Well, I spent most of the day out yesterday...alone! It was refreshing. I went to the museum, had lunch, people watched and shopped. But I'll tell you more about that in another post. This post is about is dinner last night.
We have been slowly changing our diets to a healthier, more "clean" diet, I guess you could say. There is still the occasional crap food session at a Chick-fil-a or Burger King, but at home, we keep it pretty clean. I've been slowly weeding out the cream sauces and replacing them with vegetables. BUT, there is always a time and place for a luscious, creamy chowder or mustard marscapone chicken scallopini, but just not as often.
Back to the pancakes! They were surprisingly good. I say surprisingly because I tried for the first time an egg substitute - flax seeds and water! Who knew? I found it online. I was determined that my littlest one would be able to enjoy pancakes with us all, so no eggs. I used the flax seed method and it worked out beautifully. It was very exciting.
I've sorta found someone new in the department of pancake mixes. His name is Bob. Bob's Red Mill Organic 7 Grain Pancake and Waffle Whole Grain Mix. Wow, that's a mouthful, truly. Aunt Jemina is still the cutest pancake purveyor, but she's not as healthful so we sent her packing. Sorry Auntie. I think it just came down to Bob's beard. He's rocking the beard and that little Irish-looking, walking-the-rolling-green-hills-of-Ireland hat.
I followed the directions on the back but with a little tweeking. Firstly, I doubled it. There was no way the recipe on the back would serve 3 adults, 2 kids and a baby. Doubled, it made 12 pancakes. I realized too, if I had not used milk in the batter, these would have been completely vegan friendly! Secondly, I used the flax seed "egg" and lastly, I added vanilla extract.
I had the most beautiful basket of blueberries from Whole Foods. They were just perfect in every way. Sweet, firm and juicy. They were just what Bob ordered (I think) for these whole grain pancakes.
I kept having to "shoo!" the little birdies away, a.k.a my kids, from these little blue treats.
My oldest son modeled for me. He got paid in blueberries. He did such a great job.
I also did something else a bit different for the syrup. I used agave nectar. It was even better than that horrible stuff in the squeeze bottle. I was able to taste the pancake. What a concept. Now, in the past, it may not have been so bad to not taste the pancake, but with Bob's pancake mix, the treat is the pancake not the syrup. Did I say pancake enough? What? You want me to say it one more time? Sure. Pancake.
I served these beauties with some Whole Foods turkey sausage that is from their meat counter, and well, it kinda bombed. I thought it was terrible. The hubs said the he would eat it over the artery-clogging pork sausage; I said I would take my chances. If you have any suggestions for a good, wholesome, great tasting turkey breakfast sausage, please do share.
So as you can see, we topped off our pancakes with more blueberries, toasted walnuts and bananas. OH MY! So stinkin' good. I'm craving some right now...
Bob's Fabulous Pancakes
Makes 12, 3-4" wide pancakes
2 cups mix
1/2 cup flax seed "egg" (make this by mixing 1/4 c boiling water with 1/4 c flax seeds, ground or not. It will get gooey like an egg, totally weird science-y)
3/4 cup cold water
3/4 cup milk (or soy milk for vegans)
2 tbls. olive oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Garnishes:
1 pint fresh blueberries
1 banana, sliced
1 cup toasted walnuts
Agave syrup to your hearts delight
Mix it all together, let it stand a bit. Now, my was like wet cement, so I added about 1/4 cup more cold water to loosen it up. This is a thick batter, but it's okay.
Heat up your skillet or griddle to med. high heat. Let it heat for a good 2 minutes. Add some oil and then start adding (I used a 1/4 cup measurer) scoops of pancake batter to the pan and topping with blueberries. Once nice and golden on one side, flip and continue cooking. It takes about 2-3 minutes per side.
Serve up hot with your garnishes and eat quickly! This will be one of your new favorites.
So happy he was wearing it.
Happy Pancake Breakfasts, Foodie Friends. I hope this one finds it's way to your plate some time soon. Cheers!
