You read that right we call these “Buzz Lightyear pancakes!” Where are all my Toy Story lovers at? We call them that because they are bright green and not from food dye! They are bright green because of fresh spinach but I am telling you, your child will not taste any veggies at all! These pancakes are packed with protein, fiber, veggies, nutrients, and best of all flavor!! My son loves to help me put all of the ingredients into the blender and turn the blender on. Yes, he even helps put in the spinach. He knows he doesn’t love eating spinach on it’s own but loves it inside of things we cook and bake together like these delicious pancakes! These pancakes may have a lot of ingredients but they come together so fast because your blender does all of the work! I usually can pull all the ingredients out, make my pancake batter, and have all the ingredients put back away in less then 20 minutes! Best of all these freeze VERY well. I usually will double this recipe which makes about 25-30 pancakes. I will freeze a huge portion and then have a ready to eat breakfast or snack for my kids and I! They microwave from frozen in about 30 seconds. 

Directions: 

Gather all your ingredients out and your child’s favorite helper stool. We have a learning tower that my son adores! This makes him helping in the kitchen an absolute breeze! 

HELPFUL TIPS:

1. My son loves to taste ingredients so I will give him his own little tsp measuring spoon and a little bowl. This way he can help pour ingredients into the blender and also pour little taster bites into his own bowl. This makes cooking together go way easier! Toddlers want to help, feel taste, and touch everything so trust me on this one give them their own bowl to use along with helping you with the main big bowl or in this case blender. 

2. DO NOT PLUG THE BLENDER IN!! My biggest tip when cooking with toddlers is DO NOT plus your machine in. This way if they click and play with the buttons it does not matter. No blender will be turned on without the lid causing a massive mess to the top of your ceiling. Wait until you are ready to turn the blender on to plug it into the wall. Then check the buttons your kid was most likely playing with to make sure its on the right setting before you plug it in. 

put all ingredients into blender except the hemp and chia seeds, it is best to always start with liquids! So put water and eggs in the blender first. This really helps preventing all other ingredients from sticking to the sides and bottom of your blender 

Blend on high until VERY smooth, add a little water tbs at a time if too thick. You want this to be very smooth so that the spinach especially is full incorporated and chopped. 

Next, add in chia and hemp seed, hand mix with a spatula in the blender. Do not use your blender to mix the seeds in. The amazing nutritious part about seeds is their fiber content. We want you and your kiddos body to get that fiber in whole form so your body does the work of digesting it. Fiber helps slow your bodies glucose response to food. These pancakes have oats and banana which both have health benefits but are still carbs so by hand mixing the seeds which are fiber packed we make a much more blood sugar balanced pancake! Blood sugar matters for you and your kiddos! We want them and you mama to have long lasting energy not carb/sugar crashes that lead to cranky kids. 

Now, warm your skillet medium-low or non stick pan and spray with your favorite oil mine top choices are always olive, coconut, or avocado oil. It is best to avoid industrial seed oils like canola, vegetable, sunflower, soybean oil and so on. These oils are highly inflammatory because of their high Omega-6 content. We want to fuel your kids and feed their guts all the best things for them so skip the seed oils and choose one of the three options I mentioned or some grass-fed cow butter or ghee are also fantastic options! 

Cook until you see the pancake look a little firmer and have a few bubbles then flip! It’s best to use a wide spatula and keep the pancakes small enough that the spatula can get under the majority of the pancake for easy flipping! Usually cooks in about 3 minutes on each side but this also varies depending on the heat of your skillet or pan. 

TIP: If you are using a non-stick pan make sure to keep it cool. Sometimes it will get too hot even when keeping them heat medium-low. If its too hot the pancakes will cook to fast on the outside but not have enough time to cook through the middle before the outside starts to overcook and burn! I often will cool my pan down by letting it rest or running it under lukewarm water not ice cold. 

Now you have delicious nutritious fiber packed pancakes full of healthy fats, proteins, micronutrients and most of all deliciousness! I hope you enjoy these pancakes as much as me and my two kids do!