Welding and hotcakes

I was out last weekend enjoying the amazingly nice weather and decided I needed to muck out the goat house. They'd been cooped up in there for a few weeks and it looked like it. Yuck. So out came the pitch fork and the garden cart. Half a load in the head of the pitch fork fell off. The metal fork part just slid out of the metal handle. I managed to shove it back in long enough to finish up for the day then asked Rich, our resident welder, if he'd mind welding the head back on. He said sure, he's nice like that. Then it hit me, our resident welder is just a mere 40 something days away from retirement. Retirement means he's moving back home to New Mexico. He's been visiting nearly every weekend for close to two years now. It's become routine having him here and we are sure going to miss him when he leaves. I'm happy for him being able to go home but it will be strange not having him here on the weekends.

I thought perhaps, since he was leaving soon, I'd see if he'd give me a welding lesson. Maybe I could do my own welding once he left. He said sure and the next day I got a great lesson in wire feed welding. I'd done a bit of welding in my Sculpture 2 class in college but that was 15 years ago (yikes!). I feel pretty confident in trying it again after my little lesson. I suppose it's just a matter of practicing it. Things I learned after the lesson: always wear clothing that covers the entire body, no skin showing. I wore a sweatshirt that day that had a v-neck. I tied it close but it must have came open a bit during the welding as I was sporting a decent sunburn on my chest that evening. Oops. It was fun and maybe some day I'll take a welding class.

Thanks Rich for teaching me, between Sean's skills and mine perhaps we can pick up the welding duties around here after you leave.

On a completely different note, I thought I'd share my newest food obsession. I tend to stick with a food that I like and will eat it every day until I tire of it. My newest thing are the two ingredient pancakes. I mentioned them in a previous post but didn't elaborate on the recipe as it was still a work in progress. Well I've been messing with them and finally got them perfect. It's where you take one banana and mash it up, add two eggs and mix it all together. I tried it in the food processor but it made it too liquid. Mashing it by hand keeps some lumps which help bulk up the pancakes. Throw in a couple tablespoons crushed walnuts, a teaspoon of vanilla, shake of cinnamon and an 1/8 teaspoon baking powder and it makes the perfect little stack of protein filled, flourless pancakes. Add a dab of butter and they don't need any syrup. So good and good for you! I think I've had them every day this week. I've been trying to cram more protein into my day, I feel so much better when I hit my goal of 75 grams a day. The key (according to Dr. Oz) is to get 25 grams at each meal. I have so much more energy during the day, which is so nice. Anyways, just thought I'd share my perfect two ingredient pancake recipe.

Perfect Two Ingredient Pancakes:

-1 medium banana
-2 eggs

Smash banana with fork, add eggs and mix well. 

Optional ingredients (highly recommended):
-1 t. vanilla
-1/8 t. baking powder
-a couple of shakes of cinnamon
-1 T. walnut pieces 

Heat pan over medium heat and add a teaspoon of coconut oil. Cook pancakes and enjoy!
With the walnuts, this recipe has 18 grams of protein.