Bananas over Breakfast

I occasionally give myself "domestic challenges." You know, something to keep me on my toes (because two dogs, a toddler, cloth diapers, a new house and a hubby aren't enough for 9-months preggo me!). Some I've done pretty well at: staying on top of laundry, make-ahead freezer meals, going to the library regularly. And some, well.... let's just say I'm still working on them - like one of Erik's biggest peeves, picking up my shoes (sorry, honey!!).

So enters my newest challenge: I HATE letting perfectly good food go bad. But I really, really don't like leftovers. And don't even get me started on the amount of fruits and veggies that wrinkle and change colors in the often-overlooked produce bins. So, I'm attempting to use up food we have in the house in new, creative ways.

Aside from shoes scattered everywhere (again, sorry honey!!!), Erik really cannot stand overly-ripe bananas sitting around. And because I'm such a huge fan of banana bread, it's pretty safe to assume that there's always a black banana or nine floating around my kitchen/freezer. Like the ones this morning. Which I promptly made into THE.MOST.DELICIOUS.PANCAKES.EVAH!!!!!!!! You know, since I already have three loaves of banana bread in my freezer (hey, I TOLD you I love the stuff!).

I used the perfect pancake recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Rumble in the Kitchen, adding two small smashed bananas and a tsp of vanilla to the egg mixture, and a sprinkle of cinnamon to the flour. This recipe was doubly useful, since I have a plethora of whole wheat flour in my pantry, thanks to forgetful-pregnancy-brain at its finest.

These ARE the perfect pancakes. The batter was so fluffy, airy and light. It cooked up like a dream, and the pancakes were perfect - fluffy on the inside but nice and crisp on the outside. Never will I go back to Bisquick pancakes again. These were fan-freaking-tastic, and with the added bonus of healthful whole wheat flour, you really can't go wrong. We topped our banana version with a drizzle of honey, but I can't wait to try these with some good Vermont maple syrup!

I promptly placed all leftover pancakes in a freezer bag and tossed 'em in my freezer. They'll toast up great for a quick, homemade breakfast. Post your favorite pancake flavor in the comments, I'm going to fill my freezer for some easy breakfasts while I'm on maternity leave!

To quote one of Graham's favorite shows*, "Try it, you'll like it!"

Before:

And after:

* bonus points if you can name the show!