I figured since my last post involved cheesecake, I’d sway to the healthy side this afternoon. There are people, like my dear friend Gill, who will eat something she isn’t super fond of in the name of health. She’s totally my hero. Then there are other dear friends, like my sister Nikki, who wont eat something unless it’s yummy. She’s my hero for the other side of my brain. The side that wants to eat Oreos for breakfast and then move on to Nutella pancakes for brunch. Mmmmmm. Anyhoo, I fall somewhere in between. Don’t get me wrong, I have been known to fall off the wagon and be found in my pantry mid-sugar coma covered in cinnamon hearts and candy corn. Mmmmm. I’m striving to strike a balance now where I eat as healthy as I can for most of the week and allow myself a balls-out weekend. Yes, I’m calling that balance!
This recipe should defo be classified as a weekday recipe. It’s not bad but I choose to eat it because of the grapefruit and the wheat germ – not because it’s an amazing breakfast treat. Also, instead of just telling you ‘grapefruit and wheat germ are healthy enough for me to force them on myself’, I’ll tell you why and also why I made these vegan. No, I’m not vegan – just to clarify. I wanted to get all specific and call them ‘Low Cal Wheat Germ Grapefruit Vegan Pancakes’, but I think ‘Wheat Germ Grapefruit Pancakes’ will do.
Aside from the obvious serious dose of vitamin C (you probably already know that C is amazing for your immune system and that it can help with inflammatory issues like asthma, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis – and of course that it helps you to fight and prevent colds). Grapefruits also contain lycopene (that’s where the pink or red color comes from), and to get all brainy on you, lycopene is a carotenoid phytonutrient which essentially means it helps fight free radicals – and those little bastards are totally evil. Super random facts about grapefruits; ranked among the highest fruits in antioxidant activity, lowers cholesterol, prevents kidney stones, protects against colon cancer, and helps repair DNA.
I didn’t think I had much to say about wheat germ till I got going. Ha! It’s full of thiamin, folate, magnesium, phosphorus, iron and zinc. So what? Well, thiamin helps your body convert carbs to energy and it’s way important for your heart, muscles, and nervous system. Do you love how scientific I am? It’s like, way important, man. Folate helps your body make new cells which is important for everyone but uber important for pregnant women. I had no idea what magnesium was good for until I looked it up for this post. Yeah, I’m a real authority on health people! Kidding! I just read a lot. Anyhoo, so magnesium is actually responsible for the contraction and relaxation of muscles! Interesting! It also controls certain enzymes in the body (that sounds mysterious, doesn’t it?) and the production of protein. Phosphorus I already knew is in every cell of your body! Isn’t that neat?! It’s mostly for your bones and teeth though. Iron as we all pretty well know is important, our bodies need it to make hemoglobin and myoglobin (found in red blood cells and muscles, respectively). They help carry and store oxygen in your body. And zinc well, over time I’ve read dirty things about zinc and your man, but taking my head out of the gutter, zinc actually helps your immune system fight off bacteria and viruses. Not just help your man feel like a porn star. Who said that?!
So why did I made it vegan? The original recipe called for both almond milk and skim milk, but dairy isn’t kind to my tummy and maybe not to yours either so I just went with a little more almond milk instead of both. Also, I replaced the eggs with ground flax seeds and water because even though one or two eggs in a single recipe isn’t going to mess with my cholesterol levels, I try to replace them when I’m not going to notice they’re gone so I can enjoy them with total abandon when the recipe I’m using needs them. So in pancakes I can leave them out, but I’m still going to make a tray of popovers on Sunday morning that call for 3 extra large eggs and happily munch away!
Moving on to the actual recipe. It’s been heavily modified from it’s original source so I’m calling it my own!
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 cups almond milk
1/4 cup vegan butter (ie Earth Balance)
2 medium grapefruits
2 tablespoons flax meal
6 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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First mix the water and flax meal in a bowl and let it sit to thicken up a bit.
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Whisk together the whole wheat flour, wheat germ and baking powder in a big bowl.
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Add the almond milk, vanilla extract and flax meal with water. Mix that up till combined.
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Now attack your grapefruits. Squeeze about 1/4 cup of juice into the mixing bowl.
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Chop up the grapefruits into wee pieces and add them, along with a bit more of the juice, to the mixing bowl.
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Whisk! Whisk! Whisk!
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Grapefruit aftermath.
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First one!!
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This recipe made 13 pancakes that were made from 1/4 cup of the batter.
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123 calories each!
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