It IS Friday the 13th

6:15am: Groggily I look over at the clock and think, Dang it. 15 more minutes. I hate when I wake up a few minutes before my alarm.
7:43am: Groggily I look over at the clock and think, 7:43am. 7:43am!?!??!??!?!? AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I should have been at work at this time. 
In 13 minutes I was dressed, teeth brushed, make up on and out the door. Record time.


You know a Friday the 13th that begins like this is bound to live up to its reputation. Indeed it did. I saw 18 patients today. Can I tell you something that really, really, really irks me? Nurses who call me right before a patient is to be discharged telling me the patient's blood sugars have been all over the place during their stay and they need diabetes education and they are waiting on me. Really? Oh really? The patient has been here HOW long? Oh, 2 weeks? SERIOUSLY!??!? YOU WAITED UNTIL NOW TO TELL ME THIS?!?!?! AND diabetes education is not something I can (well, I can but it really shouldn't be something you just rush through) just bust out and wish the patient on their merry way. Oh yes, good luck with that carb counting. And remember, check those blood sugars. Buh-bye! Have fun! NO. It doesn't work like that.


Lest ye be mistaken, allow me clarify.  NO I do NOT sit in my office all day twiddling my thumbs dreaming of salads, running, and menu planning. Jeepers. But whatever. Anna (from now on just know Anna is one of the other dietitians I work with ok? Then I won't have to keep writing Anna, the other dietitian who I work with...) and I survived the day and may have had some help eating a few of homemade chocolate chip cookie dough peanut butter cups I made. In fact, I brought a few to the pharmacist who works on the second floor and he called me in the afternoon and asked if he could have one more. I was tickled. They were a hit! 


Then I went to yoga. Then I went home. Then I ate some peanut butter cups and had homemade whole wheat toast for dinner. And then I baked...

Homemade Wheat Thins!

Look! The dough matches my counter!

 Mmmm! Mmmm! Mmm!

 Cracker with a little bit of hummus. Delish!

I may never buy Wheat Thins again.Makes ~60 crackers depending on the size and shape

• 1 + 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 + 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus some extra for sprinkling if you wish
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika (I didn't have so I substituted it with Penzey's "Turkish Spice" and it worked wonderfully)
• 4 Tablespoons butter, cold (I used the Brummel and Brown butter made with yogurt that I had in the fridge to cut back on some calories and fat. Worked like a charm!)
• 1/4 cup cold water (plus more, if needed)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1. In a bowl mix together the flour, sugar, salt, and paprika. Using a regular cheese grater, grate butter into the flour mixture, or like me, you can just use some knives and cut the butter into the flour. Immediately toss the butter in the flour mixture to coat while breaking up piece a bit more as you go. Basically I used my hand and mixed the butter and flour together.

2. Mix together the water and vanilla. Pour over the flour mixture and mix until evening moistening and the dough comes together but isn't sticky (add a tad more water as needed). Dived the dough in half and form into balls.

3. On a lightly floured piece of parchment paper, roll out the dough as thinly as possible (or as desired). Cut into squares or whatever shape you'd like and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (I just kept it on the same flour piece of parchment paper). Sprinkle with a tad bit of salt (and any other toppings you so desire)

4. Bake at 400*F for 8-10 minutes or until browned and crisp. Cool completely (yeah. right.) in an air-tight container.

Here are some tips/alterations/suggestions:

*Seriously roll the dough thin if you are going for a legit cracker. I thought I had rolled the dough too thin and the crackers were still pretty thick

*Because they were so thick, I ended up baking mine for a total of about 18 minutes, checking them after 10 minutes and then every 3-5 minutes. I ended up flipping the crackers over to get an even crisp and that worked well

*I could NOT wait for them to completely cool and so I ate like 12...and then I waited and they were a bit crispier after they had cooled. Who woulda thought???

*Try 'em with hummus....DELISH!!!