Pumpkin Walnut Pancakes

Saturday is pancake day here at the Inn. I might want to skip it some days, which I did this last Saturday, but I always have to make it up to the kids on another day...I have to say, I don't really mind because they are so great to eat "pottage" the other six days of the week.

I posted an almond flour and avocado pancake recipe a short time ago, and it is really good, but it takes an extra step to get them on the table since I am too cheap don't buy preground almond flour. So for today, I decided to try this pumpkin recipe. Let me know if you try it and what you think about it!

These don't look anything like their gluten filled, no nutrient pancake cousins, but I am okay with that. These are made with real food, they won't spike your blood sugar and the flavor is really good!

Pumpkin Pancakes

Found this in the Practical Paleo cookbook I got for my birthday and tried them this am, with my changes, of course! Pretty good!

Makes 19 pancakes +/-

Preheat griddle to 325 degrees

8 eggs, whisked

1 1/2 C canned pumpkin

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 Tbsp good maple sryup (Grade B is best...has LOTS of great minerals in it)

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp powdered ginger

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

4 Tbsp good butter

1/2 cup finely ground walnuts (optional)

Whisk eggs with pumpkin, vanilla and syrup. Then whisk in dry ingredients, and finally stir in the nuts if you are going to use them.

This batter is pretty thin, so don't be surprised! I used a 1/4 C measuring cup to ladle the mixture onto the griddle.

Melt a little butter on the griddle, then use the measuring cup to pour batter onto hot griddle. Make sure to keep them small and easy to flip, since they are just a bit fragile. Flip when you see bubbles start to form on the top of the pancake. Cook till center is set.

Serve with additional butter and fresh maple syrup.

Totally delish, and perfect for fall!

Creamy Chicken Soup over Cauliflower 'Rice'

You know what I just realized? Since I can't eat grain anymore, I don't need a toaster. And my blog is named after my beautiful red toaster which languishes in my cabinet, alone and neglected...what to do, what to do...

Oh, well, I digress.

We are new on this Paleo food journey and after reading some research on Adrenal Fatigue, I discovered that it could take two years to get myself back to normal! Wow. That's a long time with no grain. But I am committed for the long haul, and frankly, I have been enjoying trying all these new foods (or rather new ways of preparing old foods). Which leads me to today.

At two o'clock I realized that there were no dinner plans in my near future and I better get a move on. I had my sights set on reorganizing and cleaning out the pantry and kitchen, but first I needed to get dinner going or there was going to be some serious caterwauling going on around here. I grabbed a recipe I had recently copied from, well, I don't really know WHERE I got this one from, but I did change it (of course) so it is not a direct copy (sorry)! This one is quick and easy and sure to satisfy those empty tummies!


Creamy Chicken Stew

3-4 chicken breasts (frozen ok),
2 T Italian Seasoning (it seems like I actually used 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp basil and 1 tsp parsley)
1 T basil
2 cloves garlic - pressed
1 can whole-fat coconut milk
2 cups bone broth (or really good chicken broth)
1/2 c white wine
salt and pepper to taste

Now here is the easy part! Mix together everything but the chicken in the crockpot. Add chicken and turn to coat. Cook on high 3-4 hours. Oila! Go clean out your pantry, or climb Mt. Washmore. Or take the kids for a bike ride...the sky is the limit! The house will smell great, and everyone will think you spent hours cooking! I love it when it works!

About 20 minutes before you want to eat you will want to toss together this quick faux rice to put under your tasty chicken. I had heard about "cauliflower rice" but was honestly pretty skeptical. I mean really, how can you make cauliflower taste like rice?!? I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Give it a try and tell me what you think!

The only changes I made were to put my riced cauliflower in a large bowl, and season it there, before I put it in the hot pan. I used salt, lots of dried thyme (since there is thyme in the chicken), garlic powder and onion powder.

Once you have the cauliflower steaming, remove the chicken from the crockpot and shred. When everything is ready, it goes together like this: Into your bowl you layer the 'rice', then shredded chicken and then put broth over the top. Your family will rave and you will sit back and admire your organized kitchen and the smiling faces of your loved ones, and chalk one up for the Crockpot Momma.

