Happy Pancake Tuesday!

Some of you might think that today is Mardis Gras, Fat Tuesday, or simply the day before Lent, but you would be missing out on a vital sacred tradition: pancakes! 

Britophile that I am, I have learned that Shrove Tuesday is often celebrated in Britain by the eating of pancakes and even pancake races (for the origin of this tradition, see www.picturebritain.com). In honor of this delicious day, I am sharing with you a very cool little recipe for gluten-free banana pancakes which I recently discovered. To look at them you'd swear that they were normal, everyday pancakes, but biting in you discover something like moist banana bread. To make it even better, there are only 3-4 ingredients involved and you can whip up enough for one person in a matter of a couple minutes! That is why this recipe gets the NMS Covenant official seal of approval.

Here is the super-super-easy recipe (perfect for weeknight dinners or lunches alone):

• 1 banana
• 2 tbsp. nut butter (I used peanut)
• 1 egg
• 1 dash of vanilla (optional)

Plop these puppies into a blender and whirl into a smooth batter.

Pour the batter into a buttered skillet. I found that the best results were obtained by spreading the pancakes thin and cooking for a long time on low heat rather than a short time on high heat. These pancakes have a tendency to be a bit doughy, so the drier you can get them, the better. If you want to get adventurous, add some blueberries at this step! Or cinnamon, or orange marmalade, or bacon bits, or mushrooms....

Flip them and they're done! I love to eat pancakes with a generous drizzle of pure maple syrup.

On a side note, if you've ever wanted to make your own peanut butter but had no idea of how to go about it, try the simplest recipe ever.

2 cups roasted, unsalted peanuts + 1-2 tbsp. of canola/peanut oil + salt to taste

Throw those ingredients into a food processor and whirl, whirl, whirl until they reach the consistency you wish. Voilà, you have homemade peanut butter :)