Healthy pancake recipe

I ran 6 miles today at the gym on the treadmill. I usually don't like the treadmill, but I've been off from work a few days and wanted to get my runs out of the way in the middle of the day (sans the heat and humidity). Today I had some great songs playing on my iPod Shuffle, and I was lip singing the whole time, lol. The people at the gym probably thought I was crazy, running for over an hour and lip singing. I ran at about an 11:15 pace, so it took 1:07 to run.  After my run, I ate a Clif Bar and started in on some strength training.  I did well this week sticking to my strength training commitment.  I planned on going twice, as I knew I would be sore jumping back into it.  I did some upper body and lower body again.  Two sets of 12 of each exercise, including eights, lying dumbbell extensions, lat pulldowns, pushups, bench step-ups, good mornings, squats, and lunges.  No core workout today.

I have this cookbook that I bought about 2 months ago, The Eat Clean Diet Cookbook by Tosca Reno.  I have read the Eat Clean Diet, but never really tried it fully committed.  It completely eliminates all added sugars, and focuses on fresh fruits, veggies, whole grains, and lean protein.  It doesn't even let you eat light flavored yogurt.  At the time, I thought it was way too strict for me, but it still had very good nutrition information that any healthy diet should be based on.  I may consider trying this diet again soon.  I highly recommend this cookbook.  There are lots of recipes using healthy foods such as quinoa and lentils.  Since I don't get to cook a lot, I haven't tried many of the recipes.  But, this morning I was craving some pancakes - healthy pancakes.  Sure enough, Tosca has a recipe for Power Oatmeal Pancakes.  I'm going to share this recipe with you because I think it's a great alternative to the unhealthy pancakes we typically eat.

Power Oatmeal Pancakes
6 egg whites, beaten until fluffy
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1 scoop protein powder
1/2 cup oatmeal, uncooked
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup flax seed
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Cooking spray

1. Place all ingredients except beaten egg whites in a food processor and pulse or blend until mixture is uniform (when I did this it formed a big ball, I think because of the oil)

2. Pour blended ingredients into a bowl and add the egg whites.  Fold until just blended. (I suggest leaving the ingredients in the food processor and adding the egg whites to the food processor, blending until mixed).

3. Prepare a griddle with cooking spray.  Ladle pancake mixture onto griddle and cook until both sides are browned.

Nutrition Value (Makes 6 total, serving size 2 pancakes)
Calories 283|Fat 10.5g|Carbs 24g|Protein 21g|Dietary Fiber 4.5g|Sugars 0.3g|

After making these, I think I will change a couple things for next time.  I may try adding more cinnamon or add some raisins to the batter for some sweetness.  Tosca recommends eating these with unsweetened applesauce.  I topped them with bananas and applesauce when I ate them today.