Complete Protein Garbanzo Pancakes

While riding in a van to choir practice with a friend, I learned about her garbanzo bean pancake experiment. I happen to have a very large supply of garbanzo beans, as I use them for the chicken substitute because of their texture, and when she mentioned that her family had no idea there was anything weird in the recipe, and totally loved them, I had to try it.

However, try as I may, I could never reach her thereafter to get the recipe, so out of desperation, I googled it and found something I thought would work. Upon putting it together in the blender, though, the batter appeared to be no thicker than milk, and I couldn't imagine how I could make a pancake out of it. We had just ground some whole wheat flour over the weekend, and the thought occured to me that if I added some, the pancakes would then contain a complete protein, plus hopefully be thickened up a bit. This worked like a charm, and the kids gobbled up the entire batch. I told the 15-year-old boy, a football player, that it was like eating steak and eggs for breakfast, but much better for you. He didn't buy it, but he did eat six pancakes and a few more with his lunch.

Thanks, Norma, for the inspiration! I hope you enjoy these as much as we did!

Ingredients

1 c. garbanzo beans
1½ c whole wheat flour
¼ c olive oil
1½ c. water
2 eggs
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
½ t. salt

Directions

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Cook on a greased or buttered griddle until golden brown on each side.

NOTE: Pancake tops may not bubble when ready to be flipped, but the edges should start to pucker.

Quinoa Bean Pumpkin Pancakes

I came across this recipe at one of my favorite recipe sites, keyingredient.com. I adapted the recipe a bit, adding bean flour to the quinoa flour (you can make your own bean flour in a grain grinder or a Vita-Mix blender), and making my own sour milk using cider vinegar, as described below. These pancakes have an amazing 11 grams of protein per serving! Enjoy!

Ingredients
4 tsp cider vinegar
3 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup pinto bean flour
2 1/4 cup quinoa flour
2 tsp allspice
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups pumpkin puree

Directions

Step 1. Combine vinegar and milk and let sit for ten minutes, until milk is curdled.

Step 2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.

Step 3. Mix all the wet ingredients in a large bowl, including the milk mixture.

Step 4. Pour the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture and mix well.

Step 5. Butter a skillet and pour on 1/4 cup portions. Cook until browned on each side. Pancakes will be moist in the center.

For Complete nutrition data go HERE.

Zucchini Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup

If you've ever planted zucchini, you know that you usually have more than you know what to do with. Our situation was no different, which is why we still have grated zucchini stacked in Ziploc bags in our freezer from last September.

If you've read my last few recipes, you'll know that I've been browsing through my Vita-Mix cookbook, and was thrilled to come across this recipe. Not only did it use a full bag of zucchini, (I tripled the recipe), it called for whole wheat, my favorite grain of all time.

And because I remember that my daughter had been sneaking frozen blueberries the night before, I knew we still had some left from our last trip to Sam's, so I whipped up a batch of blueberry syrup...

This was my favorite part of the meal, and the meal was lunch, because we don't have boundaries for when we serve pancakes...

Below is the recipe. Tell me what you think of these awesome electronic recipe cards. I love them! Thanks for listening....

Scrambled Eggs with Mushrooms

This is a hearty breakfast our kids love.

Ingredients:
Eggs
Mushrooms
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)

Directions:
Step 1: Slice mushrooms and combine with beaten eggs....

Step 2: Scramble on a hot skillet, adding the salt and pepper, until done.

Step 3: Serve, but make sure they cool before serving, or your kids might advise you that they are "hot"...

We also love serving them with this salsa, which only contains natural ingredients...

Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes

Today, I would like to share with you one of my favorite whole wheat recipes that doesn't involve the use of a wheat grinder. As long as you have a blender, you can make these hearty whole grain pancakes! Here's what you'll need:

1 1/2 cups butter milk (or 1 1/2 cups milk with 1 tablespoon vinegar added - let sit for 10 minutes before using)
1 egg
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup whole wheat berries
1/4 cup oats (not instant)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sweetener, such as honey or molasses

In case you've never used whole wheat before, here's what it looks like...

...and you can buy it at any health food store.

Step 1: Blend the first 6 ingredients in a blender very thoroughly. This could take up to five minutes, depending on your blender. Just make sure, however, that you listen carefully to your blender for a change in the motor sound. If this mixture is over blended, the gluten in the wheat will begin to bind and create a sticky substance that will reek havoc on your blender. If this happens, stop the blender immediately.

Step 2: Pour the contents of the blender into a mixing bowl...

(batter should be smooth)

...and add the rest of the ingredients.

Step 3: Pour on a hot, buttered griddle and cook on both sides until light golden brown.

And you're done! We like to dip ours in apple sauce, avoiding the use of sugary syrup. The twins absolutely love it!

We hope you do, too!