Trading Up Downtown

There’s nothing like a pancake breakfast during the work week. Am I right?

Last Friday was special because my husband and I sat down and enjoyed breakfast at our kitchen table before he headed off to work. This is something we rarely do on crazed work week mornings, so it was nice to start the day off on the right foot.

I typically make my pancakes from scratch using this recipe, but I know this is not always feasible for many people. So, here are a couple of ideas for whipping up some quick and easy pumpkin pancakes that are equally delicious as they are nutritious. Pumpkin scores a 94 on the NuVal scale!

Option 1: Make batter from scratch

Ok, so this option doesn’t sound speedy, but the secret is making the pancake batter the night before and storing it in the refrigerator overnight, so you can just grab and go in the morning. Isn’t making the batter the most time-consuming part of making pancakes? Making it the night before definitely saves me a good 10-15 minutes in the morning.

Easy Pumpkin Pancakes

Makes 8 pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1.5 cups Vanilla Light Silk Soymilk (NuVal score: 82)
• 3 oz Stonyfield Fat Free French Vanilla Yogurt (NuVal score: 39)
• 1 Eggland’s Best egg (NuVal score: 44)
• 1 tsp canola oil (NuVal score: 24)
• 1/4 cup Libby’s canned pumpkin (NuVal score: 94)

Directions:

• Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
• Heat pan (or griddle) over medium heat; coat with non-stick cooking spray.
• Drop 1/4 cup cupfuls of batter onto the pan/griddle.
• Cook each pancake for 2-3 minutes and then flip. Cook on the other side for about 1 minute.
• Serve with your favorite toppings.

Option 2: Just add canned pumpkin

Another quick option is using a boxed pancake mix like Bisquick Heart Smart Pancake Mix (NuVal score: 23) or Aunt Jemima Whole Wheat Blend Pancake (NuVal score: 24). Both of these pancake mixes score higher than their “original” varieties. Bisquick Original Pancake Mix scores a 2 while the Aunt Jemima Original Pancake Mix scores a 5. Not great, right? As you can see, trading up to the Heart Smart and Whole Wheat Blend mixes are a much more nutritious option.

To further speed-up the pancake-making process in the morning, I use our Griddler, which allows me to make 4-8 pancakes at once. It’s much quicker than using a pan on the stove to make one at a time!

Have I convinced you to try pumpkin pancakes for breakfast yet?

Ok, I admit it: I’m the last person who needs anymore clothing in her life. You should see my closet! But, if I’m going to shop, I might as well save some money while I’m at it, right?

Did you know that you can typically save more money on clothing just buy shopping on certain days of the week. Sounds crazy, right? But, I’ll try just about anything to save a few bucks. According to ShopItToMe.com, Wednesday and Thursdays are the best times to find the steepest discounts– on average, you’ll save 42% on clothing. When it comes to shopping online, Wednesday and Thursdays have also become the days when retailers put the most new items on sale. Interesting, right?

Now I want to go shopping!

Last weekend, I visited Des Moines, Iowa, and one of the first stops on my trip was Hy-Vee to see the NuVal scores in person!

I’m not going to lie, I was pretty excited!!!

NuVal scores live in person! It was a special day for me!

You see, living right outside of Boston, I don’t have easy access to NuVal stores at my local grocery store. I’m lucky to work at NuVal, so I can look up scores in our database, but I don’t have them on the shelves below my favorite products. Hopefully, NuVal will spread to my neighborhood soon enough!

If you’re just as antsy to get NuVal at a store near you, please feel free to tell your local grocery store or suggest a store online.