Saturdays Were Created for Pancakes.

On Saturdays, we eat pancakes. 

Breakfast & good conversations on a
Saturday morning with one of my
 favorites: Harley:)

There is nothing, and I mean nothing better on a Saturday morning than pancakes. And they're even better when you share them with someone you love! This particular morning, I shared them with my friend Harley. She is one of those people who lights up the room when she walks in. She laughs, a lot. And the best thing about her laugh; when Harley laughs, you laugh. There's no being sad around this girl. We do a fitness boot camp together every week. She even laughs when she does push ups! I hope that you have someone in your world like her, it's a good thing.
Back to the pancakes: if you don't do them right, you can undo much of the progress you've made at the gym during the week. Pancakes don't have to be a "cheat meal" and they don't have to taste like cardboard either. So I'm offering you two of my favorite pancake recipes and they're both very different from each other but both are healthy and great before or after a workout!

Let's start with VERSION 1.0:

Buckwheat Greek Yogurt Pancakes  

(Between the two, this is my fave...)

What you will need:

1/2 cup Buckwheat Flour (It's good, trust me)

6 oz Greek Yogurt (I use plain but you are more than welcome to use a flavored greek yogurt. You can even use one of the personal sized cups that you can purchase in packs at the store. They are slightly under 6 oz but they work. My favorite flavors to use are coconut and lemon)

1 tsp Baking Soda (Don't forget this or your pancakes will be...not so good)

Greek Yogurt & Buckwheat Pancakes

1 Whole Egg

2 tsp Vanilla 

1/4 tsp Cinnamon 

Start by preheating your griddle. I usually set mine to 325 degrees. You can use a non-stick spray, but you don't need it for these cakes. Next combine all your ingredients into a bowl. Doesn't matter the order. Whisk them together and you're ready to pour on it the flat top.

You will notice that the baking soda causes a slight chemical reaction and your pancake batter will get "fluffyish" (if you want to call it that). And note, it also causes the pancakes to grow when they are cooking. It's like they're alive. Make sure to give each cake enough room so that they don't blend together into one large un-flippable blob or ooze over the side of the flat top. I use a large spoon to add the batter to the griddle. This pancake recipe yields four pancakes. So it's enough, with a little extra, for one person.

VERSION 2.0

Here we are with my second pancake recipe. I love these best before my Saturday morning work out. This isn't my recipe. I was given this by a a great friend of mine named Natalie.

Oatmeal and Cottage Cheese Pancakes

What you will need:

1/2 Cup Old Fashioned Oats

1/4 Cup Fat Free Cottage Cheese

4 Egg Whites

1 tsp Vanilla

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Nutmeg

Start by preheating your griddle to 325 degrees. You don't need a non-stick spray, but if you're not a risk taker, you can use it. Next, add all your ingredients into a blender or ninja or food processor. Blend until, well, blended. You can blend it smooth or leave it a little more "chunky". I like it with texture. Now, start pouring your pancakes. Note: this batter will be more runny than the version 1.0 I posted. I make smaller pancakes with this recipe too. It usually yields me 6. This batter may be runny and that would make you think that it produces lighter pancakes, but let me tell you...they are DENSE. They fill you up. Trust me.

Now, because I have cut out white sugar, and mostly all other sugar except the kind that you find in fruits and vegetables, I needed a pancake topper. It needed to be a good substitute for that brown sugary syrup that they sell in the store that can also come in butter flavor.

Excuse me while I take a moment to remember why I choose to cut that out of my diet...

Ok, so, I decided to experiment. Bananas are funny in that they are ripe for about 1.2 days yet they still sell them in bunches of 8. So this day, I had about 4 ripe bananas at my house. And I will say, bananas do have more flavor the riper they are so it kinda worked out well. I also had purchased a large container of raspberries the day before from Sam's Club for $2.98! I got creative and this is what happened: 

Fruit & Yogurt Pancake Spread

What you will need: 

1 Ripe Banana

7-8 FRESH Raspberries

2 Tbsp PLAIN Greek Yogurt

Mash the banana together with the raspberries (I used a whisk). Add the yogurt and stir. Heat it up if you need to for about 20 secs in your microwave. And HELLO!! It was perfect.

Other Pancakes Toppers:

Pure Maple Syrup: Now, if you think you cannot live without pancake syrup, you can, but if you think you cannot...100% natural maple syrup is a clean eating option. It is very different from that sugary, heavenly goodness that they sell in plastic bottles in your grocery store, but it's the "better" option.

Honey 

Peanut Butter: Enough said.

Berries: Uncooked or, if you must; throw some raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and blackberries into a saucepan, add 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup and let it cook down into a sauce. Takes less than ten minutes.

Flavored Greek Yogurt
Sugar Free Jelly 
Sliced Bananas

I hope you enjoy these!

-RB Xx