Pancakes for the Busy Mom

I don’t know a lot of moms who aren’t busy.Infact I really can’t think of any who just have ample time to “do it all”, myself included. When I find something that frees up some of my time, or just makes my day go a little easier I love to share it with all of you. This is one of those things!!

As you know I have been working on cutting corners and bringing my grocery budget back to where it needs to be. One of the ways I am doing that is cutting out convenience foods like cereal.While I don’t mind cereal for breakfast every once in awhile I found we were getting in the habit of eating it every morning.

My problem was I loved the convenience of cereal. When your morning is flying by and kids need to be somewhere or your husband needs to get to work, you need something quick  like cereal. I wanted something that was that easy. Open,dump out , and add milk.

My solution- pancake mix in a  bag!

Pancake mix in a bag? Yes. You know just like those mixes you can buy in  a box. The ones that you add only water or milk to. I used to love those. They were so convenient and easy to use. I could whip up a batch of pancakes in no time with those. But what I didn’t like was all the preservatives and ingredients I could not pronounce. Plus I didn’t want to pay that much when I knew I could make the exact same thing just soo much cheaper. You have to remember I am a tightwad– no frugal minded sounds better.

I decided I had to be able to come up with my own mix that  I could just dump in a bowl ,add some almond milk to and just like that have pancake batter  ready to go. Luck for me I have the internet, so finding a solution was pretty easy.  I found this recipe for easy bisquick pancakes. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. All I would need to do is makeup baggies filled with the bisquick pancake recipe, and just leave out the liquid part. Easy enough right?

Well kind of. But then I was going right back to the boxed pancake mix pretty much. My solution? Make my own bisquick mix up. I have done this several times becasue I am always coming across recipes that use bisquick, and I refuse to pay for it. I found this recipe last week when I made the waffles and it is super easy to make and produces good waffles!

This is how I did it-

First I made a double batch of the homemade bisquick recipe. Find it by clicking here 

I got everything I needed in the recipe for the pancakes ( minus the almond milk)  and to make up the baggies. Find the recipe for the bisquick pancakes by clicking here.

I wrote on the baggies with a permanent marker on the baggie what it was and instructions on what I needed to add to it. I am sure I could have remembered but I wanted a breakfast that anyone could pull out and use (dad,oldest daughter,babysitter). Ok I don’t really have any babysitters but in case on day I get one, I will be ready if she or he wants to make pancakes!

Then I lined all the baggies up and put the ingredients of the recipe in each baggie. To make cleanup easier I laid a big towel out underneath the baggies. When I was done all I had to do is go shake out the towel and throw in in the wash. I love quick and easy cleanups!

Seal them up and you are good to go! I put mine in my cabinet with the labels facing out so I am more likely to grab them and not let them get lost in there with all the other stuff!  I could have gotten more bags made up but I had already 2 batches of pancakes out of the bisquick mix becasue I wanted to show you how yummy these pancakes look.

I am looking for more recipes I can do like this becasue this has been so great to have in the mornings! Twice now instead of cereal I grabbed one of these little packets and made pancakes. My kids have been happy campers! Now of course you can make these healthier if you want to. You can add in some flaxseed or use some whole wheat flour (or a half and half mixture with white flour). Do what works for you and your family. I always start out with the original recipe and slowly make it healthier for my crew.

Do you have any tips  like this for busy moms (or dads)? Please share!!! 

Sharing with Mamade Link up party, Tasty Tuesdays, Moonlight & Mason Jars 

Pancakes for Busy  Moms