Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine was full (as always) but fun! I had the pleasure of hosting a baby shower for my sweet friend Annie on Saturday. Robert and I met Annie and her husband Ben at church two years ago and they have quickly become some of our very best friends. When they told us they were expecting back in October I immediately started mentally planning the baby shower I wanted to throw them. I love to entertain and while planning this shower I was finally able to convinced Robert that we needed new living room furniture, double win! It all came together nicely and I can’t wait to meet their baby girl! I forgot to take pictures (such a bad blogger) but my mother in law snapped a few on her phone, excuse the poor lighting!

 

  

On Sunday we got a reprieve from the cold (finally!) which was so nice. Robert and I took full advantage of the time change and slept in, had a late breakfast and then took Renly to the beach for the first time in months.

 

The tide was so low that we were able to walk for miles and Renly found an Australian Sheppard who may or may not be his new best friend. They chased each other and romped through the waves for almost an hour, hence his wet sandy ‘do above.

Pancakes are a given after sleeping in on a Sunday, and they were on my mind the moment I woke up. Since I had random leftover ingredients from the baby shower, I decided to throw together some impromptu protein pancakes and they came out surprisingly great! If you are thinking “cottage cheese in a pancake? GROSS!” I get it…. but hear me out. I know it sounds weird, but ricotta cheese pancakes are a thing (and a yummy one at that) so making the jump to using cottage cheese instead doesn’t seem quite so out there. Cottage cheese is also lower calorie and lower fat than ricotta, although protein content is the same.

 

These are blender pancakes by the way, as are most protein pancake recipes. If you attempt to mix this by hand I imagine it would be rather gross as the cottage cheese is lumpy. I share this with you because the first time I ever tried to make protein pancakes they were of the oatmeal, greek yogurt variety and I mixed them by hand. Imagine lumpy raw oats and tangy greek yogurt patties that were raw in the middle. Whoops. I shied away from pancakes of all varieties for a while after that. Then one glorious day I realized that ingredients that are unable to be incorporated well by hand turn into smooth, magical pancake batter when blended.

    

Robert always claims he can sniff out a “healthy” pancake recipe VS. a real one because they are so flat. I have to admit, he’s kind of right, but I think I have finally remedied that problem! Recently I have been adding chia seeds to my pancakes and I am convinced they help make them fluffier…and healthier of course! Chia seeds are strange little guys that I have an on again off again relationship with in my granola bars as they tend to get stuck in your teeth. I have not had this problem when adding them to my batter so if you love chia seeds but hate flossing immediately after, try them in your pancakes!

    

I had leftover blueberries and raspberries from the shower so I made a quick mixed berry compote to top our pancakes. Robert still likes syrup with his pancakes but lately I have been enjoying mine topped with fruit or almond butter. This compote turned out to be the perfect tangy-sweet combination and really got me in the mood for spring! Hope you enjoy these pancakes and lets all keep our fingers crossed for continued warmer weather!

 

Cottage Cheese Pancakes with Mixed Berry Compote

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Cottage Cheese

1/2 Cup Oats

1/3 Cup Egg Whites

1 Egg

1 Tbsp Chia Seeds

1 tsp Sugar or Honey

1 tsp Lemon Zest

Juice from half a Lemon

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Pinch of Salt

 

Mixed Berry Compote:

1 Cup Berries of choice (I used Blueberries and Raspberries)

1 tsp Butter

1 tsp Sugar

 

Directions:

1. Heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add berries, butter and sprinkle with sugar. Stir occasionally until mixture reduces and thickens. Keep warm.

2. Combine all pancake ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Mixture will thicken as it sits so feel free to thin out with a little milk if necessary.

3. Heat griddle over medium heat, spritz with coconut oil and drop batter by the 1/4 cup full. Flip pancakes when surface starts to bubble! Top with mixed berry compote and serve immediately.