woo-hoo!-whole wheat pancakes (from scratch) & rooibos tea

cooking has always been one of my pleasures
and therefore... eating!

these days i am cutting in a lot of pre-made food
'cause of the migraines, i am glad i like cooking
'cause most of my meals most be fresh-cooked
and free of preservatives and/or chemical additives

but i must confess i do find a peaceful pleasure
on setting myself to cook
nothing like chopping tons of veggies or
garlic on my sunny kitchen
i get 'in the zone' and disconnect from daily stresses...
if you don't cook in a rush or a dirty kitchen
then you can find real pleasure on mixing ingredients
and smelling the fragrances of fresh cooked dishes...

one thing that i have understood a while ago
is the importance of eating whole grains and also
i have always loved pancakes, who doesn't?
or 'hot-cakes' as we call them in México
but they are usually made with white flour

the pre-made mixes i've found for making
whole-wheat pancakes at the supermarket are OK
but usually the pancakes come out too thick, not fluffy
and not so tasty... also i don't use pre-mixed flours anymore
because of the preservatives and chemicals they add
it's scary to read the list of ingredients of most food
that you find in the supermarkets! lots of names of
chemicals that we don't even understand

so i took over the challenge of making the perfect
woo-hoo!-whole-wheat pancakes, and i think now i got it!
for a couple of months now, i've been 'perfecting' this recipe
i found the original recipe online for making pancakes from scratch
Charles' Pancakes from scratch
but i substituted the cup of all purpose flour with
3/4 of a cup of whole wheat flour + 1/4 of white flour

in case you want to make them at home
and i invite you to! well,
here the ingredients:

1 egg
1 cup of low fat milk
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3/4 cup of whole wheat flour
1/4 cup of all purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt

optional:
1/2 cup or more of berries or any chopped fruit

now the secret to make the whole wheat pancakes
really fluffy was given to me by my friend Tina
a couple of weeks ago

First, you mix all the dry ingredients together,
that is the flours, baking powder, and salt

Then, on a separate container, you mix the wet ingredients,
the milk, the vanilla extract, and ONLY the egg yolk
you keep the egg white apart and beat it well until is
white, fluffy, and hold a stiff peak

Now you can mix the dry and wet ingredients
(do not add the egg white yet!)
mix the ingredients slightly, you don't want to beat
the batter, if the batter is a little lumpy is OK!
do not over-mix the batter or you'll get bad pancakes

and at the end, once you are ready to cook the pancakes
just then, you fold in the beaten egg white
with rest of the batter, again do not over mix!

i usually add another 1/2 or 1 cup of blackberries
or blueberries, strawberries, or chopped peaches
or bananas
(not so many bananas lately since they are a migraine trigger too!)

also, if you prepare batter and want to refrigerate
the left overs, do NOT add the fruit until you are ready to
cook another batch of pancakes

here the result, some delicious, tasty, light, and fluffy
woo-hoo! whole wheat pancakes



top with Maple Syrup, grade B, which is less processed
than grade A, and thicker, tastier, too!
it tastes almost like you are biting on a Canadian tree!
and if you didn't mix the fruit with the batter
you can always put it on top of your pancakes
delicious stuff!

also, since i've been asked to cut on caffeine
(not that i don't drink now & then a sip of coffee,
but shhhhh, don't tell my neurologist... i just drink
about a 1/4 of a cup, or little sips of black gold
when i am too tired, sleepy, or can't hold the cravings
but for me these days a sip of coffee is enough...
i haven't drink a whole cup in about 3 weeks!)

so now i've been drinking now more Rooibos tea
this tea comes from South Africa originally
it's naturally caffeine free but it doesn't taste
like an herbal infusion, the flavor is a little sweet
and nutty and it has many health benefits
give it a try too!



another sunny picture of my morning Rooibos



now enjoy some healthy snacks
or unhealthy ones if your body can afford it