Healthy Pancakes

I don't know about any of you, but I'm one of those people who eats pints of ice cream all winter then attempts to lose all the weight 3 days before the pool opens. But not this time! I'm starting a couple months in advance ;) I've seen so many recipes for "healthy" pancakes but never really decided to try one until now! These are seriously so easy it's not even funny. Plus it's a great way to get all your macro nutrients in every morning! (by macro nutrients I mean protein, carbohydrates and fat)

All you NEED is 3 ingredients:
Eggs, Banana, and Baking Powder- and the baking powder isn't even necessary!

 Ingredients: 2 eggs, 1 ripe banana

 Mash your banana til there's almost no chunks. It needs to be super smooth. You can do it in a real bowl, or Tupperware- I'm gonna assume your dish of choice will directly correlate with whether or not you are a college student.

 Crack those eggs in there. In the picture, you only see one egg yolk, and that's because I only used 1 whole egg plus the whites from the other (this cuts down on a good bit of fat). Two whole eggs will work fine though. Also throw in a pinch of baking powder. This isn't necessary, but it'll make your pancakes a little more "pancake-y."

 Cook your pancakes like you would any others. I only use ~2 Tbsp. batter per pancake.. That way I get to have like 8 of them. *Note* These stick to the pan badly. I used a non-stick pan but still needed to spray it with cooking spray.

 Voila! Pancakes! I topped these with sugar-free syrup and enjoyed!

 

 Just look how delicious that "massive" stack of pancakes looks! I have to say they don't taste exactly like cracker barrel hotcakes with real maple syrup (they're my favorite), but they're pretty darn good for healthy food! I don't like eggs (I know, I'm inhuman), but I love these! They're so moist you totally don't even need syrup, but it's a positive addition (Isn't it always?).

Banana Pancakes

Yields: 8 "Silver-Dollar" Pancakes

What you Need:

1 Banana             Pinch of Baking Powder

2 Eggs 

Other ingredients that could be added:

Handful of berries (Blueberries are delicious)                 Cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.

Mini Chocolate Chips (Chocolate Banana, yum!)           2 Tbsp. Peanut Butter

2 Tbsp. Applesauce                                                      Anything you like in pancakes!

1. Mash banana

2. Thoroughly mix in egg and baking powder

3. Mix in other additional ingredients you might want (I strongly suggest it)

4. Cook in medium-low heated skillet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray until browned on both sides. Note: These do not "bubble" like regular pancakes when they're ready to flip. I'd say they only take +/- 1 minute per side.

5. Devour aggressively.. or enjoy slowly. You decide. 

  

Couponing

Okay, so I've already gotten a lot of questions about my couponing, even though I'm brand new to the scene. I figure the best way to share with you all though is through my blog. I, for the most part, am not the brains behind the operation. My fabulous cousin, Kayla, introduced me to a site called KrogerKrazy.com. Kroger is where I do most of my shopping because there's one practically in my backyard here in Columbus. So here's what I do:

1. Check krogerkrazy.com every day. She posts all the deals, where to find the coupons, and the price you can get the items for. She also has coupon databases linked to her site, and pretty much everything you could need to get started.

2. For my biggest haul to date (which was yesterday lol), I used a coupon from coupons.com. It was for $2 off any three packages of Mars/Wrigley jelly beans. The coupon was a bit of a fluke, because it didn't list a size requirement for the product which is a couponers best friend! So instead of purchasing $3 bags of jelly beans, I used it on the $0.50 bags of single serving jelly beans.

3. So, 3 bags of jelly beans * $0.50 = $1.50. The coupon was for $2, so that gave me a $0.50 credit on every coupon I used. I was able to print 49 coupons because I have access to computer labs at school. You can only print 2/computer using most online sites, so that significantly cuts down on your coupon printing abilities. However, I suggest you print from every device you have access to, and also all your friends houses. (Just promise them free food).

4. I have 49 coupons * 3 bags of beans = 147 bags of jelly beans. WOO!! I also earned $0.50 on every coupon, so 49 coupons * $0.50 = $24.50 in free grocery credits. Now if I were actually good at this couponing thing, I would have taken that as an opportunity to coupon for a lot more free stuff! You can purchase a lot for $24.50 if you do it right. However, I am not that good yet, so I purchased 28 boxes of Jiffy Mix ($0.50/each) and 2 lbs of coffee because I was out. I could have purchased 122 pkgs. of Ramen noodles instead.. but that seemed a bit excessive.

And that's it! I plan to donate my jelly beans and jiffy mix because I do not need to stock pile jelly beans, however, for those who do not coupon on such a ridiculous level, it'll be the perfect amount for you.

For example, if you can get your hands on 4 coupons * 3 jelly beans = 12 bags of beans (perfect for your kids' Easter baskets or your own personal consumption). You'll also earn $2 in credit so you can buy yourself something nice, like ice cream, and it'll all be free!

I think my biggest piece of couponing advice is to not think you're going to get $800 in groceries for free all the time like they do on TV. (Despite popular belief, not everything you see on TV is totally accurate). If you manage to save $5 on your groceries, be happy!! That's $5 you were prepared to spend but didn't have to. That means you can throw that $5 in your vacation jar, or buy a cheeseburger.

I will continue to post my couponing experiences as I go. Stay tuned for more deals.