Cinnamon Bun Overnight Oats

I haven’t posted on this blog in years! I switched to social media for my recipe sharing but with all the algorithm changes, it’s getting really difficult to actually get views on these posts so I’m coming back to my blog that I’ve really missed! 

I wasn’t sure exactly how to restart so I figured I may as well just get right to it and share what I prepared a few minutes ago.  It literally took me 10 minutes to prep my Monday-Friday breakfasts for the week!  

cinnamon bun overnight oats

3/4 cup rolled oats

3 tbsp vanilla protein powder

1 Tbsp coconut flour

1 1/2 tsp coconut sugar

1/2 tsp chia seeds

1/4 tsp cinnamon

unsweetened almond milk

- In a 2-cup mason jar, mix all ingredients.  Top with almond milk to top and stir thoroughly, leaving 2-3 cms space.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Enjoy!

Green Egg Scramble

Wild Rose Herbal D-Tox day #1... This breakfast came together so quickly, having a warm, delicious breakfast is only a few minutes away.

Soya sauce and eggs - a flavour combination I've loved since my mom first made it many moons ago.  If you haven't tried this yet, you will be pleasantly surprised.

During the twelve days of detoxing, some days are tougher than others.  What I find works for me is keeping it simple but also delicious.  If my food is boring, I won't stick with it, but I also don't want to spend all my time slaving away for each meal.  The good news is, it doesn't always have to be a planned recipe.  Combine ingredients you already have in stock.   Any veggies you have will work in this recipe: peppers, zucchini, onions...  The trick up my sleeve on this one is the Bragg's liquid soy seasoning, which gives eggs a new twist!  (Bragg's tastes very similar to soya sauce, but unlike soya sauce, it is allowed on the D-Tox)

green egg scramble

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 yellow pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
2 large handfuls chopped spinach
2 eggs, beaten
Bragg's soy seasoning

1. Heat frying pan to medium.
2. Melt butter and fry pepper for about 3 minutes.
3. Add garlic and cook for another couple minutes, until the garlic just starts to get some colour.
4. Add spinach and cook until wilted, stirring often.
5. Add eggs and a good squirt of Bragg's.  
6. Stir until eggs are cooked through.
7. Enjoy!

Banana Pancakes (Gluten-Free, SCD, Paleo)

Wow it sure has been a long time since I've posted a recipe!  I've been spending more time in the kitchen than ever, finding inspiration in recipes I find from blogs, websites, cookbooks, magazines, etc.  I've been on the search for simple recipes, trying to find new ingredient combinations which tickle our tastebuds, all the while being healthy, wholesome, gluten-free, and on and on!

Now, here's a new kicker, just over three weeks ago, we started the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD).  I had read how so many diseases can be cured with this diet, including but not limited to crohn's, ulcerative colitis, celiac, chronic diarrhea and autism.  No one in our family has any of these, however, digestive issues are prevalent as well as dairy intolerance, another digestive issue.  So I made the leap.  It took me a few weeks of reading, internet searching for other people's experiences, and finally I bought the book "Breaking the Vicious Cycle" by Elaine Gottschall.

I won't go into details about the Specific Carbohydrate Diet on this post.  To learn more about it, visit www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info.

My kids have been eating cereal for breakfast for years.  They were a little panicked when they found out they wouldn't be able to eat cereal anymore!  Well these banana pancakes did the trick and as far as recipes go, it doesn't any simpler than this, with only two ingredients!  We love these for breakfast or as a quick grab-and-go snack.

There are many SCD sites and blogs which have this recipe, calling for 1 banana and 1 egg.  The first time I tried to make them, they didn't turn out.  Maybe my bananas were too big? So I came up with a ratio that delivers great results every time.

banana pancakes

1 cup bananas (ripe, spotted  bananas)
3 eggs

1. Put all ingredients in the blender.
2. Mix until well blended.
3. Pour into well oiled pan on medium heat (I use coconut oil).
4. Cook for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is golden
5. Flip and cook the other side for another couple minutes.

***I triple this recipe and it doesn't last more than a day.  These are sweet enough to eat on their own.  My kids like it with a drizzle of our "syrup", which is honey, heated with a bit of water and butter.

***This is also great recipe to make when slowly reintroducing foods after finishing the Wild Rose Herbal D-Tox.

Buckwheat Pumpkin Pancakes

Kid-Approved Buckwheat Pancakes!

