These high-protein pancakes remind me a lot of the Weight Watchers pancakes that I tried a while back. Although, unlike the Weight Watchers version, this one does include flour. And quite a bit more milk than their version. I do think I like the idea of adding some mashed banana to the batter next time though. Just to add a little fruit and sweetness.

For the version below, I have swapped out the white flour with whole wheat, added a mashed banana, omitted the oil, and added some vanilla and cinnamon. I know that sounds like quite a few tweaks. But I think it still keeps the spirit of the original recipe.

Cottage Cheese and Yogurt Pancakes

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 140g whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 c. milk
• 1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 3/4 c. cottage cheese
• 2 large eggs
• 1 banana, mashed
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Sift the baking powder and baking soda into the flour and mix.
2. In a large measuring cup, combine the milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, banana, vanilla, and cinnamon, and mix well.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into dry and stir to combine.
4. Heat a tawa or skillet over medium-low heat and oil as needed.
5. Once the pan/tawa is hot, pour a few 1/4 c. portions of batter into the pan.
6. Cook until bubbles form in tops and sides begin to look dry, then flip and continue cooking until nicely browned on both sides and cooked through.
7. Repeat with remaining batter.
8. Serve with maple syrup, jam, butter, yogurt, and/or fresh fruit.

I was going to make a banana-ginger oatmeal for breakfast this morning. But then it turned out that we were all out of crystalized ginger. So that was a bust. And most of the other things I'd been looking at either required ingredients or time that I didn't have. And it was already late to be having breakfast. So, in the end, I just asked TF to put together this simple cottage cheese bowl for me. It was actually pretty good! I was going for a banana bread sort of vibe.

I tried it with a full tablespoon of maple syrup this time. But I think next time I might try it with a little less maple syrup, but add a few raisins in instead.

Banana Bread Cottage Cheese Bowl

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. cottage cheese
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1 Tbsp. ground flax seed
• 1 Tbsp. chopped walnuts
• 1 Tbsp. raisins (optional)
• 1-2 tsp. maple syrup
• 1/8 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
• pinch of ground nutmeg

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Mix and serve.

This was delicious! Especially with all the toppings. And it's not too difficult to put together either. Although it does take a lot of cheese and eggs. So definitely make sure you are well-supplied before starting.

Chile Egg Puff

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 10 large eggs
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 3 c. grated Cheddar, divided
• 2 c. cottage cheese (preferably fat free)
• 1/4 c. butter, melted
• 1 (~100mL) can of green chilies, drained
• salsa, to serve
• sour cream, to serve
• sliced avocado, to serve
• chopped green onion, to serve

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a 23x33cm (9x13") baking dish.
2. Beat the eggs with the flour, baking powder, salt, and white pepper.
3. Mix in half the cheddar cheese and all of the cottage cheese.
4. Stir in the butter and green chilies.
5. Pour the egg mixture into the prepared baking dish and bake at 180°C (350°F), uncovered, for 30 minutes.
6. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake for another 10 minutes.
7. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
8. Cut into squares and serve topped with salsa, sour cream, green onion, and avocado.

I took a few liberties with this recipe, but I'm quite happy with the results overall. This produced lovely waffles with a crisp exterior and a moist centre. I think I, personally, would have preferred a few more nuts in them. And next time I'd definitely add some vanilla and maybe a few spices, but they were still quite excellent as-is.

The original recipe called for making these with sour cream, but I opted to swap that out for fat-free Greek yogurt instead. And when I came up slightly short on the yogurt, I made up the difference with a bit of cottage cheese. And I swapped out half of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat. And, frankly, I think I probably could've gotten away with doing 100% whole wheat. I also omitted half of the butter and added an extra banana. But, despite all of those modifications, I'm very pleased with how they turned out! And they should be quite a bit healthier this way too: lower fat, higher protein, more fruit, more fibre... Not a bad outcome all-in-all!

