Make You Banana Pancakes...

I recently took part in a five-day clean eating challenge, and had to share one of the breakfast recipes.

During my first trimester of this pregnancy, my established eating patterns of salads for lunch and egg-heavy breakfasts with reasonable dinners went out the window for the stomach-soothing caaaaaarbs. I heart gluten, that's certainly no secret, but I knew that if I stayed on the path I'd started down, they'd have to roll me to the hospital by month nine. 

This time around I'm determined to gain very little weight. Or none. (and unless you are my OB, please save the admonitions, this is not an unsafe thing to do if you're chubby to start with, are eating nutrient-dense foods, exercising sensibly, and your baby is growing at the normal rate)  As I've learned the hard way, the novelty of gaining 800 pounds over the course of a pregnancy wears off pretty quickly when you have to then work off said half-ton with a newborn. And older kids. And a life. On limited sleep.

That said, I was happy to find this protein-rich breakfast that honestly gave me all of the satisfaction of eating actual pancakes. I promise. They're good! I quadrupled the original recipe to feed myself and my three kids, with a few leftover for the next day...at which point they weren't very good. This is definitely a recipe that is better on the day it's fresh and hot. They were super fast, and if you make them small and let them cook long enough on the first side, they flip as easily as traditional pancakes. If you don't, they're an ugly mess, because they're just a smidge thicker than crepes. You've been warned. 

I love using a blender with a lip, because it eliminates the mess going from bowl to griddle with a ladle.

I chose to cook mine in coconut oil, but they would likely be even mo' bettah in a straight-up butter coated pan. Or, if you're boring, a naked non-stick pan. So bust out your blender and heat up your griddle; these babies are even quick enough for school mornings!

Banana Protein Pancakes (quadrupled)

Breakfast:

8 eggs

2 bananas

1 c. dry oats

2 t. vanilla

2 t. ground cinnamon

In a blender or food processor, combine all ingredients and pulse until smooth.  Coat pan with ½ t. coconut (or olive oil or nonstick cooking spray...or grassfed butter) and cook just like pancakes.  

Spread with 1 T. almond butter or peanut butter. (make sure it's not straight from the fridge or you'll rip the pancakes). I also added a mix of fresh berries and you can add pure maple syrup or whatever your favorite pancake toppings are-get crazy.

Makes about 32 silver-dollar sized, thin, pancakes.