My Favorite Waffles

I love a good waffle. However, for me to love a waffle, it has to be protein-dense, healthy, nearly sugarless, and taste perfect with crispness on the outside and softness on the inside. These matched my definition of a great waffle perfectly. I have been loving Teff flour lately, the grain the keeps me full for an incredibly long time. So, I threw in some teff and they worked wonderfully in these waffles. I also quadrupled the recipe and froze several waffles so I can just pop them in the toaster when I want them. Works beautifully.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup Tapioca Flour
1/2 cup Sorghum Flour
1/2 cup gluten free Oat Flour
1/3 cup Teff Flour
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 T baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 T sugar
1 cup almond milk, plus more for desired consistency
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 T melted butter from grass-fed cows
dash of cinnamon
coconut oil spray (or whatever you prefer to grease your waffle iron)

Combine and blend all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, stir the liquid ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients gradually, until well blended and smooth. You may need to add more milk to get the desired thickness, as this usually tends to be very thick. Allow mixture to sit for at least 30 minutes before cooking. I enjoy these waffles with strawberries (I buy organic frozen strawberries, and cook them in a small saucer until they are slightly runny) and a small dripping of pure maple syrup.

Paleo Coconut Pancakes

There are so many recipes for protein pancakes or "clean eating" pancakes out there that people swear by. I've tried several of them, and I don't see how anyone can get them past the tip of their tongue, much less say how delicious they are. A friend asked me to try out a recipe she found, and although skeptical at first, these turned out to be the most perfect healthy pancake I've ever tried. They are toddler approved by my son, but then again he will eat pretty much anything so long as it's not a prune. These really are healthy too, with all the coconut fiber and several eggs that make up a large protein content. We enjoyed them with a drizzle of honey and they were perfect!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup coconut flour
3 T coconut sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup butter from grass-fed cows
1 cup almond milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
oil for pan

In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, powder, and salt. In a smaller bowl add all liquid ingredients. Mix the liquid into the dry with a whisk and heat a large skillet to medium-high heat. Add 1 T oil to pan, then ladle in large scoops of batter. Once it begins to cook half-way through, flip and cook through on other side. Serve with honey or maple syrup!

Paleo breakfast pudding

I've been on a vegan kick lately, and really enjoyed my new meals. However, my doctor was concerned that although my weight gain is on track for this pregnancy, I tend to gain my weight at the end. I also have a big boy in there apparently, and since I'm going for a much-needed VBAC and I'm a small person, I should focus on the baby gaining the weight necessary for him to be healthy, and not in excess of that. Therefore, I need to slow down and try to cut out all carbs other than fruits and vegetables. I don't have an issue with sugar, since I just put honey in my tea and that's about the extent of my sugar intake. My problem is rice and quinoa pasta. So, paleo it is for the rest of this pregnancy. I'm still keeping it at plant-based and all of my meat and eggs will be organic/grass-fed/free range. I'm not sure why people think paleo is all about meat.... or who came up with that bogus chart with meat on the bottom of the pyramid. You can be Vegan and Paleo if you wanted, it would simply cut out a ton of food groups and wouldn't be incredibly healthy. So anyway, here's to a Paleo rest of my pregnancy!

This is delicious. I actually meant to go a particular store to get coconut yogurt, because it's the only one that carries it. However, I got lazy. As I was making my delicious pineapple smoothie with coconut milk, I saw a recipe on the back of the carton for pudding. I modified it quite a bit, but the end result turned out great! I decided to use this instead of yogurt, and I'm glad I did.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup tapioca starch (next time I'm using coconut flour to make this truly Paleo)
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups coconut milk (you could also use 5x protein almond milk)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup ground flax seeds

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir the sugar, starch and salt together. Add in the milk slowly and whisk constantly until it comes to a boil. Turn heat down to a simmer and continue to whisk until the pudding thickens. Stir in vanilla and flax seeds and cool. Store, then top with berries or fruit of your choice (I chose berries and walnuts) when ready to serve.

Paleo (or not) BISCUITS!

Biscuits make my heart sing :) Biscuits and gravy, even more so. I have been trying out hundreds of biscuit recipes ever since I started eating gluten free, and have never succeeded until now. Sure I got fluffy biscuits every now and then, but they were never tasty like they should be.

Tonight, there will be a full moon, and seeing as this baby only has one more week to stay in my belly, I am thinking maybe he might make his debut tonight. As soon as he makes his entrance, I have to clean up my diet completely, not that I eat very unhealthfully as it is. However, all the extra dairy and sugars have to go. Just to be prepared, I wanted to make biscuits and gravy one last time and share the lovely recipe with you. Side note: no worries, I'll be eating 500 extra calories when the baby gets here for nursing, so no lecture necessary, the calories will simply be pulled from more greens and lean protein :).

