Banana Pecan Pancakes

I was looking for a lower-calorie pancake recipe, and tried Hungry Girl's banana pancakes from her 200 under 200 cookbook. They were good, but I made a couple of changes the next time, and they were perfect!

Banana Pecan Pancakes

1/2 medium banana, mashed (chop the other half for topping, like in the picture)
46 grams of liquid egg whites (about 3 Tbsp.)
1 Tbsp. skim milk
dash of vanilla extract
1 packet of stevia (or 1 tsp. sugar, or whatever sweetener you like)
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (you can use whole wheat, like in the original recipe, but the whole wheat pastry flour made them fluffier)
1/4 tsp. baking powder
dash of cinnamon
12 grams (about 1 Tbsp.) chopped pecans

Heat a skillet over medium heat. In a bowl, combine the mashed banana, egg whites, milk, vanilla extract, and sweetener. Add the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon and stir until combined.

Spray the skillet with cooking spray, and then sprinkle the chopped pecans in four separate little sections. Pour the batter over the pecans, making four small pancakes. When the top starts to bubble after a minute or two, flip them over and cook for another minute or so.

I top mine with sugar-free syrup and half a banana, chopped. (Nutrition info is for the whole recipe, not including the syrup or chopped banana on top)

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Oatmeal love!

I've talked about my love for oatmeal numerous times in my blog, but I've never actually made a post of all my favorite ways to eat it. So I'll do that here!

I eat oatmeal hot or cold, depending on my mood. So first I'll talk about hot oatmeal:

I never prepare oatmeal with just water. It turns too mushy and it has no flavor. I use almond milk to cook my oatmeal. Sometimes I cook it on the stove and sometimes I cook it in the microwave. Sometimes it boils over in the microwave, so here I'll write about cooking it on the stove.

In every bowl of oatmeal, I use:  40 grams of Old-Fashioned Oats (scant 1/2 cup); 3/4-1 cup almond milk, depending on how liquidy you like it).

Then I choose add-ins, whatever I'm in the mood for. Here are some favorite combos that you just throw right into the pot with the oats and almond milk:
*raisins, cinnamon, pure maple syrup (top with walnuts)
*mashed banana, PB2
*cocoa powder, PB2, pure maple syrup (to sweeten)
*1 Tbsp. brownie mix(!!!), PB2
*pumpkin, cinnamon, raisins, pure maple syrup (top with walnuts)
*chopped prunes, PB2, pure maple syrup
*stir in chocolate chips and coconut when done cooking the oatmeal
*chia seeds, mashed banana, cinnamon
*mashed banana (top with mixed dried tropical fruit (chopped) and coconut)

Steel cut oats topped with dark chocolate peanut butter

Oats with chia seeds, banana, cinnamon, and maple syrup

Oatmeal with dark chocolate chips and coconut

Oatmeal with banana, raisins, cinnamon, chia seeds, and maple syrup

Oatmeal with pumpkin, raisins, cinnamon, and maple syrup

Steel cut oats with apples. raisins, and brown sugar

Oatmeal topped with mixed dried tropical fruit

Oatmeal topped with Barney Butter

While I love hot oatmeal, eating cold oatmeal is the BEST. Sometimes I eat it out of an almost-empty nut butter jar or a peanut butter bowl (see below), or sometimes I just eat it out of a bowl.

If you're a nut butter fan, when you jar is almost empty, you can make your oatmeal right inside the jar and eat it that way. If you're like me and aren't patient enough to wait for the jar, you can make a peanut butter bowl--just take a blob of peanut butter (or other nut butter) and smear it around the bottom and up the sides of a bowl. Then put it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes, and it will look like this:

To make cold oatmeal, you can prepare it the night before or you can prepare it the morning of. I never think far enough ahead to prepare it the night before, so I use chia seeds to thicken it--it only takes about 10 minutes that way. If you don't use chia seeds, you can either reduce the liquid by about half, or you can let it sit overnight to soak up the liquid.

For cold oats, I combine in a bowl:  40 grams (about 1/2 cup) old-fashioned oats, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 Tbsp. chia seeds, and a teaspoon of maple syrup.  (If you are soaking the oats overnight, you can leave out the chia seeds). Then add one of the following (or your own ideas!):


*cocoa powder  (tastes best in a peanut butter jar/bowl)
*cinnamon and raisins  (tastes best in an almond butter jar/bowl)
*any kind of dried fruit  (no nut butter needed)
*cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and coconut  (no nut butter needed)

Stir well, and then pour it into the nut butter jar or the peanut butter bowl. Set it in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes until the chia seeds do their thing and thicken it up. (If you don't use chia seeds, you'll have to soak it a lot longer to absorb the liquid).

These are actually hot oats in a jar... I like cold better

Barney butter jar, raisins, cinnamon, chia seeds

Barney butter jar, cocoa powder, chia seeds, maple syrup

Barney butter jar, raisins, chia seeds, cinnamon, coconut

Peanut butter jar, cocoa powder, chia seeds

Peanut butter bowl, cocoa powder, chia seeds

In addition to hot and cold oatmeal, I've also been in love with this baked oatmeal, these oatmeal bars, this granola, and these oatmeal cookies.

Flourless Monster Cookies

Baked oatmeal

ENJOY YOUR OATMEAL!

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Green Monster (original)

I got this recipe from Angela at Green Monster Movement. There are many, many variations, but my heart lies with the original. Sometimes I add blueberries, too.  Trust me when I say that this tastes NOTHING like the way it looks! I was completely skeptical, but pleasantly surprised when I first tried it.

Green Monster

1 Tbsp. flax seed meal
1 cup (packed) spinach
1 cup almond milk
1 banana, peeled (duh)
6 ice cubes

Put the ingredients (except for the ice) into a blender in the following order: flax seed, spinach, banana, almond milk. Let it rip on high until it's blended well, then add the ice and blend until smooth. I promise you that this tastes just like a banana shake, without a trace of spinach!  Serves 1.

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