But I’m also a self-confessed foodie, and I want my food to taste GOOD. If it doesn’t, it’s out. So I have been searching high and low for months now in an effort to find the perfect pancake recipe—one with both taste and health benefits. Most pancakes aren’t bad for you, sure, but I wanted a recipe that really packed in the good stuff and had a flavor that couldn’t be beat.

Well, you guys, I’ve finally found it. All Recipes saves the day once again! This time, though, I modified the recipe to make it even yummier by adding extra flavor to these bad boys. As if that wasn’t good enough, you can also whip up all twelve of these pancakes in just about 15 minutes. It may not look it, but this recipe is SUPER easy.

Sunday mornings never tasted so good.

What You Need
• 1 1/2 cups regular oats (NOT quick oats)
• 1 1/2 cups white whole-wheat flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/4 cup skim, 1%, or soy milk
• ¼ cup canola oil
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 6 tbsp chopped walnuts
• 2 bananas, sliced thin

What You Do
1. You’ll need a food processor for this. Put the oats into the processor, and pulse them several times until they’re ground like a coarse flour. Transfer them to a bowl, and mix them with the whole-wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

2. Use a second bowl to mix together the buttermilk, milk, canola oil, egg (whisk it slightly first), sugar, and vanilla until they’re smooth. You can use a whisk instead of an electric mixer as long as you put some power into your strokes.

3. Heat up your skillet. Coat it with a thin layer of butter, oil, or cooking spray. Let it get nice and hot before you pour on your pancakes.

4. Combine the wet and dry mixtures, and stir in the nuts and banana slices. Use a 1/3-cup measuring cup to scoop portions of batter onto the skillet.

5. Cook each pancake until it’s getting bubbly and dry at the edges. Then flip it and cook for another minute or so, until both sides are browned and the middle is no longer raw.

6. Keep pancakes warm in a 200-degree oven until you’re finished cooking the whole batch.

7. Eat up!

Ok, so maybe having some hottie do it for you would be nice, but you’ll forget all about that once you bite into these badboys.

This recipe is slightly complicated, but it’s nothing a relatively cheap trip the neighborhood grocery store and 30 minutes in the kitchen won’t fix.

And, like that thick trainer at my gym always says, “no pain, no gain.” I’m pretty sure he’s talking about a 45-minute run on the treadmill, but I just think it means all that cooking will be worth it when you’re filled with 2 lbs of pumpkin pancake bliss.

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups whole milk
3/4 cup canned pure pumpkin
4 large eggs, separated
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Vegetable oil
Maple syrup

What to Do:

1. Whisk first 5 ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Whisk milk, pumpkin, egg yolks, melted butter and vanilla in a medium bowl.

3. Add pumpkin mixture to dry ingredients; whisk just until smooth (batter will be thick).

4. Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in another medium bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into batter in 2 batches.

5. Brush large nonstick skillet with oil; heat over medium heat. Pour batter by 1/3 cupfuls into skillet.

6. Cook until bubbles form on surface of pancakes and bottoms are brown, about 1 1/2 minutes per side.

7. Repeat with remaining batter, brushing skillet with oil between batches.

8. Serve with syrup…and fall in love. Then go back for seconds. And thirds. We won’t tell.

I love baking, but I’m not the hugest fan of following directions. As a result, I often end up mis-measuring things or adding my own little touches to otherwise boring recipes. Hey, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Anywho, there is nothing that works better with my “add this, throw in that” cooking style than pancakes. Plain pancakes are good, but chocolate chip granola pancakes are fantastic. And pancakes that look like cupcakes? Could there be anything more amazing? I found this recipe on katin cooks and I can’t get enough. It’s simple and delicious, the perfect canvas for fun add-ins and has fool proof instructions that even I can follow. Plus, these little babies make great hangover food!

Ingredients:

2 cups Original Bisquick mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 stick butter
12 tbsp filling: try Nutella, fruit jam, or cream cheese
Confectioners sugar for sprinkling
Maple syrup for serving

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Generously coat the bottom & sides of a 12-muffin tin with butter.

