You Are What You Eat—Start Your Day With A Smile

I like to remember that putting joy in family mealtimes is as easy as 1, 2, 3—create, model, and encourage. My twist on a favourite pancake recipe will show you what I mean J

1.     Create: Happy Pancakes

Do you ever have trouble getting the entire family together for breakfast on weekday mornings? I know I do! Most early mornings I find myself wandering from bedroom to bedroom, eyes half open, turning off kids’ alarm clocks—it must be a mother’s intuition to awaken at every sound, and a child’s intuition to sleep like a log.

One sure way to revive the whole crew is to waft freshly baked aromas through the house—and freshly flipped Happy Pancakes are one of the best aroma-therapy alarm clocks I have discovered!

You might be thinking, “Are you kidding me? I’ll never get everyone sitting around the breakfast table eating together in the morning!” No worries—if any family members need to zoom through the kitchen as they fly out the door to early morning sports, music, or club meetings, they will be happy to be handed two of these delicious, warm, and fragrant pancakes, wrapped in a napkin—a welcome change to that store-bought granola bar! These pancakes are a fabulous to-go finger food (minus the butter and syrup toppings), and easy to eat on the bus or car ride in the morning.

2.     Model: Family discussion idea

Serving Happy Pancakes in the morning creates the perfect opportunity to discuss “figures of speech”. Even very young children can join in. You can model the idea by asking if anyone has heard of the term “figure of speech”. Then contribute the idea that “you are what you eat”. Hold up a Happy Pancake and, with a big smile on your face, take a bite! You are certain to have a happy mirrored response J

 

3.     Encourage: Continued discussions

Even if there are no other figures of speech discussed right away, you have now created a wonderful family memory to talk about another day. This might be a great conversation starter in a week or two when the family is in the car. Ask if anyone remembers that delicious figure of speech they ate recently. Once they recall the Happy Pancakes, you could ask whether they have heard of any additional figures of speech recently. If not—that’s fine! Perhaps they will be feeling more open to tell you something else they learned recently, and your family drive will be full of pleasant conversation (especially if you have packed a freshly-baked snack for the road—but that’s another story!).

Happy Pancakes Recipe

(yield: 10-12 pancakes)

2 eggs
4 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups buttermilk (or 2 Tbsp vinegar topped with milk to equal 2 cups)
2 cups flour*
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

* I like barley flour for pancakes—it has a nutty flavour, and being low in gluten, allows kids to mix endlessly without affecting the texture of your batter.

Wisk together wet ingredients; Stir in dry ingredients until fully blended. To make your pancakes happy, reserve ½ cup batter, adding 1 tsp cocoa powder, 1 tsp sugar, and 1 Tbsp milk; mix until smooth.

Heat griddle to 350⁰F. Using the reserved chocolate batter and a teaspoon, pour a smiling mouth shape, plus two pancake batter dots for eyes, in each pancake location on your pan or griddle. Wait 20-30 seconds for the batter to set, and then pour the main batter over the smiles using a 1/3 cup measure (or size of your choice). When they edges of the pancakes appear dry, and bubbles in the center begin to pop, carefully turn over with a spatula. Voila! The smiles appear! Cook for 1-2 minutes longer, until browned underneath. Serve with your favourite toppings, or stack next to a bowl of fresh fruit for “grabbing” on the way out the door.