Mom Said to “Eat Less, Exercise More”

A forkful of pancakes

Some time ago, I noticed extra weight gain. A panicked call was made to Mom. In a harsh and sweet tone of a voice, she said, “You know how to eat healthy. Now eat less and exercise more,” she continued with the reality of my dilemma, “…if you gain weight now, it’s difficult to get it off… You’re older and the weight doesn’t come off like it use to. There’s no excuse for being fat.”

Some may view the advice as insensitive. Personally, I appreciate the seriousness of it. Why cry about it when the solution is simple: Eat less and exercise more. The following morning, I was up at 6 am for a quick two-mile run. A food diary was started to find potential problems, which revealed large portions of food and too much sugar.

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Orangesicle Ice Cream and Roast Bananas with Rum Caramel Sauce

Cara Cara Orangesicle Ice Cream and Roast Banana with Rum Caramel Sauce

Remember when your hearing was sharp as kid? The Ice Cream Truck’s jingle was heard 20 blocks away. We were efficient team multi-taskers, too. At that sound, everyone immediately stop playing to run inside their homes to beg the parents for a couple dollars and change. If Mom and Dad said a firm “no,” we proactively broke the piggy bank after climbing on a stool topped with books to get a few dollars and change (When Mom eventually found an empty piggy bank, it wasn’t a good day in our household… pink slips and red bottoms were delegated). Of course, we ran after that truck to loudly communicate for it to slow down. It wasn’t until the truck saw dollar bills in our hands; it would come to a complete stop. We requested our new client for chocolate dipped cones, fruit pops, cherry flavored candies and Orangesicle Ice Cream. Read more

Boozy Banana Brownies

Boozy Banana Brownies
Boozy Banana Brownies

This is seriously a quickie dessert. Simple to make. A bit boozy. It’s bananas. It was made for a friend’s party at the last minute. We were planning to bring banana bread, but there was a missing ingredient. Promptly scanning the cookbooks, I decide to make brownies. Luckily, all of the ingredients for making this chocolate dessert are in the pantry, but it can’t just be a brownie recipe. This dish has to be special. Overripe bananas are still available to use. There’s a little rum in the refrigerator. Is it possible to make Brownies with rum and bananas? Sure, let’s try. If the recipe fails, we’ll stop by a wine store en route to the party. Read more

Banana Pudding with Sugar Cookies

Vanilla Wafer Cookies for Megan Gordon’s Banana Pudding from “A Sweet Spoonful”

Banana Pudding with Sugar Cookies
Banana Pudding with Sugar Cookies

The original plan was to make Almond Salty Butter cookies for a boxing match. Then this recipe appeared in the twitter feed. It blew the little cookies away. Besides, the boyfriend loves bananas. His younger sister is hosting a fabulous party, and we showed up empty handed at her last event. So, this recipe is a delicious adaption from Megan Gordon’s Banana Pudding from “A Sweet Spoonful.”  The least I could do is make a Simple Sugar Cookie recipe to contribute to this dish. The pudding is incredible, because it’s not from an instant mix, and it’s using real whipped cream. Megan’s blog is full of other beautiful recipes, too. Her recent post, “Throwing in the Towel,” is appropriately named for this weekend’s boxing match. It’s content is unrelated to the sport, but it’s nice to hear about another topic that doesn’t include the words: boxing, Floyd Mayweather, Shane Mosely, sports and Las Vegas. Thanks, Megan for sharing a girly recipe amid this testosterone day.

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