Wheat Germ Banana Pancakes

A few weeks ago we went to visit my old roommate in Monterey, and she took us to a breakfast spot called First Awakenings. There we had the most delicious wheat germ banana pancakes. Wes and I were obsessed. This morning I was determined to make something similar. I was feeling a little lazy, so started with a pre-made pancake mix from Sprouts. I'll still fine tune this recipe, but the first attempt was pretty great. The wheat germ adds a crunchy texture that we both love, and next time we'll add more. I also used only 1/2 a banana in the mix, and I'd add a whole banana next time. This recipe made 6 pancakes.

Ingredients:

1 cup Sprouts whole grain pancake mix

1/2 cup fat free milk

1 tbs oil

1 large egg

wheat germ

bananas

Directions:

Mix the pancake mix with the milk, oil and egg until combined. Add sliced banana and mix. Heat a griddle and grease with butter. Drop pancake mix in about 1/4 cup sizes onto the griddle. Sprinkle top liberally with wheat germ. Cook until bubbles form - flip and cook another minute or two more. Top with sliced bananas and your favorite Vermont maple syrup. Enjoy!

Easy Chicken Korma

Laziness and a desire for something tasty sometimes combine well. Found a jar of coconut curry (korma) sauce at Sprouts and picked it up on impulse. Came home, sauteed chicken, cauliflower, onion, red bell pepper and sweet potato (pre-cooked and cubed) in olive oil and chili powder. Added the sauce and simmered for about 10 minutes. Served with rice, roti and a bottle of Cougar Vineyard's Full Monte Wine. Delicious!

Whole Wheat Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Sometimes, weekend mornings call for coffee cake. And somehow, substituting in ingredients like more whole wheat flour and less butter and sugar makes me feel better about eating said coffee cake. I'm not entirely convinced this was much better for me, but it was tasty!

Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

filling/topping:

1/3 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 tbsp melted butter

1 tsp ground cinnamon

blueberries tossed with lemon juice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch springform pan.

2. In large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in sour cream and vanilla. Mix in both flours, baking powder, and salt.

3. Spread 1/2 the batter in the springform pan.

4. Prep the filling: mix flour, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. Sprinkle half the filling over the batter. Cover with the prepped blueberries, and then cover with the remaining cake batter. Make a top crust with the remaining filling.

5. Bake 45 mins in preheated oven, or un

til toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

6. Cut while warm and serve with coffee!

Yum!

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Mostly needed a place to keep all of my favorite recipes. So here we go!