Now, there is one little thing you should know about. If you make this with a box of chicken broth, your tastebuds are not going to sing. You really need to put together a batch of bone broth which has so much more flavor and depth. You basically do that by taking a chicken carcass or two and cooking them 12-24 hours with onions, garlic, celery, whole peppercorns and lots of water. You can find out more by doing a google search for bone broth. And to be fully transparent, my two cups of bone broth were actually left over from a Chicken Marsala I did a few weeks ago, which had the wine in it, so it had cooked down really well. I do believe it added even another layer of flavor to our soup tonight.

Chicken Curry and Creamed Cauliflower...WOW!

I LOVE savory food. Love it. Makes my heart and my tummy so very happy!!

I have been off grains and sugar for the last 2-3 weeks, eating a huge salad at lunch every day, and some kind of lean meat and veggie for dinner. So far, I have not really missed grain at all, which I find very surprising, since it has driven my food choices for so many years!

In my quest for new recipes, I came upon a chicken curry recipe that was more complicated. You are supposed to brown veggies, then brown the chicken, then make a sauce and...well, you get the idea. It is pretty time intensive! So I made it easy. And fast. And it makes the kitchen smell good all.day.long. Really!!

First off, curry powder. You can use a premade one, but I can't have any peppers, so I threw together a quick blend of pre-ground spices and toasted it in a dry skillet to bring out the aromas. Once I get my new mortar and pestle...look out!



Thai Curry Powder

1 Tbsp ground Turmeric
3 Tbsp ground corriander
2 Tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground peppercorns (pref. white, but black will work)
1 pinch ground cloves

Heat dry skillet to medium high and add mixed ground spices. Stir or toss til they are well mixed and the heat has brought out all the yummy aromas and oils. Let cool and store in small glass jar. Makes about 1/2 C. Make it ahead of time and when the taste for curry makes you crazy, you are ready to go!

Chicken Curry

1 can coconut milk
1/2 can water
2 T of curry powder (see above)
2 t freshly minced ginger...though I used dried today, since I was out of fresh
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Vidalia or other sweet onion, sliced
pinch of salt
4 chicken breasts, cut into strips; you can also use thighs or legs

Mix all ingredients except chicken in bottom of crock pot. Add chicken and stir to coat. Cook on low for 2 -3 hours, or 'til chicken is cooked.

So this deliciousness was wafting through the house all day...and got me hankerin' after something creamy to offset the curry...what to do, what to do? So I got online and found a Creamed Cauliflower recipe that I had to doctor because, well, that's what I do! And I was missing a few of their ingredients! Here is my version:

Creamed Cauliflower

1 large head cauliflower, steamed well (you don't want al dente for this!)
2/3 block cream cheese, softened (it can sit out while the cauliflower steams)
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup plain kefir (or other milk sub...that's just what we had)
2 small cloves of garlic, peeled
salt to taste

Add cheese, butter, and garlic to food processor. Cut up cauliflower into chunks and steam cauliflower 'til cooked through. Drain and add to food processor. Turn on and pulse 'til big pieces are broken down, and add kefir/milk only if needed to combine all ingredients. Add salt to taste.

Mercy!! What a good, flavorful dinner! I am sure the cream cheese adds more calories than you have to have, but it was what I had and it sure was good!!

Let me know if you try it, and what you think!

Off the Deep End?

Maybe, but it sure is fun down here!

It's Saturday! And in the Reynolds' home, Saturday means....PANCAKES!!

Since we embarked on our No-Grain diet, I have been looking for a good pancake that the kids will like, and which fits our new way of eating. I found a few, but the reviews were not that great, so I have not at this point tried any of them. Until today that is, when I found a non-Paleo recipe that talked about whipping the egg whites and then folding them into the batter. Ureeka! That one caught my attention right away.

The problem with the other almond flour based pancakes seemed to be heaviness and that they were very fragile. Most reviewers wrote that the pancakes fell apart while flipping, and we all know that falling apart pancakes are no fun at all!

So feeling inventive this morning (amazing what 7 1/2 hours of sleep will do for your foggy mind, not to mention getting rid of grain), I decided to take two different recipes and make my own Saturday Morning Savory Pancakes. You will be thrilled to know that I MEASURED everything!! Oh the JOY of a real, live Trinarecipe with measurements!

