Make Your Own: Almond-Cranberry-Pear Pancakes

In my ever-growing quest to become Super Mom (kidding), I have had making homemade pancakes on the list for awhile now. I finally came across a healthy recipe on Family Bites.

I used it as a base and modified!

Homemade Whole Wheat Pancake Mix (in a jar)

1 cup rolled oats

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup ground flax seed

3 tbsp brown sugar (I used less)

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

My additions:

Handful of dried cranberries

3 ripe pears, peeled and died

Handful of chopped almonds (I always keep some roasted almonds on hand in the cupboard)

• Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place the oats on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, set aside and allow to cool.
• Combine all dry ingredients, including cooled oats, in a bowl and mix well.  Store mix in refrigerator for 2 weeks, or the freezer for 3 months.

To make pancakes:

•  In a small mixing bowl whisk together 1 egg, 1 tbsp olive oil, 3/4 cup milk and 1 tsp vanilla.  Add pears, cranberries and almonds.  Stir in 1 cup of the homemade pancake mix.  Let mixture stand for 2 minutes.
• In a non-stick pan set over medium high heat, drizzle a small amount of olive oil to coat the pan. Using a 1/4 cup measure, pour the batter into the pan.  Cook for approx. three minutes or until bubbles break the surface.
• Turn the pancakes with a spatula and cook until the bottom is slightly browned.  Repeat with remaining batter until all of the pancakes are cooked.
  

Stock Up : Pancakes

Once a month or so, I make a huge batch of pancakes and freeze most of them. I use wheat pancake mix, add in berries, bananas, cinnamon, pumpkin, whatever I have laying around (not all at once!), and voila- easy and cheap breakfast option! Our daughter loves pancakes (or "deek-deeks" as she calls them).

I serve them with fresh fruit, plain greek yogurt, or occasionally, pure maple syrup. Mmmm.

Don't Let Them Go To Waste!

When we have an abundance of fruit or veggies that are about to turn, I always try to do SOMETHING with them, so they don't go to waste.  With veggies, I make SOUP!

With fruit, I make muffins or pancakes. This week, our bananas turned super-fast and even our little banana-monster couldn't keep up with them.

We use boxed pancake mix, wheat, then we chop up the bananas and throw them right in the mix.

Stock Up : Pancakes

Once a month or so, I make a huge batch of pancakes and freeze most of them. I use wheat pancake mix, add in berries, bananas, cinnamon, pumpkin, whatever I have laying around (not all at once!), and voila- easy and cheap breakfast option! Our daughter loves pancakes (or "deek-deeks" as she calls them).

I serve them with fresh fruit, plain greek yogurt, or occasionally, pure maple syrup. Mmmm.