This past summer was the start to the rest of my life. I was blessed to have come in contact with people who were able to help me change my life for the better. I have found a new outlook on life and a new dedication. The best part is... I am feeling better than I have for a long time.
I have gotten on a food kick. Of course I love food, who wouldn't? But I am getting more picky about what I eat and the healthiness of it. Not to mention, as I said in a previous post, I am off sugar permanently. Probably Forever. So because I love food, especially chocolate and yummy treats I have started trying tons of new recipes and making my own healthy treats as well as trying out other new recipes. Might I just mention... The internet is Amazing :)
Something that I found a while ago but never got around to trying until recently were these pancakes. They are actually Banana Pancakes and they are absolutely fabulous! The entire time I was making them I kept singing the Banana Pancakes song by Jack Johnson. These are also some of the first batches of pancakes I did not utterly ruin. I always had a problem with the pancakes getting too fluffy and then not wanting to cook all the way through and so they always ended up burned or raw on the inside... Yuck. With these I did not have a single problem, they were wonderful to make and even better to eat.
Banana Pancakes + Pure Maple Syrup = Awesome
For General Conference this weekend it was requested by my wonderful husband that I make some pumpkin pancakes. I have not been a huge fan of pumpkin in the past but I have to admit... I'm converting. They ended up working out great and will definitely be something I make again. However, apparently when the wonderful husband said he wanted pumpkin pancakes for breakfast what he really meant was Pumpkin Pie... After the first bite he realized the two are subtly different.
When roaming through the great and only grocery store in Laie, Matt suddenly had a craving for pop-tarts. "They are a great source of Energy!" he said.
IE: they are a great source of a sugar high... and then crash... Instead of picking up a box I talked him into letting me make him some. I promised they would taste much better and we could make whatever flavor he wanted. So we did. These are some mini Apple-Cinnamin home-made Pop-tarts. They are way good and we have taken to calling them 'mini crisps' rather than pop-tarts. I usually don't like cooked fruit... but these are an exception to the rule.
The next food finding we had was somewhat of an accident. We had taken an afternoon /evening to head into town to replenish our fridge and pantry. While we were out, dinner time rolled around and we decided that we hadn't gone out for a while and we could make it a dinner date. In the spring a friend recommended a place called "The Whole Ox" and so we decided to stop by to try it out. It is technically a deli and has a very unique atmosphere. As soon as you walk in the wall is covered with a floor to ceiling piece of red and black art. Then there are modern looking black picture frames adorning the walls. The menu and intro to 'The Whole Ox' is written on a floor to ceiling chalk board and instead of regular table and chairs they have wooden picnic tables... very unique atmosphere. We weren't quiet sure about the whole thing except for the fact that it had been recommended by a couple who had been in Hawaii for years and were particular about what they ate.
It ended up being a great experience. The main thing they are known for are their hamburgers, eh... more like meat in general. All of their meat is raised locally in Hawaii and is grass fed, organic, all that kind of stuff. (Kris - I thought of you a lot that night, you would have Loved it!) Then they age all the meat for almost a month and I'm sure they have other procedures that go on but I am not really fluent in meat terms and procedures so I don't remember much else. All I know is it makes for a tasty hamburger and sausage. The pic is of my Kielbasa, it consists of ravioli type things filled with potatoes covered in an asian inspired sauce and then some awesome fancy sausage. (There are technical terms for all of this stuff... but once again, I forgot.) Turns out they had only started serving dinner in the last two months so we got lucky. Their menu was surprisingly higher class type things that you don't really see everyday, but not any more expensive than many of your local restaurant chains. It was a very pleasant surprise and we are definitely going back again!
This last month marked the Anniversary for Matt and I's engagement. 2 years ago he showed up one Friday out of the blue, after convincing all my family to keep secrets and lie to me for weeks, and asked me the question a girl should only have to be asked once in her life. That same weekend we managed to take about a million Engagement pictures before he had to fly back home to start school on Monday. The other day, after having cycled through our pictures while reminiscing we had to laugh a little, realizing how far we have come, how much we have changed, how many adventures we have had, and most importantly, looking forward to the growth and change that is yet to come and the adventures that await us just around the corner as we fall in love a little deeper each day.
Until next time, have a wonderful week and I hope you got a chance to watch or listen to General Conference, there were some amazing talks that deserve a first, second, and third listen. My heart was truly touched by the wonderful opportunities ever present around me.
