I love these things! Thanks so much, Heather. I feel like I could eat these for breakfast every day. I used the same recipe I used last time, but this time I used all egg whites and added a tablespoon of regular flour in addition to the ground oats. I think this made the pancakes just a bit more fluffy.

The banana butter recipe is really complicated. You guys probably won’t be able to do it. Here’s the complex method:

• Break up a banana into pieces.
• Add about a tablespoon of water.
• Microwave for about a minute (or until banana can be mushed into baby food).

I told you, super complicated. Banana is a great topping for these pancakes because it’s naturally SO sweet. No added sweetener needed.

Fans of sweet, fluffy pancakes might have a hard time adjusting to the taste and texture of these. But I happen to love them, so give ‘em a try!

Oh, I just love pizza. Really any kind will do, but this one was particularly delicious (if I do say so myself). I dreamed this one up when I realized I had a ton of leftover quality BBQ sauce from my BBQ Baked Beans & Sausage. I found some mango chicken sausage at Trader Joe’s (where else?) that I thought would go perfectly with the BBQ sauce, and a dream became reality. Don’t be scared to dream, guys.

I spread pre-made TJ’s whole wheat crust over a square baking sheet, and then added a thin layer of BBQ sauce. After that, I added mozzarella cheese, a ton of spinach, orange bell pepper (this added a mango color!), and some red onion. Last but not least, I added the chicken sausage. Before cooking:

After:

Not much different. Perhaps I went a little crazy with the toppings? No, never. Though my pizza did start to look a little bit like salad. Um, so my sister just informed me that I totally did it backwards. The toppings go first, then the cheesed. WHOOPS. Still yummy.

A bit messy, but oh so worth it. If I made this again, I would be careful to only use enough BBQ sauce to barely wet the dough. It got a little sweet for my taste. Another way to temper the sweetness would be to combine a bit of BBQ sauce with some marinara.

Homemade pizzas are so easy and tasty! Do you know what else is tasty? My sis’s little kittens, Charlie and Olive.

How adorable! But I guess I can barely call them kittens anymore. Sad face.

You guys, what looks and tastes like carbs but has more protein than any protein bar (and none of the weird ingredients)? Protein Pancakes from Heather Eats Almond Butter! I’ve been eyeing these all over the food blog world, and I knew today was the morning to try them out.

I modified her recipe to use 4 egg whites and 1 whole egg (because I only had 5 eggs). I also used food processed multigrain oatmeal to thicken the mix. I had no baking soda on hand, so I used baking powder as a replacement (4 times the amount of baking soda called for). I also added a sprinkle of nutmeg and a few drops of vanilla. Her recipe makes about 6-7 small pancakes, which was the perfect amount. They’re really filling because they’re FULL of protein. I calculated the nutrition info:

Say what?! Nearly 37 grams of protein? I’ll take it, especially because I have a monster workout planned for later today (more on that later).

I dipped my pancakes in homemade blueberry syrup. All you need to do to make it is stick about 1/4 cup of frozen blueberries in the microwave for a minute or two, with sweetener if desired (I used a sprinkling of sucanat). These babies would also taste great with almond butter (obvi) or any other kind of oatmeal topping (coconut, chocolate chips, dried fruit, etc.). Like Heather notes, they’re not the light and fluffy pancakes you might be used to. I actually prefer thinner, more “flapjack”-like pancakes anyway, so these were perfect. I’ll definitely be making these again!

Another winner from Eating Well! Get the recipe here. I’m a fan of baked beans, and this dish tasted exactly like beefed up baked beans. You could easily leave out the sausage to make it vegetarian since beans have plenty of protein on their own. Here’s the profesh version:

I made two small changes: I only had two chicken sausages on hand, and I added a shallot because we had them (and when are shallots not a good addition to a dish?).

I used Lum Taylor’s Riverboat Style BBQ Sauce. My sis did the grocery shopping this week, and I asked her to find a BBQ sauce without HFCS or other weird ingredients. She reported that it was pretty hard to find one where the first or second ingredient wasn’t high fructose corn syrup (and YES, HFCS IS problematic!). Ugh. She did well with this one, even though it does contain a small amount of corn syrup (as part of the Worcestershire sauce). Check out the ingredients:

Nothing weird! Well, except anchovies, but only because I’ve never heard of putting anchovies in BBQ sauce. But it tasted fab!

This recipe was filling and tasted like a classic comfort food. When they say it only takes 30 minutes, they mean it. To make it into a bigger feast, I support Eating Well’s recommendation to serve it with coleslaw. I recommend a mayo-less firecracker slaw like this one.

Follow along as Real Simple posts a new healthy, delicious dinner for every day in January. This could not have come at a better time! I’m starting to get recipe fatigue. I need new ideas, and with this list, I know I won’t have to make any substitutions to create a healthier dish.

A few highlights so far:

Jan. 7: Ham, Gruyere, and Shallot Pizza

Jan. 8: Crispy Chicken & Garlicky Collards

Jan. 11 (MAKE THIS TODAY!): Asparagus and Soft Eggs on Toast

Seriously, check out this link for 31 delicious recipes.

I don’t usually cook as much on the weekends. Even though I have more time, I always feel like I deserve to take a break from cooking when the weekend rolls around. But tonight, we cooked Green Pizza from Eating Well. The recipe description convinced me to try the recipe:

Why not use cooler-weather vegetables like broccoli and arugula as an unconventional pizza topping? The arugula adds a slightly bitter, peppery taste—for a milder flavor, use spinach instead. Serve with wedges of fresh tomato tossed with vinegar, olive oil, basil and freshly ground pepper.

Don’t mind if I do!

Before cooking.

After cooking. I loved this pizza! I’m actually a fan of pizzas without red sauce. This one uses pesto instead, and let it be known: I lo-ooove pesto. With all the green veggies, this pizza tasted light and fresh.

Look at all those green veggies! Gotta love it.

We had one more addition to our household today.

My sister’s coworker found a kitten in a SEWER and managed to get her out. My sister offered to take her in until she’s claimed (if she’s claimed). Her name is Olive. So far, she’s made a very good friend for wild child cat Charlie.

A few nights ago, my sister and I broke out our slow cooker for the first time to make Chicken & Sweet Potato Stew from Eating Well.

Slow cookers are almost too good to be true: Throw some raw ingredients in there before you go to work or whatever, and 5-8 hours later, you have a delicious feast. You can buy them for as little as $25-30. As long as you put in a little prep ahead of time, come dinner time, you can afford to be as lazy as you want.

To make our stew, we subbed chicken breasts for the recommended chicken thighs because neither of us like thighs. This recipe was sweet, hearty, and delish, but it was lacking some green. In the future, I’d serve it with a side veggie or salad. I’d also consider serving this over brown rice or whole wheat pasta, because it’s a little on the liquid-y side.

Anything that has shallots and white wine as ingredients is pretty much guaranteed to be tasty.