This week marked the continuation of a long running experiment in excercise & conservation of fuel: walking to work.

All last year, I lived in an apartment complex that was literally adjacent to the business complex where I work. This was no accident, and was the result of being willing to move simply to eliminate what had been about 15 minutes of driving. Walking to and from work (less than 5 minutes) from those apartments was great! My car always stayed parked in a nice, shady spot in the apartment carport and I got plenty of extra exercise. An added bonus was getting to go home for lunches due to the insignificant travel time. Also, this means that I put almost no mileage on my car, and filled up the tank every two weeks or so.

This year, when I finally bought my first house, location near the office was again of high importance. The main difference was that now the walk was just under one mile, and would take triple the time. When initially adjusting to the move, I just didn’t manage to rebuild the habit of walking initially. :(

Well this week I finally started to walk again. So far, it’s been great. Just thought I’d share.

It has Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for $8. I loved this game originally on the Super Nintendo way back, and this was a great (doesn’t cost $50 and a driving trip) game gift for Rahlus. He’d not yet played through it.

Update:  Yup, he finished the entire game.  That ice dungeon in the dark world sure can involve a lot of extra walking.

By the time we got to mid-morning, it was time for breakfast.

On a normal weekday, we make some type of egg white & cheddar breakfast sandwich or muffin. This has been a staple breakfast for a long while, and keeps us (and our occasional houseguests) going strong all morning. On weekends, we always aim for something more special.

Starting last week, this became a simple French crepe for one of the two days on the weekend.

Beginning with Bisquick (our first occasion ever for buying this product), we mixed up a couple of cups of thin batter using lowfat buttermilk instead of regular milk. The batter, of course, was made a little thinner so it would go flat and tin in the pan and wouldn’t leaven too much.

It took a bit of experimentation, but the rejects were still tasty. As each one was each cooked up, it was quickly enjoyed with a little bit of jelly as the next one cooked. The recipe (2 cups bisquick, 2 eggs, 1 cup buttermilk) produced about 5-6 crepes. Every crepe was different, as no two were filled with the same jelly filling.

This was possible thanks to my mom. She recently visited me in Texas for a few days. During her stay, she helped us make about four dozen jars of various preserves, jams, and jellies. Among these were Pinot Grigio Wine jelly, strawberry preserves (popular so far with our friends), a Pink Grapefruit Marmalade, Grape Jelly, Blueberry Jelly, and No-Sugar (and no fake sugar) Blueberry/Pomegranate Jelly.

Why crepes? Years ago, my grandfather used to make these for his grandchildren when we stayed his and my grandma’s house. You could call this a childhood comfort food of mine. I don’t know if mine are as good as his were, but it’s a great way to remember his kindness toward his grandchildren. I’m glad I finally decided to buy a box of Bisquick and finally try this.

So needless to say, breakfast was today. What a nice way to start the second half of the weekend.