Wazzzzzzzuuuuuuppppp????  Remember those old Budweiser commercials?  Ha, they really need to bring those back!  Anyway, what’s up good people (and bad people too – I don’t discriminate)?  Thanks for dropping by.  Before we get started, since today is March 6, let’s give a shoutout to my niece LaNaya since it’s her birthday today! Ironically, it’s also my ex-girlfriend’s birthday.  We’re on good terms now but that used to be the worst!  Haha how do you forget someone when they share the same birthday as a loved one or a major event!  I’ll have to keep that in mind if I ever breakup with anyone born on Christmas lol but anyway yes, Happy Birthday LaLa! 

I was going to post a picture of me holding her as a baby but I’m not sure if that would embarrass her and I wouldn’t want to risk having her “accidentally” kick my life support plug out of the wall someday!  Even though I never had to actually change her diapers when I babysat her back in the day (I used to always trick my female friends into doing it for me lol), since I don’t currently have any kids I may need her and my nephews to change mine at some point!  So we’ll skip the photo here but again, Happy Birthday NayNay!

Okay so calling my niece is on my agenda for today but speaking of major events, do you know what tomorrow is (I’d sure hope so… the title and photos didn’t clue you in Sherlock lol)?!  Why yes, it’s National Pancake Day!  I know that I discussed silly national days in my blog post a few weeks ago, but this one is well deserved because…well…because it’s pancakes!  Duh?!  Pancakes are awesome!  Before we continue our celebration of this mighty breakfast (and lunch…and dinner) treat, a quick haiku (if you weren’t paying attention in High School English, that’s a 3 line poem of 5, 7 then 5 syllables….you’re welcome):  

Delicious Pancakes

How I Love Thee oh so Much

Get in My Belly!

-An ode to pancakes, by Darrell W. Butler

I know, I teared up a bit too reading that.  Take a second if you need to compose yourself after such a moving tribute (Hey, I just noticed that if I substitute the word pancakes for pizza, tacos or bacon it still works!) but yes, tomorrow we celebrate those round, fluffy golden-brown cakes that bring joy to the world (and again, no, I’m not talking about Kim Kardashian’s “break the internet” photos, we’re still talking about pancakes)!

To celebrate, IHOP will be giving away a free short stack of their original buttermilk pancakes from 7am until 7pm (some locations will keep going until 10pm so check with your local restaurant)!  Instead of paying, customers are asked to donate to its partner charities, the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Shriners Hospitals for Children and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  Since they began this effort in 2006, they’ve raised more than $24 million for charity! Whoa, that’s a lot of flapjacks! 

A great cause and free food?  What’s not to love?  But there has been some debate over the true “National Pancake Day” because while IHOP dominates this day in March, many believe that the true National Pancake Day was on February 28^th in conjunction with Mardi Gras.  Fat Tuesday aka Shrove Tuesday takes place annually the week before Lent and 7 weeks before Easter.  That day is often celebrated by eating pancakes since it’s the last day of heavy consumption before fasting begins in many Christian religions.  My solution?  Eat them on both days!  Again, it’s pancakes y’all… pancakes!  Another haiku:

Spread butter gently,

Hot syrup drips down the sides,

Pancakes, I love you

-50 Shades of pancakes by Darrell W. Butler

Oh yeah, that was hot huh?  Again, take a moment to compose yourself.  Towel anyone?  Speaking of hot, let’s take a closer look at the pancake tank top! 

Lol don’t be jelly, you know you want one too!  Hahaha all these shirts I have with food on them helps in case I drop anything, it just blends in! 

Naturally, the IHOP lines are going to be a zoo tomorrow so still donate to those worthy causes but as far as getting your pancake fix, that may cost you a few hours of waiting in line.  So instead, you might want to just whip up a batch and celebrate at home.  With that said, here are a few recipes including gluten free and protein-packed pancakes for those who are trying to build those summer bodies already.  Oh and despite my bias for plain pancakes (just like Oreos, I’m down with the original with an ice cold glass of milk), I’ll include some other flavors as well.  But before we get to that……….another haiku!  Lol

Like a Poker Game

Just hit me, hit me again

Pancake Buffet Line.

-Endless Pancake Buffet by Darrell W. Butler

I know… “the feels” right?  These poems are almost as romantic as The Valentine’s Day Special was… Okay, now on to the recipes!

 

 

 

Good Old Fashioned Pancakes

Courtesy of Dakota Kelly of Allrecipes

5 minutes prep, 15 minutes cooking time, 20 minutes total.  Serves 8

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 1/4 cups milk

1 egg

3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth. 

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

German Apple Pancake Recipe

Courtesy of Yvonne Ruperti of Serious Eats

Total time 45 minutes, serves 8

Ingredients

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

5 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup yogurt

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter

1 pound 12 ounces (4 to 5 medium) tart cooking apples, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/2-inch wedges

Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

Adjust rack to upper middle position and preheat oven to 500°F. Whisk flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, and salt in medium bowl to combine. Whisk in milk, yogurt, eggs, and vanilla until just combined; set batter aside.

Stir remaining 4 tablespoons sugar with cinnamon in a small bowl. Heat butter in 10-inch non-stick oven-safe skillet over medium heat until melted. Increase heat to medium high and add apples and cinnamon-sugar to pan. Cook, stirring frequently, until apples have softened and are beginning to caramelize, 6 to 8 minutes.

Remove from heat, pour batter over apples and immediately place pan in oven. Reduce heat to 425°F and bake until pancake is puffed, just set in center, and golden around the edges, about 15 minutes.

Cool pan on wire rack for about 15 minutes, then carefully invert pancake onto serving plate. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.

