Raspberry Pancakes with Whole Wheat Flour and Flax Seedss

The past 3 weeks have been an absolute whirlwind.

Back to back vacation Bible schools, one of them at my parent's church, which meant the kids and I spent the week in Fallbrook, everyone but William getting sick with the flu, and then Aaron and I taking a quick trip to Palm Springs, sans kids, to celebrate my birthday.

I've been gone from home for almost 2 weeks, driven back and forth to Fallbrook 4 times, packed and unpacked for 5 people 8 times, and left my baby overnight for the first time.

Whew.  I'm beat.

The more kids I have, and the older they get, the more I have come to realize that my life is going to be pretty busy.

Even if I make an effort not to schedule every day--to allow room for days when we never even get in the car--our other days are busy.

I really like the slow days.

But there are times when I have no control over the schedule, when there are heaps of things going on, and we just roll with it.

Still, it can be tiring.

Those are the times that a little break feels really good.

Even when the break happened because I stayed up most of the night with a crying baby, a 6 year old with a fever and a sore throat, and a barf bowl.

Just in case.

Today was supposed to be another busy day.

But then William walked into the living room at midnight, where I was ironing the kids' clothes for church. (I was trying to do things ahead of time, thus avoiding the Sunday morning-get-in-the-car to-drive- to-church- in-a-bad-mood routine.  Does that only happen at my house?)

"I don't feel good," he said.

He had a fever and a sore throat.

After the flu Lilly and James had 2 weeks ago, I am gun shy.

So I grabbed the barf bowl.

Just in case.

William and I climbed into my bed.

He was obviously feeling rotten, because he cried as he leaned his hot little body against me.

I held him and prayed for him.

Minutes later Davy woke up, screaming.

It was the kind of cry that says, "come and get me now!" 

Aaron went to him and tried to sooth him, but he'd have none of it.

So Aaron and I switched places and I took Davy.

I was up most of the night with him.

I don't know if he has a molar coming in, or something else going on, but many times he was nearly inconsolable.

It was unlike him, and very exhausting.

We must have drifted off on the couch in the wee hours of the morning, because I could hardly open my eyes when he started asking for breakfast at 6.

Six?  

Really David?

I threw some grapes at him and made coffee.

It was when I put the 3rd spoonful of coffee in my cup, instead of into my Bialetti, that I realized I was tired.

Very tired.

But there was good news, even though it had been a grueling night, 1 sick kid, and another potentially sick kid, meant my day just got a lot less busy.

We'd be home today.

I was glad for that.

It meant there was time to make pancakes for breakfast.

I've posted about pancakes before.  Here, here and here.

But I've never given you the recipe I've been using for the past year with great success.

It's from Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book.  (A favorite since I checked it out from the library in 4th grade.  For reals.)
This recipe makes a great pancakes.
It's a thinner pancake--the kind that gets crispy around the edges and has lots of those little, airy, holes in it.
Thus far I've made it according to the recipe, using buttermilk and white flour.
Last time I added some blackberries from our vines.
This morning, however, I decided to change things up a bit.
I had no buttermilk, and no lemons or vinegar to make my own, so I used straight milk instead.
I replaced most of the white flour with whole wheat and I added some ground flax seed.
Once I poured the batter on the griddle, I added some frozen raspberries to the cakes.

They turned out great!
I like them even better than the original recipe.
None of the kids liked the raspberries--they were pretty tart.
But I liked the tart berries because I don't like my pancakes to be super sweet.
The whole wheat flour and flax seed didn't bother them a bit, though.
When James took his first bite, he said, "Mommy, these pancakes are so good."
And that's the reason I do this, people.
I love taking care of my family.

Aren't my little Dutch boy and girl sweet?
My mom gave them to me for my birthday.
Thanks, Mom!

You'll find the pancake recipe at the bottom of the page
Give them a try this week if you are lucky enough to have a slow morning.
If not, save them for the weekend.
Happy breakfasting!
Love from,
Greta

Here's the original recipe for the pancakes.

And here's my interpretation from today.

Raspberry Pancakes with Whole Wheat Flour and Flax Seed  (inspired by Marrion Cunningham)
1 cup milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup white flour
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
1 teaspoon baking soda
Fresh or frozen raspberries*

Beat milk and eggs together
Add melted butter slowly, making sure the milk and eggs stay cool
Mix butter, milk and eggs together
Mix dry ingredients together
Add wet ingredients together until just combined
Lumps are OK
Heat griddle and lightly grease with oil or butter
Pour a small amount of batter onto the griddle (I use my 1/4 measuring cup)
Sprinkle a small handful of raspberries over the pancake
When bubbles form around the edges, flip the pancake
Serve with butter and maple syrup
*You can substitute any other fruit here if you don't have raspberries.  Blackberries are very good.
Blueberries, of course.  Also, all the stone fruit that is ripe right now would be really good.
Small pieces of ripe peach, apricots, or even plum.