an old fashioned pancake

Dad turned in a special request, that pancakes be served for his birthday breakfast.  “No whole grains,” he emphasized.  “Just a plain, good old-fashioned pancake.”

The idea, I’m sure, arose from the fact that we have a bottle of fresh maple syrup sitting in our fridge.  The bottle comes from a relative’s local maple farm, and so I think we have all had pancakes on the brain.  Because, as you must already know, pancakes are simply the serving vesicle to a pool of maple syrup.

But every once in a while, there is a pancake that really stands out on its own.  Maple syrup or not.  Although I still recommend a bottle of fresh, local maple syrup if you can get your hands on it. 😉

I made several varieties of pancakes.  Plain.  Banana-Walnut.  Cinnamon.

My personal favorite was the blueberry-walnut. It tastes like an old-fashioned kind of pancake, and it will quickly win your heart.

Blueberry Walnut Pancakes

Blueberry Walnut Pancakes—tweaked from the original version as seen on allrecipes.com

Although I made these to order—i.e., no whole grains!—you could easily substitute whole wheat flour for the all-purpose.  Or you could go half and half if you prefer.  And since the toppings are added after you pour the batter on the pan, you can make as many flavor choices as you like.  Chocolate chips for the chocoholic.  Plain for the purist.  Peanut butter swirls for the peanut butter lover (i.e., most of us.)  Limitless possibilities.

Any leftovers can be frozen in individual layers.  Separate each pancake with a sheet of wax paper, and simply toss them in the toaster or microwave for when you want a quick breakfast.  They also, by the way, crumble really well over a dish of greek yogurt with fruit.  Enjoy! 😀

• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (I nixed the salt to reduce the sodium content)
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 to 1-1/2 cups frozen blueberries
• walnuts
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• cooking spray

Directions

1. Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to “sour”.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and salt (if using) in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into “soured” milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and top with a spoonful of blueberries and walnuts, cooking until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.  ENJOY! 😀

QUESTION: Honey?  Maple Syrup?  Molasses?  Granulated sugar?  What is your most commonly used sweetener of choice?

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hustlin’ and bustlin’

There’s a lot of hustling and bustling going on around in the house.  In fact, it’s a little bit chaotic (in a good way), so I thought I’d share the experience. 😉 

Lots of things to pack and bring along for tomorrow’s graduation ceremony…

I’m making the lunches for the family tomorrow so that we can take a short break between ceremonies (there are two…one for all the undergraduates and one for the specific major.)  My main goal is to pack along fresh foods that will be tasty and refreshing for a warm, sunny day.

Must remember to bring along these pita breads and all the rest of the fixins’ (tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts, hummus, black olives, etc.)  I sliced all of the veggies tonight, and they’re getting packed away in a cooler for tomorrow. 😀

The entire family is going way above and beyond in making this day feel extra special.   The edible fruit arrangement from my sis and her husband left me smiling from ear to ear.  And then this afternoon, I came home to see flowers on the table.  My parents surprised me with three gorgeous roses.  Love, love, love them!  So pretty. 😀

Mom also fixed my dress for me.  She must have spent at least a good one and a half hours adjusting the straps (!!!) You’re the best, mom! 😀

After feeling a little as if I was in dreamland with all the preparations and excitement, I calmed myself down with a long walk and some quality time in the kitchen.  Nothing too fancy was made, but it was delicious and exactly what I was in the mood for.  Sometimes you just can’t beet wholewheat pumpkin pancakes (click for recipe.). 😀    While Dad made some scrambled eggs, I sauteed up some cabbage on the side (weird, I know, but cabbage and eggs actually really do go very well together ) and got to work on making these.

I followed the recipe to the “T” except I cut out 1 T. of the oil (using olive oil) and used all whole wheat flour.  They came out perfect.  Light and fluffy.  Full of flavor.  Perfect. 😀 

Must.  Go.  To.  Bed.  Early.  Tonight.

