Fluffy Pancake Recipe

Pancakes with a side of bacon

I love weekends. Greg doesn't have to work, so we get to spend some quality time together, and have breakfast together. Pancakes are our favorite breakfast food. I love making them and he likes eating them. We make a good team.

I've tried a few pancake recipes, but this one is my favorite so far. I got this pancake recipe from Allrecipes. The pancakes are moist, thick, and fluffy.

Thick and fluffy pancakes

I made a couple of substitutions. Instead of regular milk, I used unsweetened almond milk. I also replaced sugar with stevia. With these two substitutions, the sugar went down to ZERO! Yay! This makes me feel less guilty about all that maple syrup that I drizzled on my pancakes.

That sexy syrup drizzle

Fluffy Pancake Recipe 

Makes 8 pancakes, serves 2

• INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
  (Mine was vanilla flavored.)
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon stevia
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
  (I used less than what the original recipe calls for as I prefer less sodium.)
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• Cooking spray
• 
  

What you'll need

DIRECTIONS:

STEP 1

Combine almond milk and vinegar in a large bowl. Set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".

STEP 2

Combine flour, stevia, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Give it a quick whisk so everything is evenly mixed. 

STEP 3

Whisk egg and melted butter into prepared almond milk. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and whisk them together until most of the lumps are gone (I prefer not to over mix the batter).

STEP 4

Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Carefully flip pancakes with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

NOTES & TIPS:

I use a cast iron skillet to cook my pancakes. The skillet can get really hot, so I prefer to use low to medium-low heat. When I use medium heat, the pancakes brown too much before they are flipped.

My Mom's Cooking

It wasn't until the last couple of years that I took an interest in cooking. In Singapore, my mom rarely cooked meals so I didn't have an opportunity to really learn from her. But before I left for Alabama, she did teach me how to cook a few simple dishes, like fried rice, braised soy sauce chicken, and stir-fried vegetables.

The dishes we cooked together

While cooking these dishes with my mom, I realized that she wasn't following any recipe. And when I asked, she told me that she didn't need any. She could not give me the exact amounts of the ingredients either. She really did not use any measuring cups or spoons. She told me that she eyeballs everything, and that I should do the same.

It frustrated me because I wanted to cook the same dishes here in the US, and I wanted them to taste exactly like my mom's. For a beginner in the kitchen, it is essential to know the exact amount of each ingredient in a dish. Cooking without a recipe is almost impossible, well, for me at least. So, I had to turn to Google for recipes, of which none came close to tasting like my mom's food.

It seems difficult to find a whole lot of recipes for Singaporean home cooked dishes on the internet. I guess I'll have to wait until I get back to Singapore and watch my mom cook those dishes again, then figure out the measurements and make recipes.

I'm looking forward to eating some home cooked meals in Singapore! I really miss my mom's cooking. Hopefully, I'll be able to make those recipes and share them here.

Chicken Fajita Omelette Recipe

Chicken Fajita Omelette

Every time we go to IHOP, Greg would order the chicken fajita omelette. I would take a few bites from his plate, but never order one on my own as it is just too huge for me. The omelette is very delicious. However, it has a whopping 1,050 calories! That is way too many calories in one meal for me to handle. I HAD to make my own healthier version at home. Luckily, it wasn't too difficult to figure out how to make this.

I got the nutrition facts for IHOP's omelette off their website, and my healthier version with the help of MyFitnessPal app. Please note that I did not include the jalapeno and sour cream in the nutrition facts for mine.

No prizes for guessing which one is IHOP's and which one is mine.

I could have further reduced the calories by replacing all 4 eggs with liquid egg substitute, but I like the taste of real eggs. So I only replaced 2 eggs with liquid egg whites, as that is what we usually have at home.

I'm happy with how my omelette turned out. It is much healthier with way fewer calories than IHOP's, but still tasty!

Chicken Fajita Omelette Recipe (Inspired by IHOP)

Makes 1 omelette, serves 1

• INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil 

• 1/4 cup diced onion

• 1/4 cup diced green pepper

• 1 small jalapeno, sliced (optional)

• 4 oz boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces

• 1/2 teaspoon fajita seasoning mix
  (Made my own using this recipe, salt omitted.)

• 2 eggs + 1/3 cup liquid egg whites, beaten

• 2 tablespoons reduced fat shredded cheese
  (I used sharp cheddar, you could use Mexican four cheese.)
• 2 tablespoons salsa
  (I used Newman's Own Medium Salsa.)

• Sour cream (optional)

What you'll need

DIRECTIONS:

STEP 1

Heat 1 teaspoon of olive  oil in a small skillet over medium heat. While the skillet is heating up, season chicken with fajita seasoning mix. Add onion, green pepper and jalapeno to skillet. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. 

STEP 2

Add seasoned chicken to skillet. Cook for 5 minutes, or until cooked through. Stir frequently. Set aside once done.

STEP 3

Heat 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add egg mixture to skillet and reduce heat to low. Cook until egg mixture is set, but top is still slightly moist, about 2 minutes. Turn off heat.

STEP 4

Sprinkle cheese down the middle of the omelette. Place chicken and veggies on top of cheese. Loosen omelette with spatula. Fold one side over center, followed by the other side.

STEP 5

Carefully transfer omelette to a plate. Top with salsa. 

NOTES & TIPS:

If you're using a non-stick skillet, you could use the same medium skillet to cook everything. I use stainless steel cookware, so I prefer to use separate skillets as food sticks, and you want a clean surface when you're cooking the omelette.

Also, you could use cooking spray instead of oil. I don't use cooking spray on my stainless steel cookware as it supposedly leaves a residue that is hard to remove.

Hello there!

A year ago, I got married to a wonderful man and moved to Alabama from Singapore. I never thought I'd ever leave my country, but I did, and I ended up in a place completely different from where I'm from.

I have been a stay-at-home-wife since we got married, and I'm enjoying every moment of it. Thanks to my husband, Greg, I've learned to do laundry, run a dishwasher, and vacuum. Things I never got to do in Singapore.

In Singapore, I rarely had the chance to step into our kitchen at home because I was always "bumping heads" with my mom. Now that I'm in Alabama with access to my own kitchen, I have the opportunity to learn how to cook and bake (with the help of youtube)! Cooking seemed overwhelming at first, but over time I think I've become quite good at it.

I enjoy trying out recipes and modifying them to make them healthier when I can, without sacrificing taste. Greg, my biggest fan, is an NPC competitor and lives on a very strict diet, but he can still indulge in the things I make.

I will be posting my opinion on recipes that I have tried, how I've modified them, everything I've learned, and share tips with other beginners like myself.

Have a happy time in the kitchen!