Since the sports section’s Weekly Workout Tips is all about procrastination this week, I’ll be offering a more productive approach here in the Blackboard Special. In other words, it’s all about carpe diem here. With breakfast. (Pancakes to be exact.)
Now we’ve all heard it before: breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
But is it really?
While it is true that eating breakfast has several associated benefits (such as a decreased appetite, maintaining your body weight, and providing energy to kickstart your mornings), I find it particularly interesting that there are also a large number of studies that indicate that breakfast being the most important part of the day is nothing more than a strongly shared belief. For example, a 2014 study investigated the effectiveness of eating breakfast to reduce obesity—with trials involving about 300 participants—and found that there was no significant weight loss. Similarly, a 2013 review paper found that the idea that breakfast consumption affects obesity is much more a belief than a scientifically proven fact.
Now we can argue for both sides of the argument, and find studies to support each side, but it certainly is interesting to see that breakfasts may not be as sacred as we think them to be. On the other hand, pancakes will always hold a special place in my heart, so let’s take a look at this week’s recipe instead.
Plain Pancakes
Serves 2–3
Ingredients
- Flour, 200 g
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 50 g butter, melted
- 1 cup of milk
- Vanilla extract, to taste
- A pinch of salt
Method
- Heat a frying pan (preferably non-stick).
- Mix the baking powder, sugar, salt, and flour.
- Beat the eggs, butter, milk, and vanilla extract into the batter mixture until it’s thick.
- Place large spoonfuls of the batter on the hot frying pan.
- Fry until golden.
- Flip and cook the other side of the pancake.
- Serve immediately. (Optional: add syrup!)
Note: Adding extra ingredients, such as crushed blueberries, to the batter mixture will help add flavour.
