Oatmeal Pancakes (from a mix you make yourself...because you're awesome like that)

Every now and then I like to be the 1950s mom. 

You know, things like warm cookies when Leah gets home from school, making a pot roast with mashed potatoes, and giving my daughters a nice warm breakfast.

Let's face it, Leah is guaranteed warm cookies after school on the first day, but not so much after that.  I don't do pot roast often at all because I can't pick a good one to save my life.

But a warm breakfast?  BOOM!  I'm all over that one.

You've got nothing on me, June Cleaver!  ;)

And you, too, can be the awesome 1950s throwback mom.

Plus, it's easy peasy!

When I took this picture, the pancakes were literally steaming hot.  But, because I have the photography skills of a monkey, you can't see it.  That's OK, though.  You can trust me that they were steaming.

You need:

3 1/2 cups quick oats
5 cups of flour (I use all white whole wheat, but you can use all all-purpose flour or 3 cups of whole wheat flour and 2 cups of all-purpose flour)
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup canola or vegetable oil

Look, I'm using "The Big Three" again!  

Anyway, I put the oatmeal in the food processor (you can use a blender, too) to make it smooth.  This is optional, but I figured my girls would do better with a smoother, less chewy texture.  It's up to you.

It only took about 30 seconds to get it nice and fine.

"Hey, Oats, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind!  Hey, Oats, yeah, yeah, hey, Oats!"

Sorry about that 90s song reference.

Anyway, whisk all of the ingredients (EXCEPT for the oil) together in a large bowl or bowl for your Kitchen Aid mixer.  

Gradually pour in the oil while your Kitchen Aid mixer is mixing (on low) or while you are using your hand mixer (also on low).  I've done it both ways.  You almost have more control with a hand mixer, making sure you have it evenly mixed.  

You want to make sure the mix clumps together when you squeeze it.

See!  Clumpy is the new awesome!

Then, put about 1 cup of mix in each ziplock bag.

I probably put a little more than a cup in each bag, and end up with 8 portions.

I put each portion in a regular sandwich ziplock bag, and then put all of the regular ziplocks in a freezer ziplock, because I'm clever like that ;)

The label says, "Pancake mix, 1 egg, 1-ish cup of buttermilk."  I feel like the "1-ish" is hard to read.

Pop it in your freezer or refrigerator until you need it!  

Making the pancakes from the mix is so easy that a 2 year old can do it!

Put one baggie of the mix in a medium sized bowl.

Then, all you need is...

1 cup of buttermilk (remember the tip from my last recipe, if you don't have buttermilk, you can easily make a substitution by putting 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar in a 1 cup measuring cup, fill the rest with regular milk, stir, and let sit for 5 minutes)
1 egg
splash of vanilla (a splash of vanilla makes just about everything better)

NOTE:  Buttermilk from the store is thicker than the buttermilk substitution.  In this recipe, you'll need less than a cup of buttermilk if you use the substitution.  I'd start by adding a half cup and the egg and then adding more of the buttermilk substitution until you get it to the consistency you prefer for pancakes.  

Moving on...see how intense my cute little helper is while she carefully pours the buttermilk.

She wanted me to take a picture of us.

I'd like to say she requested a blurry picture, but that wasn't the case ;)  I think she's covering her mouth because she was about to cough.

Back to work!

Now she's stirring in the egg and vanilla splash, too!

Then, just make the pancakes like you usually do!  This makes 8 or 9 regular sized pancakes.  I usually just make 8 because every time I made the last 9th guy by himself, I forget about him and then he gets burned.  Not cool.

Maggie can't wait for pancakes!

Leah wanted to butter them, and when I told her I was going to take her picture while she was buttering, she got reeeeeeeeally into it!

I always cut the pancake into 4 triangles for them so they can easily dip them into the syrup. It's a lot easier than making silver dollar pancakes.

See that silver dipping cup?  I got a 4 pack of those at Walmart for 97 cents.

The best 97 cents of my life.

I save the pancakes that we don't eat for the next morning.  Just put them in a ziplock and then pop them in the toaster to heat them up!

Oh, and in the interest of full disclosure, this is what the rest of my kitchen looks like when I take tidy pictures for the blog :)

Look!  My computer is open to the recipe on Mel's Kitchen Cafe!  

You, too, can be the awesome 2013 version of June Cleaver!