Recipe Week: Healthy, yummy pancakes

It's been quite a while since I've posted any recipes, so I'm going to make this recipe week. I'll post some of my favorite, go-to recipes for all to enjoy. First up, I've finally perfected our weekend pancake recipe (originally based on the Joy of Cooking's Basic Pancakes), increasing its wholesomeness without detracting from its deliciousness.

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp ground flaxseed

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups 1% or 2% milk

3 tbsp canola oil

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

Up to 3/4 cup frozen organic wild blueberries

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Then whisk together the milk, oil, eggs and vanilla in a smaller bowl. Dump the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk to combine. Preheat your pan or griddle, having sprayed it first with a Pam-like spray. Add the blueberries right before you ladle out your pancakes. I usually make a few smaller, blueberry-free pancakes for the girls and then add blueberries and make big, frying pan-sized griddle cakes for the grown-ups. This batter is on the thin side, so they cook fairly quickly over medium to medium-high heat and you won't have to worry about raw middles. As you cook, transfer done pancakes to a plate in a warm oven. Serve with real maple syrup.

Dr. Ornish offers personal advice for my picky eater

Last month Parent Bloggers Network invited its members to submit a question about healthy eating to Dr. Dean Ornish. He selected a few to answer on video and mine was among those chosen! Here is my question:

My 5 year old has been a picky eater since toddlerhood, but her food aversions are getting worse, not better, as she ages. She refuses to eat any fresh fruit save bananas and any vegetables except for peas and cooked tomatoes (in sauce). Dried and dehydrated fruits are acceptable. She used to eat beef, chicken, salmon and shrimp, but now she'll only nibble on chicken--and only sometimes. I feel like she survives on lactose-free milk, Grape-Nuts, cheese sandwiches, mac and cheese and pizza. She's a skinny kid, but she grew a few inches over the summer. She's physically very active and extremely bright, doing second grade reading and math at her Montessori preschool.

What should I do to encourage a broader palate without starting a food fight? We've stopped preparing separate dinners and she'd rather eat a piece of bread or a bowl of peas than try most of our meals. She's a stubborn kid.

While I wait for her to embrace a wider range of healthy foods, is there anything else I can do aside from giving her a daily kids multivitamin to ensure she gets enough nutrients?

And here is his answer:

Many of Dr. Ornish's ideas make sense--so much so that we're already doing them-- things like cooking with Z, taking the girls to farmers markets and not pressuring them to eat at meals. I was, however, intrigued by his suggestion to supplement her diet with omega-3s like fish oil. Josh and I both take flaxseed oil, but I hadn't considered offering to the kids since I wasn't sure what a kid's dose would look like. I add ground flaxseed to homemade pancakes and bread, but perhaps I'll look for liquid fish oil and figure out a way to mix it into her food. Does anyone have any experience with that?

Disclosure: Since my question was selected, I'm supposed to receive a copy of Dr. Ornish's latest book, some products from Mars and a $50 Spafinder gift card.