Recipe of the Week: Blueberry Oatmeal Pancake Mix

This was my love at first sight recipe. My friend Kelli M shared this on her blog, and that was my first introduction to Mel's Kitchen Cafe. I've been in love with Mel's kitchen ever since! Mel's recipes work for even the most novice cooks, and they always deliver delicious results. Her writing is witty and refreshing. And . . . the best part . . . she's from Wisconsin! She's just 4 LDS wards to the north of me (about 45 miles). A couple weeks ago I finally worked up the courage to e-mail her and ask where in Wisconsin she lives (my curiosity was killing me), I also dropped an "I'm LDS line" thinking it was a good missionary moment (forgetting she'd once wrote about her husbands 2 year stint in Brazil). She responded within hours, and told me that not only were we just a few towns apart, but that she was LDS as well. Even in the world of internet blog stalking, Earth's a pretty small place.

Go read the post for her recipe if I don't have you convinced you need to try this. *I'm suddenly remembering I wrote about this recipe once, clearly I want you to try it. Well, now it's officially in my recipe of the week index, so you have to try it.*

Three final words:
EASY
HEALTHY
HOTBREAKFAST
(okay, four words, but I smooshed those last two together to make it three)

To Make the Mix:

3 1/2 cups rolled (quick) oats
5 cups whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 cup vegetable or canola oil

Start by grinding the oats in a blender of food processer.  Once they are powder-like, mix all the dry ingredients together in a mixer with a paddle (or by hand). With mixer on slow speed (or gently by hand), drizzle the vegetable oil into the bowl slowly while the mixer is running. When all the oil has been added, stop the mixer and squeeze a clump of mix in your hand. If it stays together, it is just right. If it is still crumbly, add another tablespoon of oil at a time until the consistency is correct (I’ve never had to add additional oil, nor has Mel). Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator (my big bag of mix is in the below Ziploc Bag)

Makes 10 cups dry mix (equal to 10 batches of pancakes, or 10 yummy breakfasts!)

To Make the Pancakes:

1 cup of mix
1 cup buttermilk (a combination of half plain yogurt and half milk will also work)
1 egg
Handful of frozen blueberries (blueberries are great to buy on sale, and then freeze over the winter)

Whisk together the mix, buttermilk, and egg. Let the oats soak up the moisture as you heat up the griddle or skillet. Lightly grease your chosen cookware. I use a 1/4 cup measurer to "drop" my pancakes onto the skillet. Add five or so frozen blueberries on top.When the edges look dry and bubbles come to the surface and don’t break, turn the pancake over to finish cooking on the second side. When done, serve with maple syrup or whatever pancake topping you prefer!

Mel claims, buttermilk can be frozen indefinitely for future batches of pancakes; I haven't tried this yet so I can't tell you how it works. She also claims the mix is good indefinitely, but I've never had to worry about that. We go through our mix pretty quick! I wish I had a picture of the final pancake, but I always want to gobble them up so quick I keep forgetting to snap that shot. Though, the best testament to how delicious these are would be Reid's blueberry face once we're done eating.  For Reid, I've also dipped slices of banana in the batter and cooked those up. He loves this big boy breakfast. And I love knowing how healthy it is inside his belly.