Tomorrow is going to be an early morning followed by a long day.  I need to start relaxing so that I can fall asleep at a decent hour. 😉 

Question: Favorite pancake flavor?  Pumpkin!  But I also love chocolate chip and banana pancakes—or blueberry.  Mmm…

whole foods, to-do lists, and other such ramblings…

This morning, I hopped out of bed with one thing on my mind: pancakes.

I’ve been seeing them a lot on different blogs lately, and couldn’t resist making my own batch of goodness.  But I also wanted to get an early start and head out to Whole Foods, which meant I needed something quick and easy. 

These did the trick: Sweet Potato Oat Cakes

I simply mixed together the following ingredients:

• 1/2 c. oats
• 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c. low-fat milk
• 1/4 c. sweet potato (sometimes I make this recipe without the sweet potato…feel free to use pumpkin, or just mix in your favorite fruit instead–blueberries, raisins, apple, etc. 😀 )
• 1-1/4 tsp baking powder
• about 8 dashes of cinnamon
• a dash of salt

I stirred it all together, let it sit for about 5 minutes while I was preparing the pan to “fry” them in (using non-stick spray,) and then plopped them right in!  Quick, easy, and tasty to boot.  They were soft and doughy, with a bit of chew to them from the oats.  I topped mine with a banana and about 2 T. walnuts.  This kept me full all morning long.  I think next time I’ll cut the batch in half and make a smoothie to go along with it.  😀

Lunch was a hodgepodge, eaten in the car outside of trader joes.  It seems as if I’m always out shopping, doesn’t it? haha…but this was an actual grocery trip.  Not that it wasn’t fun, mind you. 😉  I could spend an entire day at whole foods, I think, just sampling the different cheeses and admiring all the fresh and local produce they sell.  Love it.

Anyways, back to lunch.  I packed myself an orange, some carrots and red bell pepper sticks, and a kashi almond crunch bar.  I ended up picking out a fage 2% yogurt at TJ’s, because I couldn’t get myself to walk past the dairy section without buying one. 😀

My granola bar tasted yummy all crunched up on top of the creamy goodness…mmm…

This iced soy latte is going to be my last coffee splurge for a while.  I’m a poor college student and need to start actually acting like one. 😉  I made it last by sipping it nice and slow, enjoying it thoroughly. 

I found some great big bunches of kale at whole foods and can’t wait to try them out in a green monster form.  They were really cheap and the bunches were absolutely humungous.  I love that they’re such a nutritional powerhouse, and can’t wait to experiment with them.

When I came home from shopping, I was getting a lil’ hungry, so broke out a slice of whole wheat sourdough bread, toasted it, and topped it with a bit of peanut butter and strawberry jam.

…and then I munched on a couple of handfuls of these sweet things. 😀

Dinner was thrown together in a flash.  Mom and Dad were outside planting the last of the tomato plants and splitting wood (that was done by dad…not mom, although you just never know… 😉 ), so I got to work with prepping dinner for everyone. 

It was nice and simple.  I made some scrambled eggs (1 whole egg, and about 1-1/2 additional egg whites per person) and topped them with sauteed onions, peppers, and spinach (in a tsp of olive oil).  On the side we all had english muffins.  Mom and I were super excited to be eating the whole wheat raisin english muffins that were picked up from Trader Joes.  SO GOOD! 

Dessert was a peice of blueberry coffee cake… 😀

This weekend I have plans to sleep over my sis’ apartment which will be super fun.  I also need to get to work on my summer class…as well as filling out some volunteer paperwork.  I think it’s time to create an up-to-date TO-DO LIST!!

I’m just one of those types of people who needs an actual, written out, list of things to do, along with a highlighter to check the items off as I go.  I like having that visual reminder.  Otherwise I can become a huge procastinator! 😀

Now I’m off to read up on some other blogs, plan some meals for next week, and read a little bit too.  Happy Humpday Everyone! 😀