3. Make Bisquick pancakes per instructions on the box.

4. Fill each cup in the muffin tin half-way.

5. Add 1 tbsp of filling to the middle of each muffin, then cover with the remaining pancake mix.

6. Bake 20 minutes.

7. Remove from oven, place on serving dish & use a flour sifter to sprinkle with sugar.

8. Serve with warm syrup.

Are you drooling yet? Want to see more? Check this out!

We all want to go home for Easter, but sadly, it’s nearing the end of the school year, and so we’re more likely to be munching on terrible dining-hall food than we are on delicious hollow chocolate rabbits. Before you get depressed about all the candy (oh yeah….and love) you’re missing back home, try bringing the Easter spirit into your own home. No, I’m not talking about Jesus.

I’m talking about an Easter bash. I throw one every year and it’s always fun, festive, and almost as good as the stuff my mom makes back home. Plus, it’s super easy. Here are some tips on throwing your own!

• Focus on the food.
Try something a little kitschy, like a brunch or a high tea. That way, the menu will be a snap (omelets and pancakes, say, or little slices of cake and good crackers) and picking up ingredients will be easy. These sweet-potato pancakes are a favorite of mine.

• Deck the place out.
Nothing says “festive” like great decorations. You know your mom would adorn the whole house with bunnies and Easter grass if you were home, so why not go a little crazy and bring that look to the dorm? Plastic eggs (very cheap at drugstores) are always a good bet, or pick up some pastel streamers and wrap them on all your doors and windows.

• Create an egg hunt.
To go truly old school, arrange an Easter egg hunt for your friends. This can be as innocent (mini bars of chocolate in the eggs) or as adult (tiny liquor bottles and pics of half-naked cute guys in the eggs) as you want. If you have the time, it’s great fun to hide eggs all over campus rather than in just one area. Though, you would have to worry about randoms getting their paws on your loot…

(And if you’re feeling incredibly saucy, you could turn the egg hunt into a drinking game. Just put different instructions in each egg: take a shot, shotgun a beer, assign 3 drinks, etc. But you didn’t hear that idea from me…. Sorry, Jesus!)

Don’t let Easter on campus get you down. Throw on those bunny ears, grab your friends and celebrate the holiday college-style.

You miss Obama’s speech last night? Well here you go…

Top 10 ways to ensure you won’t get a job…

Another plane crash? WTF? I’m never flying again!

Octomom was offered $1 million to do a porno…would you watch? Ew.

Solving the accidental butt-crack show when you bend over in your fav jeans…

Beware AT&T users: Do NOT answer calls from area code 809!

Dying 9-year-old’s last wish is to get married…so she did. Kinda.

I don’t know how I feel about these new Vera Wang shades. What do you think?

Mmm…pancakes.

Evan Rachel Wood is back with Manson. Why?

You aren’t alone; we can barely keep our eyes open right now, and we’ve had 2 Venti Lattes today. Maybe we shouldn’t have stayed up so late last night watching old episodes of Saved By The Bell on DVD. Who are we kidding? Of course we should have!

Anyways, in order to get you through the hardest day of the week (after Monday or hungover-as-hell Sunday, that is), we thought we’d play a little game of “Would You Rather?” Because what is more fun than pondering life’s most random conundrums?

So, here we go. Choose your answer and explain why in the comments section below!

Would you rather experience orgasm upon hearing the word “pancake,” or reflexively belt out the chorus of “Come On, Eileen” upon reaching climax?

No, we did not think of these ourselves – we aren’t that sick. All questions come from our friends Justin Hiemberg and David Gomberg, creators of the Would You Rather…? series. 

Here are a few reasons why you should be eating breakfast:1. Lucky Charms might be the best things on earth.