Banana-Nut Waffles

Adapted from The Big Book of Breakfasts by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 250g whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 c. cottage cheese
• 1 1/2 c. milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2-3/4 c. walnuts, chopped fine

Directions

1. Preheat waffle iron.
2. Combine the flour, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Sift in the baking powder and baking soda and mix well.
4. Combine the butter, bananas, eggs, yogurt, cheese, milk, and vanilla and mix well.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
6. Stir in the walnuts.
7. Scoop a portion of batter into the waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer directions. Repeat with remaining batter.
8. Serve as-is or topped with butter, maple syrup, applesauce, custard, whipped cream, sliced bananas, nut butter, and/or chocolate sauce.

Another one of symbol's savoury cottage cheese bowls! This one used salmon that they got for me which I then forgot to eat. symbol attests that it was tasty, but not as good as the chicken and olive version.

Smoked Salmon Cottage Cheese Bowl

Ingredients

• ½ C cottage cheese
• ¼ C diced cucumber
• 3 Tbsp diced tomato
• 2 slices smoked salmon, chopped
• 1 Tbsp capers
• 1 Tbsp chopped chives or green onions
• 1 tsp chopped fresh dill (or ½ tsp dried)
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• ½ tsp dried garlic
• ½ tsp dried onion
• ½ tsp poppyseeds (optional)
• ½ tsp furikake (optional)
• ¼ tsp black pepper, ground

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients, in listed order, in a bowl.
2. Eat.

Back when I was first trying to adjust my diet and lose a little weight, I tried a few different cottage cheese bowls. Mostly sweet ones involving fruit and nuts, maple syrup, chocolate, granola, etc. But I did give one savoury recipe a try. I didn't really care for it, so I've stuck to the sweet versions since then. My go-to involves apples, cinnamon, pecans, raisins, and a bit of maple syrup or stevia. And that's honestly been really great. It's tasty, it's filling, it's easy, and it can be made with staples that I basically always have on hand.

Unfortunately, I wasn't really feeling it this morning.

I had a green smoothie bowl for breakfast yesterday and that was really nice. But I'm pretty sure we're all out of mango now and I know that we don't have any pineapple. I think it would also be good with peaches or nectarines, but we won't have any of those until our produce basket arrives later today. And I wasn't feeling super enthusiastic about any of the other possible toppings I could think of. So I wrote off the smoothie bowl for this morning. But that left me drawing a big, ol' blank for breakfast today.

For whatever reason I really wasn't feeling the sweet cottage cheese bowls this morning, but the idea of cottage cheese itself wasn't unappealing. So I decided to see if I could put something together that hit the right notes for me.

We had some ground chicken and leftover zeytoon parvardeh (Persian marinated olives) in the fridge, so I decided to try to do something that would incorporate those. That said, I think this would also work with green olives and walnuts (and maybe a few extra seasonings) in place of the marinated olives. And you could probably get away with substituting chicken lunch meat for the ground chicken in a pinch (although I think the ground chicken is better here).

I may play around with the exact ingredients and proportions a bit if I make this again. But I think this was a good starting point.

Olive and Walnut Cottage Cheese Bowl

Ingredients

• 100g ground chicken (chicken breast for low-fat/diet-friendly option)
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ras el hanout
• 1/2 c. cottage cheese (fat-free for low-fat/diet-friendly option)
• 1/4 c. diced cucumber
• 4-5 green olives, halved
• 1 Tbsp. chopped walnuts
• 1 Tbsp. fried onions
• 2-3 tsp. pomegranate molasses
• 1/2 tsp. za'atar
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1-2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Directions

1. Season the chicken with the salt and ras el hanout and cook over medium heat until no longer pink.
2. Place the cottage cheese in a bowl and top with chicken, cucumber, olives, walnuts, and fried onion.
3. Drizzle with pomegranate molasses and sprinkle with za'atar and pepper.
4. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired.

This was a really nice breakfast. The apples and cottage cheese make it a bit more substantial than pancakes on their own would be.

Photo goes here.

