Bacon is quickly taking on a role as the new chocolate as of late and I'm on that wagon, for sure. Bacon lovers are coming 'out of the closet' with a fervor and I'm more than happy to join the ranks of newly outted pork belly fanatics whether it's PC or not.
However (come on, there has to be a 'however' here) bacon is expensive and not-so-good for a person's health. What to do? Bacon ends. I'm not talking the fat-only type, and don't let your butcher get away with handing that to you, I'm talking the kind with a good amount of meat still on them and all the flavor of the more picture-perfect slices. There are many areas where you can actually purchase boxes of bacon ends for your freezer. If you don't have that available, ask at the meat counter.
Here's the health part; it doesn't take a lot of bacon to get a good bacon flavor. Take those ends and cook them up until crisp. Drain well and crumble into bacon bits. While you're at it, save the bacon grease for other uses. Strain out the cooked bits of bacon and freeze the leftover drippings in small containers. It only takes a tablespoon or so to add flavor to soups, stews, casseroles and gravies.
This recipe is for Bacon Pancakes. In a family as large as ours, the bacon budget can get out of hand rather quickly. To have all the flavor without all the cost, try crumbling bacon right into the pancakes as they cook. Everyone in the family loves these.
Bacon Pancakes
Serves 4
1 recipe pancake batter (use whatever you really like - my favorite is still the BH&G New Cookbook basic recipe)
1/2 pound bacon cooked crisp and crumbled
Ladle pancake batter onto hot griddle in the amount desired (1/3 cup works well) and top with crumbled bacon. Flip when bubbles appear on surface of pancake and edges are dry.
You can always mix the bacon right into the batter, but I find that the bacon that rests on the bottom of the pan gets too done that way.
Other Bacon Recipes:
Bacon at Cooking with Anne
Bacon at A Thousand Soups
More on Meal Planning and Budgeting:
More on Food Budgeting
Budget Meal Planning
What's For Dinner?
P.S. Check out Cooking with Anne and Short Order Mom on Parentdish.com today!
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