Monday, January 7, 2013

Pancakes!

I wanted to write a post, Welcome To The Velodrome! but I've never been to a velodrome and likely never will, so I'll just have to share with you a recipe I've been working on for the past month or so.

Pancakes Rule!

Pancakes are also carby creations created solely to seduce our taste buds into destroying our diets. Ah, that's when a friend gave me a recipe for protein pancakes she'd seen pinned to something (I think she means pinterest, but I've never been a magazine clipper so why start now?) They were... meh. They did keep me full and for 330 calories it felt like a lot of food. My goal was to make them tastier and still be healthy. And if I can use up holiday leftovers, bonus!

Cranberry-Orange Pancakes

Ingredients

3 egg whites
1/4 cup Greek yogurt (plain)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2-1 tbsp OJ concentrate
3 tbsp fresh or frozen cranberries (about an ounce)
1/4 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup oat bran
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1/2 tsp baking soda
dash of cinnamon
1 tbsp chocolate chips*

In a blender, add the 1st 5 ingredients (through cranberries), blend till cranberries are chopped/ground/blended. Add through the dash of cinnamon, blend a few seconds. Stir in chocolate chips (*note chocolate chips add 70 calories. 70! In one teeny tiny tablespoon! Who decided this! Why is the world so unfair!)

In a skillet over medium heat cook the pancakes about 3 minutes on the 1st side, flip and cook about 2 minutes on the other (not physics). Makes 2-4 or more depending on your pour (like metaphysics maybe).

Nutrition Info  (minus chocolate chips-- damn you chocolate!)
The whole recipe comes in 345 calories, 49 g carbs, 10 g fiber, 28 g protein.

Variations
No oat bran? All oatmeal is great. No flax? No problem, leave it out and cut calories. Have some chia seeds? Throw in a tablespoon. Hate cranberries? What's wrong with you! Cranberries are awesome! But you can leave them and the OJ out; try adding bananas and walnuts, or fresh fruit-- play with it!

I usually split the recipe into 3 or 4 servings, becauseI like an egg for breakfast (omelet style with onions and peppers and hot sauce). So depending on how hungry I am I'll eat 1/3-1/2 the recipe and use the other pancakes for snack-- post workout with a little nut butter, yum.

If you try my recipe, let me know what you think. My mom and sister hate it. My dad, 2 nephews, and a niece all like them. And of course me. I like them. I like them a lot. They are never going to replace the fluffy, golden pillows of taste bud seducing deliciousness that IHOP serves up... but life isn't perfect. 

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