Quinoa oatmeal pancakes
I've been sitting on this recipe a few weeks now, just waiting for the right sort of something to say alongside it. Now barely a full week into 2015, I'm already battling a case of over-crowding in the brain that tends to clog out clarity. The kind of mental chatter that attaches to guilt from at once taking on too much and not stretching to do more, or at least that's the perception. Stuff that needs to be expelled with some deep belly breaths and a few meditative moments of Debussy behind quiet eyelids...or something along those lines. That's what I've decided is going to happen...in ten minutes or so... and the thought alone has cleared a pathway to knock this post out already so we can enjoy quinoa oatmeal pancakes again soon.
It's not like it wouldn't have been a simple task to say something about these easy, warming pancakes that crush a comfort brunch craving with nourishing satisfaction. Another bonus, they're dependable in a pinch, quick to whip up with nothing but cupboard staples, once you've got the quinoa flour. I'm sure other flours would work, too, but with a little milled quinoa stretching a long way, why deny the power-packed superstar a chance to shine?
Talking about stretching...it's a stretch to forge connection here, but I must say it's been handy acquiring hearty recipes like these that can magically be materialized in little time out of deceptively empty cupboards. Grocery shopping with the Little Monkey has been a tad more challenging lately. He's so mobile...an ultra runner in training; he can eat and run, and run and run and run, fast, even with his adorable, lingering little wobble. He runs on far too little sleep for his wee 16 months, yet so far seems unaffected, which is much more than we can say for ourselves as his parents. We've yet to leave the shopping cart filled with groceries in the store, as I hear inevitably happens once toddlers discover the empowering impact of well-timed tantrums; but we have been testing the limits of stamina at times. (Actually, I did leave the shopping cart in the store mid-shop once, but it had nothing to do with the Little and everything to do with me freaking out with certainty I'd burned the house down with homemade fig jam in a sauce pot. I hadn't--but that's another story and more evidence of cerebral cortex overload.)
To be fair, while grocery shopping with tot in tow may not be quite as breezy-easy these days, it's really not bad either. A little reluctance stems from lamenting the confinement of my energizer bunny in going from car seat to cart seat, or car-cart seat. It's so at odds with his moves and grooves,his breathtakingly on-the-go M.O. So last week, I took an opportunity to take care of a "big shop" grocery run alone, leaving Little Monkey happily playing at home with Daddy and current favorite playmate, grandma "Nanny" visiting from England.
Everyone's heard the saying, you know you're a mom when a trip alone to the grocery store feels like a vacation, right? It's pretty cute and catchy, and makes so much sense I didn't question but that I'd enjoy a sense of sweeping relief on my King Sooper's mini-break. I guess in a way I did--the trip was easy and efficient. But I missed my little hero/sidekick gleefully driving his car cart with gravelly "vroom vrooms". I ran into friends among the aisles and felt a flicker of awkwardness for being without him. Sixteen months into this marvelous parenting business, and I still feel a little like I've left an organ behind when first venturing out solo. My busy brain harbors some concern that these feelings are a foundation for over-dependency and hovering. The grand goal, after all, is letting go. On the other hand, there's so much joy to be drawn from loving connection. Nothing is more powerful in reinforcing being present. So I'm focusing on the now. Now is a good time to embrace the warmth, let go the clutter, and be glad.
Quinoa oatmeal pancakes
- 3/4 cup quinoa flour
- 3/4 cup quick oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- dash cinnamon
- dash salt
- 1 cup almond or other milk
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 eggs
- Cooking spray
- Combine the first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.
- Make a well in flour mixture and add milk, oil, and eggs, and combine with a whisk. Stir to combine with dry ingredients.
- Heat a nonstick griddle over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Spoon batter onto griddle. Turn pancakes over when tops are covered with bubbles.