This recipe for Banana Pancakes with Walnut Honey comes to us courtesy of the new Flat Belly Diet Cookbook (thanks!)

Who needs syrup? Honey and walnuts make the perfect sweet and crunchy topping for these sensational pancakes.

20 minutes
4 servings (3 pancakes each)
425 calories
MUFA : Walnuts

Flat Belly Diet! Easy Pancake Mix
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
6 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon sale

1. Combine ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Pancakes
1 1/3 cups Flat Belly Diet! Easy Pancake Mix
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup low fat buttermilk
¼ cup water
1 egg
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large banana, halved lengthwise and cut into thin slices
½ cup fresh raspberries

Walnut Honey
½ cup walnuts, chopped
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon water

1. To prepare the pancakes: Combine the pancake mix and cinnamon in a large bowl. Combine the buttermilk, water, egg, oil and vanilla extract in a separate bowl. Whisk into the pancake mix and stir until smooth. Fold in the banana. Set aside.

2. To prepare the walnut honey: Combine the walnuts, honey, and water in a small bowl.

3. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set over medium heat. Add the pancake batter in scant ¼ cupfuls and cook, in batches, for about 2 minutes or until the pancakes have puffed and the undersides are lightly browned. Turn the pancakes and cook for about 2 minutes longer or until lightly browned. Serve with the walnut honey and raspberries.

Nutrition per Serving: 425 calories, 10 g protein, 67 g carbohydrates, 15 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 55 mg cholesterol, 387 mg sodium, 5 g fiber

[Re-printed with permission]

Related posts

• Healthy Recipe: Spinach & Artichoke Fritatta
• Healthy Recipe: Simple Low Fat Whole Grain Crepe
• Healthy Recipe: Mexican Breakfast Wraps
• Quick Bites: Nutty Apple Recipe
• How to healthify your recipes

Here’s a meal you can have for breakfast, lunch, or dinner… or maybe for your Father’s Day brunch (June 21, in case you were wondering). Thanks to Maris, from In Good Taste, for sharing. Her blog always has something tasty cooking, so check it out!

Ingredients:
Olive oil flavored cooking spray
1 small onion, sliced
4 eggs, beaten
4 egg whites, beaten
1/2 cup canned or jarred artichoke hearts, chopped
1 cup fresh baby spinach leaves, washed and stems trimmed
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. In a small skillet, heat cooking spray over medium-high heat. Sautee onions until they’ve started to caramelize into a deep, golden-brown color. Once they’e achieved desired doneness, remove from heat and set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, combine eggs and egg whites. Beat lightly until eggs are fully combined. Stir spinach, artichoke hearts, onions and half of the cheese into the egg mixture until all ingredients are blended.

3. Pour egg mixture into a 10″ cast iron skillet coated with olive oil or PAM spray (I used PAM spray to cut down on the oil and keep the recipe a little bit lighter).

4. Place skillet on stovetop over medium high heat and cook until the bottom of the fritatta has set but the top is still jiggly. Top with remaining parmesan cheese. Place in oven, and bake for about 20-25 minute or until fritatta is set and begins to brown.

Serves: 4

Calories: 170
Fat: 9 g.
Fiber: 2 g.
WW Points: 4 per serving

Related posts

• Healthy Recipe: Mexican Breakfast Wraps
• Healthy Recipe: Simple Low Fat Whole Grain Crepe
• Healthy Recipe: Banana Pancakes with Walnut Honey
• Healthy Recipe: Asparagus Frittata (see how it supports women’s heart health)
• Quick Bites: Nutty Apple Recipe

Here’s a heart healthy brunch recipe that’s perfect for Mother’s Day… or whenever your heart desires. It’s from WomenHeart’s ALL HEART Family Cookbook and ToastToWomen.com – a website created by Clos du Bois Winery and WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease – to support women’s heart disease awareness.

Before we get to the recipe, check out how you can help. Visit ToastToWomen.com and send someone a free, personalized eToast. For every eToast sent, Clos du Bois will donate $1 to WomenHeart. So toast away! Now on to this mouthwatering, healthy recipe…

Asparagus Frittata

A lower-fat Canadian bacon is a great way to add some smoky meat flavor to this open-faced omelet – without all the fat and cholesterol of bacon or ham.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 ounces Canadian bacon, cut into thin strips
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1” pieces
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1-1/2 cups egg substitute
1 cup shredded low-fat Jarlsberg cheese

Directions:
Preheat the broiler. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallots, bacon and asparagus and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, or until the asparagus is tender-crisp. Add the garlic, salt and pepper and cook for another minute. Stir in the egg substitute and 3/4 cup of the cheese. Cook, without stirring, for 5 minutes longer, or until the
bottom is lightly browned.

If your skillet is not heatproof, wrap the handle with foil. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup cheese over the frittata. Broil 6” from the heat for 5 minutes, or until the cheese melts and the frittata is set.

Serves 6

Heart healthy ingredients: 4

Per serving: 161 calories, 71 calories from fat, 8 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat, 4 g monounsaturated fat, 2 g polyunsaturated fat, 10 mg cholesterol, 347 mg sodium, 7 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 3 g sugar, 16 g protein

GETTING INTO THE THICK OF IT
If pencil-thin asparagus isn’t available or you prefer it thick, go ahead and buy the larger spears (they’re delicious grilled). Just snap off the woody ends and use a potato peeler to remove the tough outer layer and reveal the tender insides. (Not to worry; nearly all of the heart healthy benefits are stored inside.)

Related posts

• Healthy Recipe: Spinach & Artichoke Fritatta
• Healthy Recipe: Mexican Breakfast Wraps
• News Nugget: Skipping breakfast makes kids twice as likely to be obese
• News Nugget: Multivitamins do not prevent cancer, heart disease
• News Nugget: Go nuts to cut risk of heart disease

I first saw these awesome looking pancakes when Lori from Finding Radiance posted a picture of them here during the Food Photo Contest. I haven’t stopped thinking about them since, so I’m thrilled that she’s letting me share her recipe with all of you now. Lori tells me she has these pancakes with her favorite topping (blueberries) three times a week – Can’t wait to try them!

Protein Pancakes:
1/3 cup lowfat cottage cheese
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup egg substitute *or* 1 whole egg
15 grams (about 1 tbsp) protein powder.
dash of cinnamon
dash of vanilla
sweetener if desired.
Blend all ingredients together in a blender until smooth. Then cook as you would normal pancakes.

Blueberry Topping
1 cup of frozen blueberries (I like Wymans wild blueberries)
1 tsp of cornstarch
1 tbsp of cold water.
Heat the frozen blueberries in a small saucepan over medium heat until hot and just simmering. There will be juice in the bottom of the pan. Don’t boil them! In a small bowl mix the cold water and cornstarch. Add to the pan and stir until the mixture thickens up – about 30 seconds. This is a great topping over pancakes, or use as the base of a crumble.

Nutritional Info:
The pancakes are 290 for the whole batch, using an egg and low-fat cottage cheese.  So there is room to reduce for those that want to use egg whites and FF cottage cheese.

The blueberry sauce is 70 calories.

Check out more from Lori at her blog here.

Related posts

• Healthy Recipe: Protein Smoothie Popsicles
• Peanut Butter Muffins
• News Nugget: Skipping breakfast makes kids twice as likely to be obese
• News Nugget: Higher-protein meals may help overweight burn fat
• Healthy Recipe: Spinach & Artichoke Fritatta