Pancake Party Time

I LOVE pancakes. It is certainly one of my favorite foods, and if I had the time to make them every morning, I would. (Oh wait, I do...)

Today I have to share my favorite pancake recipe that I've tried so far, which was given to me by a great friend of mine. A friend who I must also give big props to for essentially getting me hooked on running. Marion was my roommate when we were both interns at the U.S. Olympic Committee... and at the time, she was training for a half marathon. I agreed to do a long run with her, never having run more than 5-6 miles prior to this. Marion promised it'd be right around 10 miles. We finished, both exhausted, and she looked at me and said something along the lines of,  "I'm sorry, I don't like to lie to you, but we really did 13 miles. I just wanted you to know you could do a half."

Mar & Me

And that's how it all began. Prior to that day, I had serious doubts about being able to run distance, and no real reason to run a half marathon. That following week, I signed up for the Horsetooth Half Marathon, and the rest is history.

However, back to the recipe. I've tweaked it for my own liking, and found it to be phenomenal. Perfect combo of carbs, fat and sugar to revamp your body after a hard workout/long run.

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tbsp sugar (I use Truvia)
1 egg
1 tbsp of apple sauce (or oil, if you need that extra fat)
1 cup of milk (your choice)

Mix all of that together first, then throw it in the fridge for a couple of minutes to thicken, while you work on the next step.

The topping is next, which in my opinion, is what make these particular pancakes so great. What you need:

1-2 bananas, sliced and quartered length-wise
2 tbsp of butter/margarine
Handful of pecans
1-2 tbsp of pure maple syrup

Start by melting the butter in a frying pan, with the heat on low-medium. Once melted, add in the syrup, nuts, and bananas. Saute this mixture of goodness until the bananas get soft and begin to caramelize.

Next, grab the pancake batter out of the fridge and cook up some cakes on medium heat, adding enough batter to the pan to make whatever size pancakes your little heart desires. Once the pancakes are done, top with your bananas, and voila! Greatness. This pancakes are always guaranteed to keep me full for at least a few hours. (few things do this)

The final masterpiece

I also throw a handful of chia seeds on top, just to get some extra protein. Treat your body to a plate of this as a refueling meal; you won't regret it!