Collards and $ense

It was Tuesday night. I had half a 32-oz container of yogurt in my frig and it was turning sharp. Breakfasts for the week were in short supply. This is the story of Operation Pancake.

Particularly when money is scarce, wasting food doesn’t make sense. This yogurt happens to be quite expensive, owing to the fact that it is made from goat’s milk. (Side note: for the lactose intolerant, like yours truly, goat milk products can be easier to digest.)
 

As you might guess, this yogurt is something I have to plan carefully into my grocery budget. I usually use it up in my morning kasha or oatmeal, but the previous week I’d taken egg sandwiches with me on the subway–sick of balancing the container, spoon, and travel mug. Okay, and maybe a little sick of the sideways glances. I’m just being healthy and abundant, people!
 

On Monday, I noticed the yogurt was souring. Tuesday night, I rushed home with a game plan. I tasted the yogurt. Success. Too sharp to eat as is, but not yet gone: perfect for baking.

The brainstorm between Monday and Tuesday went something like this: what do I make that uses yogurt? what is breakfasty, filling, and portable? what do I already have the rest of the ingredients for? Pancakes it was.
 

I had a big tub of rolled oats and a huge bag of whole wheat flour. I had baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and the yogurt. All I needed was a carton of eggs, which there was room for in my budget. I stopped at Whole Foods on the way home and picked up their cheapest large dozen (more on how to budget shop at Whole Foods later).
 

Next, I used my kitchen scale (actually a postal scale) to weigh the yogurt. There were almost 16 ounces left: half the container! Good thing I came up with a use for it. That much yogurt meant multiplying my pancake recipe by 5: quite an operation, but it also meant almost a whole week of breakfasts for me and my husband, Dima.

I could have saved more money by using whole eggs, but considering that pancakes are already high in calories and I was planning to eat them daily, I stuck to my original recipe. Here it is for 1 batch, by the way:

Tania’s Super Satisfying Pancakes

1/2 C whole wheat flour

1/2 C rolled oats (old-fashioned oats)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 egg whites

2 tsp mild tasting oil (canola or coconut works nicely)

1/4 C water

3 oz or about 1/3 cup plain yogurt

Heat a skillet or two on low and coat with cooking spray. Mix the wet ingredients in a small bowl; mix the dry (except oats) in a larger bowl, and then pour the wet into the dry. Mix until just combined and then fold in the oats. The texture should be thicker than normal pancake batter. These pancakes really puff up, so you may need to cook them a little longer than average to get the middle done.

Boy did this whole operation take a while, especially with our small stove and limited pan collection.

In the end, we had, count ‘em: 21 big, delicious, fluffy pancakes. Don’t they look glorious?

Of course, we weren’t going to eat 21 pancakes before they got stale, so most of them went in the freezer. Lacking storage materials, I ended up putting them all in the same freezer bag rather than wrapping them individually. Luckily, pulling them apart each morning wasn’t too difficult. Two minutes in the microwave et voila. I spread them with some peanut butter and added jam or sliced banana depending on the day.

Saving money sometimes requires some elbow grease, some patience, and rerouting your evening plans. I had intended to get in bed at 9:30 that night, but I stayed up until 10:30 because of the pancakes. A week of easy breakfasts was worth the hour of lost sleep.

Mission accomplished.

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