This is what happens to those creatures without opposable thumbs who try to lick the bottom of an empty popcorn sack...

Poor Sam. His mama isn't very nice putting his picture up on the blog, is she? hehehe

Without further ado, I've been promising to post some of my yummy and nutritious recipes on the blog, so I'll start you off right with something to fix for breakfast in the morning:

Banana Pancakes!!!

In a blender, combine 2 medium bananas, 3 egg whites, 1 T of baking powder, and 1 T of vanilla (use the real stuff). When that's liquified, change your blender to slow speed and slowly pour in 1 cup of oat flour (you can make this by processing old-fashioned oats in a food processor or blender). Pour a pancake's worth of batter into non-stick skillet, cover and cook until the top is nice and bubbly. Turn over and brown the other side.

A couple of days ago, a friend expressed her frustration with where to start in eating more nutritionally. I thought about the process I've gone through, and it wasn't like flicking a light switch. I've worked at it for over 15 months now, and I'm still refining the process. I advised her to take it one step at a time. Pick something - like breaded, fried foods - and cut it out. When you're ready for another small change, stop buying iceberg lettuce and use either romaine or spinach instead. It works in salads, on sandwiches...whatever iceberg (zero food value) can do, romaine or spinach can do better. You just keep going. As a matter of fact, I think I'm going to start FOOD TIP TUESDAYS. Once a week I'll come up with another step to better nutritional eating.

One word of caution: Don't fall into the trap of thinking you eat pretty healthy now. I guarantee that for 99% of those reading my blog, it ain't true. Every cancer survivor I've read and every health nut I've talked to makes the comment that they really thought they were eating fairly well at the beginning. One is even a dietician, and she was shocked when she kept a food diary and realized how poor her own eating habits were.

As the commander of the avaition school TOP GUN told Tom Cruise and the guys, "You think you're good? We'll make you better."

Night, night all. God bless and forget the mess - concentrate on rest.

~pinkie