Buckwheat Pancakes with Apples and Cottage Cheese

Slightly adapted from Weight Watchers

Ingredients

• 4 apples, sliced
• 1 tsp. cinnamon sugar
• 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c. buckwehat flour
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 c. milk
• 1/2 c. buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 1 c. cottage cheese
• 1-2 Tbsp. raisins, chopped
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. stevia
• 3-4 Tbsp. maple syrup

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Place the apples in a baking dish and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake at 200°C (400°F) for 30 minutes.
3. Combine flours and sift in baking powder.
4. In a large measuring cup, combine the milk, buttermilk, and egg and mix well.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk to combine.
6. Heat a pan or tawa over medium heat and grease lightly.
7. Use ~1/4 c. of batter per pancake and cook until browned on both sides and heated through.
8. Mix the raisins, cinnamon, and stevia into the cottage cheese.
9. Top each pancake with apples, cottage cheese, and maple syrup.

I grabbed this recipe off the Weight Watchers website. I wanted something easy and relatively healthy as a little treat for dessert. Although next time I might try adding a banana either instead of or as well as the sweetener.

Cottage Cheese Chocolate Pudding

Slightly adapted from Weight Watchers

Ingredients

• 500mL fat-free cottage cheese
• 3 Tbsp. Splenda brown sugar blend
• 8 tsp. Dutched cocoa
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 banana (optional)
• 1/2-3/4 c. raspberries

Directions

1. Add cottage cheese, sweetener, cocoa, vanilla, and banana (if using) and purée until smooth.
2. Top with raspberries and serve.

This was originally supposed to be a zucchini and goat cheese frittata, but I swapped out the goat cheese for pressed cottage cheese. I also reduced the oil, replaced the half-and-half with 2% milk, and increased the basil called for. Overall, I'm pretty happy with these changes. The resulting frittata is still flavourful, but hopefully a bit healthier than the original.

If you'd like to cut a few more calories, you can try making it with 5 whole eggs + 10 egg whites. I've had good luck with replacing up to half the yolks with additional whites in the past. I find frittatas and omelettes made entirely with egg whites to be not to my taste, but as long as they still have some yolks in the mix, I do find that I'm able to play around with the ratios a bit and still get palatable results.

Zucchini Frittata with Cherry Tomato Sauce

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country June/July 2020

Ingredients

• 10 large eggs
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground, divided
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
• 450g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 onion, halved and thinly sliced, divided
• 2 cloves garlic, minced, divided
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh basil, divided
• 1 tsp. seasoned rice vinegar
• 2 zucchini, shredded
• 100g pressed cottage cheese, crumbled

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
2. Whisk eggs with milk, pepper, and 3/4 tsp. of the salt. Set aside.
3. Melt 1/2 Tbsp. of the butter in an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Add the tomatoes, ~1/3 of the onion, half the garlic, and remaining 1/4 tsp. of salt and cook until the tomatoes begin to break down (~5 minutes).
5. Remove from heat, stir in vinegar and half the basil, transfer to bowl, and set aside.
6. Return skillet to medium heat and add the remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp. of butter, zucchini, remaining onion, and garlic to the pan.
7. Cook over medium heat until zucchini has softened (7-8 minutes).
8. Stir in egg mixture and sprinkle evenly with cheese and remaining basil.
9. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until frittata is just set (12-14 minutes).
10. Let rest for 5 minutes then slide onto plate, cut into wedges, and serve topped with the tomato sauce.

I'm not sure whether I like this or the PB&J cottage cheese bowl better. They're both very good. I think it probably largely depends on what sort of mood I'm in. If I'm really craving peanut butter, then some chopped pecans aren't going to cut it. On the other hand, if I'm craving something with a bit of crunch, then between the nuts and the crisp apples, this bowl has got me covered!

The original recipe only called for half and apple, but I like it with a whole apple in. I also replaced the walnuts with pecans. I think either would be fine, but I tend to like pecans better in general so that's what I went with here. They're not quite as budget-friendly as walnuts, but you're also not using very many of them, so it's not a huge difference overall.

