oatmeal yogurt pancakes

I love pancakes and am always looking for new, delicious recipes to try.  I recently found a recipe for oatmeal yogurt pancakes, spiced it up a little bit, and voila! These pancakes are a little on the denser side because of the oatmeal, but are super moist and delicious. They use plain greek yogurt, which gives them a buttermilk pancake taste without the buttermilk calories. 😉

Oatmeal Yogurt Pancakes w/ Blueberries and Chocolate chips (makes ~6 4″ pancakes)

1 cup plain greek yogurt

1 egg

2 tbsp oil (whatever’s your favorite- olive oil, grapeseed)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup quick oats

1/2 cup flour

2-3 tablespoons sugar

• if you’re adding fruit or chocolate use 2 tbsp; if you’re making plain pancakes use 3 tbsp

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup blueberries (optional, I used fresh, but frozen would work, too)

1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces for cooking pancakes

– Whisk together egg, yogurt, oil, and vanilla

– Add oatmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and stir well

– Fold in blueberries and chocolate chips

– Heat non-stick griddle or pan over medium-low heat with butter

– Using ~1/2 cup spoon batter onto pan and cook ~5 minutes until you can see small bubble burst through on the top side of the pancake

– Flip pancakes and cook for another 4-5 minutes. If you need to cook the pancakes in batches, keep them warm in the oven at 150-200 degrees

If you’ve added fruit and/or chocolate chips these pancakes are delicious on their own no butter or syrup needed!

Variations:

– Substitute the blueberries for chopped bananas

– Make the pancakes plain and garnish with fresh strawberries and whipped cream

– Cook peaches, apricots, apples, pear, or strawberries with a little bit of sugar and orange juice over medium heat for 5-10 minutes until fruit is just tender and serve over plain pancakes

– Use frozen mixed berries

breakfast for dinner, local style

I know a lof of mainlanders can’t understand Hawaii’s obsession with SPAM, but that’s because a lot of mainland people eat it straight from the can, which is gross! The best way to eat SPAM is marinated in teriyaki sauce , and grilled or pan-fried till nice and caramelized and crispy

Lup Cheong Fried Rice
Lup Cheong is a hard, fatty, Chinese sweet pork sausage that’s delicious in fried rice. If you’re not sure about the lup cheong feel free to substitute bacon

4 cups cooked white rice

• If you’re making fried rice, please don’t use Uncle Ben’s; use Japanese white rice. Taste so much better

1/2 onion, small diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 lup cheong sausage links, thinly sliced (if using bacon use 1/2-1# depending on how big of a bacon lover you are)
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (really any mix of peas, carrots, beans and/or corn works)
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp vegetable stir fry
2 tsp sesame oil
siracha
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
furikake (Japanese seaweed seasoning)
salt and pepper

– If you don’t have a wok, a dutch oven, or other large non-stick surface would work best
– Heat oil in wok over medium high heat. Add lup cheong and cook for 2 minutes. Then add onions and garlic
– Once onions are translucent, turn heat to high and add frozen vegetables and cook until vegetables are no longer frozen
– Add rice and mix till well incorporated with the vegetables and there aren’t any rice clumbs
– Add soy sauce, vegetables stir fry, sesame oil and pepper. Mix well and taste
– Add siracha till fried rice is desired spiciness. Remove from heat and add green onions and sprinkle with furikake

• The furikake will add some salt, so don’t season with salt until after you’ve added the furikake

– Serve with a fried, scrambled, or poached egg and some teriyaki spam and you’ve got yourself a Hawaii style breakfast, or anytime meal!

Teriyaki Spam

1 can Spam (I like the low-sodium kind)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1″ piece ginger, finely chopped
3 small garlic cloves, smashed

– Cut spam into 8-10 pieces depending on the desired thickness
– Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix well till sugar is dissolved
– Put spam and marinade in a ziploc bag and marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight; make sure the spam pieces aren’t stuck together otherwise the spam won’t get evenly marinated
– Grill spam over medium-high heat till the sugars are caramelized, or pan fry in a non-stick skillet with a little bit of oil (just drizzle the pan) over medium-high. If you’re cooking the spam in more than one batch wipe out the pan between batches