Shrove or Pancake Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.  Eating pancakes on this day came about because families needed to eat up the eggs, milk and sugar before a fast for Lent.  ‘Shrove’ is the past tense of the word ‘shrive’ which means to hear a confession or assign a penance and absolve from sin.  In our house, it is an excuse to eat pancakes because we like them.  I was not organised enough to have them for breakfast though.

I did have something new for breakfast.

I really like buckwheat.  It is a recent discovery for me and I have enjoyed finding different ways to eat it.  I have so far baked and sprouted it and today I had some soaked and raw.  Inspired by a recipe from the very splendid Oh She Glows for raw buckwheat porridge I made a smoothie.

Buckwheat Smoothie

Ingredients (serves 1)

• 50 g raw buckwheat groats (not toasted ones, they must be raw)
• 300 ml coconut water
• 1/2 a banana
• Loads of blueberries (or other fruit of your choice)

Method

• Soak the buckwheat in plenty of water for at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Rinse well.  The water is a bit slimy which I am guessing is the starch from the buckwheat.

• Put the buckwheat, coconut water and fruit in a blender and blitz until smooth.

This was delicious and kept me feeling full until I ate lunch 6 hours later at 2pm.  7 WW points.

I played tennis with my  regular Tuesday morning group.  The sun was really warm on our faces and by the time we were warmed up and playing a match, several of us were in our shirt sleeves.  It was so good to be running round outside and feeling warm rather then freezing.  I am sad I can not play tennis with my friends again for a long time so we will have to met up for dinner instead :-).  I will miss the tennis and the chatting and laughing.  Enjoy the tennis ladies, I will miss you all.

Kath and Lizzie came for lunch.  I actually made yesterday’s black bean soup to have for lunch today and also some in the freezer for simple suppers when I am working.  Lizzie brought dessert with her.  If you know Lizzie, invite her for lunch and suggest she brings dessert.  She is one of the finest dessert cooks I know.  If you don’t know Lizzie – unlucky!

Unfortunately, Lizzie received that phone call every Mother dreads just as we were about to eat.  A call from the school to say your child has had an accident so could you please get there as soon as possible.  Kath and I waited to see if Lizzie was able to return to us with her little boy but she couldn’t and actually had to take him to A&E.  We were really sorry for both Sebbie and Lizzie and hope he feels better soon.

To make lunch a bit more special than last nights simple supper, I made a guacamole by mashing an avocado in to the juice of a lime and some salt.  I also grated some mature cheddar and provided some sour cream.

The soup was much better today than yesterday.  The flavours were softer and well melded together.  The cheese, guacamole and sour cream went really well with it.  I am not sure if I have calculated incorrectly as this meal seems high in points when it is all very healthy but this is how I think it scores:

Soup – 11
2 tbsp sour cream – 2
1/2 an avocado – 4
30 g Cheddar – 3

Lizzie’s dessert was as amazing as always.  We had home made meringues with a blackcurrant coulis and red berries stirred in to whipped cream.  Oh my gosh, it was fabulous.  We were so very sorry that Lizzie wasn’t with us to enjoy it though.

2 little meringues – 3
4 tbsp cream – 7
1 tsp sugar – 1

Being the amazing Mother that I am ( 🙂 ) I made my little boy pancakes, even though I did not have enough points left to have any myself. I made our family favourite American pancakes and he ate them with sausages and about a gallon of maple syrup.

I did succumb to 3 and a half sausages (they are the skinny ones) which I ate with some cherry tomatoes, orange pepper and cucumber.  8 WW points.

I ate quite a lot of points today but I did earn 7 activity points by playing tennis.  My lunch was all so delicious, it was worth every calorie/point.  Much as I would have loved a pancake, I am pleased with myself for resisting.

Daily WW Points

Breakfast – 7
Lunch – 31
Supper – 8
Extras (milk in tea) – 2

Total = 48