I have tried both versions of the recipe for biscuits, and I honestly loved making them less paleo with the rice flour, milk, and butter, but you can honestly barely taste a difference unless you really are a biscuit connoisseur!

Biscuits:

2 1/2 cups almond flour
2 T coconut flour (or white rice flour)
3 eggs (or 2 eggs and 2 T milk)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp iodized sea salt
1/4 cup melted coconut oil (or melted butter)
2 T honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients together well. Add in the wet ingredients. Line a pan with parchment paper and spoon balls of dough onto the sheet, then press down to make slightly flatter like the shape of a biscuit. Bake for 12 minutes, but check them at 10 minutes. They should be slightly browned as shown in the picture above.

You can make these into little delightful breakfast sandwiches, or use them to make delicious biscuits and gravy. My (or my Dad's) all time amazing gravy recipe that is sure to be a hit with ever carnivore? See below!

Gravy:

1 lb hot breakfast sausage (such as Jimmy Dean)
3 T GF flour
Milk to desired thickness
black pepper
crushed red pepper

Brown and saute the breakfast sausage, then drain the grease. Sprinkle the flour over the sausage and saute for about 1 minute. Stir in about 1 cup of milk, then add more until it covers the sausage. The gravy will thicken, and you might want to add more milk. Stir in the seasoning and simmer for a few minutes before adding to your biscuits.

Enjoy the breakfast of champions!!

paleo pancakes... that actually taste like pancakes!

First of all, some of you may have noticed the ugly plates in all of my pictures lately. No, my taste has not taken a significant plunge. I have been staying in an awesome beach condo with my parents in Florida for vacation. Thus, the ugly plates that come with the place. I'll take ugly plates for an awesome view of the beach every time I wake up!

Secondly, some of you are thinking, Paleo doesn't mean eating starches and alternative flours! No, no it doesn't. Not for people who are trying to lose weight anyway. However, I am not trying to lose weight and I love my carbs... therefore, I will be eating a ton of fruit and starchy veggies and coconut and almond flours thankyouverymuch! That's what Paleo means to me. It means eating healthy and doing what is best for my individual body.

Finally, these pancakes are wonderful. They are fluffy, nutritious, packed with protein, just sweet enough, and don't need syrup! You can top them with anything you want just like regular pancakes. I didn't think until after making them that I could have made blueberry pancakes. But hey, this was my first time making Paleo pancakes, so one thing at a time. At least this first attempt was successful! I'm getting quite lucky with all these successful first attempts, I'd say.

Ingredients:

6 eggs
1 1/2 cups almond milk
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 T baking soda
1 T honey
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup coconut flour

Beat the eggs well. Then add the rest of the ingredients and whisk until everything is well-combined. Heat a pan to medium, drizzle a little grapeseed oil onto the pan then add in big spoonfuls of pancakes. Make sure you spread them out so they don't burn on one side before you can even flip them. I drizzled just a tad of honey atop the pancakes to give it a little more sweetness.... I can't give up my sweet tooth but at least I didn't throw in chocolate chips like I'm used to doing! Trust me, if I had dark chocolate on hand, I would definitely have done so ;)

paleo cereal

I have never been more excited to try something in my life, food-wise of course. In Korean clubs, they serve bowls of fruit covered in a bath of milk and sugar. It sounds strange, but I would devour it every time. I never considered remaking it, because every time I would think about it I figured fruit is much better on it's own and I really don't even like milk. Recently, I ran across a website where a Paleo-lover professed their love for cereal and how they miss cereal every so much. He made this to satisfy his cereal tooth, and it did, so I tried it. Delicious! Seriously, better than cereal.

Ingredients:
strawberries, blueberries, rasberries..... any fruit
chopped walnuts
almond milk

Throw it all in a bowl and you've got a great breakfast! It would also be great to add some ground flax seeds, slivered almonds.... whatever else you desire.

pumpkin waffles

I had to make something special for Jake's breakfast one morning, since it always seems to be scrambled eggs. I was feeling extra nice a few days ago and decided on pumpkin waffles. These were super yummy, and great topped with REAL maple syrup. It only took me about 15 minutes to whip up so don't worry about having to wake up too much earlier, and remember, breakfast is worth it... especially a yummy treat every now and then. My mom used to wake me up with waffles covered with fresh strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate syrup about 2 or 3 mornings per week before school. I tell you what, that woman is awesome. But anyway, I didn't want to make these too over the top considering he gets over the top food a little too often at work :)

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup GF flour
3 T light brown sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 T pumpkin pie spice (2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp clove)
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cup coconut milk
1 egg
2 T pear sauce (or apple sauce)
2 T cider vinegar

Blend all dry ingredients, then blend all wet ingredients. Mix the wet into the dry then place about 1/2 cup onto waffle maker for about 4 minutes. You can also make these into pancakes simply by putting them onto a griddle and cooking for 2 minutes on each side. If desired, you might want to sweeten the mixture a little by decreasing the amount of milk and adding that much apple cider.

orange pineapple coconut smoothie (best homemade smoothie by far!!)

