Discovering Healthier Pancakes: From Bananas to Pumpkin

Breakfast is a big deal in my house—we love everything from breakfast sandwiches and omelets to French toast and, of course, pancakes. Recently, I found a Mediterranean diet-friendly banana pancake recipe that quickly became a staple for us. What makes it special? There’s no flour or added sugar. The pancakes are made with ripe bananas, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, vanilla extract, eggs, and a splash of milk. The bananas provide all the sweetness you need, making these pancakes both healthy and delicious. I make them so often that I keep a batch ready in the freezer, and even my dog gets to enjoy one or two!

When fall arrived, I started thinking about how to adapt this recipe for pumpkin pancakes. I love cooking with pumpkin, but most recipes leave me with leftover pumpkin purée that ends up forgotten in the fridge. I wondered if I could use pumpkin butter instead, since it’s one of my favorite autumn treats. Unfortunately, that experiment didn’t work out—pumpkin butter is too runny and already sweetened, which led to mushy pancakes. Lesson learned: pumpkin butter is best as a topping, not an ingredient. Still determined, I tried adding a third cup of pumpkin purée and a half teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice to the original recipe. Success! The result was a batch of fluffy, flavorful, and healthy pumpkin pancakes. They were so good, I made another batch just to use up the rest of the purée—problem solved!

Pumpkin Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

Adapted from the Healthy Oatmeal Banana Pancakes recipe at ambitiouskitchen.com

Click here to view the original recipe.

• 2 medium ripe bananas (best when they have lots of brown spots)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk of your preference (I like to use almond milk)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups quick oats
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup pumpkin purée*
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice*
• Olive oil, for cooking
  *omit if you do not want pumpkin pancakes

Add all of the ingredients (except for the olive oil) to a blender and blend on high until completely smooth, about 45 seconds. Let the batter sit in blender for about 3-5 minutes while you heat up your pan or griddle to medium heat.

Lightly coat your pan or griddle with olive oil and place over medium heat. Once the surface is hot, add 1/3 cup of the batter to the griddle for each pancake and cook for 2-4 minutes until pancakes slightly puff up and you see a few bubbles along the edges.

Flip the pancakes and continue cooking for another two minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately.

The batter will make approximately 7-9 regular size pancakes, or about 12-15 silver dollar size pancakes. You can also half the batter if you wish.

Refrigerate leftover pancakes in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or you can freeze them in a freezer bag for up to two months. To freeze leftover pancakes, place them individually on a baking sheet and place the baking sheet into the freezer. This will help avoid the pancakes from sticking together. Once frozen, you can place them into a freezer bag.

Bay Scallops, Tomatoes and Asparagus with Quinoa and Brown Rice

Lately I’ve been experimenting with the Mediterranean diet. Being one who has dealt with high cholesterol my entire life, heart health has always been a focus of mine. I’m also looking to find more reasons to be in the kitchen nowadays, it’s very therapeutic for me, always has been. I enjoy the challenges that come along with trying new recipes. Learning about the Mediterranean diet and all its health benefits has been a fun journey so far. I’ve collected several recipes through websites, magazines, and even treated myself to a new book by Mediterranean diet guru Suzy Karadsheh. You can follow her amazing website at themediterraneandish.com.

After spending some time doing research on the proper ingredients and cooking methods, I found myself inspired to give it a go with my own recipe. I’ve always been a fan of grains, such as couscous, farro, quinoa, and brown rice. These grains, along with many more, are often included in the Mediterranean diet. The recipe that I chose to experiment with uses a mixture of quinoa and brown rice as the base. To that, I added olive oil, shallot, cherry tomatoes, chopped asparagus, bay scallops, fresh chopped parsley, salt and pepper. I ended up with a quick and delicious, filling and heart-healthy meal. I even allowed myself a shortcut by using a Near East brand box of rosemary and olive oil quinoa and brown rice mixture.

I’m looking forward to spending more time researching the Mediterranean diet, its benefits, and its wonderful flavors… and I look forward to sharing the recipes here with you!

