Pancakes

This recipe is a wonderful staple to have in your recipe book. It's whole grain, but you can substitute white flour if you must. I don't like whole wheat flour from the store. The oils in whole wheat begins to go rancid very quickly. Instead, I buy whole wheat kernals (wheat berries) from the cannery and grind up what I need for the week. What I don't use that day is put in the freezer to preserve the vitamins. Whole foods also sells wheat berries in the bulk food section. To grind my wheat berries, I use is WonderMill http://www.amazon.com/Wondermill-WonderMill-Grain-Mill-110V/dp/B000CPJKWC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1289746153&sr=8-4 . Fresh ground flour is amazing. I highly encourage you to invest in the grinder. We use both white wheat berries and red wheat berries. If you're new to whole wheat, I would purchase the white wheat. Your family will not be able to tell the difference with white flour.

I buy egg powder for my food storage at http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/powderedwholeeggscan.aspx . You can also find it at Emergency Essentials and Blue Chip Group. For my family of four it is recommended that you have 4 # 10 cans in your food storage.

Pancakes

Nonstick Spray
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup quick oats
1 egg or 1 Tbsp. egg powder and 2 Tbsp. water
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup cooking oil
pinch of salt

Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Use a pan with a nonstick surface or apply a little nonstick spray.
In a blender or with a mixer, combine all of the remaining ingredients until smooth.
Pour the batter by spoonfuls into the hot pan, forming 5-inch circles.

When the edges appear to harden, flip the pancakes. They should be light brown. Cook on the other side for same amount of time, until light brown.
Makes 8 to 10 pancakes.

Buttermilk Dressing

I was really thrilled when Jessica announced that she is getting married on December 30, 2011. Then I remembered the pictures from Rachel's wedding. I hated the way I looked in those pictures. Trying to find something beautiful to wear is very hard when you're fat. Since Jessica also wanted to lose weight, we decided to go to Weight Watchers. Weight Watchers is a heathful way to lose.

I must admit that I really like food. My Mama and sisters are all excellent cooks. I am an excellent eater. Food has to be flavorful if I will eat it a second time. I've failed at dieting before, because I couldn't find lower calorie foods that I loved. If you eat higher fat foods, of course, you must eat less. As well as needing very flavorful foods, I need to not be hungry. I will fail if I'm hungry all the time.

I know to succeed at this diet, I need to eat a lot of salad, but I hate fat free salad dressing. I experimented and found a homemade salad dressing that I can eat and best of all is low fat.

Buttermilk Dressing

1 cup buttermilk (I used my fat free homemade buttermilk)
2/3 cup plain yogurt (I used my fat free homemade yogurt)
2/3 cup low fat mayonnaise
1/4 tsp. mustard powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 tsp. dry dill
1 tsp. dried chives
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 Tbsp. cider vinegar

Toss everything in the blender. Blend until smooth. Chill.

This dressing is 1 point per tablespoon. Best of all, it's really yummy.