Jake and I loooove smoothies. They're quick and easy for your in-between meals to make sure you are taking in enough calories and protein, as well as fruit and veggie servings throughout your day. We are forever experimenting with our smoothies. None are ever bad, but none have ever turned out this amazing. I am super proud of myself for this one. There is a smoothie place in the mall that has this same smoothie and I have been trying to copy it for the longest time, because I can probably sit there and drink a gallon of it because it's just that delicious. Success! Here it is:

2/3 cup frozen pineapple

1 small mandarin orange

handful flaked coconut, or more depending on how much liquid you desire

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 large scoop vanilla soy protein powder

1 tsp raw cane sugar

Blend and fall in love!

coconut, chocolate chip banana bread

Recipe modified from http://chocolateandcarrots.com/2011/01/banana-chocolate-chip-coconut-flour-bread?ref=nf

I got this recipe for banana bread from my friend's website, and I loved it! The only reason I didn't use the coconut flour is because it's pretty expensive compared to the other alternative flours I already have on hand. In doing so, I just added another banana and decreased the amount of eggs to get the right consistency and flavor.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup gluten free all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 eggs
2 T honey
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 bananas, pureed
handful coconut flakes
handful dark chocolate chips
handful of chopped walnuts
raw cane sugar

Mix the dry ingredients together, and mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Blend the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and add in coconut, walnuts, and chocolate chips. Pour into a loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. As soon as you pull it from the oven, sprinkle the raw can sugar on top and allow to cool.

Breakfast of Champions, on the go (smoooothie!)

I like eggs for breakfast. But when I have to be at work super early and don't want to wake up at 3:30, I throw this stuff into a blender and have a wonderful smoothie for breakfast on the go. I blend frozen (or fresh) berries and sometimes pineapple or whatever I have on hand with either green tea or juice (without added sugar), agave, and for protein I use either fat free plain Greek yogurt or Spiru-tein Vanilla Soy Protein powder. You can also add psyillium husk or ground flax seeds for some extra fiber. Remember, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It doesn't have to be huge, just a small cup full of antioxidants with a little protein will do! Anything to get your metabolism jump-started and your brain awakened. Get moving!

the dirty dozen: spicy deviled eggs

Eggs are the perfect protein. You hear it everywhere. I hate eggs. I mean yeah, I eat eggs for breakfast, scrambled with some Cabot reduced fat cheese shredded on top. But I have to have that cheese on top. Bodybuilders shove eggs down their throat all day, for real. Me? I can't do it. However, deviled eggs are the perfect snack! I love these spicy deviled eggs for a snack, or for a quick breakfast or for a lunch if you're pressed for time, who cares when you do it, just make sure you get some protein every 3 hours or so. These are loaded with yellow onion, which are great for lowering your blood sugar level as well as possibly staving off cancer, as well as jalapenos which are wonderful for boosting metabolic health. I love spice, so if you don't want these quite as spicy, feel free to cut down to 1 jalapeno.

Ingredients:
12 hard boiled eggs
1/2 small yellow onion
2 small jalapeno peppers
1/4 cup Vegenaise (I use Grapeseed oil vegenaise)
1 tsp spicy brown mustard
1 tsp distilled vinegar
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp horseradish

Mix all ingredients (besides the boiled eggs) together while the eggs are being boiled. Slice the boiled eggs lengthwise, and scoop the yolks into the mixture, and blend. Scoop a tablespoon-full of mixture into each egg white and store in the fridge for when you get the munchies!

Oatmeal, finally!

Since being diagnosed with anaemia (due to the whole Celiac thing), I've been working iron into my diet any way possible. I've also always wanted to "like" oatmeal, knowing how good it is for you. I pulled everything together in this recipe and it's actually delicious, finally.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oats
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup skim milk
1 tsp. Blackstrap Molasses (I use Plantation)
a few dark chocolate chips (or reg. chocolate if you don't like dark)
1 T flax seeds, ground
optional: walnuts, blueberries instead of chocolate, bananas, strawberries...... be creative!

Cook the oats the way the directions say: microwave 1/4 cup of oats with 1/2 cups water and 1/4 cup milk for 2 minutes, then cover and let sit for 3 minutes. Uncover, and stir in the chocolate chips, molasses, flax seeds, and whatever else you want in it and enjoy!