I am procrastinating.

I don't wanna write another damn paper.

Ironically it's on chronic stress - apropos, eh?

Instead I will tell you about the coconut pancakes I made the other night.

They were outstanding.

My husband frequently sends me text messages about what he's decided he wants for dinner. Unless I've got something that requires a ton of preparation, I usually let him have his way.

This time he wanted pancakes.

For dinner.

I hate pancakes - what's the point of a simple, empty carb swimming in sugary syrup? The calories just aren't worth it to me.

But, for him I will make exceptions (and I'd eaten a huge Subway sandwich for lunch so I only ate what you see on the plate - not much of a sacrifice if you ask me).

He also loves coconut and mangoes - Thai sticky rice with mangoes is a menu staple in our house - so I decided I'd make coconut pancakes and incorporate the mangoes somehow. The only problem with making recipes with a lot of coconut is the exorbitant amount of saturated fat present in nearly all coconut products. One cup of coconut milk alone contains 45 grams of fat. As nihilistic as I have been in the past towards my arteries, I don't hate them that much.

Because I wanted to make the husband happy with coconut pancakes and mangoes I decided to use 2% evaporated milk with a teaspoon of coconut extract. Tastes like coconut with a mere fraction of the fat. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

I'm not going to lie, I fudged on these pancakes. I had some Jiffy Baking Mix languishing in the drawer that I needed to use up - so I did. And they were still fabulous.

Fast, easy, and relatively low-fat coconut pancakes - if anyone objects to using a boxed mix they can feel free to just alter their own pancake recipe. This one is good.

Coconut Pancakes with Mango-Honey Compote

Makes 4 servings

2 cups Jiffy Baking Mix/ Bisquick Mix
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cups evaporated milk
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 cup shredded coconut

1 mango, in small dice
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup water

Make the compote:

Combine mango, honey, and water in a small saucepan. Cook over medium to low heat until mango is softened and falling apart and majority of liquid has evaporated.

Make the pancakes:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl or pitcher - blend with whisk or immersion blender (immersion blender will chop up the coconut more). Cook over medium heat in a butter greased skillet for approximately 2 1/2 minutes each side, or until golden brown.

Serve with mango-honey compote. Garnish with micro or chopped mint if desired.