Oh, dear sweet oatmeal chocolate chip pancake...come to MAMA!

Today will not go down in history as one of those days you could consider more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

Nothing monumentally bad happened. In fact, by most standards, it really wasn't a bad day at all.

But, I'm on call this week again, and as luck would have it, my sleeping butt got woken up at 2 a.m. with the buzzing of my pager, beckoning me to come to work. I had so much fun. It was a blast. Not really.

Anyway, I got home at 4:30 a.m. and finally fell asleep. About 15 minutes before the alarm went off, beckoning me BACK to work for my regular shift. Do I really need to explain that I was Miss Pissy Pants all day long, or did you just assume that before I even explained it? Because I WAS a stick in the mud all day. It was one of those one friggin' thing after another days.

And, believe me - I'm thankful to have a job, so I'll take some bad days here and there. But, let's just say my coping mechanisms were malfunctioning.

I ate almost a whole Dove chocolate bar (which, by the way, I do not regret - I fully believe it helped me from going completely mad at times) and I got a mini pizza for lunch, which I haven't done in WEEKS. Didn't feel so hot about those choices, but it was all about the comfort food.

So, I came home and changed into my comfy clothes and got to relax a bit. And even though the plan was to eat some chicken that I cooked up in the crock pot yesterday, it just wasn't going to do the trick for me.

It was definitely a breakfast for dinner kind of night.

Quickly, I cracked open the pages of my Hungry Girl cookbook and got out a mixing bowl and the ingredients for my current Hungry Girl obsession - "Oat-Rageous Chocolate Chip Pancake Minis."

Now, the recipe makes 5 mini pancakes, but I get all crazy with my bad self and just make one huge honkin' pancake. And it is so. GOOD. I'm telling you!

It was total comfort food, and just 3 of my daily 18 Weight Watchers food points. I could indulge and not feel one bit guilty.

I'm sure I'm breaking some sort of law by sharing this with you, but I'm feeling fiesty, so I'm going to tell you how to cook up some of these bad boys for yourself...

Oat-Rageous Chocolate Chip Pancake Minis

Ingredients

3 Tbsp. regular oats (not instant)
3 Tbsp. fat-free liquid egg substitute
2 Tbsp. whole-wheat flour
1 Tbsp. light vanilla soymilk
1/2 Tbsp. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. vanilla extract
1 no-calorie sweetener packet
(I also like to add some cinnamon)
Dash salt

Directions

Place all ingredients in a small bowl, except for chocolate chips. Add 1 Tbsp water and stir until thoroughly mixed. Fold in chocolate chips.

Bring a large pan sprayed with nonstick spray to medium heat. Pour batter in the pan to form 5 mini pancakes (or one ginormous pancake, like I do). Once pancake(s) begin to look solid, after about 1 minute, gently (or ferociously) flip.

Cook for an additional minute, or until both sides are lightly browned and insides are cooked through.

My favorite toppings? I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray, sugar-free (or sugar-filled) syrup, and/or fat-free Reddi Whip.

Makes 1 serving

Source: Hungry Girl 200 Under 200 recipe book, page 30 - with a few of my own words and variations thrown in here and there.

I'll take some Tap Tap Revenge with a side of 30 Rock, please

This week's Writer's Workshop from Mama Kat (see above) is frickin' awesome! You better be excited because you're gonna get to read a whole crap load of fun stuff from me today. Wanna know what's in store?

Well, I've got a fabulous music video for your viewing pleasure, circa early 1990s. Next, I'll be sharing one of my favorite recipes with you. You'll also have the privilege of discovering what 5 of my most current favorite things are. Are you jumping up and down with excitement yet? Because you should be. If you're not, then you better get your head examined.

So, first off, allow me to share with you a fabulous song from the first CD I ever purchased with my own money. Frickin' Ace of BASE, people. Name of the CD? The Sign. I remember playing basketball outside by myself with my larger than life boom box next to the hoop, playing this very song on repeat for HOURS. One time the crotchety old lady from next door came over and asked me to turn it down. What a bizatch! I listen to the song now, and I realize how ridiculous of a song it is, but it just takes me back, and all I can do is smile.

I'm notorious for screwing up song lyrics, but I swear the first line of this is: "I bought a phone, yeah!" Tell me what you think. I'm pretty much 23% sure that I've gotta be right on this one.

Without further adieu, I bring you the classic '90s hit, "The Sign." Don't enjoy it too much.



Next! A favorite recipe...

I love recipes that are easy, delicious, and taste like I spent forever working on them. The recipe I'm going to share with you is a variation on a recipe called Chicken Surprise that a friend shared with me, and a crockpot recipe I found online. I really don't have a name for this, but it's good. Let's call it Crockpot Chickeny Salsa Bean Extravaganza. If you need to cook gluten-free, check out The Crockpot Lady's site for her version.

Crockpot Chickeny Salsa Bean Extravaganza

1. Turn your crockpot to Low.
2. Add about 4 or 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (you can even add them frozen!)
3. Dump in a jar of salsa (I recommend whatever brand is on sale - who frickin' cares, anyway?).
4. Dump in a can of black beans.
5. Cook for about 6-8 hours.

You can eat as is, or you can shred the chicken. You can also add corn if you want at the beginning, but I choose not to. Now, if you want it to be creamy, add a brick of cream cheese during the last 30 minutes and then stir it all together. We've tried it both ways, and we prefer it without the cream cheese. If you want it to be soupier, add some chicken broth - however much you want.

And lastly, I will be sharing 5 of my current favorite things with you. Let's take it from the top.

One: L'Oreal beauty tubes mascara























Listen to me. Are you listening? You HAVE to buy this mascara. HAVE to. I've always had an issue with mascara smudging, rubbing off, making me have raccoon eyes halfway through the day, or clumping. Not pretty. This stuff frickin' rocks! I bought it after I read Summer's review (please go check her out at Le Musings of Moi, by the way - she's a riot!), and I will never go back. You really need to read Summer's review - I'm pretty sure you'll feel compelled to buy it after you read it.

DOS and TRES: The 8 gig iPod touch. One of THE best inventions ever. Given to me by Mom and Pops at Christmas, it's definitely going down as one of the best Christmas gifts ever given to anyone. anywhere. Number 3 goes right along with it, and that - my friends - is Tap Tap Revenge. Available free at the app store, it's like a handheld version of guitar hero. Just warning you - it's addicting. You probably won't get anything done for at least a day after you discover the fun that IS Tap Tap Revenge (that's it on the screen right there).























Four: Frickin' baby formula. Seriously. I love this stuff (for Kaylee, not me personally). It makes my life easier, and it means my boobs are mine again. In fact, I'm so excited about formula that I wrote a whole post about how excited it makes me. Click here to read all about it.














And, lastly, #5. Liz Lemon.

Otherwise known as Tina Fey's character on NBC's 30 Rock. Dennis and I watched an episode a couple seasons ago and weren't really crazy about it, but this year we gave it another shot, and now we don't miss an episode. It's so dang funny! Liz Lemon is my favorite. Enjoy this quick little montage of Liz Lemon-isms. Funny stuff, people. Funny stuff.

Click the picture of Mama Kat at the beginning of the post to check out more brilliant Writer's Workshop posts from other bloggers.