Bay Scallops, Tomatoes and Asparagus with Quinoa and Brown Rice

Makes 4 small or 2 large servings

One 4.9 ounce box Near East quinoa and brown rice blend, rosemary, and olive oil flavor
(or you can use your favorite choice of prepared rice or grains)
One shallot, finely chopped
One pint cherry or grape tomatoes
Two tablespoons olive oil
12-15 spears asparagus, 1/3 of the bottom removed and discarded, chop the rest to half inch size pieces
25 to 30 small frozen Bay scallops
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, plus additional for garnish
Salt and pepper

Prepare the rice according to directions, set aside when done. While the rice is cooking, heat oil over medium heat in a sauté pan. Add chopped shallot, heat until translucent. Add tomatoes, you can cut them in half or add them whole. Put a lid on the pan until the tomatoes start to soften. Add the asparagus, season with salt and pepper, cover again with the lid.

When the tomatoes start to break down and liquid starts to form in the pan, add the scallops (you can add them frozen), put the lid back on for 5-7 minutes. The scallops will cook within this time.

After the scallops are tender, stir the rice and chopped parsley into the pan. Continue to simmer with the lid off to allow the sauce to thicken.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with additional parsley as garnish.

Party Dip Stuffed Mini Peppers

A few weeks back, my daughter Ava and I were trying to figure out what we wanted to have for dinner. Instead of making a full meal, she suggested we have ourselves a fun picky food dinner made up of different party dips. It was a rainy Saturday and we had no plans for the night, so we went ahead with this fun idea. Two of the dishes that Ava requested were Buffalo chicken dip and spinach artichoke dip, served with toasted bread. While this did sound fun and appetizing, I was in the mood for just a bit more. Something just a step beyond party dips. What I decided to do was use these dips as a stuffing with mini peppers. Not only did this combination kick the party meal up a few notches, it also became a fun way to actually serve the party dips.

With New Year’s Eve literally just a few days away, what better time to share this idea with you. It really is not so much of a recipe, but rather an idea, a concept and a fun presentation. While we went with Buffalo chicken and spinach artichoke, I could see a bunch of party dips working well with this presentation. Anything from smoked salmon and clam dip, to French onion, hummus and crab dip would make an excellent pairing with a pepper. I’m even thinking Italian hoagie dip would be pretty amazing….although I’m not sure I would serve those warm. The crunch of a fresh stuffed pepper may be the better choice there.

The dip recipes that I used were found online, and believe me there are a ton of them out there for you to follow. If you are not into making a dip of your own, use a container of store bought dip. Again, this is more about presentation and not so much about making it from scratch. The suggestions that I can offer are to use mini peppers, sliced in half and seeds removed. Use about a tablespoon of your dip, making sure to not overstuff. Bake in a 400 degree pre-heated oven for 35-40 minutes. And there ya go.

I encourage you to take this idea and run with it. Make it your own, and it will become the hit of the appetizer table. Or just have it for dinner like we did…either way, you will enjoy!

Quick and Easy Sunday Crab Gravy

This is a quick and condensed version of the Sunday summer Italian-American staple. While I am using 16 ounces of pure canned crab meat in place of of actual crabs, I guarantee you that this dish does not lack flavor, aroma and the overall deliciousness of the real deal.

The trick to doing this condensed version correctly is to use the proper type of canned crab meat. You want to get the full 16 ounce size can of pure crab meat that is sold in the seafood section of the grocery store. The smaller cans of crab meat found near the canned tuna are packed with water, so you are not really getting much for your money with those. You will find a choice of crab meat (special, claw, lump), the lump crab meat being the most expensive. I use the special crab meat and find that it works very well. The lump crab meat, of course, is the tastiest. But there are a lot of flavors going on in this dish, and I feel that the cost of the lump crab is a bit much for what you are using it for in this recipe.

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 16-ounce can crab meat
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 sprig fresh basil
1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
1 tablespoon fresh chopped oregano, or 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
Pinch sea salt, to taste

Add the olive oil to a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions, stir until soft and translucent. Add the garlic, stir until aromatic, about 30 seconds to one minute. Add the crushed tomatoes, stir. Add the full sprig of basil, then add the crab meat and stir. Add the Old Bay seasoning, salt and oregano, stir. Cover with lid, let simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes, spiring occasionally.

Meanwhile, boil a large pot of salted water. Add the pasta of your choice, cook according to directions to al dente stage.

Remove the basil and adjust the taste of the gravy to your liking. Remove the cooked pasta from the pot and place in a large bowl, reserving the pasta water. Top the pasta with the crab gravy. You can add a bit of the reserved pasta water to thin out the gravy if you prefer. Plate it and enjoy!