First Day of School

I cannot believe school has started again and like good mothers everywhere this morning I made pancakes, but not just any pancakes, Flax Pancakes. Well they were actually Hungry Jack Pancakes mix, plus 1/4 cup ground flax seed. Ground flax seed is a wonderful ingredient you can add to almost anything (cakes, muffins, cereal, yogurt, meatloaf) to add additional fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and many other wonderful healthful properties. I have found just adding a 1/4 cup to our pancake batter makes the pancakes more filling, and it adds just a bit denser texture, which makes the pancakes easier to flip. You can find ground flax seed on the cereal aisle at G&W, just make sure you pick up ground because your body cannot break down the whole seed, so if you buy whole seed you will have to grind it yourself.

This batch finished off my box of just add water Hungry Jack mix, so now I am on the search for a better pancake mix, while looking at the list of ingredients this morning on our box I noticed that Hungry Jack uses partially hydrogenated soybean oil :( up until recently I thought as long as a product said Trans fat free, then it really was trans fat free, but this is not true, as long as the product has less than .5 grams per serving of trans fat then the product can be labeled as trans fat free, but several servings of seemingly trans fat free foods that really aren't can really add up!! I realize I can't manage to keep my kiddos from eating any trans fat, but I can try to limit their exposure to it as much as possible. Trans fat was once explained to me as plastic we put into our body, it is so far from anything natural that the body has a very difficult time dealing with it, which explain why it lowers your good cholesterol and raises your bad along with a whole bunch of other lovely side effects.

That batter looks a little strange, but just trust me. You might find you need to add just a bit more liquid to your usual pancake batter if you add the ground flax seed, I had to add 3-4 tablespoons more water until it was the right consistency.



Don't they look yummy??


Now with peanut butter, banana, and a bit of maple syrup ~~ swoon. . .

Colten thought I should show you he made a happy plate. . .

What kind of pancakes do you make? Do you worry about the amount of trans fat your family consumes? Did you make a special breakfast did you make this morning for your kiddos?