My energy levels have been very low for the past couple of weeks and added sleep has been of no help, so I started the Wild Rose Detox program yesterday morning.  I've done this one many times in the past few years and the results a person will get from doing this 12-day program are amazing.  There is a large variety of allowed foods, along with a great recipe book available to purchase, which makes it much easier to stick with than some other detox programs out there.  The most recommended foods, which you can eat as much of as you want are: fish, almonds, buckwheat, brown rice and millet.  I don't eat millet myself, as it contains a substance which suppresses thyroid activity.  Consumed in small amounts is considered safe, however, I'd rather stay away from it as I already have an underactive thyroid: hypothyroidism. 

While eating a very healthy diet, I need to keep it economical.  This isn't easy when buying gluten-free and organic!  When I started shopping this way,  I was spending way too much on groceries.  Over the years, I've learned that if I buy the whole food and make recipes from scratch, my penny goes much farther. 

Let's take pancakes for example. I've bought pre-made gluten-free pancake mix once before.  My boys really enjoyed them, but they were a bit crumbly and quite light.  They were able to eat half the box in one sitting and that's not economical for me!  This buckwheat pancake recipe includes only whole foods, nothing's been turned into a flour, which means I, too, can eat it! (for myself, I've realized it's not just the gluten-free I need to follow, but also to not eat any grain or legume that's been processed into a flour).  This is the first pancake recipe that I make with buckwheat that my two sons liked, so, even though I have another buckwheat pancake recipe on this blog, here's a second one!  They are so hearty and fluffy and are not at all crumbly.

buckwheat pumpkin pancakes

6 eggs

2 cups hulled buckwheat

1 cup water

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

coconut oil for frying

1. In a medium bowl, whisk 6 eggs. 
2. Add buckwheat and water, let sit for 30 minutes to soften the grain.
3. Pour in blender along with the rest of the ingredients.
4. Mix until the mixture turns into a batter.  Some small grits left in the batter is just fine.
5. Preheat frying pan to medium-high.
6. Add some oil to coat the bottom of your pan and drop in batter by large spoonfuls.
7. I make mine about 3 inches in diameter.
8. My kids eat them with agave syrup drizzled on top, and I have it with a mixture of almond butter and apple sauce, which I prefer to syrup anyways!  I had them this morning at room temperature and they were great.  Even better was if you can pop them in the toaster when eating them as leftovers.

Yields about 30 pancakes.

Note: This is quite a large batch.  If you'd like to try a smaller batch first, just try cutting the ingredients down.  Use 2 eggs, 2/3 cup buckwheat, 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup pumpkin gpuree, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/3 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon salt.  This will give you very similar results.

Pumpkin puree tip: I've mentioned this before, one thing I haven't yet tried is making my own pumpkin puree.  That is one of the very few things I buy pre-made, although it is just organic pumpkin, but it is in a can and the ones who make it themselves would never go back.  Maybe next year when the pumpkins come out, I will buy some and freeze a bunch!  But for now, I buy it pre-made and for the recipes I use it in, never use the whole can.  No matter if I have the best intentions to use the left-overs in a few days, it usually doesn't happen and I throw it out. 

Two weeks ago I made some pumpkin cookies and put the rest of the pumpkin puree in the freezer.  I thawed it out yesterday to make these pancakes and it was great.   The texture does change a bit, so I probably wouldn't use this pre-frozen pumpkin puree to make, say, pumpkin pie filling as it's not as creamy, but for recipes such as the ones on my blog, it's a great way to make another one of my ingredients last!

                                   

Egg Muffins

 Breakfast of Champions - Egg Muffins served with Yams

We've all heard it before, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  It's so true and can really set the pace for the rest of the day.   I find this meal is top notch for breakfast.  So full of nutrients when made with vegetables and served with yams, and can be eaten on almost any type of diet: candida, paleo, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, etc.

This is usually the first of many recipes I make on Saturday morning as part of getting some pre-made meals for the week.  I make these with a good batch of grated yams and we have breakfast for the week.  Each container gets a couple of big spoonfuls of yams and two egg muffins.

