Cheat Pancakes with Maple Glazed Walnuts, for both the poor and time poor.

First thing: If you are working towards a tight budget, maybe you don't have walnuts or maple syrup in your cupboard so that is indeed optional. I do buy my walnuts from a wholesaler so I usually buy a kilo for about $10 and this lasts me months, which is why I happen to have them handy.

On with the preemptive story: 

Today is the last day of my weekend. I have been super slack with my diet and exercise regime of late. I seem to do that though. I go through phases where I am strict and dedicated and then I get a little lazy or perhaps excited, and eat out more often and not put so much effort in to my food or exercising. Admittedly, allergies are getting the better of me and sometimes I just want to eat a sandwich with nothing but tomato sauce on it because I just can't be bothered making anything that takes longer than five seconds and those sandwiches are damn tasty. I am very aware that I am an "all or nothing" kind of person and instead of trying to find a daily balance, I think the way I rock it is a balance in and of itself. We can't always be perfect. That would be ridiculously boring. 

I always struggle with eating breakfast. This is a meal I avoided for a good 15 years or so. I think I was about 11 when I stopped eating this meal and I only just started again in my mid 20's. I know that's probably a little shocking for some, but the last thing that's on my mind when I wake up is food. I would usually rather sleep that extra 20 minutes. 

Another problem I have with breakfast is that so much of the breakfast food we have in Australia is sweet. I don't enjoy sweet food first thing in the morning every day. Once in a while yes, but everyday is a bit much. It's the equivalent of chowing down a bag of lollies. When I was really little I would have a sandwich or toast for breakfast. I never really liked cereals and I stopped drinking milk altogether when in my early teens. I still hardly drink any nut milks and I've had to start writing the date on any that I open because some of them are in the fridge for a lot longer then they should be. 

So... Toast for breakfast. There is an option. And then it's a sandwich or wrap for lunch, a sandwich mid afternoon and two bits of bread with dinner. I used to eat like that in my uni days. Until I realised that's a hell of a lot of bread. I try to stay away from eating so much bread now. I'm not anti-carb by any means. I just started to realise that I should employ more food groups into my life. As you can tell by this blog, I have quite the variety these days. 

But back to the point at hand. What can I have for breakfast that is quick, not too sweet and is delicious? These pancakes are sweet, mainly because of the fruit and maple syrup. They are quick and delicious though. Hit me up with your ideas of what you have for breakfast. I'd love to hear them and get a little more enthused for this first meal of the day. 

Time: 7 Minutes.

Makes: 2 pancakes.

Ingredients:

• Half a cup of plain flour. 
• Three quarters of a cup of water.
• What ever you want to put on your pancake. I used sliced banana & 1 Tablespoon of currants because I have them in the fridge slash cupboard. 
• One Tablespoon of walnuts.
• Two Tablespoons of maple syrup.
• Two teaspoons of oil, for frying. 

Method:

Place the flour in a bowl. Add the water and stir briskly with a fork to get rid of any lumpy bits.

Heat the pan over a medium to high heat. Add the oil. The pan will be ready when you add just a drop of the mix into it and it starts to cook straight away. Remove that drop and place half of the mixture in the fry pan. Fry until the top starts to cook or little bubbles appear. Turn over and fry until brown. Remove the pancake and repeat with the remaining mixture.  

Take that pancake out and place the walnuts in the fry pan. Pour about 1 Tablespoon of maple syrup over the top and let them fry away for about 30 seconds. 

Place your fruit over the pancakes. Add the walnuts and then pour a little maple syrup over the top. 

Eat and think about what you are going to do to make this day amazing. 

How's that for multi-tasking?