A Fro in Progress

I was born with a thick head of coily, kinky, curly, spongy hair.  For years I tried to impose gravity on my hair, when by nature it was designed to defy that very thing.  Instead of working with it and loving and appreciating the awesomely wild beast that is my fro, I worked hard to tame it.

I began a cycle of growing out and cutting my hair until I got fed up in April 2010 and quit using a chemical relaxer to straighten it.  So I grew out my hair for four months, and in September 2010, I cut it (ha!) into a baby fro.  I never really knew how to care for my natural hair properly.  I had chopped my hair off before with the intent of "going natural," but I always gave up and returned to relaxing my hair.  I didn't know there was a growing wealth of knowledge for women with my hair type who wanted to wear it the way it grew out of our heads.  Growing up, I didn't know very many women who wore their way like that... you know... nappy. 

So now that I've gotten to know my natural hair, I'm growing it all the way out into the biggest fro I can muster.  Peep the progress from July 2011 to July 2012:

Want to see what my hair looked like boy-short almost two years ago?  Click here for a throwback.

Or click here for video I made celebrating one whole year with all natural hair.

Life is Short: Eat pancakes!

I love pancakes, y'all.  I pretty much love all traditional, high-carb, sugary breakfast foods.  I've made the switch to high protein breakfasts featuring oatmeal, egg whites, and the like.  I quickly get bored with eggs and oatmeal, so I went on a hunt for high-protein versions of my favorite breakfast foods. 

I soon discovered... protein pancakes.  I didn't know that protein pancakes could taste so good.  When I first made this, I was expecting heavy, gritty bricks.  Instead, I ended up with a stack of buttery, light, fluffy cakes that rival the ones at my favorite local diner.  This recipe (adapted from this one) is my favorite by far.  And the best part is, they are all natural.

Pancakes (now, with Protein)
Servings:  1, makes 3 to 4 pancakes
Prep time:  5 min
Cooking time:  5 min

Ingredients:
1/2 c old fashioned oats
1/2 c low fat or fat free cottage cheese (if you're watching sodium, use reduced sodium or no salt added)
1/2 c egg whites (or egg beaters)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
dash of salt (optional)
water (optional)

Mix everything together in a blender or food processor.  I used my Ninja blender.  Funny story:  One time the Hubs was unloading the dishwasher, and the Ninja blades were in there.  He didn't see them and cut his hand pretty bad.  For at least a week after that, he told everyone he was attacked by a Ninja.

Anyway, we're mixing.. for about a minute.  Let the batter rest for 2 minutes. If your batter is a little too thick, add a bit of water until you get the consistency you want.  You will probably also end up with more pancakes. :) 

Spray nonstick spray on and heat up your griddle or pan on medium heat (300 degrees on an electric griddle).  Pour the batter from the blender into rounds on the pan/griddle.  When the edges start to bubble a little, flip and continue to cook for another minute or two.

Add your choice of fruit, some light butter, and a drizzle of syrup (I use sugar-free cuz I be lame). Double or triple the recipe and freeze these bad boys.  Just make sure to thaw them out before you are ready to eat them.

Nutritional Info (per serving)

Calories:  326

Total Fat:  5.5g

Saturated Fat:  2g

Sodium:  290 mg (with no-salt cottage cheese)

Total Carbs:  34.5g

Dietary Fiber:  4g

Sugars:  6.5g

Protein:  32g

Percentage of Calories

Protein:  39%

Carbs:  42%

Fat:  14%

***Please note that nutritional info is estimated, and varies based on the ingredients you use.***

BANANA BREAD!!

I love bread.  I love bananas.  Banana bread is my boo.  I found a great recipe here and tweaked it a bit because I didn't have dates, and I wanted to use up a gigundo container of greek yogurt before it spoiled.  This bread is moist, dense, and downright delish.

So... moist... *drool*

Banana Bread
Serves:  1 (if you're greedy like me)
Prep time: 
Cooking time:  45-50 minutes

Ingredients:
3-4 ripe bananas, mashed (or 2 cups worth)
1 c oat flour
1 c whole wheat pastry flour (you could just pick one type of flour and use 2 cups;  I used what I had)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
1 egg
1 egg white
1/2 c plain nonfat greek yogurt
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c honey
(optional:  chopped nuts, raisins, dates, chocolate chips, ground flax meal, or whatever you like)

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a loaf pan or square baking dish

In a medium sized bowl, beat the egg, egg white, applesauce, honey, and vanilla until very well mixed.  Add bananas and combine thoroughly.  Set the mixture aside.

In a separate, larger bowl, mix your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and soda, and salt).  Add in the wet stuff and stir until just moistened (don't over mix).  If you are adding stuff like nuts or chocolate chips, fold that mess in now.  Don't forget, cuz you'll be mad. 

Bake for 45-50 minutes in loaf pan, or 35-45 minutes in a square, shallow dish.  Do the toothpick test-- if it comes out of the center clean, you're good to go!  Let it cool for 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack (or whatever you've got).  Once completely cool, wrap that bad boy up tight and stash it in the fridge.  Enjoy!

I called it "banana cake" so my kids would eat it.. but they're funny like that :)

Random Wednesday: Intrepidacious(ness)

I made up a word today.

I don't remember exactly how I tried to use it--you know how people talk about experiencing "fear and trepidation"?  I think I was thinking of that phrase.  Which would have been redundant anyway, because--wait for it--trepidation is just a schmancy word for fear.

As it would turn out, intrepidacious (which I was using wrong as the day is long because in-trepidation is pretty much the absence of fear) is not really recognized by dictionary.com as a word.

source

In other news, I had a seemingly 10-year-long conversation with a gentleman at work about why he paid $400 for a blender.  That's right.  He got himself a Vitamix.  His reason:  he was sold on the lifetme-lasting blades and the delicious smoothie demos.   Seriously though, I was jealous.  Not because I'm not ballin quite at the level where I can drop point-4 G's on a blender.  But because I have seen rave reviews and tons of recipes online that I have been dying to try.  For now, I'm content to try out recipes with my Ninja blender.


Why do I always forget that *one thing* whenever I pack my stuff the night before I need it?

The first time I packed myself up early to hit the gym first thing in the AM--I forgot my shower shoes.
No biggie...

The second time, I forgot my bra.
Plan B:  I MacGyvered one out of a bandana, toliet paper, and a couple of staples.  Don't ask.

This morning, I forgot to pack my daughter's snack for preschool.  Thankfully my amazing husband packed her a much better snack than I would have--celery and peanut butter.  Everybody happy.


One of the things I'm diggin about changing my diet is that I have better skin, hair, and nails.  One of the things I hate is the ridiculous egg-farts I get from veggies and dairy and anything that has tons of fiber in it.  What kind of trade off is that?  Sure, I look and feel better.  But now I smell worse??? 

Would you rather be out of shape and smell wonderful all the time (like, ALL the time)...

...or...

...be really fit and healthy, but always smell of egg-farts?