Pancakes for Lunch!

I have always had such a hard time with changing my eating habits. I normally do breakfast really well, but lunch always trips me up. Pretty much it revolved around my need for a soda. If I would eat something healthy, a soda wouldn't "taste right" with it. So, I would go back to normal junk because with it, soda tasted oh, so good. Well, I have not had a soda in over 4 days! I can hardly believe it! The best thing for me is when I came down for lunch today, having a soda didn't even cross my mind. Wow! That's a huge change in just 3 weeks.

Today I decided to try out a recipe I saw on Pinterest for pancakes. If you want to see other meals I plan on having throughout the week, check out my Meals for This Week board. I also try to review them after I make them and repin them to here. This has made my life so much easier in planning meals. I don't know how many times I've bought groceries and then forgot what they were for. So, now they're conveniently located in one spot. And let's be honest, who really plans meals outside of Pinterest now anyway. Well, at least I don't!

Ok, back to the oatmeal. The original recipe is here, but I'll copy it so you don't have to link all over the place. I was a little, ok, very hesitant over this recipe at first because it has cottage cheese in it. I do not like cottage cheese, at all! But, this whole journey of eating better is being willing to try new things, and besides, the lady from the original post didn't like cottage cheese either and she liked the pancakes, so I thought it was worth a try.

Protein Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
• 2/3 cup rolled oats
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat griddle to medium-high heat
2. In a small bowl, lightly beat together the egg and egg whites and then add to a blender
3. Add the remaining ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth
4. Spray griddle with non-stick spray
5. Pour pancakes from blender onto griddle, about 1/4 cup per pancake
6. When bubbles start to come through, flip over and continue cooking until both sides are golden brown
7. Serve with pure maple syrup and fresh fruit

Notes

This made eight 3 – 4″ pancakes.

I used 100% whole wheat oats I had on hand. I'll have to research and see how much better steel cut and/or organic ones are before I decide to switch over. As stated before, I did not buy organic cottage cheese and so used the Fiber One brand. I am ashamed to admit that I did not read the label. That's one thing I'll have to get better at!

Well, the pancakes were really good! Austin, my oh so picky almost 16 year old even liked them. Well, he said they were good but tasted funny. I don't understand how something can be good and taste funny, but at least he said they were good. The batter was very thick, so next time I might try to add a little water. Not too much, but it would help it pour a little better. I had mine with my cheap organic milk. I topped them off with real maple syrup, blueberries and bananas. All in all, it was a fantastic lunch and they are packed with protein, so I think my husband is going to love them as well! It looks like they are going to end up costing about $1.65 for 8 pancakes. I was paying $1.45 for 10 frozen waffles, so not too big of a difference for a huge health impact!

Newbie tips:
1. Don't be afraid to try new things, especially if they're used in a recipe. You may not even end up knowing it's in there!
2. Look for ways to add berries to your diet. They are so good for you! I reluctantly added blueberries to this, since they're not my favorite. However, mixed with the bananas, they tasted amazing with the pancakes!
3. Watch your children with the real maple syrup! It is expensive and you don't want to have to rinse a bunch down the drain because they're so used to their pancakes floating in syrup (again, not that I know from experience :) A little bit will go a long way!