Cheer Me Up Chocolate Pancakes

I was meant to be meeting up with an old school friend today, who I haven't seen in 7 years. She lives in Germany now but is visiting the UK for a bit and was going to be in Exeter for a few hours today, before catching a train to London.

So we arranged to meet. I was going to drop Izzy at school and then Toby and I were going to get a bus to go meet her. I was really looking forward to it. Until life got in the way.

Toby woke up at 4am, and then again at 6am when he refused to go back to sleep. Not ideal - he might have been a bit grumpy, but he would have eventually fallen asleep in his pushchair.

Izzy came into me at 7.30am complaining of a stomach ache - actually not that unusual for her, it usually just means she wants a cuddle. When she was still complaining of a stomach ache downstairs I gave her some calpol and was still planning to send her to school.

Then, as I was putting the calpol back in the kitchen, I heard a horrible noise and rushed back into the sitting room just in time to see Izzy being sick all over the carpet, for the second time. That's when I knew that I was defeated.

I sent Izzy to get changed out of her sicky uniform into comfy clothes, and I texted my friend to cancel and apologise.

After being sick, Izzy did immediately feel a lot better, but as she still had a stomach ache I played it safe and only gave her toast with a smidge of jam for her breakfast.

I, however, needed a more special breakfast to cheer me up. I was feeling really down about not getting to catch up with my friend, and of course, for me, food is always a good way to make me feel better. So once Toby went for his (early) morning nap, I set about making breakfast.

Chocolate Pancakes with Black Forest Sauce
(serves 1 hungry person)

Pancakes:

• 30g oats
• 40g plain flour (I originally used 30g flour like normal, but had to add more as batter was too sloppy - so judge this yourself)
• quarter tsp baking powder
• 10g cocoa powder
• 1 egg
• 15g agave nectar
• 10g coconut oil
• 55ml milk

Black Forest Sauce:

• 100g frozen black forest fruits (or other frozen berries)
• 15g caster sugar
• splash of water

1. Start off the sauce by putting the frozen fruits, sugar and water into a pan. Bring to the boil and then simmer whilst cooking the pancakes.
2. For the pancakes, first mix all the dry ingredients then add all the wet ingredients and mix. Adjust flour/milk as needed to get a spoonable batter.
3. Heat a little more coconut oil in a pan and spoon the batter in. Due to adding more flour, my mix made 4 pancakes so I had to cook the last pancake separately as my pan isn't big enough.
4. Once the pancakes are bubbling (after a few minutes) flip them over and cook for a couple of minutes on the other side.
5. At this stage, if this sauce isn't thick enough, boil rapidly for the last couple of minutes.
6. Serve the pancake with the sauce, and other toppings as desired. I used Justin's chocolate peanut butter, delish.

When life messes up your plans, make pancakes. It might not makes things better, but it does make them easier to deal with.

Right, time to go - Toby's already had his morning nap, which was way too short considering how early he woke up this morning. So I've got a grumpy, over-tired boy and an irritable, almost better therefore bored, girl on my hands today. The fun never stops (!!)

What is your favourite way to cheer yourself up when life doesn't go to plan. Do you, like me, rely on food, or do you have other, perhaps healthier, ways of making yourself feel better? Food is usually my first choice, but cuddles with the children - when they're not screaming - is a good option too :)