Recipe REVIEW: Homemade Chocolate

There comes a time in every girl's life when she has to put aside all distractions, phone calls, family members, facebook, and well, everything else just to grab a 30 second vacation. There's just something about slipping a piece of smooth, creamy chocolate into your mouth that can't take you away better than Calgon ever did. There's just something about chocolate that makes a girl's heart happy. Even my 4 year old daughter has a special place in her heart for chocolate.

So when I came across a recipe for homemade chocolate, and it came during a time when I needed some chocolate, I was excited to see the ingredients were in my pantry and the steps to making the chocolate were easy. Two very important things for this busy mama.

I have been attempting healthier, carb friendly, Paleo-tastic recipes for chocolate lately, and I haven't been too impressed. I tried making chocolate pudding the other day that didn't involve an avocado, and it just wasn't doing it for me. But this recipe, the one I found for homemade chocolate was great. I changed the ingredients just a tad, mostly because I didn't have specifically what the recipe called for, but it came out great. I then decided to expand the recipe a little bit. And I'm super excited, now, to share with you how you, too, can make chocolate that is going to hit the spot and not leave you sad when you jump on the scale a little later.

Please, please, please check out the original recipe and so many other wonderful tasty treats at "In the Kitchen with Amy Jo." She is a girl after my low-carb, Paleo heart.

Here's my adapted recipe:

Homemade Chocolate

 Ingredients: 
* 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder {Her recipe called for raw cacao powder. Here's a link to a discussion about the difference between cocoa and cacao powders} 
* 3/4 cup coconut oil, melted at room temperature {coconut oil will do this on its own in hot weather}
* 1/3 cup raw, local dark honey. If you use light honey, you can go up more. Dark honey, to me, is super strong, and I didn't want the sweet to overpower the chocolate.
* salt, just a pinch will do

That's it? Uh huh. That is it. For reals. 

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix the cocoa powder and the salt. Use a fork to make sure there are no clumps. 
2. Stir in the melted coconut oil. Stir until smooth. 
3. Stir in the honey. Stir until smooth. 
4. Pour into a parchment lined bowl or container. The thicker you want the chocolate, the deeper the container. 
5. Place container with the chocolate in it in the freezer. Freezer for at least one hour. 
6. Once solid, break into chunks and store in the freezer. Grab a piece when you just really need one. 

OPTIONS: 

1. To lower the sugar intake even more, melt 1/3 cup of coconut sugar in the melted coconut oil. Add mixture to dry ingredients, pour, and freeze. 
2. Add other ingredients. The second time I made this I did a few things differently. 
1. I poured the mixture into two clean ice trays. 
2. In one ice tray, I added some other ingredients before freezing. 
1. I chopped up a Tbsp of coffee beans and put into four compartments in the ice tray. 
2. I put a few craisins in four compartments in the ice tray. 
3. I added a tsp of peanut butter into six of the compartments in the ice tray. 
4. I ran out of dried strawberries, but that will go in the next time I make the chocolate. 

My "Official" Review

Now this is the part where I tell you if it was easy to make, if I liked the taste, and if it made me full. This isn't a meal, so I obviously can't answer the last question, but since this is a review, I'm going to answer these anyway. 

Was it easy to make? Yes, Very easy. It takes only a few minutes to mix together the ingredients. The hardest part was waiting. Oh the torture. 

How did it taste? So. Very. Good. I was surprised. All the other "healthy, homemade chocolate" recipes really had me going, "Eh, I mean, it's okay." This? No, this was instantly a winner. 

Did it make me full? In a sense, it did. When I need chocolate, it's not like I need a TON. Most times if I can just get a little piece, it can hold me over for a good while {unless, of course, I'm having a really bad day, and in that case, two or three pieces will do}. I like that I decided to use the ice trays. That keeps me honest. If I keep running back to the freezer to grab another piece of chocolate, I feel convicted an awful lot sooner than if I were to just keep hacking away at chunks. 

Check out below the pics of my chocolate experiments, and give it shot yourself. You won't regret it. 

Serving sizes 

I don't think this one mixed very well. That shiny stuff is honey. Still edible, though. Yum. 

From left to right: Peanut butter, craisins, and coffee beans 

Store those girls in a freezer ziplock bag and put them away...well, after you grab one or two first. 

Recipe REVIEW: Paleo Pizza

As I continue to work on changing my eating habits to include less carbs and more protein, one of my favorite Facebook Pages to follow is "Just Eat Real Food". This page posts two-three recipes for each meal each day, and this is where I found a link to Humble Foodie's No Scrubs: Paleo Pizza. The picture that was posted with the recipe was so beautiful, full of bright colors and yummy, yummy veggies. I instantly put it in my meal planner on Ziplist.com for Monday night.

