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Strength and Sunshine

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Power Monday #48 The Do’s And Don’ts To Having A Great Birthday

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I think I may be cursed. The last few birthdays I’ve had have been anything but steller. I don’t expect much and maybe it is just what happens as get older. But I don’t think that is the case here. Last year, I failed my drivers test because I messed up the parallel parking by hitting the back cone. I basically cried the whole day which also lead to a horrible long summer of practicing that damn parking multiple times a week in a sweltering car with no AC. This year…well, I don’t really know what to say. So I put together a list of do’s and don’ts to having a better birthday than I.

Power MondayIt could have been worse, don’t get me wrong. There were some highlights, but ultimately, this 18th birthday is not one for the memory books. You know, it is kind of like Christmas. The build up can be exciting, but then the actual day end up being pretty hum-drum. Ah well, there is always next year right? 😉

The Do's and Don'ts to Having a Great BirthdayDo wake up with the sun and enjoy the fact that you don’t have to get ready for school. Savor the silence and stillness. Anticipate the warm sunny day to come.


Don’t leave your bedroom only to find your mom getting ready to go to the hospital. (P.S. She is okay!)

Do make some celebratory pancakes. Write a botched 18 with chocolate stevia syrup and post it to instagram. Plus add some candles in just for fun! (Recipe at the end of the post!)

Birthday Pancakes

Don’t go on Facebook to find out that your room assignment was posted earlier then 12pm. Then don’t proceed to check you college email and literally die on the spot because you were assignments to your last possible choice of dorm. And don’t proceed to break out in to uncontrollable tears.

Do take some time to enjoy your old hobby of reading a book. Enjoy the escape and the wonderful story unfolding before your eyes and in your head.

Don’t just wander around the house all day waiting for texts, planning how you will be switching your dorm somehow, completing loan counseling online for college, thinking about how you won’t ever have the experience of senior prom.

Do get a smile on you face when you get 3 mail deliveries from Frieda’s, My TaT, and Skoop. (Get ready for some Honest reviews in the next few weeks!) plus, feel special when Frieda’s tweets to all their followers that everyone should wish you a happy birthday.

Don’t get sad when you go on instagram and see everyone at Blend while your at home…

Do lift some weights to get all you anger and frustration form the day out. Make yourself feel like a beast and things start to look a bit better 😉

Don’t keep obsessively checking your college email since you activated Room Swap and are waiting to see what dorms open, only to find those options are equally as bad.

Do make a delicious dinner, ambient nothing interesting, but still tastes good.

Avocado Cumin Tilapia, Sweet Potato Fries, Veggies

Don’t agree to having your mom and brother awkwardly stand and sing you happy birthday. (This is the worst…thank god they didn’t do it!)

Do go to bed by 9 after reading a few more pages of your book and hope that the weekend will be a bit better (it was!). Reassure yourself that turning 18 means a lot more then just this one day.

Chocolate Frosted Peppermint Monster Pancakes

Chocolate Frosted Peppermint Monster Pancakes

Ingredients: (serves 1 birthday girl!)

+ 1/3 Cup Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour

+ 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder

+ 1/4 Cup Grated Zucchini

+ 1/2 Tsp Peppermint Extract

+ 1/2 Cup Spinach

+ 5 Drops Liquid Stevia

+ 1/3 Cup Water

Chocolate Frosting:

+ 2TB Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

+ 4-5 Drops Liquid Stevia

+ 1-2 TB Water (it needs to be thick, so add slowly!)

Directions:

+ In a small food processor, add all dry ingredients, give it a whirl. Then all the wet and the veggies. Blend until you have batter, then pour out into a bowl.

+ Heat a lightly oiled pan over medium heat. Pour batter (either 1/2 or 1/3) on the center of the pan. Allow to cook for 3-4 minutes, flip, and cook an additional 3 minutes. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

+ For the frosting, just mix everything together. Slowly add the water though so it stays thick and easily spreadable. Then just top each cake with the frosting and Bam!

Chocolate Frosted Peppermint Monster Pancakes So why are these called “Monster” pancakes? Well anytime anyone adds in greens to a recipe like a smoothie or pancakes, they call it a green monster. So yea, I just went with it. But these pancakes are like Junior Mint cake pancakes 😉 Remember we spoke of old candy favorites last week? Mint and chocolate are a good combo. And they make a perfect 18th birthday “cake”. Although sadly I didn’t even light the candles, just took a few pictures (alone at 6am in the kitchen), then proceeded to eat my birthday pancakes alone. Damn, I should have made a wish 😛 Next time, right? Next time 😉

So tell me:

+ What is you ideal birthday, or what do you wish you could do on your birthday?

