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Pancakes on a Budget

I’ve been putting off a trip to the grocery- it forces creative uses of the food we already have, rather than eating same old same old, and it passes the time until the next paycheck. As long as I still have some beans, rice, pasta, canned veggies, oil and flour, I can still make something resembling food. Seriously, the black bean concoction we had last night was downright delicious.

Usually on these non-grocery mornings, I whip up pancakes. I like to add in soy flour, whole wheat flour and flax seeds and call them healthy. Cover it in peanut butter and I can tell myself I’m sending Carter to school with protein.

This morning, I stroll into the kitchen, and am shocked to find a refrigerator so empty it almost looks clean. What’s worse, there’s only remnants of flour at the bottom of the bag. Who doesn’t have flour? I toss aside the lightweight bag and find two half-used bags of wheat germ (can’t use them, in my experience with creative pancakes they result in gooey chewy pancakes) sushi rice, almond meal and half a bag of wheat-free biscuit mix.

Feeling a bit more confident, I mix the last of the biscuit mix with the flour I can shake out of the bottom of the bag, add just a smidge of baking soda and powder (figuring the biscuit mix already has that) and whisk it together. Now onto the liquids.

Oil, check.
egg, check.
Oh crap crap crap just enough soy milk for my coffee. If I use it in the pancakes, I’ll have to wait for my coffee to cool before sipping it, or risk burning my tongue. I make the wise decision and pour myself a cup.
I’m left with choices of mayonnaise, various oils, balsamic vinegar and gatorade.
But wait! In the back of the fridge! An individual serving of mango/peach/soymilk smoothie.
Deep sniff- smells okay. Mix it in with some water (you know, to get it more like milk) and voila! Pancake surprise.

Carter proclaims it edible, Archie verifies by eating most of Kevin’s. Kevin claims they were tasty. I froze the rest for tomorrow, in case I don’t make it to the store today.

By Amy Makice

Amy Makice is a social worker actively working on two other family-centered projects, Creative Family Resources and Parenting for Humanity. Amy has a weekly online show on BlogTalkRadio.