Heart Healthy Oat cakes

In the spirit of fiber, I have started eating a lot of oats.  I originally found this recipe in a magazine, tried it out, and was not as impressed as I hoped.  It called for 2 cups of oats, 3 egg whites, and a splash of vanilla.  It was also recommended to serve it with applesauce.  My problem with this was 1.  they were bland, 2. they were dry and super dense and 3. you ended up spending the next hour running back and forth to the bathroom.  I love fiber as much as anyone, but this was extreme.  So, I have made a few modifications to make it more humane.

You will need:

2 cups of oats, but 1 cup should be ground in a blender to resemble flour (easier on the tummy this way)

1/4 tsp of salt

3 egg whites

3 tablespoons unsweetened apple sauce.  I mean it...none of that sugary, fake stuff.  

tsp of vanilla (leave this out if you add the shake mix mentioned next)

Dash of cinnamon 

 I should point out that I have tried many variations of this recipe.  Adding 1/2 tsp baking powder to the ground oats creates more of a pancake like texture.  Also, the base recipe is not at all sweet.  If you like your foods a little sweeter, a mashed banana is a great addition.  You can also add a scoop of Body by Vi powder (mentioned in my previous blog) instead of the banana (this is my favorite).  None of these additions are required, but I recommend them if you are dealing with picky eaters.  Also, I have added the shake mix, banana (takes care of the extra egg needed in waffles), and baking powder and cooked them in a waffle iron.  Delicious!

Since Jeff loves blueberry pancakes (me, not so much) I started making blueberry syrup.  It is so easy, and you can use sugar free syrup and never notice the difference.  Start this before you cook the pancakes.

You will need:

Sugar free syrup
Frozen blueberries (you can substitute almost any frozen fruit)

Directions:

Put about half a bag of blueberries in a small saucepan.  Add 1/2 an inch of syrup.  You really don't need a lot of syrup, so don't drown the blueberries.  Cook on medium low heat about 5 minutes.

 For the oatcakes:

Grind 1 cup of oats with the salt (and baking powder and shake mix if you are adding it), mix in a bowl with the remaining ingredients.  Unless you added the mashed banana, it will not look like regular pancake mix.  Drop by spoonfuls on to a skillet.  I usually do 2 tablespoons per cake.  You may have to mush them together to get them to hold their shape.

Cook on both sides until golden brown.  If you added the banana, they will brown more evenly.

By now, your syrup will be ready.  You will know its done because it will be a nice pretty purple color.

If you live with Jeff (the Bacon-saurus), this is when you will also be taking your bacon out of the oven.  I know what you are saying "Bacon!  I thought you said this was heart healthy?"  Here is the thing about bacon.  If you buy nitrate free bacon (as you should do with all hot dogs, lunch meat, etc) you are avoiding all those horrible additives.  We get our bacon (and meat and dairy products) from a local farm .  Visit Texas Daily Harvest for more information.  Say no to stomach cancer!  Also, when you render bacon properly, A LOT of the fat goes away.  I recently read an article stating that 1 piece of rendered bacon has 2 grams of saturated fat.   Even if we each have two pieces of bacon that is only 4 grams of fat in a other wise fat free meal...you do need some fat in your diet.   We cook ours on a cooling rack, in the oven so most of the fat drips away.  We do not "boil" our bacon in a cast iron skillet on top of the stove.  I also drain the bacon on paper towels when it comes out of the oven.

Serve topped with the blueberry syrup.

That's what's for breakfast!

A lot of your fiber needs have now been met for the day, so I might skip the bean burrito for lunch...