Apple Pie Cottage Cheese Bowl

Slightly adapted from Budget Bytes

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. cottage cheese (fat-free for calorie-counters)
• 1 apple, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. chopped pecans
• 1 Tbsp. maple syrup (or "no sugar added" syrup)
• pinch (~1/16 tsp.) ground cinnamon

Directions

• Combine all ingredients.
• Stir, mix, enjoy!

I think this is my favourite of the cottage cheese bowl variations so far. I liked the savoury one with the tomatoes and cucumbers, but I liked this one even better. In fact, it's the only one that I've ended up having two days in a row so far!

The peanut butter is fairly calorically dense, but if you pair it with a low-sugar jam, it actually makes a reasonably healthy (and low-Point) breakfast. The original recipe calls for 1/4 c. of rolled oats, but I had a little bit of chocolate granola left, so I had it with that instead and quite liked it. I might try it with plain oats at some point, but I'm really liking the granola with it so far!

PB&J Cottage Cheese Breakfast Bowl

Slightly adapted from Budget Bytes

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. cottage cheese (fat-free to keep the calorie/Points count low)
• 1 Tbsp. jam (preferably a low-sugar or reduced-calorie variety)
• 1 Tbsp. peanut butter
• 2 Tbsp. granola

Directions

1. Combine everything in a bowl.
2. Mix, eat, enjoy!

I've been continuing to work my way through the cottage cheese breakfast bowl ideas from Budget Bytes. I've don't some of them with yogurt instead of cottage cheese, but I still want to try all the flavours. This is the only savoury option in the list. And it's pretty good. Especially with some furikake on top. It's still, I think, not a favourite for me; it's not something I see myself coming back to over and over again. But it was pretty good (if not amazing) and it was reasonably filling and didn't cost any Points, so it's got that going for it.

Savoury Cottage Cheese Breakfast Bowl

Slightly adapted from Budget Bytes

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. cottage cheese (fat-free for the WW crowd)
• 6 slices cucumber, quartered
• 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 hard-boiled egg, quartered
• 1/2 Tbsp. furikake

Directions

1. Top cottage cheese with cucumber, tomatoes, and egg.
2. Garnish with furikake.

This was meant to be yet another cottage cheese breakfast bowl from Budget Bytes, but I decided that I'd rather do it with yogurt again. If doing it with cottage cheese, I think I'd be tempted to add a little lemon zest and/or juice. I think the lemon and bluberry would be a great combo! Or, if you wanted to go another way with it, you could try replacing the bluberries with cherries and maybe adding a little almond extract to the yogurt. Maybe even try replacing the slivered almonds with a little almond butter. I think that would be an excellent mix of flavours.

Blueberry-Almond Breakfast Bowl

Slightly adapted from Budget Bytes

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. Greek yogurt or cottage cheese (fat-free if you're counting calories)
• 1/8 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp. almond extract (optional
• 1 Tbsp. no sugar added syrup or 1/2 Tbsp. honey
• 1/4 c. blueberries (or cherries)
• 2 Tbsp. slivered almonds (or 1 Tbsp. almond butter)
• 1/4 tsp. lemon zest (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the yogurt, vanilla, almond extract (if using), and syrup and mix well.
2. Top with berries, almonds, and lemon zest (if using) and serve.

I've been continuing to experiment with the cottage cheese breakfast bowl recipes on the Budget Bytes blog. Today I tried the "tropical" breakfast bowl. It was alright. Probably not something I'd go out of my way for, but decent. I added a little syrup to it to kick up the sweetness a notch. I think it might be good with some of the tropical fruit blend I have in the freezer. I feel like the mango and dragonfruit might be a nice addition. (Not as budget-friendly as just using plain pineapple, of course, but that's fine for my purposes.)

