Hey there! As usual, there’s a lot of me chatting to you before you actually get to the recipe for these pancakes (one serving = 9g carbs, 1g fat, 10g protein, 2g fiber (72 cals)). If you want to skip to it, scan down for the heading “Surprise! Here’s The Recipe!“
So, for the past week, I’ve been back on My Fitness Pal. I know, I know, if you’ve read this blog, you’re all “Oh for goodness’ sakes, AGAIN?!” Yah, I’ve fallen off the wagon so many times, I have axle grease permanently embedded in my palms. Then again, I’ve gotta believe that this is basically how 99.9% of those of us trying to get back in shape work. So there you go.
I actually have had success on a number of eating plans. I’ve detailed a lot of them in this blog. The problem has always been that I don’t have anyone to hold my feet to the fire. So I’ve “caught and released” the same 10-15 pounds for about 6 years or so now, never getting near my optimal weight before (“Shiny Penny!”) I wander away.
Nine years ago, I was at my optimal weight. I felt great. From 9 years ago to about 6 year ago, I slowly gained about 30 pounds. Yeah, I know – you’d think that after, say, 5, I would have a 
clue. But during that time, I was doing a lot of endurance-type athletics (Ironman, marathons, 100 mile bike rides, swimming from Alcatraz, etc.). And I am not an athlete.
No – really. I’m not. Look – with enough training, anyone can do what I did. (Someone has to bring up the back of the pack . . . and I say that without self-deprecation.)
The issue has always been my self-identification as a “non-athlete” or, perhaps, “non-lover-of-things-physical.” I belie
ve that you are one, or you aren’t. You do, or you don’t. I was the kid that wanted to be reading a book under her covers with a flashlight until like 2 a.m., sleep until 10 a.m. and then get back to reading in bed. (Heck, that’s still my guilty pleasure.) While schoolmates were wiggling in their chairs to get out for recess, I would often stay in – and read.
The interesting thing is that I’m not a bad athlete. I was in the NCAA Finals for Fencing with Cal, making Varsity my Freshman year, and traveled in England with the fencing and the Shotokan karate team during my Junior year abroad. But both fencing and karate are sort of “mental” sports – they aren’t “get out and run around” sports. They’re also not “team” sports.
I kinda got “team sports” beaten out of me during grade school. I was “made” to do team sports. I wasn’t bad – middle of the road – but always very tall, so people “thought” that I’d be great at things like volleyball, etc. Since I wasn’t interested in “practicing” this stuff at home (too busy reading), I was always “just okay.” But I hated the fact that my height made folks think that I’d be great. (By college, my general answer to a shorter person asking why I wasn’t better at things like volleyball was “Why aren’t you riding horses at the track?” Yeah, not nice – but it gets old.)
Oops, this was supposed to be a pancake recipe.
Anyway – so somewhere in my 20s, I joined the Hash House Harriers, a “drinking group with a running problem,” and that led to doing runs worldwide, which led to doing triathlons, which ultimately lead to Ironman, etc. What does this have to do with pancakes?? This. I would self-soothe after every e
xercise-related endeavor by doing what I really liked – namely, eating a lot of food.
So paradoxically, during the time I was the most “active,” I gained 30 pounds.
Enter lots of eating plans. And lots of wagons to fall off of.
This time around, because, as I mentioned in my last blog post, my friend Joy of Girls Gone WOD “made me” (Hi Joy!), I’m doing Working Against Gravity (“WAG”). I recently went f
rom 38.28% body fat during a contest at my gym to 28%, which garnered me a nice check – and it was just about what it would take to do WAG for the mandatory three months. So there you go.
In WAG, again, as I detailed last blog post, they give you the protein/fat/carbohydrate macros (e.g., grams) that you personally should meet (and not exceed) daily. (Everyone has to ingest 35g fiber a day.) You have a coach (mine is Kelsie. HI KELSIE). You have to log, and report. If the macros you are assigned aren’t working, they change them. And you’ve paid for three months.
For the past week, I’ve been logging, and seeing whether it’s going to be tough, or not so tough, to make the macros that they have assigned to me. In general, I’ve found that if I eat the protein that I usually eat to meet my protein macros, I way overexceed my fat macros.
Also I realized that I had to get back in the swing of doing things that I used to do – namely, a good amount of prep work on Sunday to “make it through” the work week without axle grease on my hands and cookie crumbs on my face (Wait – where’d the wagon go?).