Flourless Gluten Free Banana Pancakes

Courtesy of Eugenie

Prep time 10 minutes, Cook time 15 minutes, serves 1

Ingredients

1½ large bananas, ripe to overripe (200g; 7 oz)

2 eggs

⅛ teaspoon baking powder

Maple syrup, butter, or blueberries, to serve

Directions

In a mixing bowl, crack in the eggs and add in baking powder. And whisk to combine.

In another bowl add in 1½ large bananas. Lightly mash with a potato masher or a fork, but not too much. There should be chunks of bananas to make fluffy pancakes. And use only ripe bananas.

Pour wet mixture into mashed bananas and stir to combine.

In a frying pan, cook mini pancakes over a medium low heat. 1 or 2 tablespoons of batter is enough for each mini pancake. When the baking powder is activated, flip it over and cook for about one minute more. Serve immediately when hot.  Amy Rangel of Sandy Springs, GA shared a similar recipe and recommended serving these with Agave Raw Organic Syrup and honey.  Thanks for the tip Amy!

EGG WHITE AND OATMEAL PROTEIN PANCAKE

Courtesy of Julie at Peanut Butter Fingers

Prep time 2 minutes, cook time 2 minutes, serves 1

 

 

INGREDIENTS

1 cup egg whites

⅓ cup oats

1 packet stevia or 2 teaspoons sugar or a couple of drops of liquid stevia

Cinnamon to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Spray pan with cooking spray and heat over a medium high heat

Stir all ingredients together until adequately combined and pour into pan

When the pancake begins to turn white and the edges of the pancake begin to harden, flip and cook for another one to two minutes

Top with syrup, nut butter, fresh fruit or slivered almonds and enjoy

Okay, I could literally post pancake recipes all day lol there are a million out there but hopefully those got your creative juices flowing.  If you like buttermilk, you can obviously swap regular milk for some buttermilk in the first recipe.  Oh and if you like the idea of adding extra protein to your recipes, here are a few companies that make protein-packed pancake mixes that are already prepped (try saying that 5 times fast)!

Met-RX – available at Bodybuilding.com, The Vitamin Shoppe, Walmart and more.  Just add water and you’re ready to go! here’s their website:  http://www.metrx.com/products/

Mancakes (lol Mancakes…if I’m cast in Magic Mike 3 I think that’ll be my stage name lol) – No gluten, no soy, no GMO’s and tons of protein.  Oh yeah, plus they also make syrup!  Here’s their website: https://www.eatmancakes.com/

Or for even more baking flexibility, you can go with a protein powder.  Instead of selecting a flavor like vanilla or strawberry that might influence the taste, check out a flavorless option like this multi-purpose protein from Quest Nutrition. 

While you can bake with any protein really, Quest really has really perfected this technique.  You can just ad a scoop to your favorite recipes (you may also need to ad more liquid to maintain the consistency of your recipe) and instantly ad 24 grams of protein to any meal without changing the taste!  They have tons of recipes online as well.  Here’s their website:  www.questnutrition.com

This is running long already and all this pancake talk is making me hungry so I’m going to skip testing out that “As seen on TV” Perfect Pancake product but if anyone out there has one, give us a review in the comments below!

Also, let’s have another debate because while I think that pancakes are the most glorious breakfast food (aside from bacon of course) I know that many people out there prefer French Toast or Waffles.  So which is king of the syrup filled breakfast treats?  Let’s find out!  Cast your vote in the comments below and feel free to continue the discussion on my social media pages (you are following me already right? ….RIGHT?!) 

Random Useless Info! Hayden Wilson of Melbourne, Australia holds the world record for the most pancakes consumed in one sitting.  He ate 80 pancakes in only 17 minutes and 26 seconds!  Geez lol your record is safe with me Hayden, there’s no way that I could eat that many!  But my nephew DJ may catch you in a few years…

Today’s Soundtrack

Ha this may be the strangest playlist I’ve put together so far lol…

Cook With Me Now (Pancake Rap) – Mac Lethal (lol this guy takes his pancakes VERY seriously)

Bacon Pancakes – Adventure Time (One of the greatest ideas ever thought of lol)

Breakfast (Syrup) – Kreayshawn ft. 2 Chainz (apparently she’s got all the syrup so you may need to bring your own…)

Pancake Lizard – Aphex Twin (lol a pancake Lizard is definitely my kind of lizard)

Pancakes for One – Of Montreal (even when the serving size says 8 for me it’s still usually pancakes for one… #TeamGreedy – actually wait, Montreal?  Shouldn’t he be eating crepes anyway?)

IHOP – Kevin Gates (A freestyle from jail so yeah you might not wanna play this around the kids)

Okay that’s enough of that lol when the hottest song on the list is from a kid’s cartoon (Adventure Time) you know you’re in trouble.  Apparently the world needs more high quality pancake songs lol perhaps I should put those haiku’s over a beat (Hahaha just kidding about that but I do have new non-pancake related music coming out very soon)! 

So yeah, I’ve now figured out that International Pancake Day is Shrove Tuesday and National Pancake Day is whenever IHOP decides but usually March.  I’d think that someday these 2 events could collide on the same day but what do I know?  I’m just a simple man wearing a pancake tank top with 64 pancakes in front of me.  But hey, enjoy your National Pancake Day everybody and even if you’re not into breakfast foods, still feel free to visit those websites to help kids in need – it really is a great cause.

That’s all I’ve got for today but I’ll be back again on Monday with another new post.  As always, please like, comment and share – thanks again to all who have been helping this site grow.  Until next time, May the Fork be With you…

-Darrell

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