Saturday Morning Savory Pancakes

Preheat griddle to 275 degrees; on the stove this would be a medium-low heat.

Dry Ingredients

2 C fresh ground raw almonds (I used my food processor to do this...not sure what the exact equivalent would be for store bought almond flour, since it tends to settle, but I would start with less and add a bit more if needed)

2 T Coconut Flour

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Ginger

Mix all these dry ingredients together and set aside.


Wet Ingredients

4 large eggs, separated

1/2 C Water

1/2 C Mashed Ripe Banana

stay with me here...1/2 C finely mashed ripe Avocado (equals about 1 normal sized avocado)

2 tsp Vanilla

1 T Maple Syrup

Beat egg whites till foamy and set aside while you...

Combine rest of wet ingredients, mixing well. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in egg whites, mixing until combined well. Batter is thicker than your normal gf batter...don't even ask me how it compares to regular wheat batter...I have not made those in so many years, I don't even remember!!

Using your 1/4 c measuring cup, put batter on the griddle, using the bottom of the measuring cup or a fork to spread the batter out to an even thickness. These pancakes need to cook slowly, so don't rush them or they will be burned on the outside and raw in the middle! Yuck!

I'm not sure if this conforms to the Paleo mindset, but we topped our pancakes with a little pat of butter and our delicious Grade B Maple Syrup...it is dark and full of wonderful minerals and tastes like a bit of Heaven on your tongue!

If you are just leaving the gluten filled world, I am guessing that this pancake will take some getting used to. Because it is made with nut flour, it has a grainier texture than even a gf pancake would have. We normally put ground walnuts in our gf pancakes, so it was not a real stretch for us.

Also, I would not advertise the avocado in the pancake until your family has tasted them!! One of my kids knew about it (he was helping me cook) the other two and my Darling Hubby did not, and all three of them really liked the pancake a lot. There is absolutely NO avocado flavor in the pancake at all! I promise! It just adds creaminess and lots of good oil.

So, if you are brave, give these a whirl and come back and tell me what you think!

Happy Saturday!

Imagination...

Research in food always gets my brain going...and you just never know what might come out of the pan!

Right now I am looking at the Paleo/Primal ideas of food. Basic premise: eat good meat, good fats, lots of veggies, minimal fruit and dairy. Doing this keeps your blood sugar balanced, and keeps you away from inflammatory foods, which can wreak havoc in your body. As happens with most "diets", you have the full range of investment, from the radical, "all out" folks, to the people who just take everything as a suggestion.

As I was talking to a friend last night about these ideas she told me about a cool cookbook that really has my brain stewing. It is called Well Fed, and I think it may be my new favorite cookbook!

What I think I am really going to love, is the author's idea of doing some big prep on Sundays, to make meal prep during the week go so much more easily. Even though today's recipe has nothing to do with her book, I will give the author Melissa Joulwan the credit for our yummy dinner!

It all started with mushrooms. Mushrooms and broccoli. Except the broccoli ended up back in the fridge, a casualty of my other favorite 'cookbook', The Flavor Bible. I had this idea to saute mushrooms a la Julia Child, in coconut oil. We had some leftover roasted chicken and had just purchased some ginger today as well as some asparagus, so I looked both of those up in my Flavor Bible and it all came together like this:

Chicken with 'Shrooms and Asparagus

5-6 mushrooms, peeled and sliced
2-3 Tbsp coconut oil
butter - skip this if you are dairy free
salt and pepper
1 bunch baby asparagus (the big ones are too tough), ends chopped off and cut in half
thumb size piece of ginger, peeled and grated fine
leftover roasted chicken, chopped (I used about 2 cups)
salt and pepper

* Heat pan to medium heat.
* Add coconut oil, and let melt.
* Add mushrooms in one layer. Saute gently, then flip and cook on other side (I salted mushrooms and added a few tsp of butter here). This will give you beautifully golden mushrooms...a la Julia Child!
* Remove mushrooms from pan, and return pan to burner.
* Add a little more coconut oil/butter and bring to temp. Add asparagus and a little salt. Stirring and tossing til cooked al dente.
* While asparagus is cooking, chop chicken and grate ginger. Add chicken to the pan.
* Return mushrooms to pan.
* When chicken is warmed through, add ginger and toss all ingredients together. Check salt and pepper and adjust accordingly.

