Now that's Bananas... Addicted to Your Workouts?

When I was younger I absolutely hated bananas.

Really, up until this past year.  I used to eat them occasionally because I was told they calmed nerves before a big test or performance, but I never really enjoyed them by themselves. 

I could eat a PB & Banana sandwich, or a Strawberry Banana shake... but plain banana made me sick.

Now I have bananas all the time!

There are so many uses for them!! Adding them to your Protein Shake to make it uuuber creamy,

or even using them to make the most delicious pancakes!

Recipe completely inspired by Julie @ PB Fingers

Banana Bread Protein Pancakes

Serves one

Ingredients:

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

1/2 banana, mashed

1/4 cup cottage cheese I didn't have cottage cheese so I used 5oz honey greek yogurt

1 egg  I substituted egg white beaters for the egg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

I've made protein pancakes before but I think the biggest difference this time was that Julie's directions said to "Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and blend with an immersion blender until batter is relatively smooth and all ingredients are fully mixed"

Blending up the oats with all the ingredients made for a much friendlier batter!!!

This Photo - Compliments of PB Fingers

 These were my favorite pancakes to date -- and Mike agreed!  Just topped with some Sugar Free Syrup and berries on the side!!!

The recipe makes about 3 pancakes, which is a perfect sized breakfast and keeps you fueled through an intense weekend workout. 

Fitness Foodie Review - Tone It Up Protein Pancakes!

Let me begin by saying that I'm *very* excited to post this review! 

When it comes to things we must 'swear off' when trying to tighten and tone our bodies, many favored and delicious breakfast pastries are at the top of the list.  Most breakfast pastries contain high amounts of sugar with very little fiber giving you a high carb count that's just going to cause your energy to crash a few hours later.  At the same time, breakfast food is simply delicious and every now and then you're going to have a serious hankering (sorry, that's the Texan in me!) for something sweet!  Stay away from the glazed donut and the nutella croissant and instead serve up your typical morning protein smoothie in the form of a delicious pancake! 

At this point you're probably thinking... a protein shake, in a pancake.. yeah right! BUT the Tone It Up girls Karena and Katrina have perfected the recipe for exactly that: their Tone It Up Protein Pancakes.  (Click on the link to find their recipe) Wanting a true breakdown of exactly what nutritional benefits I'd get from cooking up a batch of these (using what I had in my pantry/fridge) I went to CalorieCount.com and analyzed the following:

Well - you can't beat that!  So I whipped some protein pancake batter right up and came out with this...

3 Medium sized pancakes topped off with freshly sliced strawberries!  I was surprised at how many pancakes I got to eat for under 300 calories - and they were so filling!  My only complaint would be that I wished they were a bit lighter or fluffier so for my next batch I might add a bit of baking powder.  Also you should note that the blue berries are the BEST part - the more the better!  I also plan on whipping up a batch of these with dark chocolate chips (17 large chips for only 80cals) next time I have a serious chocolate craving.

If you've tried these Tone It Up Protein Pancakes - or a similar recipe - let me know what you thought!