Below I will be posting the recipe as I did it as I had to triple the recipe to feed my family of 5, and then check the bottom of my "Official Review". Please go HERE for the original recipe.

Paleo Pizza
Ingredients: 
* 1 1/2 cup almond meal {You can make your own by grinding raw, unsalted almonds into a powder...but don't grind too much; You'll get almond butter.}
* 3/4 tsp salt
* 1 1/2 tsp EACH of dried basil and oregano
* 3/4 tsp dried thyme
* 3 tsp olive oil + extra for oiling pan or stone
* 3 large eggs
* 1 cup tomato sauce
* pizza toppings {See note below for my preference}
* Optional: parmesean cheese

Note: My pizza toppings included: 
* 1 cup fresh baby spinach
* 1 green and 1 red bell pepper
* 1/2 cup mushrooms
* garlic powder
* pepperoni slices
* 1/4 cup feta cheese 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325. Oil parchment paper or a baking stone {my preference}
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine almond meal, salt, seasoning, olive oil, and eggs. 
3. Spread the dough onto the parchment paper or on the stone until it is very thin. 
4. Bake for 10 minutes
5. While baking, saute any toppings you desire. I sauteed half of the peppers and all of the mushrooms in  1 Tbsp of olive oil, 1 tsp of oregano, 1/2 tsp of rosemary, garlic powder, and thyme. 
6. Remove crust from oven, add sauce and then toppings. Bake for 15 minutes or until pizza is crisp. 

Note: Here is how I layered my pizza after crust was precooked: 

* 1/4 tsp garlic powder

* sprinkle with parmesean cheese and feta cheese

* tomato sauce

* 1/2 tsp oregano and rosemary 

* baby spinach

* sauteed veggies 

* pepperoni

* rest of raw veggies 

* sprinkle with parmesean and feta cheese, oregano, and rosemary 

Because I LOADED up my pizza, the cooking time was 20 minutes. 

My "Official" Review

Was it Easy to Make? Yes. It was very easy to make. I would almost dare to say it was easier to make than regular pizza dough. I started making it at 5pm and we were ready to eat by 545. I'm sure that time would be shorter if I hadn't piled on 10 layers on my pizza. 

How Did It Taste? Very, very good. I warned my husband ahead of time that it wasn't the normal pizza I make. When I do that, he normally politely eats a small amount and then about 30 minutes after dinner gets himself a bowl of cereal or something. Not only did he eat his share, but he got seconds. All but one of my children got seconds. I also got seconds, but I put my seconds on top of about 1/2 cup of fresh spinach. The only reason I did this was so I could save some pizza for the rest of the family. When I came back to see how much I needed to put away, it was all gone. So, yeah, this went over well with my family. 

Did it make me feel full? Yes, but not the "pop the top button of my shorts" full. It was sufficient. I could have added a salad with it, and I sort of did with my seconds, but it wasn't necessary. 

If you are looking for a good pizza recipe that is not going blow your carbs out of the water, I would suggest this recipe. Very good and very easy to make. 

REVIEW: Low Carb Chicken Bacon Crockpot Chowder

I love chicken. I LOOOVE bacon. And it's been just cold enough to merit a good soup for dinner. So when I saw the recipe for Chicken Bacon Chowder cropping up all over all of my low carb/paleo FB pages, I decided it would most definitely be a recipe I needed to try.

I found the recipe on Peace, Love, and Low Carb, one of my new favorite websites for yummy recipes. The author's blog is full of beautiful pictures that makes it so simple to follow. Since I didn't have all the ingredients on hand when I suddenly decided to make this soup, I'll show below what I did, but, of course, please see the original post for details. Then see my review at the bottom where I answer the questions: "Was it easy to make?" "How did it taste?" and "Did it make me feel full?"

So here's my "adjusted" recipe. Please go HERE for the original. I will note at the end of the ingredients and steps what I did differently. There is also a * next to ingredients I changed.

Here's my finished product, served with a low carb, almond flour bacon and cheddar scone

Low Carb Chicken Bacon Crockpot Chowder

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1 lb bacon
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups water, divided *Recipe calls for chicken stock, but seriously shockingly I didn't have any
• 4 Tbsp butter, divided
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 leek
• 6 oz mushrooms
• 2 Tbsp onion powder *Recipe called for 1/2 large onion. The hubs doesn't like onions, but I like the onion taste, so the powder is a compromise for us. 
• 1 Tbsp flat leaf parsley *Recipe calls for a few springs of Italian Flat Leaf Parsely 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• Ingredients in recipe that I did not have so I did not add: 1 shallot, 2 ribs of celery

Directions: This is pretty much word for word from the original. Any changes will have a bolded note next to it. 

