Welcome Food Contributor: Tiffany Jaeger

As we continue with introducing our newest contributors I excited to re-introduce our MOMMY CHIC chef Tiffany Jaeger. Tiffany has been sharing her delicious recipes for over a year and we are so lucky to have her! Today you get to learn a little more about her, family life and of course food!! And don’t forget to check her out on the Mommy Chic by Jessica Instagram as she takes over today with some not to miss meals!! xx Jess

I am a mother of 3 little ones (6, 4, & 3) and we reside in Santa Barbara, California. I am a mom that loves to eat good food, as well as cook well balanced meals. If I don’t eat balanced meals throughout the day, I become cranky. A cranky mommy is not a good mommy, so might as well cook good food and be a happy mommy.

Personal training for 13 years and through my Masters studies of Sports Medicine, I researched and learned an extensive amount how nutrition and exercise creates a balanced life. In addition, the last 15 years I have struggled with hypo-thyroid disorder and had to always be on thyroid meds, increasing my dosage throughout the years. Until recently, my hypothyroidism has turn into Hashimoto disease (where my immune cells mistakenly attack healthy thyroid tissue, causing an intense inflammation of the thyroid). With lots of research on autoimmune disease, and consultations with doctors regarding this, I was advised to stay off all forms of dairy and wheat. Since my medication dosage was so high, my doctors wanted me to try and control what is left of my thyroid with my diet by removing all the foods that are creating chronic immune responses. With my background and new found knowledge with auto immune disease and diet, I love to find recipes, tear them apart and build it back together to create a recipe that are well balanced for our family, and tastes even better.

Having a family of 5, everyone obviously doesn’t all like the same foods, so I create and cook recipes that everyone of our family will eat parts or a deconstructed version of the dinner, insome form or another. Cooking for me makes me happy, and I am grateful I can share this happiness with you. Hope you all enjoy!

Here is my always go-to breakfast recipe to keep me from crashing, holds me over till a late lunch and full of nutrients. My friends always ask for my Banana Pancake recipe (see below) and I’m glad to share with you all.

Banana Egg Pancake

Makes 5-6 large pancakes

Ingredients

3 medium ripe banana
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tsp of cinnamon
¼ cup chopped pecan nuts *optional – I leave out for the kids
Coconut Oil or butter for the pan

Optional Toppings: Fresh fruit, like blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, chocolate chips, maple syrup, jam, powdered sugar, or any other toppings you like

Equipment

Medium bowl
Dinner fork
Nonstick griddle or skillet
Very thin, wide spatula, like a pancake or fish spatula

Instructions

1. Mash the banana: Peel the bananas and break it up into several big chunks in a bowl. Use a dinner fork to thoroughly mash the banana (do not puree the banana, leave it chunky). Continue mashing until the banana has a chunky pudding-like consistency. Large lumps are fine.

2. Stir in the eggs, vanilla & cinnamon: Whisk the eggs together with the vanilla and cinnamon until the yolks and whites are completely combined. Pour the eggs over the banana and stir until the eggs are completely combined. The batter will be very loose and liquidy, more like whisked chunky batter, rather than regular pancake batter.

3. Optional – Nuts: I like to add chopped pecans to my pancakes but if you prefer any other chopped nut, substitute it. For my kiddos, I leave them plain and top with chocolate chips, syrup, or jam what ever they prefer.

4. Heat a griddle over medium heat: Melt a little coconut oil or butter in the pan to prevent sticking.

5. Drop the batter on hot griddle: Make sure the griddle is hot first, not warm. Scoop roughly ½ cup of batter onto the hot griddle (for small kids, ¼ scoop of pancake batter size should be fine). It should sizzle immediately — if not, turn up the heat slightly. These are thick pancakes, not thin ones like a normal pancake.

6. Cook for about 1 minute on medium: For 1 min, cook pancake at medium heat. Do not let the bottom burn; then turn down the heat to medium low for 1-3 more min. Cook the pancakes until the bottoms look browned and golden when you lift a corner. The edges should also be starting to look set, but the middle will still be loose like barely set Jell-O.

7. Flip the pancakes: I’ve found it best to do this very gently and fairly slowly — the opposite of regular pancakes. Gently work a spatula about halfway under the pancake; if it begins to break like a scrambled egg, you haven’t cooked long enough. When the pancake has set, then lift until the unsupported half of the pancake is just barely lifted off the skillet and gently fold over like a gentle flip. Lay the pancake back down on its other side. If any batter spills out of the pancake circle, nudge any excess back under the pancake with a rubber spatula.

8. Cook for another minute or so: Cook the pancake for another minute or so, until the other side is also golden-brown. You can flip the pancakes a few times if you need to in order to get them evenly browned (flipping is much easier once the second side is set!).

9. Continue cooking the pancakes: Transfer the cooked pancakes to a serving plate and continue cooking the rest of the batter. Keep the finished pancakes warm in the oven if cooking more than a single batch.

Serve warm: These pancakes are best when eaten fresh off the griddle and still warm. Top with fresh fruit, chocolate chips, maple syrup, jam, powdered sugar, or any other toppings you like, orjust eat them plain because they are that good.

Mommy tip:

• Try these on the weekend first when you have more time and not in a rush for school drop-off
• Make it fun for the kids and have them choose their own toppings

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