Posts Tagged by breakfast

Banana Oatbran Pancakes (‘Banoatcakes’)

April 24, 2010 Posted by Lauren under Breakfast, HOTR Eats
12 Comments

What do you get when you combine banana oats and banana pancakes?

Banoatcakes, of course!

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I woke up this morning craving banana pancakes, and so created this “hearty” recipe that combines two of my favorite breakfasts.  The result, filling pancakes that have a lot of “chew.”  This mixture was not super sweet, allowing it to pair perfectly with the berry topping I made.

The recipe made 4 pancakes but could easily feed 2 people.  As much as I wanted to eat more, I could only get through 2 of these babies.

In the mix:
  • 1/2 cup oatbran
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 TBS ground flaxseed (I used Bob’s Red Mill Whole Ground Flaxseed Meal)
  • 1  1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon (okay, so in reality I just sprinkled cinnamon on the batter until it looked like a “good amount”. But I’m guessing it was around 1 tsp)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp canola oil
  • 1 packet of stevia (I used PureVia brand)
  • Milk (I used plain soy)
  • 1 banana (preferably with a bite taken out of it)

IMG_0416 When I make pancakes, I usually go by the tried and true method taught to me by my Dad.  That is – whisk together the dry ingredients, then add the egg, oil and just a little milk.  Mix and slowly add more milk until you get to the desired consistency.  You could add more or less depending on how thick you want your pancakes.  I usually just dump and stir until I get a batter that’s still slightly thick, but easy to pour (very precise cooking, I know).

IMG_0418 Let batter rest for a few minutes, then re-stir and pour onto greased griddle that has been preheated to 350 degrees (or over stove on medium-high heat) and then place banana slices on top of each pancake. Cook a few minutes until bottom is golden brown; flip and repeat!

IMG_0420 For the topping, I used: frozen mixed berries (that had been defrosted in the microwave), a heaping spoonful of Chobani Plain Greek Yogurt, and a little dollop of maple syrup; all mixed up and heated in the microwave for ~30 seconds.

IMG_0423 Plus this little guy on the side with a spread of Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter for a little variety (although I soon realized it tasted even better with BOTH toppings!).

IMG_0424 Finally, no breakfast would be complete with some iced coffee + cinnamon in my favorite oversized mug (thanks Brett!!).

IMG_0428 I make my iced coffee at home in a French Press (the best way to make coffee!!).  I just use 1/2 as much water with the same amount of grounds, so that it won’t taste watered down when I add the ice.

And now it’s time to wake up the lazy nugget and go for a walk on this beautiful day.  Happy Saturday!

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Sunday Smörgåsbord

April 18, 2010 Posted by Lauren under Misc
8 Comments

800px-SmörgåsbordWhen I was younger and my Dad was traveling, my Mom would take out a bunch of leftovers, arrange them on our table-top Lazy Susan, and announce that we were going to have a “Smorgasbord” for dinner. This simple act of putting food onto something we could spin around and then giving it a fancy name was enough to transform something boring (leftovers) into one of our absolute favorite dinners.

So, in the spirit of the smorgasbord (because it just is one of my favorite words!), and since my past two posts were a bit on the negative side, here’s a little collection of some things that made me happy/thankful this weekend.

First some updates…

Running

Thanks for your kind words about my run fail fall.  My hands are mostly healed, and I can straighten my fingers again!

IMG_0367 I’m feeling more at peace with my decision to drop down to the half-marathon.  At this point, I think this race will be a lot more fun, and there will always be another marathon.  I was able to get in some really good runs this week, which is exactly what my confidence needed.

School Sports

It was announced yesterday that my old town is now going to transfer $900,00 from other town funds and implement new fees to save the school sports teams and clubs for this next year. Although it looks suspiciously like the school board was playing a bit of a chess game with this whole process, I’m happy to hear that no cuts will be made.

Weekend of Red Sox, Rain, Rest…and Breakfasts

I would like to call this next segment “How to Eat Healthy at a Baseball Game“ <insert sarcasm here>.  Friday night, EC and I made the trek up to Boston to see the Red Sox!  Despite the fact that it was a cold, rainy night, I was so excited to be at Fenway.

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Now, options for a healthy dinner are pretty limited at a ballpark…especially if you’re a vegetarian.  Knowing that, a packed a quick snack to take with me:

IMG_0344 I love Larabars because of their simple, whole food ingredients that taste great and fill you up.  This one just had dates, peanuts, unsweetened cherries, and sea salt.

Ok, I know what you’re thinking: that is not enough to fill anyone up for dinner!  Or…it’s definitely not enough to fill me up anyway.  In fact, the apple didn’t even make it to the game – I ate it in the car on the way there.

My real intention in packing these snacks was to simply take the edge off my hunger so I wouldn’t completely binge on ball park snacks.  But life is all about balance, and that means allowing yourself to skip a workout and eat kettle corn for dinner every once in awhile and not feel guilty about it!  So that’s exactly what I did.

But then I got hungry again and it was so cold…and that greasy cheese pizza with its congealed cheese started looking really good to me.  And so I had to have one.  Along with a Dunkies half decaf-half hot chocolate to warm me up.  Mmmm quality eatin’ right there!

Sadly, after sitting through hours of cold and drizzle, officials decided to delay the game at the bottom of the 9th with a tied score.  So disappointing to have stuck it for so long out in gross weather and not even be rewarded with a score!  Oh well, it’s all about the experience of being at the game, right…? ;)

Also, I’ve realized that although I talk about EC on here, he hasn’t really been introduced to the blog world yet.  So, without further ado…meet the mysterious EC:

IMG_0353 Okay, okay…here he is for real:

IMG_0354 Yes, he is wearing his sunglasses at night (…so he can, so he can keep track of visions in his eyes…), and while he would maybe try to tell you otherwise, it isn’t because he’s trying to be mysterious.  He recently broke his glasses and has yet to buy a new pair – hence the prescription sunglasses so he can actually see what’s happening on the field.

