A Hearty Breakfast

Good morning, ladies!

This morning, I am thinking about breakfast options, and realizing that our boxes of cereal have gone untouched for the past few days. We have been relying more on oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, and homemade muffins/pancakes/waffles to get us going in the morning, and I would love to expand our repertoire and add some new items. There are some mornings that cereal does the job just fine – I especially like Special K because it has large amounts of protein, but it lacks fiber. However, with a son who doesn’t eat lunch until 12 at school (he leaves the house at 7:30) and some daughters who aren’t big lunch eaters, I feel a great responsibility to feed them a hearty and nutritious breakfast!

If you have a minute, please share you breakfast ideas and recipes – my family will thank you! To get us started, I will share one of my favorite homemade pancake recipes – this recipe uses oatmeal in the batter, making for a nice nutty texture. We often eat ours without syrup because the flavors from the brown sugar and cinnamon are so wonderful. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Pancakes (from the Better Homes and Gardens “Cooking for Two” cookbook – I’ve doubled the recipe and made some modifications)

Heat 1 c. of milk in a microwavable dish until hot – stir in 2/3 a c. of oats (I use old-fashioned), stir, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl, stir together 2/3 c. flour, 2 T. brown sugar, 2 t. baking powder, 1/4 t. salt, and 1/2 t. ground cinnamon. Make a well in the center of the mixture.

In a small bowl stir together 2 beaten eggs, 2 T. cooking oil, and 1 t. vanilla.

Add the oat mixture and egg mixture all at once to the flour mixture, and stir until just combined. Let the batter rest for a couple of minutes.

For each pancake, pour about 1/4 c. of batter onto a hot, lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet. Cook over medium heat about 3 minutes or until pancakes are golden brown. Enjoy!