Resisting Sugar and... Healthy Pancakes!!!

First, let me tell you how much I love sugar.  Homemade cookies and cakes get me every time.  The less perfect it is, usually the yummier it tastes, right?  I can hardly resist a homemade chocolate cake with homemade chocolate icing.  Mmmmmmmmmm.... so yummy!!! 

When I allow myself to indulge, I'm a frequent customer of Rise Cupcakes in Friendswood, Sugarbaby's in Houston, The Chocolate Bar on Kirby, Piccomolo in Friendswood, Sweet Lola's Yogurt Bar in midtown (Houston), and my all-time favorite (because I can eat yummy food there too): The Cheesecake Factory in the Houston Galleria.

We're getting a Cheesecake Factory here at Baybrook Mall (suppose to be open in November), and I'm already dreading the challenge I'm going to face of turning down the sugary goodness after each meal.

How Do You Resist?

So now, I'm forced to find ways to satisfy that sugar craving in a healthy way.  It. Is. Not. Easy.  Everywhere I look, beautifully tempting sugary temptations are waiting to join the jiggle on my hips.

HEB Bakery: Mmmmmmmmmmm... but... ?

The only way for me personally to avoid diving in is to look the other way.  It's not always easy, and yes, there are times when I let my eyes rest of the beautiful creations at the H-E-B bakery.  What??  They're gorgeous!  But then I tell myself that they never taste as yummy as they look and I force myself to move on.  And the ice cream aisle?  Oh, I completely have to go around that one.  Ice cream?  What ice cream?  I didn't see any ice cream... 

And the key is also to find healthy substitutes that are still yummy and I can look forward to eating.

Yummy Pancakes!!!

So it's great to get your oats (complex carbs for energy), egg whites (protein) and a protein shake in the mornings.  For a while, I did these separately.  That worked, but I also like to change things up from time to time.  Some friends of mine (Kayla and Amy) have both been making protein pancakes that they are loving, so I thought I'd look up the recipe and try them. 

It took a while to get it just the way I like it.  This first attempt was by stirring 2 scoops Vi, 1/2 cup oats and 2 egg whites in a bowl and cooking that on a pan sprayed with the fake butter spray stuff that has 0 calories, etc. 

These turned out pretty dry tasting.  They didn't cook evenly because the oats were soaking up every bit of liquid while being cooked and they just ended up being blah.  So Kayla mentioned something about adding cinnamon, and I came up with the following yummy concoction last night:

Protein Pancakes

makes 1 large pancake

3 scoops Vi

3 egg whites

1/2 cup oats

1-2 tsp. cinnamon

~ 1/2 - 3/4 cup water (for consistency)

Blend protein powder, oats and cinnamon in a blender until the oats are finely chopped.  Mix ingredients well, then cook.

I made a couple last night, cut them up and placed them in plastic containers for this morning; and they were still fresh and moist!  I had one whole pancake with 2 boiled egg whites for breakfast, which totaled 390 calories: 41g carbs, 5g fat, 46g protein, 13g fiber (oooooh yeah...!) and less than 1g sugar.

Mmmmmmmmmm... yummy and healthy goodness for my sweet tooth

So for this morning, my sweet tooth is satisfied and my belly is full.  And yes, the 13g of fiber has made for some interesting gasps this morning!

=) Amanda