1. Turn crockpot on lowest setting. 
2. Chop all veggies. Add the veggies, 2 Tbsp butter, 1 cup chicken stock {I used water}, a pinch of salt and pepper to the crockpot, cover and allow vegetables to sweat for an hour. 
3. Chop up your bacon and cook it until it is nice and crispy {and resist urge to eat half of it}. Set aside. 
4. At the same time, pan sear your chicken breast in the remaining 2 Tbsp butter until they are a nice caramel brown on both sides. They will NOT be fully cooked at this stage. 
5. Remove chicken from pan and cut into cubes. De-glaze the chicken pan with the remaining chicken stock {again, water}.
6. Add the chicken stock, heavy cream, cream cheese, and seasoning to the crockpot. Stir until well combined. 
7. Add the chicken and the bacon to the crockpot. Cover and let cook for 6-8 hours. 

She says the entire batch is 38 net carbs. Without the shallot and celery, that might lower that number just a bit. But it ended up being about 10 servings for us, which is roughly 4g carbs per serving. NOT BAD AT ALL. 

Here are some pictures of the soup about 30 minutes into cooking: 

Good and chunky

Nice and creamy

My "Official" Review

Was it easy to make? Yes. It was very easy to make. Putting it together took a little over an hour, and only because you are supposed to let the veggies sweat. That time went by fast, though, by cooking the bacon, cooking the chicken, and then de-glazing the pan. I only had two complaints, but I can't blame the original chef; it's just the way the ingredients cook. 1} I had to scrape the sides of the crock every hour or so because the cream was browning on the sides. and 2}Around the 6th or 7th hour, my chowder suddenly dropped about 1, almost 2 inches in the crock. I was afraid that my entire soup was going to be reduced to creamy veggies and meat before it was supper time, so I added 1 more cup of water and 1 more cup of cream to the soup. Unfortunately, this made my chowder more soup than chowder. So in the future I will either just leave it alone or plan to eat it in 6 hours, not 8. 

How did it taste? SO. GOOD. My house smelled wonderful all day, too. I really, really like this soup. It was very creamy and full of all kinds of yum. My kids loved it, and my husband gave his seal of approval. I honestly think this would be a great meal to make for someone who is sick, has family in the hospital, or brand new parents. 

Did it make me feel full? Yes, surprisingly so. I started to get 2nds {because it's really that good}, but about two bites into it, I realized I was just too full to eat anymore. It may have been that I paired it with a scone that helped with the feeling full part, but either way, I was happy with what I had. Nothing I hate more than having a thick soup that makes me want to take a nap afterwards. And this soup didn't do that. I was just full and happy. Two very good things. 

This recipe is a good one. For sure going on my list of soups for next winter, since spring is starting to peak around the corner. 

Making My Own Coconut Flour

If you are looking for a low carb recipe or something for your Paleo diet, you are almost always going to run across the ingredients almond flour and coconut flour. At first, you look frantically everywhere thinking for sure grocery stores carry such items. Then you realize, not always, and if they do, it's normally really pricey. The only thing I found close to me was Bob's Red Mill Flour I can purchase at Big Lots or, if I have a sharp eye, at Publix or Bi-Lo. I decided, although it is nice to have a back up bag, I really should just make my own. 

This week I experimented with making my own coconut flour. The process itself is really not all that hard. It can be a bit time consuming,  but other than that, it's really easy. The hardest step I found was trying to find unsweetened coconut flakes, dried or not dried. I looked e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e, well, everywhere within a 30  mile radius. I'm sorry. I'm not driving 45 minutes to an hour away just to pick up a bag of unsweetened coconut. You can find sweetened coconut flakes everywhere. And you can still use it, but it adds carbs to your meals and unnecessary sugar that causes your body to crave more and more...and, yes, even more. I actually found some unsweetened coconut by accident. I was checking out prices on frozen berries at my favorite grocery store, Piggly Wiggly {"I'm Stickin' with The Pig"..."Local Since Forever"...yada yada}, when I saw small bags of unsweetened coconut, two bags for $3. I was so stinkin' excited!   So I figured it was a small enough amount that I could experiment on and NOT break the bank. And it worked out swimmingly. 

I made coconut flour two ways. Depending on what you have in your kitchen or what kind of time you are working on, you can make your own coconut flour for your meals. And as my daughter says, "Easy peasy, lemon squeezy". 

Homemade Coconut Flour

What's on the bottom is all but 1 cup of Bob's Red Mill Coconut Flour
that I paid around 10 BUCKS for. The top half is all but 1 cup
 of my homemade coconut flour that cost me only 3 to make. 

 Step 1: Drying the flakes 

Method 1: Dehydrator 

1. Line your dehydrator with parchment paper. If your dehydrator doesn't have hundreds of little slats your coconut can fall through, then lucky you! 
2. Spread out the coconut in as much of a single layer as possible. 
3. Turn on your dehydrator and go about your day. 

