As many of you know, yesterday marked the celebration of Father’s Day here in the US. And even though a certain someone forgot Mother’s Day last month, I still made sure to put in the effort for him on his day. After all, marriage means having to “forgive and forget” as the sage man from Taiwan told Ashley & Constantine on The Bachelor last week. Did anyone else find that conversation totally random and uncomfortable? Ah, the pleasures of trash television.

So I figured I should practice what The Bachelor preaches (where’s that sarcasm font again?) and devote some time and attention to Peter. He works hard to support our family, love and play with our children, believe in me, and put up with watching shows like The Bachelor. I guess he deserves a little special treatment. I happily obliged.

I started the traditional way by preparing a special breakfast for him. The man loves peanut butter. The man loves pancakes for breakfast. Peanut Butter Pancakes naturally made a perfect breakfast selection. And as luck would have it, we could easily adjust our standard pancake recipe to make a hearty peanut butter version.

Peanut Butter Pancakes

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 80 grams (about 1/3 cup) natural peanut butter <—I do grams so I can just measure the pb directly into my mixing bowl. It’s easier than trying to scoop it into a measuring cup and then get it all out of the measuring cup.

Mix the dry ingredients together (flour through salt). Whisk milk and peanut butter together. Add the wet to dry and stir until combined. The batter should be thicker than traditional pancake batter because of the peanut butter. Prepare pancakes as normal by dolloping even spoonfuls onto a hot griddle or pan. Cook for around 2 minutes per side. Makes 10-12 medium sized pancakes.

The pancakes came out perfectly. I prefer a hearty, dense pancake that will fill me up and these did just that. I topped the pancakes with maple syrup and served them alongside a simple fruit mix of bananas and strawberries. The flavors went so well together and the peanut butter flavor didn’t get lost in the pancakes. I loved taking a bite of pancake with a piece of the fruit, especially banana. Mmmmm!

Besides a special prepared breakfast, I also picked up a few items for Peter that I knew he would never buy himself even though he wanted/needed them – a new wallet and a new pair of jeans.

Originally, I had tried looking for tools and other man items that I have no clue what to look for in quality or price. I scratched that idea when he mentioned something a few weeks ago about needing new jeans. And then last week griped about his old wallet. Wallets and jeans I can figure out. Wood routers (????) not so much. I hate shopping for men, so I’m so thankful he gave me ideas I could handle. I’m also thankful for ideas that don’t mean the start of a new house project. 😉

Father’s Day celebrations continued with some stops to visit both of our parents. We only had time for a quick stop over to see Peter’s parents because we planned to spend as much time as we could with my family before my brother left to return to Arizona.

My brother planned a special meal for my dad – large and in charge burgers on the grill.

Typically, I’m not a huge burger person, but sometimes they sound so good. Yesterday was one of those times. I loaded up my burger with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, pepperjack cheese, ketchup, and mustard. Of course, a burger is nothing without chips or fries so I had to grab a nice sized handful of the barbecue kettle chips.

I think you could safely say that I ate well yesterday. Very well indeed. We can’t forget how the night finished now.

I secretly picked up a 2 slice pack of Edwards Key Lime Pie for Peter and I for dessert last night. For some reason, this standard, frozen, grocery-store pie delights Peter so much. Who am I to deny him his favorite dessert on Father’s Day? I only wish I had captured the surprised and overjoyed look on his face when I brought it out to him after dinner. We both get way too excited about dessert. A Happy Father’s Day indeed. I know I didn’t mind celebrating!

• Did you do anything special for Father’s Day?
• Do you find it hard to shop for guys? Any good man gift ideas you have come up with before?

Holla for Thursday!!! And all the new faces I keep seeing popping up around here in the comments. Hi, friends! 🙂

This week keeps going at the speed of light! It also keeps getting better and better. Things keep turning out better than expected. Like my speed work run on Tuesday. Or getting lots of things accomplished which I expected to cause a ton of stress. Or receiving exciting news I did not expect to get. Or when a random dinner pulls together tastier than I could have hoped.

I shall call this little masterpiece “Rainbow White Bean Salad” for its colorful variety. So simple – aka open, chop, mix, and toss a bunch of random whatever. So flavorful – aka lots of fresh goodness going on in that bowl. So Tina – aka filling and good for a budget.

Rainbow White Bean Salad (for 2)

• 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 6 oz artichoke hearts, chopped
• 1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 small red onion, diced
• 3 large carrots, peeled and sliced small
• 1/2 large cucumber, chopped
• 1 T minced garlic
• 2 T olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon

Simply combine all the ingredients. Stir to combine. Allow to chill until ready to eat. I love summer food. Why can’t winter food come together this easily? Oh, yea. You have to actually cook. Blech.

Now that I have enticed you all with beans at breakfast time, I shall move on to other things rattling around in my brain. Like my race on Saturday and the question I currently bat back and forth in the tennis courts of my mind. To Garmin or NOT to Garmin?

I love my little run toy. It does wonders for me during training runs. It allows me to just go without having to plan out every bit of my route. It helps me learn more about my pacing. It guides me during things like tempo runs where I have a goal pace. Yet, as this is my first 10K and I mainly have the goal to finish strong (which hopefully involves a sub 1:00 time), I’m considering running the race without my little pal.

I want to see how simply trusting my body and just going works out for me in a race setting. I wonder if trying to focus on my pace by keeping up with Mr. G could actually hinder me during a race. Right now I lean toward going without it to see how it plays out and if it would be something I enjoy for future races. I want to trust my training and trust my body. I guess in my mind all I can do on race day is get out there and run. Hopefully I have learned enough to race smartly and finish strong.

• If you run races, how closely do you track your pace?
• What is your favorite thing about summer food?