Tired of Sickness and Sweet Potato Pancakes

Hello everyone! This nasty stomach flu hit our family over the weekend starting with Faith and then myself and now Evan! Needless to say, food is the last thing I have wanted to think about! I haven't cooked a meal since Saturday and I can barely think about that meal without wanting to be sick again unfortunately! It is quite sad because that meal was something I had tried out of the Clean Eating Magazine this month and we really enjoyed it. I don't think I will be eating it again for quite some time, but perhaps you should try it! I very apprehensively post about this because it might be hard for me to even look at these pictures without feeling queasy.

I get so excited when the new issue arrives in my mailbox each month. I usually do a quick skim through and see the things that immediately catch my attention and those are the things I try first. Turn, turn, turn, STOP! WINNER!

I absolutely love sweet potatoes. So trying them in a savory pancake was very appealing to me. I only use the past tense because my untimely sickness has caused a bit of a problem.

I cheated a little with the recipe and used these sweet potatoes from the Schwans man. I didn't have any others in the house and this was a wee bit faster. If there ever is a next time for me I will do the peeling and chopping myself just to see if there is a difference and because I like to save this bag for nights when I need a quick meal.

I cooked and mashed up the sweet potatoes. This was NOT enough mashing and I ended up having to get out the food processor to get them smooth enough. FYI mash them while they are still hot! I was busy getting other ingredients out and ready and they cooled off. Since I had no hot milk going in like you normally would with mashed potatoes they became difficult to mash.

Since the food processor was already out I just added the rest of the ingredients to the bowl. The recipe calls for 2 Tbsp. melted butter and one egg but you could use a butter alternative and egg substitute to lighten the calorie count a little more and still have great results I think. So the melted butter, egg, and 1 1/2 cups of low fat buttermilk went into the processor. In another bowl I had mixed the white whole wheat flour, baking powder, soda, sea salt, fresh rosemary, and black pepper and added that slowly to the wet ingredients.

Because I used too many sweet potatoes I ended up having to thin this mixture out with some milk. This is a hazard of cooking without measuring that I run into occasionally. So 2 cups of sweet potatoes means measure after you have cooked and mashed them.

The instructions said to cook these in a large non-stick skillet with some olive oil but I decided to put them on my griddle to save time. It worked just fine. The pancakes did cook up fairly thick and they were slightly doughy inside when we ate them but even when I thinned them way out later that evening (we ate them again for dinner we liked them so much) they turned out exactly the same. Again, if there is a next time, I will try them in a skillet to see if that makes a difference.

Since they were a savory pancake with the addition of salt, pepper, and rosemary, I served them topped with a little Earth Balance and side salad.

They were very fluffy and filling and you really should try them even though my post might seem a bit contradictory. I also loved their crispy edges. You see that I served us two pancakes. My dear husband went back for seconds and skipped his salad (insert frowny face) and then I saw him get up again. I asked, "How many pancakes have you eaten?" The reply, "I don't know. Maybe six or seven!"  I guess I have taught the man nothing about portion control!

Miles had tried his pancakes with some agave at lunch so that evening we ate them more like a breakfast food with some grapefruit on the side. This was also delicious but sadly I don't think I can eat grapefruit for a while either now.

Phew!!! That was the most difficult post to get through. This happened to me with as a child with macaroni and cheese. I couldn't eat it for several years, which probably really wasn't such a tragedy. But this is! So eat some of these healthy pancakes for me!

Enjoy your day!



Savory Sweet Potato Pancakes

2 cups sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed

2 Tbsp. melted unsalted butter

1 egg

1 ½ cups low-fat buttermilk

1 ½ white whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 ½ tsp. sea salt

1 ½ tsp fresh rosemary, finely minced

½ tsp. fresh cracked black pepper

In a large bowl whisk the sweet potatoes, butter, egg, and buttermilk. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, soda, salt, rosemary, and pepper. Whisk flour mixture into potato mixture until smooth. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tsp. olive oil on medium. Working in batches, add mixture to skillet in ¼ cup increments. Cook until edges bubble, 3-4 minutes. Flip and cook 2-3 minutes, until golden. If desired, top with caramelized onions.