High protein, high fiber breakfast pancakes

Have you ever thought about the word breakfast? I, for one, spend much time pondering random things such as word origins, and not long ago, my musings led me onto the word breakfast. The Danish word for breakfast, morgenmad, is as simple as can be. It just means morning food. The English word, however, is slightly more interesting. The word breakfast has nothing to do with breaking something swiftly. Instead, it indicates that with your first meal of the day, you break the period of fasting which you have undertaken since your last meal of the previous day (unless you are one of those sleep eaters; I watched a documentary once that showed a woman getting out of bed in the middle of the night, cooking a full on meal and eating it, and having no recollection of it the next morning. But that's a whole other story).

Personally I like to break my fast gently, and although many a health buff has tried to convince me that the ideal way to start a day is with eggs and beans, I just prefer my breakfast soft, comforting and mildly sweet. That being said, I can quite clearly feel the benefits of having fibre and protein with my breakfast in terms of how quickly I get hungry again, so when I stumbled upon the idea of making pancakes which were high in fibre and high in protein, I knew I had to try it. These pancakes are 25% protein, 63% carbs and 12% fat, and one portion (half of the recipe underneath) comes in at around 150 calories. I top that up with a huge pile of fruit and some almonds, and aim to land at 250 calories all together. Best of all, this portion keeps me full until lunch time!

Breakfast pancakes:

2 portions, 6 little pancakes all together

60 grams rolled oats
60 grams banana
3 egg whites (I use pasteurized egg whites, since they are already separated from the yolks, and happen to know that 3 weigh 100 grams)

Stick it all in a blender and blend until smooth. Add water until the dough has pancake consistency  - I use just under 100 millilitres. I cook them without oil or butter on a non stick frying pan. I find that the key to not making them stick is having the pan very hot. Watch them carefully, and turn them when the upper side is bubbling and you see little holes in the dough. It will take about a minute, if that.

Ps. I call these breakfast pancakes because in my world, if they are the small and fat variety, as opposed to the thin full-pan sized pancakes that are traditional in Denmark, they are for breakfast.  However, you are very welcome to enjoy them any time of the day :)

Oat porridge with pineapple, almonds and coconut

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Personally, I'm not too sure about that - I love all my meals equally and couldn't possibly pick a favourite :) That being said, there definitely is nothing like a brilliant breakfast to brighten your morning! A classic for me is oat porridge, which was always a favourite in my childhood home. Back then it was always served topped with a spoonful of sugar, which I will still do if I'm in a rush or have nothing else available, but I'm now always looking for new and interesting ways to enjoy my porridge.

This morning I had a piece of leftover pineapple in my fridge. I always find fresh fruit works well in porridge, and it adds lovely sweetness which allows me to skip the sugar. In my drawer I had dessicated coconut and almonds, which added additional sweetness and a bit of crunch. All together, it made a wonderful warming start to what would become yet another rainy day.

Oat porridge with pineapple, almonds and coconut:

1 dl rolled oats
2 dl water
2 slices of fresh pineapple (tinned would probably be fine)
10-15 almonds
A generous sprinkling of dessicated coconut

First, cut your pineapple into small cubes. I get rid of the hard bit in the middle. Next, combine your oats, water and pineapple in a bowl, and stick it in the microwave for two minutes. When it comes out, it has magically turned itself into porridge! If you don't have a microwave or prefer to be old-school, just combine it all in a sauce pan, put it on the hob and stir until you have porridge. I, however, prefer the microwabe, as it creates less washing up, and to the best of my knowledge it makes no difference taste-wise. Top your porridge with dessicated coconut and roughly chopped almonds.