While the upcoming holidays are NOT the time when people are thinking about watching their weight, it’s still a time for us to be mindful of our health. Any time is always a good time to be mindful of health, right?! Or maybe that’s just the health educator coming out in me ?. I had the opportunity for a third year to attend the Southern Obesity Summit (SOS) which was held in beautiful Oklahoma City this year!   The SOS brings together 16 southern states committed to fighting the epidemic of obesity in our country. Having a health education background, I always try the find the “healthy” even with holidays.  I am all about indulging and celebrating holidays, but also am all about making small changes when possible without it feeling like it is sacrificing too much.  After all, the holidays are a time to ENJOY!

 

I picked up some great “stuff” from the  ShapeYourFutureOK folks and asked if I could share with our readers.   They had some really great materials at their booth for the 400+ attendees at this year’s SOS and a few things really stood out especially with Thanksgiving coming up.  Check out 10 Ways to Make Thanksgiving Dinner Healthy.    AND wondering what to serve your overnight guests for breakfast OR just looking for something to make with that leftover pumpkin?   Our friends in Oklahoma have a great Pumpkin Pancake recipe shared below.

 

Enjoy and have a happy – and healthy – Thanksgiving!

 

 Pumpkin Pancakes

 

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix together the egg yolk, pumpkin, brown sugar and apple butter. Stir in milk until well-blended. All at once, add milk mixture to dry ingredients and stir until combined.
  3. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites until light and fluffy (you can use a fork, whisk, or electric beater for this). Fold egg whites into batter.
  4. Set the griddle or pan to medium heat. Wait  2-3 minutes. Ladle batter by 1/4 cup amounts onto a preheated nonstick griddle lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Cook until evenly browned on both sides.

 

Nutritional Information

 

Source:

 

Recipes.SparkPeople.com

 

Feature image from www.pexels.com, courtesy of Monserrat Soldú