Revamping Breakfast - Starting with Pancakes

We often ate frozen waffles, frozen pancakes, frozen french toast sticks, etc. for breakfast. Then, one day it hit me, I could probably make these things way cheaper then what I was paying for boxes of pre-made, frozen ones (even with coupons!). Since my kids LOVE pancakes, I started with those. I had a box of baking mix, so I made up some pancakes. It was cheaper, and I felt a little a better about giving them these "homemade" pancakes instead of the frozen ones. I even made extra and put them in the freezer, so I wouldn't compromise on convenience (a necessity for my mornings!)

Then after few months, I was trying to get us into eating more whole grains, and "whole" foods in general. And I thought about it, how hard would it be to just make them totally from scratch? Instead of baking mix, I just need flour, oil, baking soda, etc. Not to difficult. So I searched for recipes, and after trying a few, and tweaking them, we found our favorite. Adam loves to eat these strait out of the freezer. I have to hide these in these basement freezer, otherwise he eats them all!

I usually make a 1 or 2 batches of these at a time, and then freeze them, so that I have them for a couple weeks (if Adam doesn't find them). That way I am only spending one day cooking, the rest of the times we eat them, its just heating them up from the freezer. And when I make them, I use my griddle, that way I can make 8 of these at once!! Another great time saver ;)

These are way cheaper, way yummier, and better for you then the frozen pancakes! I am still trying to find the best waffle recipe, so when I find that, I will post!

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Oatmeal Pancakes
(adapted from Money Saving Mom)

• 5 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup quick oats
• 3 Tablespoons baking powder
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 5 1/4 cups milk*
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 9 Tablespoons sugar**

Combine flour, oatmeal, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Beat milk, butter, eggs and sugar together.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the wet ingredients and mix together.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray or add a sliver of butter. (Or I use my griddle at 350*)

Pour 1/8 cup of batter onto hot skillet. Cook pancake bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until golden brown on the other side.

Makes about 56 medium sized pancakes (If that is too many for you, simply cut the recipe in half)

Nutrition Info - (per pancake - my kids normally eat 2) Calories: 89 Fat: 2 g Carbs: 12 g Protein: 3 g

Freezer Instructions:

Cool pancakes. Lay on a cookie sheet and flash freeze for 1-2 hours. Put in a freezer bag, remove all air and seal. Freeze.

To serve: Reheat in microwave or toaster oven for a few minutes. Or, lay pancakes on a cookie sheet and heat in oven at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes. Serve.

*Crystal (Moneysavingmom.com) said she uses clearence milk that she freezes. I never see milk clearanced at the stores I shop at. But, if there is a really good sale on milk, I will buy extra and freeze it for this recipe, since it uses so much.
**She uses raw sugar, I haven't made this switch yet, so I am just using regular sugar, for now.

Price Comparison:
These pancakes = $0.08/pancake!
Kellogg's Eggo Buttermilk Pancakes = $0.20/pancake
SAVINGS: $0.12/pancake