Ready Nutrition: Power Protein Pancakes – Just Add Water

Recently Mrs. Johnson went out on a buying mission and obtained something that I find will be excellent to add to the supplies. Kodiak Cakes is a pancake and waffle mix that is manufactured in a plant in Park City, Utah. What’s the big deal on this? First of all, the ingredients are actually good for you: flour of wheat and oats, along with egg whites, wheat protein, sea salt, and honey, for starters. It also has yeast and baking soda.

A box of this stuff will give about 13 servings: each serving is (3) pancakes of 4” in diameter. Here are the stats on a serving of these:

• 8 grams (g) protein
• 37 g carbohydrates
• 1.5 g of fat
• 20% RDA for Calcium and 10% for Iron

Just Add Water and You’ve Got a Go-To Protein Powerhouse for Your Pantry

A box contains 24 ounces of this mix (a pound and a half). This stuff is perfect for a grid-down disaster food and addition to the pantry.

The Mrs. took all of the interior bags of this mix (a strong plastic that can take a beating) and loaded them all into the freezer for 48 hours. This is to kill any bugs that may exist (and do exist in most types of flour). Then she withdrew them, sealed them up in large Ziploc bags, and placed them into storage. Voila! When it is needed, it can be prepared with water simply and easily.

Unfortunately, we’re in the middle of fire season here, so I’m not using the woodstove just yet. I did cook up a batch on my “regular” stove, and they’re not only good, but you can do a lot with them. For extra protein, you can add ground beef or shredded/finely-chopped chicken into them. After they’re made (especially in the wintertime) they should keep a few days in that state.

You can cook them on a flat griddle over an open fire easily, and what I’m looking forward to trying is cooking them directly on the top of my woodstove, as I am able to do so with other things, such as eggs, bacon, and the like. As it keeps without any refrigeration and only needs the addition of water, this is a perfect source of fiber (5 grams per serving mentioned) and a high-protein and carb adjunct that you can make with little effort. They beat the daylights out of plain buckwheat flour because of the stats and the ingredients.

There are plenty of brands you can get that will allow you to add just water, but the quality of this stuff in terms of actually being good for you is light years ahead of standard brands out there on the shelf. It will run you about $5.99 per box (the Mrs. found them on sale for just $3.99 a box and bought a lot of it) at the grocery store. You can find them at either Costco or the other common supermarkets: your Costco/warehouse-type store will sell them at lower prices when you buy a case or whatever increments they sell in bulk.

I’m also thinking about taking some of this stuff with me and “field-testing” it in the fall when the fires are gone and it’s time to cut wood. As I said, they taste really good and fill you up, along with being made from ingredients that are good for you. Store them properly and they’ll keep for years, and you can FIFO out the older supply from what you use on a regular basis. You can make other things such as muffins, etc., out of the mix, but we haven’t tried that out yet. One step at a time, and (at least for me!) half a dozen pancakes at a time!  JJ out!

Ready Nutrition Author, Jeremiah Johnson is the Nom de plume of a retired Green Beret of the United States Army Special Forces (Airborne). Mr. Johnson was a Special Forces Medic, EMT, and ACLS-certified, with comprehensive training in wilderness survival, rescue, and patient extraction. He is a Certified Master Herbalist and a graduate of the Global College of Natural Medicine of Santa Ana, CA. A graduate of the U.S. Army’s survival course of SERE school (Survival Evasion Resistance Escape), Mr. Johnson also successfully completed the Montana Master Food Preserver Course for home-canning, smoking, and dehydrating foods.

Mr. Johnson dries and tinctures a wide variety of medicinal herbs taken by wildcrafting and cultivation, in addition to preserving and canning his own food. An expert in land navigation, survival, mountaineering, and parachuting as trained by the United States Army, Mr. Johnson is an ardent advocate for preparedness, self-sufficiency, and long-term disaster sustainability for families. He and his wife survived Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Cross-trained as a Special Forces Engineer, he is an expert in supply, logistics, transport, and long-term storage of perishable materials, having incorporated many of these techniques plus some unique innovations in his own homestead.

Mr. Johnson brings practical, tested experience firmly rooted in formal education to his writings and to our team. He and his wife live in a cabin in the mountains of Western Montana with their three cats.