Guten Morgan! I was up early that morning and since I had a few hours to spare before heading off for work, I figured that maybe I could whip up some pancakes with yoghurt and strawberries left sitting in the refrigerator for quite some time. Naively, I was thinking that I could even write another healthy breakfast recipe with pancakes, fruits, natural yoghurt and cereal on my blog and under categorized under low-calorie and healthy recipes. But here’s the shocking truth about pancakes which many didn’t know – yes, we all know that pancakes are pretty high in calories due to the usage of flour but did you know that pancakes are high in sodium levels? The pancakes which I’ve made that morning has 1000mg of sodium in it, which is equivalent to half a teaspoon of salt fed right into my body and I don’t really quite like the sound of it.
The first shock was came to be was the fact that I’ve just consumed 433 calories-worth of food and the second shock came to be was when I know that I’ve consumed half of the normal daily sodium intake for adults in just one meal. Who’s to blame? Flour, baking soda and baking powder. As most of you would have guessed it, pasteries and cakes contains a pretty high amount of sodium too.
More importantly, we need to examine the effects of high sodium levels in our blood. We do need a certain level of sodium in our blood to maintain water balance and blood pressure. The problem kicks in when the levels of sodium intake elevates about the recommended intake and when that happens, you better watch out for your kidney and heart. So folks, becareful of how much soya sauce,salt or seasoning you’re adding into your dish!
As delicious and tempting these pancakes with all the healthy goodies like cereals,almonds and berries, they may not seem to be that “healthy” after all. You could indulge in one or two pancakes but not more than 2 pancakes. In fact, these pancake recipe I’ve searched online is one of the best pancake recipes I’ve ever came across. The pancakes are thick, fluffy and soft at the same time. Unfortunately, the delicious factor of food is usually inversely proportionate to its nutrition value. If you want fluffier pancakes, do be prepared for the spike in sodium levels in your blood.
Post-it Cereal Strawberry Yoghurt Pancakes
( This makes about 4 medium sized- pancakes)
(Recommended serving: 2)
List of Ingredients
Flour ( 60 grams)
Baking Soda ( 1/2 teaspoon)
Baking Powder (1 teaspoon)
Fresh Milk (100ml)
Sugar (1 tablespoon)
Eggs (1 Egg)
Strawberries (A handful)
Post-it Cereal ( 2 tablespoons)
Low-Fat Natural Yoghurt ( 2 tablespoons)
Honey ( 1 teaspoon)
Vanilla Essence ( 1/2 teaspoon)
1. First, mix the dry ingredients well – flour, baking soda,baking powder and sugar.
2. Prepare the wet ingredients in a separate bowl – eggs, milk, vanilla essence
3. Combine the wet and dry ingredients together by whisking it thoroughly til you get a nice,smooth and even semi-liquid like consistency.
4. Scoop the batter with a ladle and spread it across a hot pan under a medium fire. ( If you are using a non-stick pan, you don’t have to add any butter or oil. In fact, the pancakes are evenly brown on both sides if you do not add any butter.)
5. Flip the pancakes over once the pancakes are evenly brown on one side.
6. Serve with some strawberries and yoghurt, then top it up with Post-it cereal for an added crunch to the pancakes.
From now onwards, I’m going to give a breakdown of the various nutrients of the food I made using the recipes which I’ve modified or adapted from online database of recipes. Here, I’m using myfitnesspal recipe nutrition calculator to calculate the nutrients intake I had from eating the pancakes using this recipe.
Best way of recovering from the shock?
More water and exercise for the next couple of days.
