oatmeal pancakes!

I know I'm usually so health conscious that it's annoying to my less conscious friends (thanks for passing that on, mom!), but then there are those times when you catch me finishing off a bag of kettle chips all by myself or occasionally even heading to the drive-thru for a double-double and fries from In-N-Out. I'm a hypocrite, I know. I admit it! My excuse is always the same: I didn't have time for breakfast this morning, so I didn't eat anything. Now it's mid-afternoon and I'm so famished that I'm just going to eat the quickest, easiest thing I can find because I absolutely can't wait another minute. Usually I'm so hungry at this point that I eat way more food than necessary, at a much faster rate than I normally would. Which almost always results in a stomach ache.

You would think by now I would have already figured out the whole correlation of cause and effect here, since it's pretty obvious. The truth is I've always been totally aware of my bad habit of skipping breakfast, but up until recently I've never done anything to correct it.

Enter the oatmeal pancake.

My friend Danielle gave me this recipe (if you want to call it a recipe) awhile ago - I was complaining to her about how I was so sick of regular old oatmeal, so she told me that her mom makes a really tasty oatmeal pancake that I might like to try. Her mom also makes really yummy dairy-free ice cream and a matzah brie dish that's to die for, but more on those later...

After a little bit of experimentation, I created my own version of the oatmeal pancake. I've passed the recipe on to a lot of friends, all of whom make their pancakes a little bit differently than me. There's one thing we all agree on, though: it's the perfect quick breakfast for any day of the week. Here's my version.

I start with 1/3 cup quick oats, and add an egg white. I then dump in some cinnamon and flax seed (probably about 1/4 t. of cinnamon and 1/2 t. of flax seed, but I never measure) as well as a splash of soy milk. Sometimes, if I feel like experimenting, I'll add a little ginger, or cloves, or whatever else I grab from the spice cabinet. Then I mix it all up with a fork and dump it all in a pan. It's usually a little thick so I use a spatula to kind of guide it into round, thin, pancake-like shape. I let one side brown and then flip it and do the same for the other side. It only takes a few minutes to cook. After that, I top it with whatever I'm in the mood for - usually yogurt (soy yogurt in my case) and lots of fresh berries (I prefer strawberries and blackberries).

It's the perfect breakfast because it only takes a few minutes to make, it's yummy, and it's totally a well-rounded meal. The oats and flax seed give you fiber, the egg white adds some protein, yogurt gives you a serving of dairy, fresh fruit helps you reach that five a day, and cinnamon is an extra added bonus - there are studies saying that it lowers cholesterol, aids digestion, and even reduces your appetite. Sounds pretty perfect to me!