Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

One of my favorite things about breakfast is that it's so versatile! Whether you're in the mood for something sweet, savory, healthy, indulgent, or a mix of everything you can get it for breakfast. Now, I love pancakes as much as the next person, but they're one of those foods that always leaves me feeling overly full. Who wants to start their day that way? (Probably the same people who would actually be willing to give up pancakes!). I decided to go for a healthier version of pancake that has no flour, no sugar, and no guilt. I got it off Pinterest a long time ago and was drawn to it again after going through some of my old pins - and having a craving for pancakes. These pancakes are a healthy alternative that don't actually taste like an alternative. These are the best option for those days that you feel like a big breakfast without wrecking the rest of your day!

What You'll Need:

2 eggs

1 banana (mashed up)

1/2 cup of oats

1/4 cup of applesauce

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

What To Do:

1. In a food processor, grind up your oats until it turns into a fine powder. I used a Nutribullet because I have a special blade for this sort of thing but a magic bullet would work too.

2. Mix all of your ingredients in a bowl, being certain to fully incorporate the oat powder. 

3. Spray a skillet with non-stick cooking spray. Ladle about 1/3 of a cup of the batter into the pan. Once bubbles start to form on the non-cooked side it should be okay to flip.

*If you want to add things to the batter (i.e. fruit, nuts, chocolate chips, etc.) then you can add it to the raw side of the pancake before you flip it. 

4. Once the other side of the pancake is golden brown, serve immediately. 

5. You can use regular maple syrup (like I did) or you can garnish with fruit, walnuts, or whipped cream. Serve with some eggs and turkey bacon (or "Fakon" if that's still a thing) and you have yourself a fabulous, guilt-free, breakfast! ENJOY!

Granola Clusters

Raise your hand if you're still keeping up with your New Year's resolution. Be honest, now. I have to admit that I got a slow start to mine but I'm still going. After all these years I've finally added the "eating healthy" resolution to my life. It's all part of making a better, happier me. I adapted this recipe from Cookies and Cups after needing more healthy snack and dessert options. Nothing is worse than working out or doing really good with your daily diet and feeling like you ruined everything with an unhealthy snack. Enter GRANOLA CLUSTERS! These little clusters are perfectly crunchy and just sweet enough and fill you up quicker than other junk food snacks! My favorite part was that even though there are quite a bit of ingredients, this recipe is so customizable that you could mix and match the ingredients with things that you have. Here's to us and our New Year's Resolutions!

What You'll Need:

2 1/2 cups oats (not instant)

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup dried cherries

1 cup flaked coconut

2 cups corn flakes (lightly crushed)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 chopped walnuts

1 beaten egg white

What To Do:

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.

2. Line a large cookie sheet with non-stick foil or parchment paper and set aside.

3. In a large bowl mix all of your ingredients together. It's sort of a running joke between Mike and I that I never mix things in large enough bowls. So, my friends, use a LARGE bowl because there are a lot of ingredients.

*Spray your measuring cup with a little cooking spray in order to get all of the honey out of it.

4. Put the mixture on you cookie sheet and spread it around evenly.

5. Bake the granola for 25 minutes then turn off your oven but keep your granola in there until the oven cools. This was a great tip from Shelly (author of Cookies and Cups) that makes all the difference in how crunchy your granola gets.

**Her blog also has good tips on how to get less crunchy granola if that's not really your thing.

***As I mentioned, there are a lot of things that would go great in these. I happened to only have walnuts and dried cherries, because I love to snack on them, but cranberries, raisins, almonds, chocolate chips, or a mix of all of these would be a great addition. 

6. Once it's cooled start to break off pieces. The bottom will form a sort of crust that keeps everything together and is insanely delicious.

7. Save the mix in a air-tight container and enjoy throughout your day!