That means making my award-winning beef jerky by the ton (since basically all beef jerky you can buy has sugar/chemicals/etc.) – egg muffins (the recipe is lower down in this blog post)- – easiest roast chicken in the Universe – aaaaaand – pancakes.
Surprise! Here’s the recipe!
Makes 10 pancakes – each pancake is a serving.
*2 cups egg whites. I use the 100% organic egg whites in a carton, but if you want to crack your own, go for it. Your/your neighbor’s/Claire’s dog will love the yolks ;-)
*1.25 cups oat bran (I get organic in the bulk bins, otherwise Bob’s Red Mill is a good brand)
*1.25 cups fat-free plain Greek yogurt
*40 drops stevia sweetener – or you can make them “savory” with herbs, salt, etc. – I particularly like Andy’s Rub.
One biggish bowl (gallon to 3/4 gallon – see photos)
One 2-cup glass measuring cup
One NON-STICK pan
ladle, rubber spatula, and non-scratching pancake flipper spatula
Egg beater (I use one like your grandma had – they’re still out there – it’s more fun to me than an electric beater, but you decide)
Put the egg whites into the bowl. Beat them until they are super foamy – if you beat hard, this will take a couple minutes. Volume-wise, if you look at the photo on the right (not beaten) and the one on the left (foamy) you can see what you’re looking for. No, you don’t have to whip it ’til it has peaks or anything. Just super foamy/no more “runny egg white” in the bottom of the bowl if you scoop up from the bottom.
Heat up your pan on the stove – medium/high. If it is a real, good, non-stick pan that has never been in the dishwasher, you will not need any fat in it. If it is not, then remember to count anything you put in there (e.g., organic spray coconut oil) as a fat. If you’re going to make these a lot, it’s worth getting a new non-stick for $12 and SWEARING you will NEVER put it in the dishwasher . . .
Separately, measure out the yogurt, bran and flavorings.
TIP: I really hate having a lot of dishes & I also like doing things fast – so this is how I measure the yogurt and the bran.
Measure the 1-1/4c. yogurt into a 2c. measuring cup. Next, pour the oat bran on top of the yogurt (see picture on left). If you fill the measuring cup to the top, since
the 2 cup “measurement line” is lower than the rim, you will be at 1-1/4 c. oat bran. If you are pickier than I am go ahead and measure it out your first time – I just hate washing dishes and you’ll find that, with the glass Pyrex measuring cup that I have pictured, it works out just right.
Next, pour the yogurt and oat bran into the egg whites, add 40 drops of stevia or whatever flavors you’re using, then fold in with the rubber spatula. It is going to be super fluffy still – you’re not going to believe that the consistency is right. Trust me on this one.
Ladle the mix – scooping around and down to the bottom every time (the bran sometimes sinks) – into your NON STICK pan. If you accidentally THINK that you’re using a non-stick pan and instead you’re using a pan that is masquerading as a non-stick pan, you’ll go to flip your first pancake and it will look like the photo on the right. It’s still delish – just not particularly beautiful or portable! #PancakeScramble …
BTW, if this isn’t clear yet, DO NOT PUT NON-STICK PANS IN THE DISHWASHER, it ruins their non-stick capabilities. As does, of course, putting food into it before it’s hot, or using a metal/scratchy spatula that breaks the bond of the non-stick to the pan body.
The first time you make this recipe you’ll figure out how many of your ladles it takes to get exactly 10 pancakes. I have two ladles in my house – one is just the right size.
If you wind up with a bit too much or a bit too little of the batter, TAKE NOTE, so next time you fill your ladle accordingly.
(How to remember? Myself, I have this recipe printed out, and I WRITE DOWN what ladle/bowl/etc. to use. Except I hadn’t written down the pan, obvs from the photo above. NOW it says which PAN, too…Unfortunately the house sitter we had when we were recently gone put the pan through the dishwasher. I thought everyone knew not to do this….guess not.)
Cook the pancake about 2-3 minutes on each side, depending on your stove.
When you take each pancake off the stove, you need to let it cool off 100%. I have tile in my kitchen, so I put the pancakes directly on the tile. If you do not do this, they will get soggy. So be sure before you pack them up, they really are well and truly cold.
Slip them into a ziplock, and you have 10 pancakes for when you need to “up” your carb/protein macros accordingly!
Now It’s Your Turn:
I’m allergic to fish (not shellfish) & peanut butter, so no comments re. those please ;-)
