Green - Power Pancakes

I am a big fan of eating food that is nutritious, delicious and satisfies my nutrient needs for the day. I had seen a lot of people making spinach pancakes on Instagram, and while I had been putting spinach in my smoothies for a while, I had never tried it in pancakes, so I thought I would give it a crack and see if I could make some green pancakes of my own.

I must say these pancakes ROCK. I have tried them a few times now, and they are really yummy. My kids will even eat them up, and they don't even know how good they are for them!! The awesome thing about these pancakes (besides how good they taste) is that because they have spinach in them, they turn bright green when you cook them! Very cool for a little man who likes super heroes!

These pancakes have a lot of protein in them. I use protein powder most of the time when I cook pancakes post-workout, but for this recipe I have used egg whites. You can separate your eggs if you like, otherwise you can buy cartons of just egg whites from the supermarket. They are usually in the egg section, or frozen (with the frozen berries).

I know, I know, shut up and give us the recipe already! So here it is! I'm sorry it isn't super printable and such, I am sure I will figure out how to do those things at some point in the future.

Green - Power Pancakes!
 
Ingredients:

Pancakes
3/4 cup Egg Whites
1 1/2 cups Baby Spinach
1/2 cup Oats or Oat flour
1tblsp Greek Yoghurt
4 Sticks of Stevia (or other sugar alternative)
1/2tsp Baking Powder
Coconut Oil Spray

Topping
Greek Yoghurt
Cinnamon

Method:

 
1. Put all of your pancake ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until it is really smooth. Lumps are not your friend here.

2. In a fry pan on medium heat, put spoonfuls of mixture, wait until the edges start to look cooked and there are a few bubbles on top and then flip them over. You don't want to overcook your pancakes, you want them nice and soft and fluffy.

3. Stack your pancakes on a plate as they are finished and top with Greek Yoghurt and a sprinkling of Cinnamon. You could add bananas too, but I didn't have any this particular day.

4. Enjoy... YUMMMM!!

a bit of cooking..

I started writing this blog post on Tuesday, but one thing leads to another and now, on Saturday I am finally posting it. Life is busy busy here at the moment. I am looking forward to Christmas time to sit down and relax on a beach with a beer or something.

I've been doing some pretty amazing healthy cooking here lately. I have been eating and sweating my way down to my goal weight and came to the realisation on Saturday that I have only got 5kg to go before I have reached my goal.

I am absolutely loving the delicious food that I have been creating with my clean eating regime.

Green with envy Pancakes

My own version of this Pumpkin Hummus recipe.

Clean eating for me has meant eating no preservatives, lots of veggies, no bread and limited dairy. I eat around 5-6 times a day depending on hunger and I am finding that eating this way makes me feel so healthy and full of energy. I very rarely eat store-bought or packaged foods unless the ingredients indicate that I could make it myself. I have read so many different websites and blogs that talk about clean eating and a simple google search will give you more information. I follow all of the rules aside from the no alcohol one.

Part of eating "clean" has meant that I have stopped having cow's milk. This has meant no milk in my tea, and no more lattes. It has also meant that I've had to find an alternative to have in my porridge, smoothies and other goodies. So I started having almond milk which I was afraid of to start with but it wasn't really that scary after all. But the price is pretty scary. Coles sells the stuff for around $6 per litre... EEK!!!

The other day I was talking to a man at work who told me to try making almond milk, its not very difficult... and so I have, and its really not. I thought I would share.

You'll need some raw almonds... About 10-18 per person and about a cup of water per person as well.

All you have to do is soak the almonds overnight in the water.

When you want to use them, put them in the blender, and go for it.

 

And that's it! 

Much cheaper, and tastes MUCH better than the store bought stuff! I used this almond milk in some yummy oats with berries. 

How's your weekend going?

Are you waiting on Christmas for a day off too?

What is your favourite healthy meal?

overnight oats

A food that I am currently in love with is overnight oats.

I'm not a porridge girl. The warm, soft oatey grains tend to remind me of old soggy rice bubbles/vomit. Instead of comfort and cuddles. But oats are just so damn good for you!! So when I stumbled upon a few recipes, I decided to give overnight oats a try. 

my first attempt, banana, mixed berries and almonds

And... I really love them!

The basic method:

Using a ratio of around 1 : 2 for oats : liquid.

I put my oats, almond milk and yoghurt in a container with some fruit and chia seeds (also really good for you!!).

I then give it a good stir and put it in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, I just pull out my container, and then add some more fruit and some nuts. 

Sooooo good, and nothing like soggy rice bubbles/vomit at all!! The combinations are really up to your taste and imagination. 

And another good thing... NO DISHES!! I make my oats in the container I'm going to eat them out of, so there's no pots or pans to wash afterwards.

this morning's combo of pear, walnuts, blueberries and banana

What's your favourite thing to have for breakfast?

Are you a porridge lover?