Lunchtime + Pancakes

My son only has one week of preschool left and I am so ready to take a break from packing lunches. We stumbled upon this easy lunch idea last week, and combining two meals has made both of us happy. If we have pancakes for breakfast I intentionally make extra, cut two in half, then place them in a container along with some maple syrup to dip them in. Putting the syrup in with the pancakes helps secure it and the extra lid on top prevents leaks. (I use small stainless steel containers I picked up at Target for the syrup, but I think these or any tupperware-type combo would work too.)

Below is my absolute favorite whole wheat waffle/pancake recipe, which I usually halve. If you like the convenience of a mix you can combine all the dry ingredients in a bag and just add the wet stuff later.

Combine:
2 C. whole wheat flour
1/4 C. sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking Soda
2 1/2 tsp baking Powder

add:
1/4 C melted butter or oil (I use butter)
3 Egg whites or 2 eggs (I use one whole egg with the half recipe and 2 whole eggs with the whole recipe. I figure my kids still need all the good stuff. You can separate the eggs and beat and fold in the whites at the end for extra good texture. It is good either way.)
Add buttermilk till the consistency is right. (With our waffle iron, these cook better if the batter is thicker.)

Stir completely without over stirring. Consistency should be not thick and not runny. The half recipe usually makes just under four cups of batter for me.

--Small frozen blueberries are a great addition. I have also started adding flax seed meal and wheat germ with the flour, probably about 1/4 cup or so for a half batch. The waffles are still light and delicious, but I would suggest making them plain first to get a feel for the batter. I also occasionally sub honey for the sugar and applesauce for the oil and they still work.