+ If it just me or does anyone else have bad luck birthdays?

*Recipe linking up for the week! WIAW, Allergy Free Wednesdays, #RecipeFridays, #RecipeOfTheWeek, #StrangeButGood, Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Real Food Friday, Gluten-Free Fridays, Tasty Tuesdays, Savoring Saturdays, Healthy Vegan Fridays, #Foodie Friday, Real Food Recipe Roundup, Gluten-Free Tuesdays!*

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Comments

  7. Aww sorry your birthday wasn’t the best. Having experienced some less than awesome bdays myself, I would add one more tip: schedule something awesome as a present to yourself so you don’t depend on other people to make it special. Hope you still have a great year! #wowlinkup

    Reply

  8. Hi Rebecca,
    What better way to celebrate your special day than with Chocolate Frosted Peppermint Monster Pancakes! I am so glad you shared this delicious recipe at the Plant-Based Potluck Party Blog Hop! I appreciate it!

    Reply

  12. Yummy pancakes!! I would like that for my birthday breakfast!! Isn’t it funny how birthdays change the older we get?? Happy, happy!!

    Reply

  13. Mint chocolate pancakes sound dreamy! I’ve never tried that combination but I really want to. Thanks for linking up to #recipeoftheweek – I have pinned this post to my food boards and scheduled in a tweet for this evening 🙂

    Reply

  16. My birthday is coming up June 26! I try not to anticipate it being the BEST DAY EVER because that always sets you up for disappointment! Ha! I just love getting up early, feeling good, going to my favorite lunch and dinner spots, hanging out with my closest friends and just lots of smiling and laughing! 🙂

    I’m sorry your birthday wasn’t the best – HOWEVER – I am THRILLED your mother is okay!

    Reply

  20. I’m so sorry to hear that you didn’t have a great birthday 🙁 I’ve had some that don’t turned out as planned for sure and I find myself looking to those things that did go right – your do list – and trying to forget the parts that went bad… That’s not always 100% possible though depending on what it may be. I’m also sorry to hear your mom had to go to the hospital but Im glad she is okay! We’re warm birthday twins! 🙂 Mines in July. I do love that there is always a great chance to wake up on my birthday to sunshine, warmth and a beautiful day!

    Reply

  22. I think my biggest do and don’t for birthdays is;
    DO be realistic and realise that whilst your birthday is special, it is just another day and like with every day, anything can happen.
    DON’T get too wrapped up in the whole “birthday” thing and have a melt down as soon as a tiny little thing goes wrong.

    I know way too many people who disappoint themselves year after year because they feel like EVERYTHING needs to go perfectly on their birthday – everyone needs to treat them like a queen, they have to get their way with everything, they need to be spoilt and everyone needs to pay attention to them – but they end up becoming birthday monsters! (My sister is one of THE WORST for this haha)

    And that, is why I don’t fuss over my birthday haha ;P

    Reply

  23. Happy belated birthday! :] Glad that your mom ended up being okay!

    That pancake recipe looks amazing. 😀 I recently got a spatula so I’m rather curious (also a little scared) to see if my pancake failures were because of my lack of spatula, or just because I fail at the art of making pretty pancakes. 😡

    Reply

  27. My birthday is in the middle of August which means it usually falls on the first day of school – boo! Now that I’m a teacher I still have his problem! I usually try to plan something simple and fun on the weekend before or after (like target and froyo – nothing fancy)
    The dorm situation sounds like a bummer but you will love college no matter what! I’m excited to hear about everything already!

    Reply

  31. Hehe! Glad you had a great day…..love the dos and donts….my birthday is less than 2 months so I may need to keep this in mind 😉 Only my second birthday ever away from home….so hopefully I enjoy! Have a lovely week 🙂

    Reply

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Meet Rebecca

Hey friends! I’m Rebecca a healthy gluten-free & allergy-friendly food blogger, Celiac advocate, yogi, and college student! I have a strong passion for finding the beauty and happiness in life no matter what hurdles it throws at you.

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