Recipe Repeat: Protein Pancakes + Weekly Menu

Biggest isn’t always better — the saying applies to so much in life.

For example, my first job was in a huge, huge teaching hospital in Chicago. It took me my entire internship to learn how to navigate one building to the next. Every unit in the hospital did things a little bit differently and the learning curve was huge. After 3 months, I was just getting into the swing of things…and off I went back to school and my summer internship had ended.

I went to a huge high school. I graduated with nearly 1,000 kids and looking at the Facebook group for the quickly approaching 10 year reunion, I find myself wondering, “Should I even bother? I know…3 of these people.”

My job now is in a small community hospital. I don’t get to tout that I work at the most cutting edge medical center in the Midwest, but I absolutely love what I do and wouldn’t have it any other way. I think the highlight of my week was getting to call a patient to tell her that her A1c had dropped from 12.7% (severely uncontrolled) when I met her in the hospital…to 7.3% (7% is a controlled diabetic) after being involved with the diabetic education program for the past 8 weeks or so.

This past week alone I did everything from calculate a TPN (IV nutrition) order to interview a potential job candidate to hire in the kitchen, teach a parent-child cooking class, attend a budget meeting, talk with local newspapers about our cooking classes, help an under-insured gestational diabetic lower her fasting glucose numbers, serve food in the cafeteria, complete my first performance improvement project… to trial a few recipes for my next diabetic cooking class. Cooking in heels is a skill, for sure.

I feel like I’m living my own dietitian dream of not having to choose an educator role, or management role, or clinical role, or community role…I get to play them all.

My next diabetic cooking class is in just a few weeks and I always tease you guys on Facebook with the recipes we make. So here’s an early preview of one of the recipes….a recipe I’ve made before, actually.

I chose these pancakes because they not only taste great, but they’re easy to make and are perfectly suited for a diabetic. In the case of these pancakes, you can eat the whole recipe for a mere 300 calories and 34 grams of carbohydrate. You’ll be amazed at how good they taste and you may even find that you don’t need the whole recipe to be satisfied.

Remember, bigger isn’t always better…especially when it comes to portions. But I imagine that if you end up loving these as much as me…you’ll polish them off…guilt-free! 😉

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Protein Pancakes from Meals & Moves, as seen on Loser for Life

1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup low-fat (2%) cottage cheese
1/2 cup egg substitute
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
dash of salt

Directions:

Place ingredients in blender or food processor. Process until smooth. Let batter rest for about 5 minutes. Heat large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Coat with cooking spray, then pour batter into skillet making pancakes about 6 inches in diameter. Cook until golden and flip. Yield: 1 serving (4 pancakes).

Nutrition Information (per recipe/serving): 300 calories; 5 g. fat; 15 mg. cholesterol; 930 mg. sodium; 34 g. carbohydrate; 5 g. fiber; 29 g. protein

Result: I think what I love most about these pancakes is the fact that they have a flavor similar to French toast because of the egg content. I was skeptical about these, but I am so glad I braved the unknown and discovered a protein-rich, low-calorie breakfast for one! Of course you could also double the recipe, or quadruple it for a crowd Enjoy!

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Weekly Menu: January 4th – January 7th

• Sunday: Baked Buffalo Wings, etc.
• Monday: Cheesy Quinoa Cakes with a Roasted Garlic and Lemon Aioli
• Tuesday: Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers
• Wednesday: work late/leftovers
• Thursday: Salmon Cakes

Super Bowl Sunday! I couldn’t care less about the game, but I’m pumped about the company and the eats!

Be well,