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)

Oatmeal for Dummies

Easily one of the most misunderstood foods in any kitchen is perhaps none other than oatmeal. This grain is packed full of fibers, anti-oxidants, vitamins and complex carbohydrates which deliver a steady stream of energy to your body. That being said, 9 out 10 will vote it as inedible "diet" food that tastes bland and is something they are forced to wolf down with their eyes shut as though it was cough syrup (not the orange flavored kind)

To you I say, shut the fuck up and listen. Oatmeal - benefits aside - is a wonderful breakfast or mid-day snack item that - much like all other foods - depends on how you make it.

First of, the selection of your oatmeal can mean the difference between a bland squishy bowl of hamster food and a tasty breakfast delight. I personally prefer oatmeal flakes for their size, texture and taste over your average instant cooking Quaker oats. My brand of choice in Egypt and can be easily found in most supermarkets and stores in the cereal section is Emco's "Flacons D'Avoine". They're sold in 500 gram packets and can easily last you 10 days if you're consuming 50 grams every morning.

Now that we've picked out our oats, it's time to get cracking. I shall bestow upon you my favorite oatmeal recipe which I achieved through a wide variety of trial and error with a number of ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 50 grams of oatmeal flakes
• 100 ml of skimmed milk
• one teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• one whole banana
• two squares of dark chocolate (70% cocoa or higher)
• one teaspoon of flax/Chia seeds (if available)
• one teaspoon of peanut/almond/cashew butter

Process:

• Add 50 grams of oat flakes to a deep microwave-safe bowl
• Sprinkle the ground cinnamon evenly so it covers the flakes and blend using a spoon.
• Add the 100 ml of skimmed milk
• Place into microwave for 40 seconds under High power
• Break your dark chocolate squares into smaller pieces using a sharp knife and sprinkle evenly within the mixture
• Add the nut butter and seeds
• Slice the banana
• Enjoy

Obviously the above mentioned ingredients can be subject to change according to taste especially in regards to the fruit of choice, frozen grapes, strawberries, sliced kiwi (with skin), and apples are just a handful of possible combinations and additions one could use to spice up their breakfast meal. 

You can also forgo the nut butter by throwing in a dozen almonds, cashews, hazelnuts or a combination of mixed nuts into the oatmeal after it's been put through the microwave. Some even opt for a tablespoon of honey to really hit that sweet tooth but I find that the above ingredients do more than a fair job of just that. I have the above combo roughly three to four times a week as part of my pre-workout meal regiment and it's never failed to both satisfy my sweet tooth and give me enough energy to bust out one hell of a workout, I hope it will do the same to you!

Bonne appétit!