Blueberry Pancakes with Yogurt Topping and the Frustration of Cooking

"Never start cooking when you are hungry and

don't have all the ingredients ready at hand."

I keep forgetting why I don't like to cook.

Dirty dishes is one big reason. Not having all the ingredients is another. All the steps, processes and utensils needed in preparation is another, but frustration is my biggest problem.

While I can reduce frustration by choosing "simple" recipes and other tactics, it is the unexpected that often frustrates me. But, part of learning to cook is learning to be innovative when problems arise.

After mixing the dry ingredients, I went to get my last egg. Oh no, would the egg be good? If not, that meant a walk across the street to buy more eggs, and that meant putting on good clothes etc. That meant making breakfast was going to take longer. Nothing seems quick or simple when I cook. Luckily, the egg was good.

In this case, after I gathered all the ingredients, I assumed that opening a new bag of frozen blueberries would be "easy", as easy as it had been before. But, the "tear here" tab did not come off cleanly and left no ability to open the package easily. After, I got it open, it was hard to open the individual bag of berries. Scissors helped, so did beating the bag on the counter to break the seal.

This diverted my attention from the skillet and I almost burned a pancake. Then, by just turning the hot plate knob to #3 seemed to turn the plate off, so I turned it up a smidgen and the pancakes cooked faster.

In the end, the pancakes survived and the blueberry & yogurt topping was good. In Mexico, most yogurts are in a drinkable form, not a solid, I think a solid yogurt topping would be creamier.

I am still looking for the recipe that got me started on this.

But, until I find it, here's a link to a batch of great pancake recipes:

http://www.eatthis.com/11-best-pancake-recipes-weight-loss

Blueberry Pancakes with Yogurt Topping

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup flour
2 tspns baking powder
1/4 tspn salt or less
1 1/2 tspn sugar
3/4 cup milk
1 egg

1/2 cup of frozen blueberries
2 tbspns olive oil

Topping:

Plain yogurt

1 tablespoon frozen or fresh blueberries

Note: Microwave the frozen blueberries for about 45 seconds.

Process:

Mix dry ingredients together well.
Add milk, egg, and oil.

Stir and mash until mixture is smooth.

Add frozen blueberries and stir.
Batter should be slightly thick. If batter is too runny, add a little more flour and stir until batter is smooth.

Add a dab of olive oil to skillet.
Use a large serving spoon to scoop up some of batter.

Drop the batter into center of the skillet.

Cook on medium-high.

When the batter bubbles throughout, flip the pancake over to cook on the other side.

Pancakes cook quickly, so be careful not to cook them too long.

The finished pancake should be light to dark brown on each side.

On a stack of pancakes, pour a little yogurt, top with blueberries.

Servings: 6-7 medium-sized pancakes.

In the end, I do like learning how to cook because it is challenging and fits with my frugal philosophy but going out to eat these days is a whole lot more enjoyable after all my preparations, cooking and cleaning.