Banana Oatmeal 2.0

Banana Oatmeal with Pecans and Cinnamon

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I've got recipes and experiments that I thought would turn out great, and somehow managed to flop tremendously. This is one of those recipes that went horribly wrong the first time, but I got smart, fixed my mistakes, and now have an awesome breakfast item that is just killer. And if you don't like coconut/don't have coconut oil, don't fret. There's a peanut butter version as well down in the notes section.






Ingredients:

1 ripe banana
1 Tbs. coconut oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 - 1/3 cup pecans halves (or any type of nut), crushed
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Honey to taste

Instructions:

On medium/low heat, melt the coconut oil in a small sauce pan. Add applesauce and mashed banana. Stir infrequently until oil is integrated and begins to bubble, about 5 min. Remove from heat, and add honey, cinnamon, and pecans. Mix and enjoy!

Notes:

*Unsweetened applesauce is easy to find. Just make sure it doesn't have anything added (i.e. cinnamon or sugar).
*Feel free to experiment. Try adding apple chunks or dried fruit.
*I love my oatmeal chunky, so I prefer 1/3 cup crushed pecans. If you're more of a mushy oatmeal person, cut it to 1/4 cup crushed pecans. And you could even remove the nuts completely if you'd like.
*Version 2.0 comes out a lot thicker, and the oil doesn't separate from the rest of the "oatmeal". All around a better recipe.

Banana Pancakes

Banana pancakes with magic syrup

This is a delicious any time of the day meal that's so easy to make. A staple for me at 11pm when the last thing I want to do is cook. Listed below is the way I like to make it.












Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas
3 large eggs
2 Tbs peanut butter
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (optional)
1 handful pecans (optional)

Instructions:

Beat the bananas and eggs together. Add any other ingredients and blend well. Preheat skillet to medium. Add butter to the skillet and allow it to melt. Add batter to the buttered skillet, no more than 4" in diameter (No bigger than the size of your fist). Cook until air bubbles pop on top (the bottom will be a nice golden brown). Flip and allow to cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Notes:

*The most important things in this recipe are the bananas and the eggs. From there, go crazy! Experiment with what you have or what sounds good.
*Adjust the temperature accordingly. It's really easy to burn these pancakes if you're not prepared for it, so try it out on a medium setting first, then adjust to a medium high if it doesn't cook well.
*The butter is vital for the pancakes. It does two things. One, it helps in allowing it to flip when it's cooked, because the egg likes to stick to the skillet. It also keeps the pancake together, because without flour, there's no binding agent apart from the egg.
*The larger it is, the harder it'll be to flip, and without the flour holding it all together like in normal pancakes, you'll have a big challenge ahead of you if you make them too big.

Additional Info:

I like serving these with fruit and honey butter. For the honey butter, I mix equal parts of honey and melted butter together, then serve as a syrup substitute.

Even better is the Magic Syrup.