High Protein, High Iron Peanut Butter Pancakes

Everybody asks you where you get your protein if you’re a vegetarian. It’s a really silly question, since protein is in everything, and if you eat a varied enough diet, even without meat, you’ll be just fine. It’s also a silly question because what most vegetarians might be lacking, if they’re lacking anything, is iron, not protein.

I was a vegetarian for 4 years without any issue. But during my last two pregnancies, I was anemic. Since my last pregnancy, it’s been very difficult to raise my iron. To try to avoid supplements, I’m trying to raise the iron in my blood by tweaking my diet. For now, I still have to take iron tablets, but the hope is that if I’m good with planning what I eat, I’ll be able to go off them eventually.

This breakfast is one of the ways you can wake up to an iron boost (and it’s a high protein breakfast, too!)

 

Ingredients

2 eggs

1 banana

1 tablespoon all-natural peanut butter (you can use almond butter too, if you prefer. I use peanut butter because it’s cheaper and readily available).

Method:

If you have a high powered blender, blend just until well combined and until there’s no more big chunks of bananas visible (I break the bananas up before putting them in the blender).

If you don’t have a high-powered blender, mash the banana with a fork, and then mix it with all other ingredients as well as you’re able.

Fry in batches in a frying pan over medium heat.

These pancakes won’t be fluffy like regular pancakes – they’ll be very flat – but they’re still delicious.

I usually quadruple this recipe, fry 3 large pancakes to eat immediately, and then put the rest in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and stick it in the fridge. Then I have the batter for 2 more days.

Serve with maple syrup, because we’re Canadian, eh? Did you know there’s even a little iron in maple syrup? What can you not do, oh sweet elixir?

Also, serve with strawberries, kiwis, mango or orange slices. All these fruits are high in Vitamin C, and this vitamin helps your body absorb the non-heme iron present in the eggs and peanut butter.