Monday, March 15, 2010

Up Before the Chickens

I went to bed early last night, my hubby did not. At 4:30 this morning, I was wide awake. As I was trying to quietly gather my reading book and some other materials off my desk, I heard a muffled voice, "Are you getting up?"

"Yup," I whispered. "I can't sleep."

"Neither can I. I'll get up, too."

So our day began a little earlier than usual today. By regular breakfast time, we were both hungry enough to eat the proverbial horse, but opted instead for an old favorite, Oatmeal Pancakes.

For some reason, these don't hit my tummy as heavily as all-flour pancakes do. They are slightly chewy, in a good way, and have a nice subtle "nutty" flavor. At any rate, I've always convinced myself they are healthier than regular pancakes, or "saddle pads" as my dad used to call them.

OATMEAL PANCAKES

1-1/8 cups milk
1 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoon butter, melted
2 eggs
3/4 cups flour*
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a medium mixing bowl, combine milk and oats and let stand for at least 5 minutes.

Then add melted butter and eggs, mixing well. Stir in the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Cook on a hot, lightly oiled griddle using 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Turn when tops are bubbly and edges are slightly dry.

Makes 10-12 four-inch pancakes.

*You can use nearly any kind of flour for these pancakes. White, whole wheat, some rye, etc. This morning I used half white and half spelt.

Serve them with butter and maple syrup . . . mmmm, good.

Or with butter and some homemade Strawberry Jam!

7 comments:

Jennifer Jo said...

Oh wow. Those pancakes. They look delicious.

Up at 4:30---doesn't that mean it was really 3:30? You just might be asleep before the sun goes down tonight...

I love getting up early. A quiet morning is a precious thing.

Erin said...

I'm with you! I don't much care for pancakes for the way they make me feel after, but love oatmeal or some whole grain with nuts, I get full without feeling "doughy" lol. Just saw the photo of the semi delivering your daughter's wood supply and I have to admit I'm starting to become scared of moving LOL!

Mama Pea said...

Hey, JJ - Yup, it was really 3:30!! (But we gotta stop thinking that way.) I, too, love getting up very early . . . trouble is I'm a person who needs a lot of sleep and I sure have a hard time going to bed early enough at night. Just a bad habit to break, I know.

Hi, Erin - Well, HOPEFULLY that will be more than one winter's worth of wood! But just think of all the exercise one gets from cutting, splitting and stacking all that wood! If we did that as a regular thing (but who would want to?), we could eat ANY THING we wanted and never gain an ounce. ;o)

RuthieJ said...

Those look delicious! I'm going to try that recipe on Wednesday when we're both off. Thanks Mama Pea!

Mama Pea said...

Hi, Ruthie - You are very welcome! Hope you both like 'em. (If not, I bet the birds would eat them! Our chickens got a couple of cold leftovers this morning.)

Jenyfer Matthews said...

OMG - I think you just handed me my new-to-me recipe for the month of March (trying a new recipe every month as my new year's resolution)

I got up early and made pancakes yesterday morning, a multigrain recipe from the Jane Brody cookbook - whole wheat flour, all purpose, wheat germ and 1/4c of another kind of flour of your choice (I used ground flaxseed) We all love them but it's never a bad thing to try something new once in a while :)

Mama Pea said...

Hi, Jen - Hope the oatmeal pancakes worked for you.

Once years ago I made March "try new soups month" and came up with a whole bunch of new, good soups that I still use. Always good to "push" ourselves with resolutions or other goals.