I love the versatility of this recipe.  I've made them with only bacon, which my kids absolutely loved, made them with veggies and sausage, and also as in this recipe, with veggies only.  Play around and use what you have in the fridge!  If you eat dairy, add some cheese in there!  And these also freeze very well.

egg muffins
1 tablespoon coconut oil (or oil of choice)
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped 
1 jalapeño pepper, chopped 
1 cup mushrooms, chopped (not for candida diet)
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
12 large eggs
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat oil in frying pan on medium heat.
3. Cook onions for 5 minutes.
4. Add peppers and mushrooms.  I like to cook these until they start to caramelize, about 10 minutes.
5. Remove from heat.
6. Add 2 basil and let cool.
7. In large bowl, beat 12 eggs.
8. Add cooled veggies to eggs, add salt and pepper and mix well.
9. Fill greased muffin tins to almost full and bake for 15-20 minutes, until edges are golden brown.
10. Let stand in muffin tin for at least 5 minutes before removing to serve.

          Makes 15 egg muffins

          Note: For the grated yams, I simply wash a few yams, grate them and fry in coconut oil.  I leave           the peel on for extra flavour and nutrients.  

Buckwheat Pancakes

Buckwheat Pancakes served with fresh berry/cherry puree

Despite its name, buckwheat isn't related to wheat .  It is a gluten-free, versatile and easy to prepare grain.  Being on top of the list of healthy grains and one of the few foods I'm able to eat as much as I desire while on my candida cleanse, I'm experimenting with different ways to prepare and consume it!

If you're looking for buckwheat at the market, there are a few choices.  Hulled buckwheat and kasha are the most common.  Kasha is simply roasted buckwheat and has a stronger flavour.  I used regular buckwheat for these pancakes but if you really like kasha, you could use it in the same way in this recipe.

I ate these pancakes three times this week, packing them up in the morning and eating them at room temperature with some almond butter and berry/cherry puree.  I loved the texture and they kept me full until lunch!

buckwheat pancakes
1 cup buckwheat
1 cup water
4 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. In a small bowl, mix buckwheat and water.
2. Let soak overnight or for 8 hours and drain.
3. Put softenend buckwheat in blender with the rest of the ingredients.
4. Blend on medium until the batter is smooth.
5. Heat skillet to medium-high.
6. Drop batter into oiled skillet by large spoonfuls.
7. Heat for a couple minutes on each side, until golden brown

     Makes 16 pancakes (3-4 servings)

Chickpea Flour Banana Muffins

I'm reposting this gluten-free chickpea flour banana muffin recipe.  After slight modifications, they remained nice and moist the next day.

I'm enjoying experimenting with chickpea flour, also called gram or besan.  Not only is this flour very economical, it's also gluten-free and packed with protein (1 cup equals about 20g protein) !!

I hope you enjoy these healthy muffins as much as my three guys did!


chickpea flour banana muffins
dry ingredients
1 cup chickpea flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

wet ingredients
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup agave nectar
2 tablespoons apple sauce
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients together.  
3. In a small bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well.
5. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full. (parchment paper muffin cups don't stick)
6. Drizzle muffin tops with agave nectar.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

     Makes 8 muffins

Oatmeal Pancakes

I love grab-n-go pancakes.  It's the simplicity of the ingredients and flavour I enjoy.  And these healthy, hearty gluten-free pancakes  keep me satisfied for hours!  My day starts before 5:AM, and even though eating healthy grains is important, I'm not always up for cooking up a fresh batch of hot cereal.  I want to make it from wake up to out the door as quickly as I can, so  I pack up these pre-made pancakes with some almond butter and apple sauce for dipping.  After my morning jog over to the office, this breakfast is delicious with my hot cup of coffee!  It's easy, no-fuss, perfect for a busy mom's schedule. 

oatmeal pancakes

4 eggs, beaten

1 cup quick cooking oats

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons coconut oil, for frying

1. Combine all ingredients and let sit for 15 minutes. 
2. Preheat 1 tablespoon oil in pan or griddle, over medium-high heat.
3. Add half batter by spoonfuls and cook about 2 minutes per side, until golden brown. Repeat with other half of batter.
4. Pancakes will get a little fluffier as they are cooking.  I like them 1/2 inch thick when cooked.
5. Serve hot or at room temperature.

   Makes 2 servings

Tip: If you like a smoother texture, mix your batter in the blender before letting it sit.