I decided it might be fun to throw in a recipe once in awhile just for a little change! Since this blog has become all about (trying!) to live a healthy and eco-friendly-ish life, healthy eating is a part of that. Not that we are the picture of health in our house – I sadly have a very huge weakness for baked goods, chocolate, and basically anything that is sweet! And unfortunately one of my sons inherited that. The other son inherited my husband’s penchant for fruit. We always say – one has a sweet tooth like mom and the other has a fruity-tooth like dad!

Anyway, I do try to put a little something healthy in my sweets when I can. And since the whole family loves pancakes, we have adapted a recipe that was given to me from an old family friend when I got married. The original version had 1/2 whole wheat flour, and 1/2 regular flour which was great. But I have actually found that using all white whole wheat flour, you really can’t tell – so why not?

The best thing about this pancake mix is that you keep it in the freezer and it’s ready whenever you want to use it. You just need to add eggs and milk. Just as easy as Bisquick only much healthier! And it’s very forgiving – you can play around with it. Different “add ins” – depending on how healthy you want it.

They’ll-never-know-these-are-healthy Whole Wheat Pancakes

• 6 cups white whole wheat flour (or 3 cups whole wheat flour + 3 cups all purpose flour)
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt

(NOTE: I add about 1/3 cup ground flaxseed meal, and sometimes wheat germ. I have also played around with a little cornmeal which gives it a different texture and taste – it’s yummy!)

Whisk together in a big ziplock bag. Store in the freezer. When ready to make pancakes (or waffles) do the following:

For every 2 people (8ish pancakes) mix together:

• 1 beaten egg
• 1 cup buttermilk (you can use regular milk too)
• 2 tablespoons oil (I don’t usually add – I’ve never missed it. Sometimes I’ll add a spoonful of yogurt which works well – otherwise I just exclude it altogether. It’s probably in there for a good reason??)
• 1 cup mix

It will be lumpy – don’t worry! Cook them on a preheated pan coated with spray-oil. Turn over when they are bubbling a little and drying around the edge. I add chocolate chips, banana slices, blueberries, chopped apple/cinnamon or other berries. YUM.