Tropical Cottage Cheese Breakfast Bowl

Adapted from Budget Bytes

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. cottage cheese (fat-free for the calorie-conscious)
• 1/2 c. pineapple¹ or thawed frozen "tropical fruit blend"²
• 1 Tbsp. unsweetened shredded dried coconut³
• 1/2 banana, sliced
• 1 Tbsp. no sugar added syrup, maple syrup, or honey (optional)

Directions

1. Combine everything in a bowl and eat.

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¹ The original recipe called for drained canned pineapple tidbits. I used chopped fresh pineapple because they had some on mark-down at the grocery store. I think either is fine. Use whichever you prefer. ^Back
2 My tropical fruit blend contains pineapple, mango, dragonfruit, and coconut. Feel free to use something similar if you have it available. Or make your own tropical mix. ^Back
3 If your fruit blend already includes coconut, feel free to omit the dried coconut here. You could also try it with sweetened dried coconut (which is what I suspect Beth used). I don't routinely keep that on hand though, so I just went with unsweetened for mine. ^Back

These pancakes are very easy to make and relatively healthy. And tasty! Top with generous amounts of fruit.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Weight Watchers

Ingredients

• 1 C cottage cheese
• 1 C quick oats
• 1 banana
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp milk
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in blender. Blend on low until smooth.
2. Cook using normal pancake procedures, ¼ C at a time, on a lightly buttered tawa.

I tried to load up on healthy snack options on my last grocery run. I usually don't get too much fresh produce because I worry about not being able to eat it fast enough or forgetting about it or having to rejig the meal plan in a way that doesn't incorporate those ingredients or something. So, historically, I've relied instead on having lots of frozen fruits and veggies available at all times. But I'm hoping that if I just get into the habit of eating lots of fruit and veg every day, then I can keep on top of the fridge contents and minimize food waste while also keeping lots of fresh produce on hand. We'll see how it goes...

The other thing I stocked up on were fat-free cultured dairy products: sour cream, Greek yogurt, and cottage cheese in particular. Sour cream works well as a topping for a lot of things and Greek yogurt and cottage cheese can both be dressed up into reasonably healthy desserts without too much effort.

I'd seen a few recipes for no-bake, diet "cheesecake" or "cheesecake cups" floating around the Internet, so I decided to give that a try. The basic idea is that you blend up some cottage cheese with some vanilla and your sweetener of choice (and any other flavourings you want) and then optionally top it with fruit. And, I gotta say, it's pretty darn good! I can see myself coming back to this one.

Whipped Cottage Cheese Dessert

Ingredients

• 500g fat-free cottage cheese
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tsp. lemon zest (optional)
• 1 c. fresh or frozen fruit

Directions

1. In a blender, combine the cottage cheese, maple syrup, vanilla, and lemon zest (if using) and purée until smooth.
2. Divide into four equal portions.
3. Top each portion with ~1/4 c. of chopped fruit (thawed if frozen).

symbol made this (they make all the bread), but asked me to do the writeup. I have strong feelings about this bread: it is delicious. It's light and fluffy and the millet makes a nice crunch in it without being overbearing. It doesn't have the firm durability of the sourdoughs but it's a delightful sandwich bread.

Also -- and I feel like I should mention this specifically -- it toasts up beautifully. The inside remains light and fluffy, the outside gets brown and crispy, and it has a pretty wide time band in which it is crispy without being burnt or overtoasted. Look at this:

Crunchy Millet Bread

Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book, p.214

Ingredients

• 2 tsp (7g) active dry yeast
• ½ C (120mL) warm water
• 2 tbsp (30mL) honey
• 1 C (235mL) cottage cheese
• 1¼ C (300mL) hot water
•  ½ C (100g) millet
• 5 C (750g) whole wheat flour
• 2½ tsp (14g) salt
• 2 tbsp (28g) butter
  

Directions

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water.
2. Stir together honey, cottage cheese, and hot water.
3. Mix the millet, flour, and salt together.
4. Make a well in the middle; pour in the yeast and cottage cheese mixtures.
5. Adjust as needed to make a soft dough by adding flour or water.
6. Knead until very elastic, ~20 minutes; after ten minutes, smear the butter onto the countertop and work it into the dough.
7. Form the dough into a smooth ball, cover it, and let rise once in a warm place.
8. Divide into two balls, and let them rest, covered, until they regain their suppleness, ~15 minutes.
9. Shape the loaves carefully, dusting the counter with flour to help prevent tearing. Proof in a warm place.
   
10. Bake at 400°F for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 325°F and bake for another 35.