Morning Glory Oats. I’ve been battling a cold for the last few days and I must say… I’m a complete baby. It’s ridiculous that a little fever and a stuffed nose have me straight freaking out that I’m going to suffocate in the middle of the night. Let’s not even talk about all the paper towels I’ve used as tissue, and all the weird home remedies I’ve Googled and actually tried. I’ll tell you now that sucking on raw garlic is worse punishment than a sore throat. I wouldn’t recommend it. This creamy, sweet, and chewy steel-cut oatmeal was far from punishment. It’s my sniffle-inspired salvation.
You know those Morning Glory muffins you might see at coffee shops? The oats start with a combination of simmering milk and water. Add the oats! After the oats we toss in the sugar, spices, carrots, and currants. The oats take about 25 minutes to cook down and soften. After about 25 minutes, the oats are plump and softened, but still have a bite. Morning Glory Oats adapted just slightly from Whole Grain Mornings serves 4. VINTAGE FRENCH BREAKFAST PUFFS. Banana Cinnamon Pancakes. Every so often, I forget to take time for myself. It is never intentional, but between work, school, and responsibilities, somehow "me time" gets pushed to the wayside.
It can be weeks before I have realized what I have done. In some ways, this does not surprise me. Our culture glorifies being busy. All of this, of course, is not true. While our culture may celebrate being busy, the reality is that we need time to ourselves, away from responsibilities, so that we can recharge and take a moment to enjoy life. I tend to go through periods of extreme busyness a few times a year (some avoidable, some not).
The alarms have been going off for a couple weeks already, warning me to slow down and take a break. On Friday evening, instead of sitting down in front of the computer to get some work done, I went out and treated myself to my favorite drink, Vanilla Almond Coconut Boba Tea. Banana Cinnamon Pancakes make for a hearty breakfast filled with familiar flavors. Banana Cinnamon Pancakes. Cake Batter Pancakes. I’m fairly convinced that the world would be a better place if more sprinkles were involved. I know. I just made pancakes. It seems I have an unnatural obsession with cake batter. Well I do. But hear me out. When I develop recipes, I try to make all of them for a purpose. Case in point: it isn’t anyone’s birthday. But I don’t need an excuse to eat cake and sprinkles.
And because pancakes always need some sort of topping, I went with a sprinkled glaze. Because nothing goes better with cake than more sugar! These are just plain fun. Sure, they would be best for a special occasion like a birthday, but they also work on a random Saturday in January when it’s -2 degrees outside and all you want to see is some sunshine. That wasn’t me. And yes, this means you will have an open box of cake mix, just like you did with the cake batter bark.
Cake Batter Pancakes makes about 12 pancakes 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 2/3 cup yellow cake mix 1 tablespoon sugar 3/4 teaspoon baking powder pinch of salt 2 eggs. The Best Pancakes Ever (For Serious) By Jeannette Ordas of Everybody likes Sandwiches When I was a kid, we ate a lot of pancakes at home. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, didn't matter.
Pancakes were easy to whip up and we all loved them. My mom never used the mix from a box - no way. We were raised on European style pancakes which are thin and flappy – but not too thin to be confused with a crepe. Let me tell you, a whole new world opened up. There has been a lot of trial and error, but I think these whole grain pancakes are perfect. Whole Grain Pancakes (aka The Best Pancakes Ever)(recipe lightly adapted from Chef Michael Smith) 1 cup all purpose flour 1 cup whole wheat or almond flour 1 cup oatmeal 2 tablespoons baking powder 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup milk 1 cup plain runny yogurt or buttermilk 1/4 cup vegetable oil 2 tablespoons honey 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, flour through to salt.