2. People who eat breakfast tend to lose more weight than those who don’t.

3. Um, pancakes? Hellooooo, heaven!

4. If you don’t, you will lose your virginity at a younger age.

A recent study was done in Japan and found that those surveyed who ate breakfast in their middle school years lost their virginity almost 2 years later (on average) than those who didn’t. At first glance one would think that Tony the Tiger may have been the best sex ed teacher around, but really the reasoning is more closely related to the kinds of homes kids grow up in; supportive families serve breakfast and not-so-supportive families don’t…and don’t teach anything about sex, either.

I tend to eat 2 breakfasts every morning, so maybe that’s why I didn’t do the dirty until I was 21? And maybe my obsession with breakfast-for-dinner can explain the sexual drought I’ve been in for months.

It’s all starting to make sense now.

So it’s understandable why the anticipation of a trip home for the weekend (like this coming holiday weekend) can inspire a little anxiety, but once you cross the threshold of Home Sweet Home, you’ll remember just why it’s so sweet.

1. Home cookin’.

After a daily diet of fast food, dining hall “cuisine” and failed attempts at domesticity (and a pasta based backup plan) it is amazing to come home to fresh and delicious food. You want your childhood favorite? Mom and Dad will happily oblige. For one glorious weekend you get to come home to a hot meal every night, no stress required. And in those situations when someone just doesn’t feel like cooking, bring on the restaurants. When the closest thing to a gourmet meal you can afford is Olive Garden, nosh that’s a little more your parents’ taste leaves you feeling like you ate dinner at Buckingham Palace.

2. Retail Affection.

The initial bone crushing hugs and sporadic wistful looks followed by hugs that you’ll get all weekend are nothing compared to what you’ll score if you can get Mom to the mall. Her poor baby has been living in poverty at school as far as she’s concerned (and for the most part she’d be pretty accurate), so she’s more than willing to splurge on necessities like warm winter clothes (yes, everyone at school has 7 different coats, obv.), “comfortable” shoes for walking around campus (easily expandable into high heel territory) and any other array of daily wear that you have no access to at school. After all, Mom and Dad can’t expect you to shop at the bookstore for University brand gear every time you need a new outfit. And don’t forget the back to school care package you’ll probably get as you’re packing up. Take advantage and stock up on toiletries, hard to find makeup, laundry detergent, and any groceries you can bring back with you.

3. Your own bed.

The second your head hits your pillow on that first night back in your old room, you instantly feel comfortable. Your bed (if it was anything like mine) was there for late night sleepover whisper fests, studying for impossible AP exams, talking on the phone to your crush, steaming after fights with your parents, crying over heartbreaks and begging you not to wake up for your crack of dawn alarm for ridiculously early high school classes. Falling into it is like seeing an old friend and you get to sleep like a rock until you’re woken up by the scent of fresh pancakes…

4. Being a kid again.

The second you walk through your door, no matter what age you are, you instantly revert to age 10. Enjoy having your laundry done for you, every meal prepared just the way you like it and fussing over your hair, weight, dental health, etc., The best part? Since you’re technically a guest in your own home, count on little to no chores.

5. Old friends and haunts.

It’s great to see all your friends that went off to different schools and cities, especially great when gathered around a keg. Going out with your high school BFF’s as college students allows you to catch up and show each other just how much harder your school parties than their’s does. Also a perk? Going out to clubs at home if you live in a big city. Either you’re 21 by now or your fake is a lot more believable and you can finally check out what all the hype was about all those years spent as a minor.

Of course all of these aspects of going home are excellent, but the best one by far is the knowledge that you get to go home (to your new home) at the end of the weekend. It’s long enough to catch up and bond with the fam, pamper yourself with a free vacation before you head back to the world of school and responsibility, but not long enough for you to tire of curfews, chores and an itch for independence. So pack your bags gladly whether your coming or going home, you have a great weekend ahead of you at home and an equally awesome life to return to.

Because here, for your reading pleasure, is a delicious recipe for pumpkin pancakes.

Imagine this: It’s Sunday morning and you’re snuggled in to have a nice “me” morning. Sound pretty good? Well, sure. But add pumpkin pancakes–and now you’re in frickin’ heaven.

