smalltownhealthyliving

I don’t even remember what I had for breakfast on Saturday.  Maybe a bowl of Cheerios with a banana?  Tyler is a banana monster.  He can actually say “nana” now.  And sorry Grandma, he’s not referring to you.

 

After a crazy Saturday morning, I headed home for lunch with my mom.  Tyler was napping so we took it upon ourselves to prepare a yummy lunch.  We had some leftover chicken, so Mom cut that up and added some jalapenos and black beans. 

 

 

She also cut up half an onion, green pepper and red pepper, which I sautéed in some olive oil.

 

 

Once that was done it was time to make some quesadillas!  Just can’t get enough of those.

 

 

These were 10 times better than usual because of the veggies.  So much flavor.  Quite a bit of spice too, since there were jalapenos in it and I dumped a bunch of hot picante sauce on top of mine. 

 

Since Grandma was here, she distracted Tyler and took him for a walk so I could get some cleaning and organizing done.  Did I mention we love her??

 

 

She played with Tyler, fed him and changed him, cleaned the kitchen and washed dishes.  I think I’m the one who’s spoiled! 

 

Tyler helped with dishes too.

 

 

We were pretty tired after putting him to bed on Saturday night, so I just made some popcorn and we had popcorn while we watched Midnight in Paris.  I’m not a Woody Allen fan- in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever been able to sit through any of his movies.  This one wasn’t much better.  It had some beautiful shots of Paris and totally made me want to visit someday, but I just wasn’t a fan of the whole storyline. 

 

The best part of the movie was when I stopped halfway through to get out the butter pecan ice cream I made!

 

Butter Pecan Ice Cream  from Cuisinart

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup pecans
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
¾ cup granulated sugar
pinch salt
2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Melt the butter in a medium skillet. Add the pecans and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook over medium-low heat until pecans are toasted and golden, stirring frequently, about 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat, strain and reserve the pecans, allowing them to chill. The butter can be used for another use – delicious over pancakes or waffles. In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer on low speed or whisk to combine the milk, sugar and salt until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours, or overnight. Turn the Cuisinart® ice cream maker on; pour the mixture into the frozen freezer bowl and let mix until thickened, about 15 to 20 minutes. Five minutes before mixing is completed, add the reserved pecans and let mix in completely. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

 

 

 

OMG.  This ice cream is amazing.  The pecans alone were fantastic, but then added to the ice cream it was heavenly.  We had to eat fast though, since it was about 100 degrees in my place it melted quickly.

 

The only thing I did different was use 1 cup of coconut milk and 1 cup of heavy cream instead of 2 cups of cream.  I also only used 1/2 cup of sugar.

 

I am loving this ice cream maker.  Just have to remember moderation!!

 

Woke up to a beautiful morning, so we decided to all go on a walk with Tyler.  He had fun playing at the park, spinning on the merry go-round until Grandma got dizzy.

 

For breakfast, I decided to make pancakes.  My main motivation was the ripe cluster of bananas on my counter-top.  Ok, who am I kidding… my main motivation was that left-over butter sitting in my fridge from the butter pecan ice cream.  The recipe said it was delicious on pancakes and waffles, so of course I had to find out. 

 

Instead of my banana protein pancake recipe, I used one from my Southern Living cookbook.  It is originally supposed to be served with peanut butter and jelly syrups, but I ignored that and just made the pancake part.  I also added some flax to mine, you could totally leave that out if you didn’t have any.  I also used the Heart Healthy Bisquick and lowfat powdered buttermilk (you just add water to the powder).

Banana Pancakes (adapted from Southern Living)

• 2 cups biscuit mix
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup mashed banana
• 2 T ground flax meal
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons oil

Whisk together first 6 ingredients in a large bowl just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil on a hot griddle; pour about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto griddle. Cook pancakes until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked; turn and cook other side of pancakes. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and pancake batter.

 

 

That pancake was more than 1/4 cup…oops.  This recipe made about 8 or 9 pancakes (slightly smaller than that one).  Tyler must have liked them since he had 2.

 

My mom and I used the leftover pecan butter on ours along with maple syrup.  It was a little rich but sooo yummy.  One was enough.

 

 

After playing for awhile, it was time for Tyler to nap and Grandma to head out.  Thanks again for everything Grandma!!

 

A couple hours later Hubby rolled in.  It was great to see him again and I think he was a bit tired. 

 

 

So Tyler and I played.  And he ate.

 

 

I had some leftovers for supper and now we’re watching people lip sync on the Billboard Awards.

 

Sorry for the lack of blogging this past week, but I’m afraid you’ll have to get used to it.  We have to travel quite a bit this summer, so my blog schedule may be off. 

 

Hope you had a fun-filled weekend…. one more week until a 3 day weekend! Woo hoo!