Truckstop Buttermilk Pancakes

Once upon a time, during the semester, my roommate decided to make brinner (breakfast + dinner).  She hit up Tasty Kitchen to find the perfect pancake recipe.  Alas, Truckstop Buttermilk Pancakes were discovered.  We thoroughly enjoyed them and gave them a nickname.  They are quite possibly the BEST buttermilk pancakes I have EVER had.  Tonight, I decided to share them with the family.  I know it's not really your classy, New Year's Eve dinner, but still tasty.  (Also, I still hadn't been to the store at this point, and all we had was stuff for the making of pancakes.)  Here they are (well, the first batch): 

Follow the link above for the recipe (and a better picture)!  I clearly like mine a little underdone...  Anyways, I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year's Eve!          

Cookie Craze

Once a year, I spend a day elbow deep in cookie dough.  I usually do like 3-4 different cookies and a couple different truffles.  I've changed out different recipes during the years, but the Oreo Truffles (not pictured) always, always happen.  They are very easy to make and totally delicious.  I kept Paula's Loaded Oatmeal Cookies and Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls (not pictured) from last year, and traded out a couple for Caramel Apple Cider and White Chocolate Pumpkin Spice cookies.  My mother contributed some kind of chewy molasses cookies to the mix.

 

Oreo Truffles- Delicious, chocolate-y, melt-in-your-mouth goodness

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls- Last year, I thought these were really good.  This year, I thought they were weird.  I'm not really sure what the deal was.  My family thought they were good, but I wasn't a huge fan.  

Loaded Oatmeal Cookies- Soft and LOADED with flavor.  The only thing I don't like about these is that they crumble really easily. 

White Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cookies- Soft, pumpkin, wonderfulness.  I have found that pumpkin cookies are generally very soft, which I like...and I like pumpkin.  I think I'll be pulling the recipe for these out again next year!

Caramel Apple Cider Cookies- I'm a big fan of apple cider, so I was pretty excited to try these out.  They're good, but they will stick to your teeth or pull them out.  I've found it's effective to nuke them a bit before eating.  I guess you could go all out and dip them in apple cider before eating. 

You can click the links above to get the recipes!

Some Kind of Soup

You know when you come back from a long trip, and there's basically nothing in the fridge/freezer or pantry?  Yeah, that was my situation last night.  I found a pound of ground beef, a large can of diced tomatoes, and a can each of cut green beans and corn...oh, and there was plenty of beef broth.  SO, I made soup...without a recipe...without a real plan.  Fortunately, it turned out REALLY good.  Unfortunately, I will probably never be able to repeat it.  I can tell you what I put in it (ground black pepper, crushed red pepper, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, cinnamon, and brown sugar), but I have know I idea how much of any of it went in.  And, looking at the list of random things that went in, I think it's almost miraculous the soup was even edible, let alone fantastic.  The cornbread is just a box of Jiffy with an egg and buttermilk.  I highly recommend using buttermilk instead of regular...it's just better...tastier. 

Apologies for slacking on the updating!  I have been doing some baking for the holidays, so I will hopefully be posting a lot soon!

P90X-2 Yoga

If you didn't already know, I'm a big P90X fan...so I was SUPER EXCITED when P90X-2 arrived yesterday.  I decided to try the new yoga workout first.  Here's the deal: I do not float.  It's like fascinating to watch Ted float.  Granted, he's done yoga for 14 years, but wow.  I guess I have something to work up to now.  I mean, I thought I was doing pretty well being almost as flexible as Shawna, but what Ted does is intense.  So for the rest of break, I will be working on floating from crane to a hand stand...maybe.  X2-Yoga moves much faster and is about 30 minutes shorter than the first one.  Lots of great moves with variations for different levels of fitness.  I do like the ab section better than the first.  There is, however, a lack of the balance-posture poses, which I happen to like...because I'm really good at those.  Overall, it's a great workout, and I'm pumped to try out the others soon!    

ChaLean Extreme Review

I essentially followed the ChaLEAN Extreme workout routine this semester.  It's not bad...but it's not P90X.  Really, anything after P90X is just not as good.  It's hard to explain.  With that aside, it's really not a bad program.  In fact, I actually seriously like the "Burn Intervals" and "Burn It Off" workouts.  And if you follow "Burn It Off" with "Recharge," flexibility improves greatly.  I will say that I can definitely lift more weight now than I could at the beginning of the semester.  And I have found myself craving lean sources of protein, which is weird...mainly because that is not cake, but anyways it's good.  One thing that really bothered me was that the ab workout is only on the schedule for once a week.  It's a solid ab workout, but once a week doesn't really cut it if you're use to three times a week.  So, I supplemented with "Ab Ripper X" from P90X.  It was also weird that there were TWO whole rest days--no stretching or anything--just rest...which doesn't really work well for me either...because if you know me, you know I go crazy if I go one day without working out.  Seriously.  It puts me in a much better mood.  So, on my "rest" days I usually did some kind of yoga or stretching, but sometimes cardio.  The edge ChaLEAN Extreme has over P90X is time--it's much shorter.  Here's my breakdown:

Pros--time, "Burn Intervals," "Burn It Off," and "Recharge" workouts, training method, motivational instructor (a little annoying in a too-perky kind of way, but that's just me)

Cons--once/week ab workout, 2 rest days, no pull-ups, minimal push-ups, no "break" week (aka a week between phases that mixes things up a bit)

Obviously, the cons aren't really cons if you've never done P90X.  It's really not a bad program, and I would recommend it...if you're working your way up.

Just remember "No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everyone on the couch."  I have no clue who said this.  I found it on Pinterest, and I like it.

Whoa, It's almost Christmas!

Christmas is just around the corner!  Seriously.  Like, where has the year gone?!  Seriously.  It's hard to believe (at least for me) that this semester of school is about to wrap up, there are gifts to give, goodies to bake, and I have to figure out what I'm bringing home from school over break.  At least we have the tree up, and the stockings hung at home.  This is the first post-flood Christmas to involve decorating.  Last year, we had just gotten back into the house...meaning there were lots of boxes and no place for a tree!  With stockings and a tree, however, comes great temptation.  Not so much for me or other humans, but our four-legged friends struggle.  FYI: don't hang ornaments that smell like they might taste good...and wooden ornaments are apparently also very intriguing.  Apologies for the rambling.  

We also finally got our mantel "replaced."  More like re-covered, but same difference.  We built a box-thing to sit on top of the old mantel and attached an old piano fall (you know, the part that folds down to cover the keys) to the front.

The "skinny" tree.  I like it because it doesn't take up the whole room.  Hopefully, it won't get eaten.

If you've been procrastinating on shopping, Scentsy is promising arrival by Christmas if you order by the 19th (assuming, of course, things like the weather don't get in the way).  You can order online and have it shipped just about anywhere.  I here gifting options are even available.  Bonus: I will even send you a little Christmas gift, when you order online!  Another great idea would be to check out The Word Within! 

Well, I should probably go study for finals or something... Have a great Friday!