Pancakes: The All-Time Naughty Breakfast Favorite (Or does it have to be?)

Pancakes. Who doesn’t love the ever living shit out of a goddamn pancake? If you’ve raised your hand to indicate being such a person, please exit my blog and never visit it again. Then proceed to hang yourself from the gonads, because we don’t need your filthy genes in the gene pool.

Now that we’ve got that settled, back to our main topic. Pancakes. We all love them. Sadly for any who wants to be fit, they’re not exactly known for their muscle building/fat burning qualities. They’re sugary, heavy and we often go the extra mile of covering them with syrup and butter, because why the fuck not? If I’m clogging my goddamn arteries, I might as well be a bona fide artist at it, right?

Lucky for you youngling, I’m about to introduce you to one pancake recipe you can actually enjoy tomorrow morning that won’t only NOT add onto your expanding waistline, it may as well help you lose fat and pack on some muscle while you’re at it too!

Ingredients:

• 6 egg whites
• 1 banana
• 50 ml skimmed milk or almond milk (or zero sugar soy milk if you like that foul-tasting crap - which you can find in Gourmet or major chain supermarkets) Note: Ideally, this recipe would utilize sugar free almond milk, but since we live in a country where your only option to drink almond milk is to make your own, we’ll switch out to local ingredients for convenience’s sake. But lo and behold I've taught you how to make you own if you think it's worth it to really get the recipe just perfect!
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 5 tablespoons flaked oats - my recommended brand is  Emco’s Flacons D’Avoine and you can find it in damn near any supermarket around the cereal section in Cairo. If you have access to Quinoa from abroad it'd be fantastic as well since it's gluten-free.
• 1 tablespoon of honey (I prefer Royal jelly honey - most brands are the same, Isis, Vitrac it doesn't really matter)

Process:

• Separate the yolk from the white of your eggs (you can discard the yolk or choose to use it for something else if you are baking for instance!)
• Mix all the above ingredients in a blender or food processor until the desired pancake mix consistency has been achieved.
• Add on a sauce pan on your stove on low heat (just like you would an omelette or normal pancake mix) until it cooks
• Keep dishing out those bad boys and stack’em up on your plate

Bonus Tip: You can dice up strawberries, bananas or kiwis to add atop your pancakes to add more vitamins, anti-oxidants and fibers. You can also add almonds, pistachios or cashews to taste. Seasoned kitchen veterans can also add a tablespoon of nut butter into the blender to ensure that nutty taste becomes part of every bite.

Additionally, you can make some high protein sauce for your pancakes using whey protein. All you need is to mix one scoop of whey protein (preferably Optimum Nutrition’s Gold Standard chocolate flavor - or any flavor you prefer, it’s your dish goddamit) with 50 ml of skimmed milk/almond milk (or the zero sugar soy milk) and heat in the microwave under high power for 20-30 seconds and voila! You now have some high protein (roughly 24-30 grams of protein) sauce syrup to garnish your high protein pancakes.

Personally, I think it’d be a crime if you don’t work your ass off in the gym or the track right after enjoying this beauty. Your body’s now loaded with complex carbs and a ton of protein; creating the optimal condition for you to dish out some exercises and sweat it up.

Let me know how it tastes and comment below with your own healthy twist or additions you can think of to make it even tastier (and healthier)

The Little Bean That Could: Foul Medamis (Fava Beans)

It’s a well documented fact that it’s practically part of religious dogma and a downright genetic fate for Egyptian to eat fava beans; more commonly known as “foul medamis”. Despite contradictory reports regarding its benefits or harms (many people cite obscure scientific articles which pinpoint the fava beans’ role in promoting lessened IQ, decreased sperm quality, etc.) I’m here to discuss the bigger picture on this iconic breakfast item consumed by tens of millions in Egypt, the Middle East and indeed across the globe.

First of all, it may come as a surprise to you that different blood types respond differently towards different types of food. For instance, people with type A blood are discouraged from consuming certain meat & poultry items, in addition to avoiding legumes, grains and certain fruits and vegetables whereas those with type B blood are more susceptible to corn and nuts while handling meat and dairy with fair efficiency.

That being said, that doesn’t mean you ought to necessarily weed out entire food items off of your potential menu just because your parents’ genetic combo told you that it’s not all that good for you. All that means is that you should aim for a minimal caloric input from such foods, i.e., don’t let it be your main source, i.e., consume sparingly.

So now that we’ve gone through our mandatory biology class of the day, let’s get down to sprucing that foul sandwich like it’s Mardi Gras. My personal favorite twist on the classic breakfast icon below:

Ingredients:

• Four tablespoons of roasted fava beans (foul medames) sans any additions
• Two to four pieces of whole/multi-grain toast/bread
• One tablespoon olive oil
• Two tablespoons concentrated lemon juice
• One tablespoon of finely diced onions
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ tablespoon mustard
• One whole soft-boiled egg (if desired)

Process:

• Add the fava beans into a fairly deep but small bowl (make sure they are still hot)
• Add the lemon juice and olive oil
• Crush whole beans using a fork and mash the mixture
• Add the onion slices, pepper, salt, paprika, cumin and mustard
• Continue whisking with the fork and mashing any remaining whole beans
• Layer up equally atop your bread
• Slice up your soft-boiled whole egg into four pieces laterally and add one slice per piece of toast (if desired)

Just because it’s healthy doesn’t mean it will look like it does on a menu

Enjoy this modern day twist on a classic breakfast item. Remember, you should generally limit your weekly intake of legumes - as per your blood type - so that it doesn’t contribute more than 30% of your total caloric intake. Add your own twist and share with me by commenting below!

Bonne appétit