So, pumpkin pancakes! Enjoy!

Stuff You’ll Need:

1 cup of pumpkin puree

3 tbsp of brown sugar

1 1/2 of milk

2 tbsn vinegar

1/2 tsp of ginger (ground

2 cups of flour

1 tsp of allspice (ground)2 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp of salt

1 egg

1 tsp of cinnamon (ground)

1 tsp of baking soda

2 tbsp of vegetable oil

How To Make ‘Em

(1) Mix the pumpkin, oil, vinegar, and milk.

(2) Blend in the brown sugar, flour, allspice, baking soda, salt, baking powder, ginger, and cinnamon.

(3) Oil up a frying pan and heat it over medium-high.

(4) Pour the batter onto the pan (1/4 cup per pancake) and let ‘em cook up on each side.

(5) They’re done when both sides are a nice golden brown.

(6) Eat and bask in fall!

As soon as they arrive, they have pool and lunch/talk time. Bo and his well-waxed eyebrows have nothing to say until he finds out that he can’t ride on the jet skis with the girls because of his jaw. He gets upset and takes it personally. Bo, need I remind you – spitting out tons of blood, split jaw, emergency room – surgery?!?

Then we have the condom blow up race – the person who wins gets to choose when they have their date. The catch: the game isn’t about speed; it’s about how they work the pump. Yes, working the pump. I’m shaking my head as I type this. Brittany wins and decides to spend the second night with Tila; she then chooses Bo go to on the first date and Kristy to go on the last one.

So the rest of the episode is basically going to be Tila making out with everyone and possibly spending the night with each of them.

Bo date: Bo’s apologies for acting like a baby earlier in the date and Tila cries about hurting Bo’s feelings and then she initiates a kiss, which totally surprises me because it seems like she doesn’t want to even be on the show. Did you guys even eat anything?

They go up to Tila’s room and I’m shocked – SHOCKED! – as the girls lay around in their bikinis and call Bo doofy. Awww, he’s not doofy; I make fun of him, but I do think that he’s cute.

Oh, geeze, someone put rose petals on Tila’s bed. Can I inform the world that rose petals on a bed are a bad idea? They stick to you, you know.

And Brittany and Kristy are skinny dipping as Bo and Tila keep making out. I’m guessing that Bo spends the night.

Yes, I’m right; Tila and Bo enter breakfast together where Tila is going to eat pancakes in lingerie. Did they do it? Must they giggle as Kristy and Brittany try to eat?

Brittany date: I feel like she’s going to get eliminated because she just pours it on. “You make it so hard not to fall in love with you.” CHEEEEEEESE. How old are you? You and Tila were meant to happen? Wow. This is followed by a make out and an invitation to Tila’s hot tub where Tila says she falls in love with Brittany. Well, she told the cameras that; she didn’t tell Brittany.

Next morning, Brittany and Tila enter together for another uncomfortable morning-after-possibly-post-coital breakfast.

Kristy date: It’s going to just be more of the same; dinner, make out, talk about feelings, night cap. I really like Tila’s dress; I don’t think that I’ve liked a single thing that she’s worn through this whole show until this moment.

Kristy, Tila’s not spoiling you – some 22 year old at MTV is setting up these dates. I like how we see more of Tila and Kristy together than anyone else because the camera guys like filming it and the editing guys need something interesting to watch. The girls take the hook up inside and walk into breakfast together the next morning.

And we watch another uncomfortable breakfast but at least they are flying back to Cali afterward for eliminations that night. I’m glad Tila can spend the flight time doing all of that thinking since she has so much on her mind.

Eliminations!!

Bo gets the first key – no shocker there.

Tila chooses Kristy over Brittany. And again, I’m not shocked. Brittany’s really sweet and I’m sure that after this show she’ll have PLENTY of girls to choose from.

Next time – reunion show and then in two weeks we have the finale for the greatest, most influential show ever!

Who do you think will win it, Kristy or Bo?