eggs. It was like those joke jelly beans that became popular with the Harry Potter books and movies. "Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans-Now with flavors like booger, vomit, earwax and Low-Carb Pancake!" So Gross! There just wasn't enough strawberries and whipped cream to make these "pancakes" palatable. I think I may have to turn in my chef's hat. No toque for me. 

Pinterest Fail-Pancakes. Doesn't that look delicious???

  Jeff ordered me a ton of sugar-free chocolate, which means I need to get my Pinterest search on for new recipes to satisfy my sweet tooth. Meantime, if you find those Google Earth basketball pics OR have a low-carb pancake recipe that doesn't taste like chicken embryos, comment below or email me at sprout624@gmail.com