Sunday Pancake Day!

 

In our house on Sunday's it's the day of the pancake.  Sometimes Daddy makes then and others it's all Mommy.  Today happened to be my day.

Because the weather is so amazing the beginning of this March and I've opened the windows and done some early Spring Cleaning I'm on to a good start for the season.  This means my brain is really focused on eating healthy and making sure my littles do the same.

The strawberries this week were absolutely fantastic and I couldn't keep my hands off them.  Did you know that you can buy fresh strawberries when you find them priced great and then freeze them for later use?  That way they don't go bad and you can quickly add to smoothies, salad dressings, dessert toppings - even your favorite adult drinks.  Buy those fresh fruits when you see them and then freeze away!

So this isn't something complicated by any means - but it's fun and easy and quick and hey, why not?  So here goes:

Make up your favorite pancake batter.  Can be from scratch or from a box.

In mine I add a good amount of cinnamon and vanilla extract to add just a hint of flavor and 'love'.  (Love goes into every single meal you make, ya know.)

Make up your pancakes in your skillet or on your griddle.

Now ... let me just say ... as much as we love pancakes on Sunday's I never, I repeat: never, make those perfectly round, pretty, picture perfect pancakes.  No matter how hard I try.  No matter what container I put them in to pour them.  I don't know if it's the universe against me or just my achilles heel.  Either way, my pancakes are not glorious enough for the front page cover.

BUT.

I do have ingenuity. 

I take my haggard looking pancakes that are usually oblong, mis-shapen and make them beautiful.  How?

Taking a round cookie cutter, (or any shape cookie cutter to make it REALLY fun!) and cut out my pancakes.  This also allows for scrap pieces which, for the cook, are the bonus points because you get to snack while you cook.  #winning 

Once you have your now beautifully shaped pancakes you can then have a little fun.

First up: the simple method.

Cut your pancakes into perfect little circles and add your favorite berries on top.  Add syrup if you wish, however my little one doesn't eat it, so she prefers berries over syrup.  (me too)  It looks pretty, huh?  Now you know the secret.  Test this skill at the next brunch you host or if you have guests.  Let them think you are the Pancake Master.

Next comes: the silly method.

My toddler loves, loves, loves her food to be fun.  Today her request was for a face on her pancakes, "with hair too, Mommy!"  Sure.  Why not.

A small stack of those perfect circle pancakes, some raisins and two goldfish for eyes.  Now the hair was tricky .... I used cut strawberries for it, however looking back I could have easily have used yogurt.  What was I thinking???  Either way - make the food FUN for the kids.  This stack of pancakes was eaten in less than 5 minutes; I'm not even joking.

Finally: my method.

Now I like syrup on my pancakes, but when I'm really focused on what I'm putting into my body, all that sugar and, well, let's just face it: junk, that is in syrup just wasn't making me happy today.  So I quickly thought of an alternative.  Why couldn't I make my smoothie into my own syrup??  BAM.

I cut a handful of strawberries in half, added in a small handful of almonds, sunflower seeds and granola.  Then I added in some fresh orange juice.  A small dash of chai seeds and I was on my way.  I popped the top onto my Bella blender and had my delicious smoothie.  

And there you have it.  My pancakes had to be different so mine were cut using the square cookie cutter and then I made diamond shapes.  Who says MY food can't be fun too?  

Pour over the smoothie and the creation was complete.

Delicious.  Tasty.  Protein kick from the smoothie ingredients, fiber from the pancakes and cinnamon ... well - the benefits of cinnamon are astounding.

Have fun with your food and enjoy your weekend.

Cheers!

~Jacqui