Banana Pancakes Recipe

So this is my first recipe that I am posting. You hear it over and over again, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But why is that?

When you skip breakfast, you are likely to become tired when your brain and body run low on fuel. By mid-morning, you might grab a cup of coffee or wolf down a sugary candy bar to wake up again. This might work for a few minutes, but by lunch time you are hungry, crabby, and perhaps your mood might make you a little more prone to make unhealthy choices at lunch.

Skipping breakfast is a common strategy for losing weight, but not a smart one. Many people believe that they will lose weight if they skip meals, but that just isn't true; the body expects to be refueled a few times each day -- starting with breakfast. Actually, eating breakfast is good for weight loss. In fact, studies show that people who eat breakfast are more likely to maintain a healthy weight. I personally almost never ate breakfast when in school studying my undergraduate and of course I gained most of my weight there.

Here is one of my favorite recipes. I love pancakes, in any way shape and form. I made these for the first time for my family when I was home in AZ in December. They are a healthy alternative to a well loved food. I mean come on, who doesn't love pancakes!!!!

Ingredients
Number of Servings-5 (2 Pancakes)
Calories- approx. 200
Heart Smart Bisquick (pancake and baking mix)-2 cups
Fat free skim milk or vanilla soy milk- 1 1/4 cups
liquid egg substitute-1/4 cup
1 medium or large banana
cinnamon-2 teaspoons


Heat a pan on the stove on medium high heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray (I use butter flavor). Combine all ingredients (except banana) in a bowl and mix until all lumps are gone. Cut or mash banana into small pieces and fold into pancake batter. Pour 1/4 cup of pancake mixture into pan and flip pancake when one side has set and golden brown. Place two on a plate and eat with yummy fat free whipped cream or low calorie syrup (Makes around 10 pancakes)

You can find heart Smart Bisquick in the baking aisle in most supermarkets. Its amazing and I use it as a staple in a lot of my cooking. It is low in fat, has 0g trans fat, naturally cholesterol free, and a wonderful source of calcium. If you don't want to use the liquid egg substitute, you can use one egg, it increases the calories a little bit, but not by much.

This recipe always leaves me satisfied! The bananas make the pancakes so sweet that you almost don't need syrup, and they melt in your mouth. I usually pair this with a large cup of coffee and watching the Today show on NBC ;). But if you do need syrup, then you should go for the sugar free low calorie types. I get the generic low calorie kind from Giant supermarket near my apartment.

Not only did my mom and sister adore these, my 13 year old male cousin fell in love with these and wanted more! So it is a kid friendly recipe. The recipe is kinda large, but these guys have no problem being stored in the refrigerator and reheats very well in the microwave.