Pancakes of Power

I used to cook out of La Leche League's Whole Foods for the Whole Family all the time. One of the most spattered pages in the book is full of pancake recipes, including a recipe for cottage cheese pancakes. A Twitter pal mentioned those pancakes earlier today, and I was swamped by a surge of nostalgia. I used to feed these to my two oldest children all the time: quick, easy, tasty, cheap, filling, full of protein. Who could ask for anything more? They are not actually called Pancakes of Power in the Whole Foods for the Whole Family index, but that book is overdue for a reboot anyway. Here's all you have to do:

Chuck 4 eggs, a cup of cottage cheese, and a half-cup of whole wheat flour into the blender. Add about a third of a cup of milk, depending on your preferred pancake consistency. If you'd like, you can add other ingredients: a bit of salt, a little vanilla, or a tiny pinch of baking soda if your cottage cheese is very tangy. You don't need any of that other stuff, though; you can just blend those first four ingredients and fry up your pancakes in butter. Serve to hungry children along with your preferred pancake toppings.

My mother-in-law gave me that copy of Whole Foods for the Whole Family for Christmas in 1996. Alex's due date was December 24, and all of my in-laws were at our house the next day to open presents and eat dinner. (My suggestion that perhaps Elwood and I could have a quiet Christmas on our own had been met with snorts of derision. OF COURSE we would all spend Christmas together! If I couldn't come to them, they would come to me! I had been firmly instructed that I WAS NOT to wait too long to have the baby. Alex and I failed to heed that particular part of their instructions, though; his birthday is December 30.)

I pored over those pages as if they contained the Secret to Good Mothering. In the process I learned how to make homemade whole grain bread, and how to grow my own sprouts, and how to eyeball a batch of white sauce so I didn't need canned cream-of-whatever soup in my pantry. I learned that when you make multigrain pancakes, you should thin out the batter a little bit and turn down the heat a little bit. I learned that carob brownies are not actually very brownie-esque, but I took them to potlucks anyway.

Somewhere along the way I moved on to other cookbooks. But the phrase "cottage cheese pancakes" can take me right back. I can see myself at 27 with toddler Alex on my left hip, pouring pancake batter out of the blender jar into sizzling butter.

Comments

[GretchenJoanna]

I never had that particular cookbook but I learned to make Power Pancakes from a Zone Diet group online. Their recipe had oat flour and no milk -- I made hundreds of these over the years for my late husband mostly, after all the children had flown the nest. I would make a huge batch and package them in a bundle of three for him to take out of the fridge or freezer to microwave for breakfast before leaving for his early morning job.

They really are adaptable and sooo good as you point out, fried in butter :-) But I haven't had one in ages, and now I've got the longing... Thank you for sharing!

[Emily J]

I didn't have that cookbook, but around that time I started going to La Leche League meetings and met friends who are still dear to me today, even though we don't see each other often. That group put together its own copied and stapled cookbook that brings back happy memories, although I rarely use it anymore. Homemade granola bars and a honey wheat bread were favorites, along with those no-bake cookies made of oatmeal, powdered milk, peanut butter, honey and cocoa powder. My daughter puts flax and chia seeds in them sometimes, too.

[Hannah Powers]

The comb binding on my copy of Whole Foods for the Whole Family disintegrated sometime around 2000 and since then it has lived in a gallon sized freezer bag with my favorite pages shuffled to the top of the pile. Lots of good family favorites.