Saturday, September 25, 2010

low fat whole wheat banana nut pancakes.



I have a habit of routine when I'm dieting and then it gets boring and I tend to want what I used to eat which was varieties of fattening yumminess!!  So since me and the spouse decided to start eating healthy.....(well ...more like me, and he doesn't really have a choice if he doesn't want to die of starvation)  we are...ahem..let me rephrase,  I am going to make the things we used to eat, but in a healthier way.  My old  routine would seriously be to eat the same few rotations of breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, last 2 weeks and fall off of the wagon.  This is a lifestyle change we're attempting and we want nutrients in our bodies along with the satisfaction of scrumptious food hitting our palettes.  I want him to take a bite and not cringe because it's healthy but realize that healthy food doesn't have to taste bad and think "You know what? This healthy food stuff just might be all right."  and you know what? It worked!  I think the key to making him want to eat it is how I plate the food.  It's all about presentation.  He looked at the plate and said it looked good, took a bite, said "Are these whole wheat?" I replied hesitantly with "yeeeees" and he said "wow, these are really good."   We're doing baby steps people.  lol, I wanted to just pour some agave nectar on top because there's no sugar in the pancakes but I knew if I want him to stay on board I can't just cut him off.  I drizzled it with about 2 tbsp of pure maple syrup and gave it a few dashes of powdered sugar so he thinks he's eating our normal bad fatty food.  We had 4 pancakes each and it was less than 350 calories and we we're FULL!! I really hope if you're trying to eat healthy you give these a chance.  They're no IHOP.  But you're also not helping that muffin top form! ;)

Adapted from Gina's weight watcher recipes
Banana Nut Pancakes
Servings: 6 • Serving Size: 2 pancakes • Points: 3 pts
Calories: 145.7 • Fat: 4.0 g • Protein: 6.7 g • Carb: 22.1 g • Fiber: 3.1 g

WITHOUT NUTS: Servings: 6 • Serving Size: 2 pancakes • Points: 2 pts
Calories: 129.1 • Fat: 2.4 g • Protein: 6.3 g • Carb: 21.8 g • Fiber: 3.0 g
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder 
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 large banana, very ripe, mashed
  • 1 cup 1% milk
  • 3 large egg whites
  • 2 tsp oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tbsp chopped walnuts (optional) (I used sliced almonds because that's all I had)
  • butter flavor cooking spray
Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.
 
Combine milk, egg white, vanilla and mashed bananas in a bowl and mix until smooth.  

Combine wet ingredients with the dry and mix well with a spoon until there are no more dry spots. Don't over-mix.


Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Spray oil to lightly coat and pour 1/4 cup of pancake batter.
When the pancake starts to bubble and the edges begin to set, flip the pancakes. Repeat with the remainder of the batter.

 Serve on plate drizzled with syrup of your choice, nuts and bananas.  I bet chocolate chips would be tasty but that would add more calories. ;)   As the pancakes we're done I spread some smart balance fat free butter on top and covered them with foil to keep warm while I cooked up the rest of the batter. ENJOY your healthy breakfast!!



Makes about 3 cups of batter which yields 12 pancakes.  I don't know why my pancakes look more "wheat like" and more "fluffy" then Gina's picture but they we're still yummy none the less.

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