Oatmeal Pancakes, Clean Eating, and Indulging on Vacation

I just returned from the annual girls trip that my mom and I take every year to visit my grandpa in Amelia Island, Florida. I spent 10 days laying on the beach, walking on the beach, reading, and going to bed at about 8:30pm. It was a much needed break from reality, and my mom and I had a blast as always! My Papa is 90 years old and has had severe heart problems since he was in his 40s, so each year I am so grateful to have another opportunity to spend so much time with him.

I don't believe in dieting on vacation. In fact, I think you should be able to eat whatever you feel like on vacation (within reason). So, I indulged in peanut butter and jelly, potato chips, beer at lunch, beer in the shower, cocktail hour, crab dip, pizza, cookies, ice cream, pasta, bread... I could go on, but I think you get the idea... and I think I may have gained weight just typing that sentence.

One of the great things about consistently eating a healthy diet and regularly exercising is that you can get away with eating like total crap for a week and not completely destroy your waistline. I only gained about a pound while we were gone, but was feeling pretty gross.

To get rid of the vacation bloat (and my craving for chips and beer), I returned my focus to eating clean. If you simply choose healthy foods, there is no reason to go on a crazy diet or eliminate any food groups. I have been focusing on high protein, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, vegetables, fruits, and lots of water.

After a week of peanut butter and jelly with potato chips and beer for lunch, returning to healthy food can be a challenge. So I decided to go on a search for clean recipes that felt indulgent, but were actually healthy. I came across this recipe for oatmeal pancakes, which are so delicious that I have been eating them for breakfast every single day!

I know that combining egg whites and oatmeal sounds weird. My mother was thoroughly disgusted as I made these for the first time, until she saw how fluffy and delicious they turned out. I promise you can't taste the egg. You're just going to have to trust me on this one!

Oatmeal Pancakes
Taken from Kath Eats Real Food

Oatmeal pancake, topped with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup quick oats
1/3 cup egg whites (I like the 100% egg whites that come in a carton)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cinnamon to taste
Toppings to taste

Directions:
1. Mix together oats, egg whites, baking powder, vanilla, and cinnamon in a bowl.
2. Preheat a skillet, spray with non-stick spray, and pour the batter into a large disc "pancake." If you use a large skillet, you will want to use a spoon to shape the batter into a pancake shape.
3. When you can shake it around in the pan, it's time to flip!
4. Once cooked through, add toppings of your choice. (Peanut butter, canned pumpkin, mashed banana, or maple syrup are all great ideas! My personal favorite is peanut butter).

Nutrition Information for plain oatmeal pancake
Serving size: 1 pancake
Calories: 139
Fat: 2g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 221.33mg
Carbohydrate: 18.65g
Protein: 11.32g

Now... let's compare that to a regular plain pancake.

Nutrition Information for plain homemade traditional pancake
Serving Size: 1 pancake
Calories: 227
Fat: 9.7g
Cholesterol: 59mg
Sodium: 439mg
Carbohydrate: 28.30g
Protein: 6.4g

The oatmeal pancakes are lower in calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium and carbohydrates than their traditional counterpart, and will keep you full for much longer with nearly twice as much protein! Plus, they only take about 5 minutes from start to finish, making them possible to eat even on the busiest of mornings. These would also be a great idea for kids who like processed frozen pancakes before school in the morning!

I hope you enjoy these clean "pancakes" as much as I have been! I'd love to hear what you choose to top yours with.

Peace, love and healthy food.

-Katie

Kid Approved Whole Wheat Pizza!

Mission Dietitian is back!

 

I am very excited to share that I completed all of my coursework in April, and have since moved on to the supervised practice portion of my journey. In order to be able to sit for the registration exam, you must accumulate 1200 hours of supervised practice. I will spend the rest of this year completing rotations in acute care, long term care, pediatrics, school food service, community nutrition, and a specialty rotation of my choice.

 

My first rotation was spent at Oak Pavilion Nursing Center in Clifton, which was surprisingly awesome. The patients were great, as was getting to practice my counseling skills one on one. It was sad to leave the patients at the end of my rotation and I often wonder how they are doing. Perhaps a visit to volunteer is in order! 

 

I am currently 2 weeks into my school food service rotation with Norwood Schools. Their program has blown me away with their focus on health, wellness and real food. They are currently working to get back to cooking completely from scratch, have eliminated snack vending machines, and only serve dessert items on special occasions. I have been having a great time helping out with serving summer lunches and educating the kids on healthy eating.

 

One of the projects I have completed for Norwood was to develop a whole grain pizza crust recipe to replace the frozen crust they have been using. The recipe also had to meet the National School Lunch Program guidelines for whole grains. For the purposes of this school lunch program, 2 ounces of grain must be provided at each meal and half of that grain must be whole grain.

 

The Whole Grain Council put out a great recipe and that was tested on my guinea pigs, ahem... my family. They managed to choke down two pizzas without too much of a struggle, so I prepared another batch so I could do a taste test with the kids.

 

This past Friday, I served pizza samples to 83 children between the ages of 1 to 18. They each tried the sample and answered a few taste test questions. Overall, 89% of them loved it and actually preferred it to the frozen Tony's pizza that was served for lunch that day!

 

I thought I would share the recipe with all of you to try at home! Making pizza from scratch is a great way to get the entire family in the kitchen and involved in the cooking process. Summer is a great time to experiment with lots of different home grown veggies and herbs as toppings!

 

Don't be intimidated if you have never made a bread item from scratch before. This recipe is quite easy and the dough is VERY forgiving!

 

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

Makes two 16" pizzas

(1 serving = one 2" slice)

 

Ingredients:

 

2 c. Whole wheat flour

2 c. All purpose flour

1/2 c. Dry oats

1 Tbsp. + 1 1/2 tsp. Active dry yeast

1/4 tsp. Salt

2 tsp. Honey

1 1/2 c. Warm water

 

Directions:

 

Mix 1 cup each of white and whole wheat flour, oats, yeast and salt

Heat water to 125º, and then add honey. (Heating water in the microwave for about 1 minute and 30 seconds is about right. Don't get it too hot or you will kill the yeast and the crust won't rise)

Gradually add water to dry mixture. Mix for 2 minutes.

Add remaining flour, mixing well after each addition.

Knead dough for 10 minutes. Don't know how to knead? It's easy! Check out this video.

Spray with cooking spray. Cover with saran wrap. Let rise in warm place until double. The inside of your oven is a great place to let the crust rise since it is free from drafts! Just make sure not to turn the oven on!

Divide dough into equal parts. Roll and place in 16” pizza pans. Cover and let rise again, at least 45 minutes.

Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 10 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and slightly brown.

 

Here is a picture of the finished product I made for Norwood Food Service!

 

 

 

I promise more to come about my adventures in interning very soon. Thanks for reading and enjoy the pizza!

 



Peace, love and healthy food,

Katie