Healthy Pancakes For Mama + Mini

I'm really glad they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day because we usually do breakfast up right. The rest of the day, well, we try. Now that Fallon is eating pretty much any solids, it's easiest to make something we can both eat in the morning instead of making one meal for her and one for me (and Chris when he's home). My go-to breakfast has always been oatmeal with PB, fruit and whatever other healthy goodness I have on hand to toss in. Fallon eats with her fingers and is so over being fed by anyone but her own self that it's not really a good option for her right now. So when I heard about banana pancakes I was thinking ding, ding, ding this could be our winner. 

I'm sure you've seen all kinds of variations of easy, healthy pancakes recipes similar to this one but after playing around with amounts and ingredients we have found one that works the best for us. Our pediatrician gave us the go ahead to try eggs at Fallon's 6 month appointment so I've had no qualms about them being one of the 3 ingredients in this recipe. And really she's only getting a small amount anyway. The best part about this recipe is that it's so easily doubled, tripled, ect. for whatever type of crowd you're feeding. When I make these pancakes for Fallon and I to share I make it as is but double it if daddy's home because daddy eats a lot more than us girls! I end up with 2 or 4 medium sized pancakes and just cut up about a third of one into bite sized pieces for Fallon and we eat the rest. 

Ingredients:

1 ripe medium banana

2 eggs

1/2 cup oats or flax meal (we like a mixture of both)

Directions:

Mash the banana in a bowl then add in eggs and oats/flax and whisk together. Cook pancakes over medium heat in 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a skillet or griddle. Add your desired toppings and enjoy! We love ours with mixed berries and a little pure maple syrup and sliced almonds for mama + daddy but the possibilities are endless. 

Baker, Messmaker

I really like to eat food, but I'm not the best cook. I have a few dishes that I feel like I've mastered but anything new, I read through the recipe several times contemplating whether or not it's worth the effort in case it doesn't turn out. For years I didn't do much in the way of baking, even though I totally have a sweet tooth, because I was sure that if I wasn't a great cook I definitely wouldn't make a great baker. But once I really got into the whole Pinterest craze, I couldn't help but start trying my hand at baked goods. And shockingly, I'm pretty good at it! I think the most perplexing part about it is that, in general, cooking is a lot more "a little of this, a little of that" whereas baking tends to be precise and requires exact measurements to achieve the correct results. I typically lean toward the cooking perspective on life aka I'm right brained. Math and science make me cringe but words are my jam. Funny how a girl who gets through life with a calculator is able to follow equations if they involve butter and sugar.

I know that for several weeks now I've been all blueberries, all the time, so you're probably assuming that's what I'm tossing in my batter these days. Wrong-o. My 2 latest creations were made with fruits of the red variety. Chris is not much of a cake person but for his birthday he requested cheesecake. He wasn't expecting me to make it but I decided that's just what I was going to do. I had never made a real cheesecake before, just cheesecake type treats. I found this recipe for raspberry cheesecake and picked up lots of cream cheese, fresh raspberries and a fancy little jar of raspberry currant for the topping. The recipe seemed fairly easy, and it was, but I should have read through the end. I started making this on Saturday evening for the party on Sunday thinking I would have plenty of time to finish it and have it in the fridge to set up overnight. Well after I put it in the oven I realized there was an entire cooling process. Oops. Chris told me to scrap it and just get a cake from the store, but I was determined to tackle the challenge. So yea, I set my alarm and got up in the middle of the night to finish the job. I told everyone they would eat it and like it, even if it wasn't good. Luckily, it turned out pretty delicious if I do say so myself.

This past Sunday while grocery shopping the strawberries looked so red and juicy and were on sale. I grabbed 2 cartons and found this recipe I had saved on Pinterest forever ago and whipped up a batch of strawberry muffins. They are basically like biscuits alone and only sweetened by the berries, which is fine if you ask me. But when you add the glaze on top, total yumminess. I love making sweet treats and enjoying the end result but I think what is the most fun about baking is the MESS MAKING.

Blueberry Lemon Crumble

 

Hopefully you all had a wonderful Easter weekend and either have the day off or are making it through the dreaded Monday after a holiday. Chris and I celebrated with family both Saturday and Sunday and the weather was just perfect. Saturday afternoon we headed out to lunch and a big egg hunt for the kids at Chris's aunt and uncle's house. I made popcorn mix with Easter egg M&Ms Friday night and hoped Chris wouldn't eat it all before we made it to lunch. That stuff can be quite addicting! I also thought it would be fun to jazz up some Peeps for the kids so I bought the bunny shaped variety in pretty pastels. I had sprinkles on hand and Candiquik in the fridge so I just stuck them on cake pop sticks and coated the ears then rolled them in chocolate or colored sprinkles. So simple but so fun.

 

 

Sunday morning I got up early and made the recipe I posted a link to last week. Since I still am eating/drinking my way through all things blueberry I had to go with a blueberry crumble. I mostly followed this recipe but made some minor changes. Instead of an 8x8 pan I used a 10 inch round pie dish. Why? Well because it was prettier. Seriously. I used fresh blueberries and didn't measure them but I'm pretty sure I used more than the recipe called for. Oops. I just can't get enough. I had one fresh lemon so I zested (is that a word?) it and added that to the blueberry mixture plus I just juiced the whole thing instead of measuring. Do you see a pattern here? I avoid measuring where possible. Finally, I used slightly more crumble on top than the recipe called for. I didn't make extra, just used less for the bottom layer and left a bit more than a cup for the top. It took the full bake time listed even though my blueberries weren't frozen. I watched for the edges to set and top to brown but it took the entire 55 minutes at 350 degrees. The turn out was juicy and delicious but more of a pie result than bars. There is a tiny bit left and I was so full yesterday I couldn't eat it but if you would bet money that tonight I'll have it for dessert with vanilla ice cream, you would win.

 

Have a great week!