As soon as I survive a week of work and cooking, Saturday morning rolls in and that means that my kids sleep longer and then become ‘hangry’ dinosaurs as soon as they wake up. Weekday breakfasts are pretty simple in my house: we go for some porridge, cereal, bagels, and oatmeal, because there is no way I’m getting up at 6:15am to cook anything even remotely elaborate. And my kids don’t like eggs, so waking at 6:30am and cereal it is.

As I mentioned above, when weekend comes, we are all about some serious breakfast cooking. Kids and husband are, in reality, but I indulge them a little. Sunday mornings are dedicated to my traditional Belgian waffles, but Saturdays mean some type of pancakes.

I have spent many months on Nutrisystem and ate many frozen waffles and pancakes, which were very easy – pop them in the microwave and you’re good to go with a hot meal. While I didn’t like many meals from Nutrisystem, those breakfast creations were usually quite good. One thing I learned from Nutrisystem is the power portion control and while I make plenty of pancakes for my family, I myself eat just 2-3.

My best memory of Nutrisystem is the convenience when I didn’t have to worry about cooking for myself to eat something healthy and small. I still had to prepare food for my kids and husband though, so the cooking break was only partial. This was the main reason to learn healthier ways of cooking instead of relying on frozen food. Frozen diet food is great for short periods of detox, but it’s not realistic for a family life.

So since this Nutrisystem thing didn’t last forever, I dedicated my Saturday mornings to endless search of the best healthy and tasty pancake recipes. Here is what we had last Saturday, and I think Nutrisystem would approve:

Ingredients:

• 2 organic free range eggs
• 1 table spoon of white or raw sugar
• 2 cups of buttermilk or kefir
• ½ teaspoon of baking soda
• A pinch of salt
• 1 2/3 cups of flour of your choice
• Organic coconut oil for cooking

I like these pancakes because preparation is so simple that even kids could do it. Unfortunately not my kids, because neither one of them is interested in cooking, and I am yet to force them to attend my pancake making sessions.

All the ingredients go into the same bowl one after another, so there are no complications or separations of whites and yolks. There is also just one bowl and thus simple cleanup.

I started with two eggs and a tablespoon of sugar in the bowl. I mixed them together very well with hand held mixer. Next went 2 cups of kefir, which also got combined until smooth. Then I put a teaspoon of baking soda, but it was a mistake.

You really just need half of it if you don’t want to taste soda in the pancakes. I definitely learned my lesson here. Baking soda will cause the mixture to rise up a little and bubble.

That’s very normal. Last two ingredients are salt and flour.

If I were to cook for myself I would’ve used whole wheat flour, but I have two littles who would wrinkle their noses at darker pancakes, so I used simple all-purpose flour. I put 1 and 2/3 cups, but you can easily put 2 full ones. The batter should be thick and bubbly.

Once it’s ready, preheat the frying pan with coconut oil. I like to use this oil because it gives a nice mild flavor to the pancakes.

Spoon a few spoons of batter onto the hot pan and cook until the surface starts drying up and bubbles appear.

Then flip and give it another minute or two. These pancakes cook pretty fast and use a lot of oil, so don’t take your eyes off the pan.

You should cook them as soon as the batter is ready and then eat them hot with your favorite side or dip. We all like them differently – kids with jams, my husband with sour cream, and I with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.

Enjoy, don’t over-eat, and stay healthy!