Good morning, beautiful. How are you today? Have a good weekend? I sure hope so! Things were pretty good around here. Catch up, why don’t you?

• The Musical Fruit – yes, I talked about farting this weekend
• I Got My Hair Did – I got a haircut and also the FFF features
• Self-Love Reflection: Fight Cancer With Food – her story gives me chills!
• One Month to Live: Live Passionately – insights from my new book study

Now that you got yourself all caught up, I have even more to share with you from the weekend. I did good on Saturday morning. I achieved a new PDR and then followed it up with a pancake creation that I still have dreams over. First, let’s start with the run.

Nine miles. NINE. MILES! I strangely love long runs and couldn’t wait to go out and tackle the distance. I decided to go with the running path for this week’s run and made the trek out as early as possible. I really appreciate having such a great running path to use for long runs. It motivates me to come across so many other people out caring for their health and I like not having to worry about as many crosswalks and bug attacks. I also like knowing I can easily reach one of these when needed…

Yea. That is a welcome sight for someone who ate too much fiber. But I would have no idea who that could be. Purely hypothetical and we’ll leave it at that. 😉

Despite that quick break in the run, things went incredibly well. Nine miles with an average 9:18 pace ain’t half bad I would say.

What a way to start the weekend!

After taking care of my legs with some stretching and icing, I had to get to work taking care of my stomach. Last week, Gabriela posted about her love for the chocolate and coconut combination. That sparked an urge in me. I needed a chocolate and coconut flavor explosion. I needed these Chocolate Coconut Pancakes. Oh, yes. I did. And I think you need them too.

Chocolate Coconut Pancakes

• 1 1/4 cups flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk
• 1/4 cup light coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons canola oil (or applesauce)
• 1 large egg
• desired amount of shredded coconut

Mix the dry ingredients – flour through salt – together in a large mixing bowl.

Make a well in the center to add the wet ingredients – almond milk through egg. Stir until the mixture forms a well-blended batter. Fold in your desired amount of shredded coconut. I used one large handful.

Spoon batter onto a lightly greased, hot griddle or pan. Cook 2-3 minutes until small bubbles form and edges set. Flip and cook another 2-3 minutes.

Plate and garnish with extra cocoa powder, shredded coconut, or powdered sugar. Go mmmmmmm.

These babies make me giddy. Promise to make some? Because I’m out and need more. Like, stat pleaseandthankyou.

• Are you a fan of coconut?
• Best part of your weekend?

In case you haven’t guessed, this post will talk about gas. Farts. Toots. Stench bombs. Whatever you want to call them. If you have more class than I do and want to skip over, that’s just fine. If you have your own musical qualities in which to relate or share, let’s bond. It will be a grand ole time!

Did you realize that the month of July had five Saturdays. I did. Not because I’m some freak of nature who can mentally figure out dates in her head. Although, that’s true too. I mainly paid attention to the five Saturdays in the month of July because it meant I had to spread our monthly grocery budget across five weeks instead of the usual four. Say what, kemosabe?!

After our grocery bill rang up last week and I realized we still managed to come in under budget, I patted myself on the back as I left the store. Then I learned that my budget meal shopping could end my marriage. Let’s just say when looking for cheap meals many of my favorites involve beans. We had lots and lots of beans this past week.

White Bean Salad

Breakfast for Dinner Quesadilla with Black Beans

Veggie Pot Pie with Black Eyed Peas (inspired by Meghann’s recipe)

Even the night I planned to resort to clear out items we have stocked in our freezer, I ended up with beans…

Morning Star Farms Spicy Black Bean Burger…with hummus (extra beans!)

Peter wouldn’t touch me with a ten-foot pole for fear of me intoxicating his nostrils after all of those meals. I won the budget game, but certainly didn’t win the digestive game. Oh, yes. I’m going there. Beans truly are a musical fruit with me. And I have such difficulty keeping tabs on it! I get incredibly bad stomach cramps if I try to hold in the “bombs of stench” as Peter so kindly has called them.

I amaze myself sometimes, so I really do feel bad when things just slip. Okay, I don’t feel so bad when things slip around Peter. He knew what he got himself into when he chose to marry me. But around others….EEEK! I usually just succumb to suffering gas pains for fear of people avoiding me forever. Yet, I cannot lie. It happens sometimes.

Like this past week. In spin class. During a climb. Those poor souls behind me. It must have been like a missile! Then, at the grocery store. Only myself and one other person in the aisle. And I know she knows I did it, yet I still walked away nonchalantly. Then avoided contact the remainder of my shopping. Oh, how embarrassing! Hey…I know I’m not alone. Right? Right?!?! 

• What staple foods do you use when shopping super cheap?
• Do you ever have to “let one rip” in public? What do you do?