I dished this yummy concoction onto our plates, and topped it with a bit of freshly grated Parmesan. It added a nice tang, and truthfully, I thought it might encourage the kids to dig in if they saw cheese on top! They are pretty brave eaters, but the idea of mushrooms was throwing the boys off.

Verdict: They LOVED it! Even AJ was asking for more! It fed four of us, and they had some leftover limas on the side (a casualty of cooking on the fly...the limas were already warming as I created the asparagus dish, so I went ahead and served them anyway). When I make this again for all of us, I will probably double it, or perhaps serve it with a salad.

Let me know how you like it, and if you make any modifications!

Mother!

Necessity really is the mother of invention! Had guests coming over for a pancake breakfast yesterday and discovered I was OUT of syrup! OH NO! So I took my blueberry sauce recipe and reinvented it for the strawberry pancakes I was serving.

YUMMO!

Strawberry Sauce for Pancakes of Waffles

4 Cups frozen strawberries
1/2 Cup water
2 Cup cranberry juice
1/3 cup evaporated cane juice

Combine in sauce pan, over medium heat. Bring to a boil, Stirring occasionally. Once comes to a boil, turn off heat and...

1/2 Cup cold water
6 Tablespooons corn starch

Whisk together the cornstarch into the cold water and pour into boiling mixture. Stir quickly to get the cornstarch evenly mixed through the fruit mixture. As soon as it thickens, add...

1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Stir well and serve over hot strawberry pancakes or over waffles. For best flavor results - use whipped cream too!

Ideas to Make Lunchtime Easy!

Lunchtime can be hard or boring, depending upon how limited your diet has become. I thought I would post a few ideas of things we have done and hope that you will add your ideas below. Here's to making lunchtime fun again!

Egg salad with crackers and/or sliced veggies. Cucumber slices, carrot and celery sticks, bell pepper sticks and jicama sticks all make great scoopers for egg salad.

Black beans and rice. If you have time to cook up a pot of black beans yourself, you can bag them and freeze them for later use. Or used canned black beans because they are EASY! Use left over rice from dinner the night before, or put on a pot of brown jasmine rice at snack time which will be hot and ready for lunchtime! Don't forget to add salsa and sour cream and a dash of lemon juice if you have it on hand.

Leftovers....a no-brainer, but sometimes we think leftovers are only for dinner! We do a COTF meal, where we put out all the bits and pieces and everyone gets to pick what they want, no matter how weird the combination.

Snack for lunch - one of my kids favorite meals! We start out with a traditional snack item, say bugs on a log, and then Mommy rummages through the pantry and fridge looking for other typical snack foods...when they finish one thing, I offer another til they are full. Makes for a zany, fun meal!

Banana Split Oatmeal - amazing what happens when you take regular old oatmeal and serve it in a banana split dish and allow the kids to pick whatever frozen fruit, nuts or fresh fruit toppings they like. Bonus points if you have whipped cream for the top!




Daddy Lunch - my husband does not eat as much bread as he used to, so he will often fix a lunch plate of sliced lunch meat, sliced cheese and a veggie. The kids love this too, and often roll up their veggies in the meat slices, creating strange combinations that make Mommy cringe!

Euro Lunch - Grapes, goat cheese, crackers, olives, fresh bread - you get the idea...anything that you think you would enjoy if you were on an European Tour

Millet and lentils - We did this one quite a bit last year...I would put on a pot of french green lentils and a pot of millet mid-morning and we would have a nice, hot lunch ready for us when it was time to eat. Top with EVOO and a bit of coarse ground kosher salt...yum!!! Can sub any grain you like...rice, quinoa, etc...

Nachos - I was first introduced to nachos when I was in highschool and have loved them ever since. We use refried black beans, shredded cheese and any leftover meat that happens to be hanging out in the fridge. You can make a big pan and bake it in the oven on foil and then slide the foil to the middle of the table for a free-for-all, or do individual plates and micro for a minute or two. Again, don't forget the toppings....salse, sour cream, jalapenos...whatever you have on hand!

OK, now I am hungry! What ideas do you have to add to the list?