Weigh-In #5 + {Babycakes' Pancakes}

I made a fabulous Asian Lime Salmon for dinner last night which you can see here ------>  I was planning on detailing that recipe on the blog today, but something even more amazing happened in the midst of my creation.   Babycakes wanted my attention.   She had missed me all afternoon.  She was chomping at the bit for Momma time.  So dinner prep became Momma/Babycakes time.  I had her help me stir the marinade, and she loved being such a helper.  When it was overly aptly stirred, I let her stir the rice and water before putting it in the rice cooker.  She wanted to stir MORE.  Nothing else in this particular dinner needed stirring, so I got out a big bowl and gave her some bisquick and water to stir just for fun.  But what it turned into was something amazing.  

I'll elaborate more on that story in a bit.  But to summarize as I share this week's weigh-in, three significant things happened this week:

1. Another mini-milestone ACHIEVED: I finally, after 3 years, weigh less than dear hubby!!!  Seriously, there is *almost* rejoicing in the heavens about this... well at least in my little part of heaven :) 
2. Babycakes said the following words without any prompting: "Luh boo momma"... talk about melt a momma's heart!  It was so sweet and precious and heartfelt.  I could bask in that moment FOREVER.
3. Babycakes became a chef!!  My 19 month old sweet little girl with so much passion, curiosity, and desire to learn and create... created the yummiest pancakes you'll ever taste.  She was excited about the process, the ingredients, and eating the final product!  She was even asking for instructing me on ingredients to add in: "Honey, Momma!"

Introducing Babycake's Pancakes:

First you stir the Bisquick and water together, making sure there aren't any lumps.  I think her little hand up in the air is just toooooo cute :)  And I have NO IDEA why, but she wanted to "cook" whilst sitting in the pantry.  Ok, Babycakes, whatever floats your boat!

Then she instructed me to add in an "apple pouch" - she has multiple flavors of Ella's Kitchen baby food pouches in the pantry available for her to grab whenever she is in the mood for one.  For these particular pancakes, she added Ella's Sweet Potato, Pumpkin, Apples, & Blueberry flavor.  Then, she carefully folded it into the batter before asking for local honey to be added as well!

Then, I stepped in and cooked the pancake for her. 

(Note - don't let a 19 month old actually cook on the stove!!  DANGER!!!)

Once cooked to perfection, I topped it with the remaining Ella pouch, sprinkled cinnamon on top, and drizzled it with a small amount of maple syrup.  I can't believe how good it looked!!

She decided she wanted to EAT the pancakes in the pantry too.  I didn't argue.  (At some point in motherhood you learn to pick your battles.  This one wasn't important for me to win).

Can you tell someone liked them?  Creator, toddler, and momma approved!!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup bisquick
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• a few squeezes of local honey
• 1/3 pouch of Ella's Sweet Potato, Pumpkin, Apples, & Blueberry

Directions:

Mix ingredients thoroughly.  Cook in a pan over medium heat.  Flip partway through.  Serve with remaining Ella pouch, sprinkled cinnamon, and a small drizzle of maple syrup.  Enjoy!!

Moments like these are what make the true "sweet life."  In the spirit of really living the sweet life on this journey of mine, I've decided to take a little of the pressure off.  I am going to officially weigh-in on the blog every other week from now on (instead of weekly).  When weekly changes are only 1 - 2 pounds, every week is too often.   The exciting part is that on the "off" weeks I'm going to introduce some guest bloggers to share additional tips on how to live a happy, healthy life, and a few other new/fun things!! 

Now - for week 5's weigh-in:

Previous Weight: 173.6 lbs (Week 4 Weigh-In)

Current Weight: 172.6 lbs

Change in Weight: -1.0 lb

TOTAL Weight-loss since starting the blog: -6.6 lbs

I am still on track to meet my May 1st goal - It's 5 weeks away, and I need to lose 6 more pounds.  Totally doable!!  Averaging a little over a pound loss per week may sound slow to you, but this is the real deal - good ol' fashioned all natural weight loss.  No weird diet fad.  No starvation.  Just healthy eating with added exercise.  I am really happy with how things are going.  As for exercise, running is still going well!  I'm on week 3 of the Pooch to 5K plan.  Here's a sweaty post-run pic from yesterday.  This was the least-bad one!

Do you set goals for yourself?  What helps keep you motivated?

Have you hit any personal "mini-milestones" lately?

 PS.  I'll share the Asian Lime Salmon recipe later this week!!