The Easiest, Tastiest, Speltiest Pancakes. For One (or two).

Dear “the gym”, I know it has been a long time since I last checked in. I miss you deeply and hope that you have been keeping well. My body is starting to show signs of your absence from my life and it would appear that life is much better with you around. I long for the days when you would get me all hot and sweaty and routinely push me out of my comfort zone. The only visits I regret are the ones I haven’t made. Until we meet again…xox.

The above is my sad, sad love letter to my partner in living fit. It’s really starting to weigh on me that I haven’t stepped foot in the gym since the year began. And after spending the last week and a half suffering from the weirdest virus, I’ve been inspired to re-commit to living a healthy lifestyle. I actually love working out, I’m just finding it impossible to settle back into my routine. The real threat to my fitness goals is my love-hate relationship with my kitchen. On the one hand, I love good food, but I just don’t particularly enjoy cooking. For one thing, I lack foresight, so I have the tendency to only remember to feed myself when I’m already hungry. This doesn’t bode well for a meal that is going to take 2 hours to prepare. Secondly, it’s just such an easy task to avoid. There are two restaurants on my (residential) street, and a hundred others within a 20 minute walk from home in any direction – many of them have specials or send me coupons that make this a lot less expensive than it sounds. When I work late, I can expense my meal. If I’m meeting up with friends or the beau, well we can’t hang out without food in front of us. That’s crazy talk.

But what these workarounds provide in terms of speed and ease does not compensate for how they fall short in terms of the nutrition and energy I need to get through my never-ending days. I knew that in order for me to follow through with making better choices, I had to be able to create simple meals (usually for one since I live alone) that tasted delicious, and could be made in half an hour or less. Simple because the dishes afterwards is the bane of my existence. Tasty because, well, obviously. And quick to ensure that I wouldn’t be so overwhelmed by the thought of preparation that I’d head downstairs for the fastest thing I could procure.

Late last year, I was on a total spelt kick. I bought the pasta, I bought the flour, and I looked for it in my baked goods. Then I had a terrible experience with trying to make spelt fried dumplings (a Jamaican breakfast item) – what was I thinking?? – and the flour got pushed into the back of the cupboard somewhere. But over the holidays, when we were experiencing arctic weather and going outside was the last thing I wanted to do, I decided to make use of the things I had on hand. And thus, these pancakes were born. They are now my ultimate, favourite, healthy breakfast. I usually make them on the weekend and then freeze a couple for a mid-week snack. The yield is about 5-6 small pancakes, which works for when you’re having a pancake craving and don’t have a whole household to feed. The recipe also works for two people, but you’d probably want to supplement it with some other breakfast items if you don’t want to be hungry within an hour.

Easiest Speltiest Banana Pancakes

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 cup spelt flour
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 t baking powder

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk (I typically use a vanilla almond or soy milk, but whatever you have should be fine)
• Optional: if you’ve used an unsweetened milk, you can add 1 t agave syrup and 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 3/4 of a large banana, sliced
• coconut oil (for cooking)

Directions: Mix the dry ingredients together. Heat a small (non-stick) frying pan on medium with 1 t coconut oil. Add the milk (and syrup/vanilla, if used) to the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in the bananas gently until covered. Use a measuring cup or spouted mixing bowl to pour the batter into the pan on low-medium heat. When the pancake begins to bubble on top, flip and cook the other side. You can add more coconut oil as you cook your pancakes, if necessary.

I made these on a whim and decided to post them halfway through, so I wasn’t prepared to shoot food porn, but this is about quick and easy gratuitous deliciousness, not impressing your friends at brunch. Though, you can definitely sex them up with your choice of fruit, syrup and/or cream, and fancy dishware. If you do decide to freeze some for another day, just pop them into the toaster to defrost. Healthy never tasted so good.

While these pancakes are a treat, on most days during the week, I just have boring, old instant oatmeal for breakfast. Do you guys have any tips for a healthy breakfast on the go?