Oh no, we've run out of eggs!

Most weekends, we like to cook ourselves up a nice hot breakfast, pancakes being a favourite. We'd decided on pancakes this morning when I noticed Teena looking up egg substitutes on his pc and remembered we were out of eggs. We've already found out that there are several ways to subsitute eggs in cooking. Pioneer Thinking has a page with a list of egg substitues. I would've liked to have tried a banana in our pancakes, as one can be used instead of an egg, but lucky for Teena we are currently out of them as he doesn't like cooked bananas! Another egg substitute is 'milled flaxseed'. Now, we knew flaxseed is another name for linseed, but what did 'milled' mean and could we use the linseeds from our pantry?



Linseed, or flaxseed, is an excellent source of Omega 3, almost as good as salmon, which is the best source. Omega 3 is an essential vitamin that helps with a couple of things, the most interesting for us is that it helps maintain good mental health (my doctor has suggested a diet high in Omega 3, which is why we keep linseed in our pantry to add to homemade bread). Flaxseed is a very old grain that's been used for thousands of years, but has fallen out of popular use in recent times, I think that might be one reason why people are so stressed nowadays! We have whole linseed in our pantry, and sometimes we also have a ground mix of linseed, sunflower and almond.

For milled linseeds you can just grind the whole seeds, which can be done in a coffee grinder. Freshly milled linseed is best as it only lasts about a month in the fridge, and it's better to eat it this way than eat the seeds whole*. We don't have a coffee grinder so Teena ground a tablespoon of linseed with our mortar and pestle to try. He'd already made the pancake mix with no eggs, and had started cooking one to see if it would be ok without. Then he added the egg substitute, which was a tablespoon of linseed mixed with 3 tablespoons of water, and cooked up another pancake.


Teena thought you could tell the difference but I didn't! You can see tiny flecks of ground linseed in the pancake, but they were so fine as to not spoil the texture at all. In the least, the pancakes contain a bit of extra fibre. But these special pancakes with linseed are especially good because they help keep you sane and lovey dovey all at the same time!

enjoy!
xoxox

Lovey Dovey Egg Free Pancakes
2 cups of plain flour
3 teasponns of baking powder (1 part bi-carb soda to 1 part cream of tartar)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups milk
2 tblspn ground linseed mixed with 6 tblspn water (instead of 2 eggs)
60g melted butter
a handful of frozen berries (extra healthy and yummy!)

Shift flour and baking powder, stir in sugar.
Whisk eggs, milk, butter, add to flour.
Mix well then put in fridge for 15 minutes.
Preheat a frypan with some butter, turn to low heat.
Using heart shapped egg rings, cook for a couple of minutes or until bubbles form, then turn them over and cook for a couple more minutes.
Serve with honey and icecream.
Yummmm!!

* http://www.flaxseedshop.com/content/Milled-Flax-Seed.asp

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