Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes

These pancakes are my family’s favorite healthy breakfast. (They still prefer  super-sugary stuff like crepes or sweet rolls, but I only let them have those on special occasions.) Even my uber picky son gets excited about eating them. I originally got the recipe from my friend, who got it from  Vegan with a Vengeance : Over 150 Delicious, Cheap, Animal-Free Recipes That Rock, which inspired me to purchase the book myself. The original recipe calls for pecans instead of butterscotch chips, but you can use chocolate chips or peanut butter chips or craisins or leave them plain. I love that these pancakes are low-sugar and low-fat. The sweetness comes from the bananas, and if you’re using baking chips, you don’t need syrup. I even use less chips than the original recipe because the bananas and baking chips just make these really sweet. Over time I have decreased the amount of chips I put in (from what is listed below) and my kids still love them. If you use nuts instead of baking chips, it is not hard to have an easy healthy breakfast. The original recipe also called for white flour, but my kids still willingly eat them with whole wheat flour.

Banana Butterscotch Pancakes

Food Storage Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 Tablespoon canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp vinegar
1/3 cup butterscotch baking chips (or chopped nuts or whatever floats your boat)
cooking spray for pan

Fresh Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/2 cups almond milk

1. Mix milk and vinegar, let set for at least 5 minutes.  2. Sift together dry ingredients. 3. In a separate bowl mix mashed banana and other wet ingredients. 4. Mix wet and dry ingredients together, don’t over-mix. Fold in baking chips. 5. Make into pancakes in a skillet over medium-high heat. Spray pan between pancakes.

Mini Spinach Quinoa Fritatas

Recently I decided that we eat enough spinach, that the one pound package from Costco is not enough spinach to last us a whole week. The 2.5 pound package is a stretch for us to get through before it goes bad. So this week we are eating LOTS of spinach and I thought I would share the recipes that are successful. My first new victory was mini spinach quinoa fritatas. It was a big success. Everyone in my family loved it, even my son who is the pickiest eater I have ever met. He didn't even mind that they were healthy.  VICTORY! These are great for breakfast or dinner and the leftovers are easy to reheat for later.

 Mini Spinach Quinoa Fritatas

1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
2 cups chopped spinach
4 eggs
1 cup liquid egg white
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (whichever flavor you please)
1/2 cup mushrooms
salt and pepper to taste

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin pan*. 2. Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a bowl with a spoon. 3. Spoon into muffin cups and bake for 45 minutes. Cool a few minutes before eating. Makes 18 mini fritatas

* I used silicone muffin cups, so I skipped this step, but if you're not using these you want to be sure to use cooking spray to avoid the eggs burning onto the muffin pan.