Read, Cakes, Clean, Run, Relax!

Today is Saturday!  I'm so excited!  I really needed the weekend.  Plus, it's gorgeous outside today.  What a pleasant surprise.  All week the weather man has been telling us that it was going to SNOW!  Not so!  There's beautiful sunshine, and chirping birds out there as I type.

This morning I slept in a little, since I went to bed so late last night.  I got up around 7:30ish, and made some coffee.  Carl was sleeping in even later since he worked late last night.  He has to work late again tonight, and plans to sleep in on Sunday too, so I decided that today would be pancake day instead of our normal Sunday brunch. 

First there was reading...

While I was waiting for him to get up, I relaxed with Vlad on the floor with a cup of coffee and read the newspaper.

Then, I read a little New Yorker magazine - an article about living in Brooklyn and one on Richard Daley, mayor of Chicago.

Then, there were pancakes!

Carl got up, and while he was working out downstairs I whipped up some pancakes with my new mix:  Bob's Red Mill Whole Grain Buttermilk Pancake and Waffle Mix.  This was the mix I picked up at the Downtown Grocery in Wausau.

The ingredients called for only one cup of mix, but I doubled the recipe.  I usually use 2 cups of Bisquick, so I figured that was comparable. 

2 cups mix
3 eggs
2 tablespoons Smart Balance canola oil
1 1/2 cups milk

I whipped the ingredients up, and poured some cakes on the griddle.

I thought the cakes turned out pretty good.  They were thick, and a little more dense than our Bisquick pancakes, but they had a great taste.  I may buy this mix again!  Anyone out there that has a great pancake recipe?  We love pancakes!

Here's our spread - pancakes, bacon, and milk for Carl and Almond milk for me. 

I should should share with you that I don't fry my bacon in a pan on the stove.  I put my bacon strips on a bacon pan in the microwave.  I put a papertowel down on the pan, the bacon, then cover them with another papertowel (just one on top), and I cook them for about 7-8 minutes in the microwave.  They come out really crispy, and not greasy at all.  You have to check them though throughout the cooking process to make sure they don't burn.

Cleaning too...

After breakfast it was time to get this house clean.  I wiped down the kitchen, did laundry, swiffered, vacuumed, dusted, and more.  I also put a new candle downstairs.  We had a cinnamon and cloves one down there, and it just seemed to wintery now.  So I put out Ocean Water, which has a nice fresh scent.  I usually prefer candles that smell like desserts.  You know, Christmas Cookie, vanilla, cafe latte, etc.  But, this one was okay.

Our downstairs area still isn't where we want it to be yet decor-wise.  We've lived here a year and almost three months now.  One big project we have is to build bookshelves for our many, many books.  All of these boxes are our books.  Yikes!

I get tired of things being out of order down there.  Today I hung up a clock in the workout area so I know what time it is when I'm running, and I organized the storage room a little so you could at least walk around in at least.

Lunchtime!

I needed to eat a little something before my workout.  So I had a small bowl of leftover spaghetti from last night, some carrots, and a few grapes.

RUN!

Yesterday was a rest day, so today's workout was really great.  I did a run/walk treadmill routine for 40 minutes - 25 minute run on an incline of 2, and 15 minute walk on an incline of 8.  I also did about 10 minutes of strength training, including the Teaser exercise!  :D  I'm still excited I can nip that in the bud now.

Vlad watched from his napping place... I need to teach him how to run on the treadmill. :)

It is so beautiful outside!  Carl and I are heading out soon to take Vlad on a hike in the woods.  Should be fun!  I haven't been out on a hike in a long time due to the snow and muck.  Welcome Spring!