Pancakes For One!!

Cooking for one can be a real pain sometimes. All too often recipes make four servings or more and then the leftovers go bad before I have a chance to eat it all up. I decided it was time to end that trend and start coming up with recipes that suited for one person for one meal. 

I had a hankering for breakfast last night for dinner and I really wanted pancakes. Most pancake recipes make 10 or more pancakes, and that's way too many pancakes for me. After toying with several recipes a single serving of pancakes was born!! It's not my most healthy recipe, eventually I will revamp it to make it healthier, but every once in awhile you have to cut yourself some slack and just enjoy some pancakes!! This recipes makes two GIANT pancakes or three regular sized pancakes, either way it is just enough for one person.

You will need:

• 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon canola oil, safflower oil works too
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 cup skim milk (other kinds of milk including almond milk as well)
• 1 egg
• OPTIONAL: pinch of ground cinnamon
• OPTIONAL: chocolate chips to put in batter as pancake is cooking

Spray a frying pan with cooking spray and preheat over medium heat. One way to tell if the pan is heated up is to sprinkle a drop of water into pan- if it sizzles then the pan is ready.

In a mixing bowl combine the whole wheat flower, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon (if you're including it). Mix all ingredients together.

Next add in the canola oil, vanilla extract, egg, and milk. Whisk together all ingredients until a batter forms. The batter might be slightly lumpy, it's ok. Do not over mix the batter.

In your preheated frying pan pour 1/2 of the batter for giant pancakes, or 1/3 of batter for medium sized pancakes. Add in chocolate chips now if you so choose. 


Bubbles should form on the pancake and along the edges when it is ready to be flipped. Cook each side until it is golden, about two minutes per side, but continually check so pancakes don't get over cooked. 

When the pancake is done cooking place it on a plate and repeat the procedure with the remaining batter.

You can enjoy the pancakes hot or allow them to cool, refrigerate and enjoy at a later time. Either way they are delicious and the perfect amount for a single serving!! YUM!!!

Nutrition:
Calories: 254
Fat: 9.5 grams
Cholesterol: 164 mg
Potassium: 163 mg
Fiber: 4.7 grams
Sugars: 3.6 grams
Protein: 12.4 grams

Healthy Crockpot Chicken Parmesan!!

It is another glorious crockpot day at my apartment!! One of my favorite foods used to be chicken parmesan but I stopped eating it long ago because it is high in calories and some recipes contain an entire day's amount of sodium (2,000 mg). I haven't had chicken parmesan in probably two or three years, but that was about to change. 

This week I decided I wanted to revamp and reinvent chicken parmesan in the crockpot and make it healthy. My spin on traditional chicken parmesan will be different than what you are used to but I promise it tastes just as good and you don't have to feel guilty about eating it!! 

You will need:

• 3 chicken breasts (you can use 4)
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs, regular or Italian style whichever you prefer
• 2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese 
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cups organic marinara sauce

Take the tablespoon of olive oil and spread it at the bottom of the crockpot.

Next, pour 1/2 of the organic marinara sauce on the bottom of the crockpot, saving the other half to pour on top of the chicken once it is placed in the crockpot.

In a small mixing bowl combine the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese, mixing them completely together. 

In a separate bowl beat the egg. Take the chicken breasts and dip them one at a time into the egg and then into the bread crumb and parmesan cheese mixture, coating both sides with egg and then bread crumbs. 

Once the chicken breasts have been covered with bread crumbs place all breasts in the crockpot. After all the chicken breasts are in the crockpot cover the chicken breasts with the remaining organic marinara sauce. 

Finally, cover the crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.

Once the chicken has been cooked turn the crockpot off and carefully remove the lid as it will be hot. The chicken should fall apart because it is so tender.

I shredded the chicken breasts up because it creates more servings of chicken parmesan that way (I got four servings of chicken parmesan this way). I had a single serving of chicken parmesan over one cup of spaghetti squash instead of noodles for an added nutritional bonus. Click here to find out how to cook spaghetti squash. 

Serve with a side of vegetables and you have a complete meal!! I hope you adore my savory and healthy version of chicken parmesan. Have a great week and happy crockpoting!!

If you make them tag me on instagram and use the hashtag #thesimplelife and go like my new page on Facebook!

Nutrition (per serving):
Calories: 298
Fiber: 6 grams
Sodium: 794 mg (this may seem like a lot but it is drastically less than any other recipes I have seen)
Potassium: 124 mg
Protein: 20 grams

The Sunday Special!!

This past weekend has been crazy!! It was jammed packed from start to finish and while it was exhausting I got a lot accomplished. Sunday I was beat from studying all weekend for exams this week and from baking a ton on Saturday (Be sure to check out the blueberry chia seed muffin recipe I posted!), but I wanted to do something special for lunch. I invented my own Sunday special of sorts for lunch. While it was nothing overly fancy it was a welcomed change for lunch.

I decided to cook salmon, if you want to keep the salmon fairly plain click here for directions on how to bake it. I also cooked up a cup of green beans, which I sprinkled with pinch of garlic salt and added a few slivered almonds to spice things up. Click here for directions on how to cook green beans.

I wanted to make sure my plate was colorful and consisted of more than a vegetable and protein. I cut up six medium sized strawberries and served them along with the salmon and green beans. Strawberries contain natural sugars so they help satisfy the sweet tooth, but in a way that is guilt free!!

Finally as a treat, and an added source of protein, I had a banana flaxseed cracker. I added a little PB2 on top as a bonus. I just posted my recipe for banana flaxseed crackers so be sure to check it out. They are super easy to make and they only contain two ingredients!!

While my Sunday special was nothing overly fancy it was nice to have something different for lunch. My plate was bursting with color, which is always a good thing, and I got to enjoy a delicious and nutritious meal. Here's to a great week ahead and to studying hard for math exams!!!