Happiness is….

Happiness is seeing the first flowers of the season poking their noses out of the ground.

Happiness is wearing flip flops on a sunny day.

Happiness is meeting a giant turtle on your bike ride in the sun.

Happiness is Protein Ice Cream after working out.

[frozen blueberries, frozen peaches, protein powder, xanthan gum]

Happiness is a Larabar on said bike ride….

…enjoyed with your feet dangling off the side of a dock.

Happiness is green grass.

But most of all, happiness is waking up the first morning of spring break and realizing that you have an entire week to do nothing but sleep, eat, and watch Jersey Shore.

And make pancakes.

Or should I say….a Bancake?

Power Protein Bancake

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup buckwheat, quinoa, or amaranth flour
• 1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
• 1 scoop protein powder (I roll with Vega Sport Vanilla)
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. stevia
• liquid of choice (water, non-dairy milk)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven/toaster oven to 350 degrees F, and grease a cake pan with coconut oil.
2. Mix all of your dry ingredients together, and then add liquid until you reach a pancake-battery consistency (not too thick, but thin enough to spread out).
3. Pour your batter into your cake pan and bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
4. Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes, and then plate and serve. Top with chia seed gel, nut butter, whateva suits your fancy:)

I topped mine with Chia Seed Jam made of…

[1 tbsp. chia seeds, 1 tbsp. carob powder, 1 tsp. maca, 1 tsp. acai, and 10 drops of vanilla stevia]

And defrosted frozen blueberries and blackberries:) See the one on the bottom right? It was HUGE. Biggest blackburry I have ever seen.

Get ready to be obsessed. It’s the pancake for all of us when we’d rather not bust out a pan and risk burning perfectly good batter. Or, when we want cake for breakfast.

Hence, the Baked Pancake = the Bancake.

This stuff tasted and smelled like Nilla Wafers. And vanilla cake.

It was love at first whiff.

Delicious…

…nutritious.

The stats? 37 grams of protein [with toppings] in this mother effer. Sorry if that language offends you, it’s something to embrace.

Talk about a protein punch.

I’m off to go on my long run with the Padre and his work buddy – who is a Harvard grad. Whatwhaaaaat

See you tomorrow babydolls! Coming up is a reader’s request. The topic? Why I chose this school.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday chickadees:)

Finish this sentence:

Happiness is…

xoxox,