Pancakes and Poop Angels

Saturday morning, for this homeschooling mom, is a little slice of paradise. It’s the one morning out of the week where I have no lessons to teach and no place to be so our whole family tends to stay in our pj’s at least till noon, sometimes the whole day. And most Saturday mornings my fantastic husband gets up with the kids to allow me to have a little time to myself, sleeping in or just reading a book.

Well, this past Saturday, my husband was away so when Sammy, our youngest, stirred at 6:45am, I was on duty. But even 6:45am on a Saturday feels different than that same time any other morning of the week. I decided since I was up, I might as well do something fun, like cook. My kids LOVE chocolate chip pancakes and we very rarely have them, so feeling in an especially generous mood, I decided to whip up a batch before they all stumbled into the kitchen with bed-heads and hungry bellies.

When it comes to a chocolate chip pancake recipe, well, up until now, I never really had one. I just kind of winged it and hoped it all turned out okay. So while I was concocting in the kitchen, Sammy was waddling around the kitchen and our bedroom, wielding utensils like swords, babbling to himself, and drooling like a St. Bernard.

“It’s a good morning,” I thought to myself, smiling as I chopped up the chocolate.

I finished mixing everything together, and since Sammy’s diaper was hanging down between his knees, I figured I should change him before I started cooking the pancakes. So I walk into our bedroom where we keep our little crate of diapers and wipes, and what a surprise met my eyes: Sammy, covered from head to foot in poop, and his handiwork smeared all over the carpet.

Normally, I wouldn’t have handled the situation all that well. During the week, I feel like I have so much to get done and so little time to do it that any variation from the plan can through me into a complete frenzy. But not on a Saturday. I had nothing on my schedule, and if bathing a little baby and cleaning carpet needed to be done, well, I couldn’t think of a better time to do it. So Sammy got a good splash around in the bath, I got my carpet scrubbed, and my pancakes turned out to be one of the best batches I’ve ever made. It was a good morning.

And here, for your enjoyment, is that recipe. I finally wrote one down and I hope you like it.

Mai’s Chocolate Chip Pancakes

2 eggs
2 tbsp. butter, melted
2 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. white flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 c. chocolate chips or pieces (This last batch I made, I didn’t have any chocolate chips but I did have a bag of milk chocolates in my cupboard so I just chopped those up and added them to the batter. I liked how it put little tiny bits chocolate throughout the batter. Yum.)

Mix together the first 4 ingredients in a mixing bowl. Then add the remainder. Give it a quick stir, just to combine everything; it will still be lumpy. Pour onto hot griddle, cook about 2-3 minutes on each side, and breakfast is ready. I like mine slathered with butter, but my kids just like ‘em straight up.

Just so you know, I am aware of the fact that when setting this plate before my children, I am basically serving them giant chocolate chip cookies for breakfast. That’s why we do not have these very often. It is what we call a “treat breakfast”. I mean, c’mon, folks, let’s face it: life is hard-- your 1 year-old will make poop-angels on your bedroom floor from time to time and you occasionally need to lighten up and eat a mammoth cookie for breakfast. Well, at least I do.