Pumpkin Pancakes

Someone on facebook (thanks Corinne) gave me the idea of pumpkin pancakes.  I had made pumpkin chocolate chip bread, and I had left over canned pumpkin.  With one jar of pumpkin I made

• 2 loafs pumpkin chocolate chip bread
• baby food with pumpkin, applesauce and a dash of cinnamon
• baby food with pumpkin, plain yogurt and a dash of pumpkin pie spice
• pumpkin pancakes

I used a recipe from allrecipes.com.  It turned out really well.  I used 1/2 whole wheat, but I think next time I would just do all whole wheat.  

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1/2 whole wheat)
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons vinegar

The thing I love about making pancakes is that you just throw all the ingredients together and mix it up.  You don't need a mixer, and you really don't need to have any order to putting the ingredients in (I am sure some people would disagree:)

I was talking to my sister-in-law Katy yesterday, and I was telling her about the pumpkin applesauce baby food with a dash of cinnamon.  I mentioned that I did the cinnamon because it is so good for you.  She didn't know this, so I thought this blog post would be the perfect time to talk about the benefits of cinnamon.

Did you know?

• Cinnamon has some effects of how your body regulates blood sugar?  Several studies have shown improved insulin sensitivity and blood glucose control with as little as 1/2 teaspoon a day. Both test tube and animal studies have shown that compounds in cinnamon not only stimulate insulin receptors, but also inhibit an enzyme that inactivates them, thus significantly increasing cells’ ability to use glucose. It is great for diabetics, and for those of us that don't want to get diabetes.
• Cinnamon has also been shown to have positive effects on cholesterol.  One study had 60 people with type 2 diabetes take 1, 3, or 6 grams of cinnamon in pill form daily, an amount roughly equivalent to one quarter of a teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.After 40 days, all 3 amounts of cinnamon reduced fasting blood glucose by 18 to 29%, triglycerides by 23 to 30%, LDL cholesterol by 7 to 27%, and total cholesterol by 12 to 26%.
• Cinnamon has some anti-bacterial effects preventing food spoilage.
• In one fun (but unpublished) study, researchers found that sniffing cinnamon resulted in improved brain function -– subjects did better on memory and attention tasks when taking whiffs of cinnamon as opposed to other odors or no odor.  So maybe baking while your kids do homework would help.
  
• Cinnamon also has anti-fungal effects and can be beneficial in treating a yeast infection or thrush.  (I am not sure how true this one is, but I read it a couple times)
• Cinnamon has magnesium, fiber, calcium, and iron in it.  
• Cinnamon seems to have some anti-inflammatory effects as well.  In a study at Copenhagen University, patients given half a teaspoon of cinnamon powder combined with one tablespoon of honey every morning before breakfast had significant relief in arthritis pain after one week and could walk without pain within one month.
• People have traditionally used cinnamon for digestive problems, although I didn't find any studies to support this.  

The funniest part about this blog post is that the recipe doesn't even have cinnamon in it!  So I guess, throw some in for good measure!

I bought the big thing of cinnamon that is in the picture for $3.00 at Costco!  What a great deal.  Next time you are at Costco, be sure to pick some up.  

Final note.  So sorry I haven't blogged for so long.  I moved about 3 weeks ago and was just trying to settle into the new house.