a week in. time to celebrate.

And I think I’m getting the hang of this. It helped to have a day off to plan a week’s worth of meals, take a trip to the farmer’s market and whip up weekend pancakes. No day can ever go wrong when you start with pancakes.

This blog is no stranger to pancakes. I talk almost obsessively about the pancakes at Naked Cafe and Coffee Cup. I’ve even made a version of my own blueberry pancakes so I was excited to see that pancakes were definitely allowed on this diet. The parameters were to use whole grains, fresh fruit and pure maple syrup. I can do that.

I started with a multi-grain pancake mix from Arrowhead Mills and mixed it with vanilla almond milk, lemon zest, a squeeze of lemon juice and a teaspoon of vanilla. I would have added applesauce had the jar I found in the fridge not been moldy. Oops.

I was lucky enough to have a batch of blackberries in the freezer that I had picked earlier in the week so I started cooking those down with more lemon zest until I had a warm, syrupy fruit compote to top the pancakes with.

To be honest I was a little hesitant about the flavor of the pancakes…whole grains, no sugar…didn’t really sound too appetizing but they were delicious and I think I liked them even better because they were guilt-free. We both ended up adding a couple of teaspoons of pure maple syrup to our pancakes but since they syrup was pure and not made from highly processed corn syrup it was ok.

This recipe would be great with any fresh fruit you can get your hands on. Berries are in season right now so I would suggest anything from that family.

Happy eating!

Blackberry & Lemon Pancakes

Serves 2 Cook Time 15 minutes

Pancakes:

3/4 cup Arrowhead Mills multi-grain pancake mix

3/4 cup 365 Vanilla Almond milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla

Zest and juice of one lemon

1 cup berries (blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries)

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1. Put the berries in a saucepan and cook on medium to high heat for 10-15 minutes or until cooked down and syrupy. It’s ok if it’s a little runny. It won’t get too thick without a bunch of extra sugar.
2. While the berries cook mix together all the pancake ingredients and heat a flat pan on medium heat. Spray with a touch of cooking spray to prevent sticking and start cooking off those pancakes.
3. Serve with a large spoonful of berry compote and a tablespoon or 2 of maple syrup.

Happy pancakes!