Sunday's Plate

I heard on Facebook that my son is making pancakes for my grandchildren down in Florida, and I started to wonder how many families do this as a Sunday ritual. Pancakes can be one of the most endearing and filling meals we eat, but many people believe that pancakes are not good for you, so they miss the whole treat and treasure altogether in favor of cereal or something more nutritious.

The bold fact is that pancakes, if made correctly, are much more nutritious than a bowl of cereal. They have so many more health factors with one that stands out in my mind. "Daddy made these for me. He loves me. I'm having fun. I'm laughing and we're having fun together."

Eating with your children every day is more important, according to a recent Columbia University study, than reading to them. It's a family time that brings people together. If you make pancakes every Sunday for your children, then it's probably true that you sit down with your own plate.

But women worry about their weight and men turn up their noses at the sweet. It doesn't have to be that way if you think about the recipe you are using and do a few new things.

Pancake batter is made of flour, baking powder, salt, milk, oil and eggs. That's all you need. If you use whole wheat pastry flour, your breakfast turns whole grain. If you add some oats, some wheat germ, some bran, you've got multi grain cakes. Whole wheat pastry flour is found in the baking department with the Red Mill products.

There is no sugar in pancake batter. You don't need it. Add an extra egg for protein and cut your salt from a teaspoon to a half teaspoon.

Use soy milk for lighter cakes and a little estrogen for mom.

To get fancy, you can take a whole orange and grind it up in your food processer and add the whole thing straight to the batter. Try cranberries, blueberries and nuts. If you grind you get the flavor but not the lumps.

The syrup is always a concern. I have always made my own because store bought, as they say here, was always too pricy when I was a young woman, so I learned to make my own. Syrup is easy. 1 cup of water to two cups of sugar. Add a 1/2 stick of butter and a little maple flavoring and boil 3 minutes to make the granules dissolve.

But what if we used a can of frozen concentrate brought to a boil on the stove for a couple of minutes and put a 1/2 stick of butter in it? Apple cinnamon syrup anyone? A little sugar would make the syrup thicker.

Here's the recipe for my pancake batter;

2 cups wwp flour
2 heaping teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canola oil
2 eggs
Milk to desired thickness. I use probably 1.5 -2 cups.

( add 1.5 cups sugar and cut the milk and you have muffin batter.)

Enjoy!