Dessert for breakfast, with thanks to MaryLu

I woke up hungry this morning, and the most filling breakfast I know is my friend MaryLu's protein pancakes. I told you about it a few weeks ago, and how she had mentioned - SEVERAL TIMES - that it is pretty delicious prepared as a waffle also. I decided to take her up on it and O. M. G. Stop reading and go make it right now. I'll wait. (The recipe is 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup oatmeal - not instant, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp vanilla, and 1/2 tsp almond extract. Blend it for a minute and then either cook it in a skillet as a pancake OR USE YOUR BELGIAN WAFFLER!)

It was pretty good as a pancake, but it is sinful as a waffle. I couldn't figure out what topping to use, and with the cinnamon, vanilla, and almond in there, I was thinking something sweet, so what did I decide?

That's right. Just a few spritzes of butter spray and half a packet of Truvia on each waffle and I was one happy girl.

I really should do this in chronological order: yesterday's breakfast was pretty yummy too. I had oatmeal with golden raisins and light vanilla soy milk. And coffee with soy milk. I could get used to this dessert for breakfast theme!

A note about the dishes: they are mine from when I was a baby. Emily posted something on my Facebook wall about wanting some Wedgewood Peter Rabbit dishes, and I remembered my Royal Doulton Bunnykins that were tucked away in the kitchen cupboard above the refrigerator with other things I never use. I decided to get them down and use them. Here's a close-up of the other side of the mug. (Not very large, but definitely charming.)

One of my friends, Lois, saw my FB post on the china and remarked that each of her children had a set of Bunnykins when they were babies, and she's wrapping up her daughter's bowl and cup for her new granddaughter's first Easter. I just love family traditions.

But back to yesterday. Lunch was the EXACT SAME as Monday's. I really need to work on lunches. They are the most difficult meal of the day for me to plan. It's either a salad (like today!) or whatever I can scrounge up. I need to plan this meal. (But the salad looks good, doesn't it? On the side is a whole wheat tortilla with some low-fat swiss cheese melted in the middle; a fast quesadilla.)

Dinner last night was another Abs Diet recipe - Colonel Mustard. I swear they have someone on staff just thinking up clever names. It is basically two thin-cut pork chops marinated in Dijon mustard, olive oil, and maple syrup, then sauteéd for a few minutes on each side. The salad is included in the recipe; I added the roasted Brussels sprouts. I'm not a huge pork fan unless it's bacon, but this was pretty good. Dwight loved it, so I'll be making it again. And it's really easy.

So now I'm off to knitting. We didn't have it yesterday since it was Creighton's last home game and several people were going. It's been a few weeks since we've had knitting, so it will be a fun afternoon and evening getting together with friends. I thought I'd take one of our favorite treats to share with the group. (Thanks Kathy and Dave! Or maybe it should be damn you, Kathy and Dave!)

But the calorie count isn't THAT bad if you only have one, which is already factored into my daily count. The old me would have had several with a nice cabernet - which BTW is fabulous!