Anyway, enough about the Sox (who have sadly lost 2 games in a row).  Yesterday was a wonderful rainy, rest day.

IMG_1734It started out with a great comfort food breakfast – stuffed French Toast with bananas.  Maybe it was because I spent the night being cold and wet, but yesterday morning I was craving a warm, hearty breakfast.  Since I like my French Toast with a bit of chew but only had thin bread, I figured I’d give it a filling.   I made a quick spread using these 3 amazing ingredients (Chobani Greek Yogurt, Teddie PB, and pure maple syrup):

IMG_1730 The result: an extremely satisfying, delicious sandwich!  IMG_0358

Some days just call for eating breakfast all day, you know?  The trend continued with lunch, and then finished up with a delicious batch of whole wheat flax pancakes—with apples this time. If I could only eat one meal for the rest of my life, it would definitely be breakfast.

Other things I was thankful for this weekend:

Spending time with this guy…

IMG_0372 Contemplating life:

IMG_0373 And hanging out at the park:

IMG_0378 IMG_0383 And finally, for my two new best friends, who have gotten me out of some tough spots these last few weeks ;)

IMG_0363 Alright, it’s time to finish up this marathon of a post and go for a run!  Hope you’ve had a good weekend. And for all of you running the Boston Marathon tomorrow, GOOD LUCK!!!

Whole Wheat Flax Blueberry Pancakes

April 3, 2010 Posted by Lauren under Breakfast, HOTR Eats
5 Comments

pancakestack3It’s a beautiful day in Western Pennsylvania!  I’m out here visiting my family for Easter and it’s such a nice surprise to have sun and 70/80 degree temps instead of the usual cold and snow.

This morning, like most Saturday mornings growing up, we started the day with a family pancake breakfast.  For as long as I can remember, this has been our “tradition”.  When we were small, my Dad would plop us down on the counter, pull out our trusty box of Bisquick, and let us help whip up a batch of our favorite breakfast food.  Although the pancake mix has changed to more hearty varieties over the years, until recently, we had never actually made them from scratch.  There seemed to be some unspoken belief that the dry mix contained some sort of “magic” ingredient that helped the pancakes come out perfect and fluffy every time.

Fortunately (as you may already know), this couldn’t be further from the truth.  Making pancakes from scratch is super easy, using common ingredients you probably already have in the house.  You don’t even need milk or eggs if you don’t have them (or want a vegan version) – you can make a great tasting pancake with water, a little extra baking powder, and a flax egg substitute, another super easy thing to make.  For one egg, simmer 1 TBS flax seeds in 3 TBS water until a thick, gooey, egg-like consistency forms, or about 5-minutes.  I’ve also done this using ground flax.  Just whisk the flax with water in a 3:1 ratio and let it sit for about 5-minutes (no need to cook).

My favorite pancakes are made with whole wheat flour and flax.  These two simple ingredients add such a great flavor to the pancakes (and lots of nutrition to keep you full!).  There are many ways to make these, and you can mix up the recipe by using buttermilk, substituting applesauce for the oil, or playing around with your proportions of whole wheat to white flour.   When doing so, however, it’s important to remember that whole wheat flour is denser than regular white flour, so the pancakes will not rise the same if you only use the whole wheat.   I’ve had the most success when I’ve used them both in a 1:1 ratio, but I’ve also heard that whole wheat pastry flour works pretty well.

Whole Wheat Flax Blueberry Pancakes

The basic recipe that I use is below.  This has been adapted from several different sources (that I can no longer remember!) and tends to vary a bit from time to time.  Also (as a disclaimer), I’m not a very precise cook, and would prefer to just dump and mix when I can get away without measuring.  But for those logical people out there who actually like to trust that your food is going to come out okay when you make something, here are the ingredients. :)

This recipe will make 8 – 10 pancakes, depending on their size and easily serves 2 very hungry people, or 3ish with a “normal” appetite.

  • 1/2 c unbleached white flour
  • 1/2 c whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 c ground flax seeds     (though you could add more or less, depending on taste)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 TBS sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt   (optional)
  • 3/4 c milk of choice   (I’ve made with regular and soy)
  • 1 TBS oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 c washed fresh or frozen (drained) blueberries

Making pancakes pretty much just consists of pouring and mixing.  But, to be a little more specific…you first preheat your griddle to 350 degrees.  Next, whisk together all the dry ingredients (including the flax).

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Then add in the liquids, whisking until a relatively smooth batter is formed.  You can add in more or less milk, depending on how thick you would like the pancakes.  I usually add it in slowly until I have a batter that is thin enough to pour without being too runny to hold it’s shape on the griddle.  Add the blueberries last, folding in gently.pancakebatter

Place on greased griddle and cook for a few minutes, until the edges of the pancakes firm up a little and you see little bubbles form around the edge.

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Flip!pancakesgriddle3

And serve with warm pure maple syrup.  Delish! :)

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For a great twist on just plain maple syrup, mix with a little bit of plain Greek yogurt (with yogurt to syrup in a 2:1 ratio).  This will cut down the sugar and create a great-tasting, thicker maple flavored topping.  I also love topping pancakes with a little bit of nut butter (peanut butter or almond butter) mixed with a little maple syrup.

Enjoy!  Oh, and if anyone tries these and has any suggestions for improvements, please let me know!! I’m always looking for ways to tweak this.

Have a wonderful Easter! :)