This is a small batch and got me a little less than half a cup,
which is fine since most of the recipes I use are right around 1/2 cup of coconut flour. 

When I did this method, I did only one sheet, and it took about 8-10 hours for the flakes to dry. Honestly, if you are going to do it this way, I would prep it, turn it on, and go to bed. When you wake up in the morning, you can quickly grind the flour and make some pancakes or muffins or something delicious. 

Method 2: Cookie Sheet

1. Turn your oven on LOW, between 170-200. I started mine at 170, but about an hour later, bumped it up to 200, and there it stayed until the end. 
2. Spread the coconut in a single layer on a cookie sheet. 
3. Bake for 2-3 hours. After the first 1 1/2 hours, I started checking every 15-20 minutes. You don't want to BAKE the coconut, you just want to dry it. And my experience with coconut is once it starts baking, it can cook FAST. 

This method is ideal if you are going to be home working around the house anyway. I worked in the yard, gardening, while my coconut was drying. I had the windows open so I could hear the timer go off every 20 minutes. It forced me to come inside, check the coconut, and drink some water before heading back outside. 

Step 2: Grinding the Dried Coconut

Now that your unsweetened coconut is dried, the rest of the process takes only about 2 minutes. 

1. Dump your dried coconut into your blender, Vitamix {if you are lucky enough to have one...which makes me super duper jealous}, or your Magic Bullet. 
2. Pulse the coconut. I pulse and then shook the container, then pulsed again. Coconut has oils in it that can cause all your hard work to clump together. So I just shake it a little between pulses to make sure everything stays separated. 
3. Keep blending until the coconut flakes become a fine powder and then STOP. If you keep going, you can make coconut butter, which I'm sure is delicious, and something I plan on trying next time, but it's not going to help you make your pancakes. 

That's it! Just dry and grind. "Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!" 

I have kicked around the idea of purchasing some dried unsweetened coconut flakes in bulk online. I can use the coconut flakes, not ground up as a flour, to make all kinds of things, such as these Coconut Nested Eggs {see picture below}. I'm just not sure if it will save me money or if it all comes out the same. 

This is really just 1 egg, 1/4 cup of unsweetened dried coconut flakes,
and about 15 minutes of your time. I love, love, love this recipe.
 I made 12 in my large muffin tin. Each family member got two with a slice of bacon,
and the kids fought over who was going to get an additional egg. Win-Win.  

And if you are looking for a recipe using coconut flour, here's one I made this morning for breakfast: Lemon Coconut Flour Pancakes

I didn't have any lemon extract, so these were more "Cinnamon Coconut Flour Pancakes", but after making the batter I realized I could have used lemon zest. So next time....

I served these pancakes with frozen berries, a little LOCAL bee pollen,
and some powdered sugar. On my pancakes, I omitted the powdered sugar
and added about a Tablespoon of homemade whipped cream. Super yummy. 

Low Carb Crepes: A REVIEW

As a low carb-er, I am finding that eggs are becoming pretty essential to my weight loss. And as much as I like eggs, there's only so much fried eggs, boiled eggs, omelets, and quiches I can eat for breakfast. And because I'm a new low carb-er, I still crave the taste of bread. So when I saw "Low Carb Crepes" on one of my new favorite food blogs, Your Lighter Side, I about did a flip in my kitchen. I have made crepes before {see here for a not-so-low-carb recipe}, using an egg-based flour mixture, and they are delicious, but not so good for someone who is trying to lose that nasty weight.

I attempted this recipe, keeping it as close as I could, based on what ingredients I had in the house. I put the recipe in MyFitnesspal.com to see if my adjustments kept it the same amount of carbs...and they did. So I will be sharing the recipe with you, giving you the review.

Low Carb Crepes {Original recipe found HERE}
Note: An asterisk * shows that this is an ingredient that was NOT on the original. Please see the original recipe, link above, for clarification.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs, separated
• 3 ounces cream cheese
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
• 2 Tbsp Aunt Jemima low sugar syrup*
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil*
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 packets of Pyure Stevia*
• 1/2 cup frozen berries *{the original recipe does not say how much. For just myself, I used a little less than 1/4 cup}

Directions: Because I did almost exactly what she did on her recipe, I am just pasting it below. Any changes will have a bolded statement next to it. 

In a bowl, whip egg whites with cream of tartar until peaks are stiff (about 5 minutes).

In separate bowl, blend cream cheese, yolks, baking powder and Aunt Jemima low sugar syrup. Adding half of the yolk batter at a time to the whites and using a tall spoon (I use an iced tea spoon), make a lazy sine wave {not sure what a "lazy sine wave" is, so I just gently folded} through the batter once. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. Add second half of the yolk mix and repeat sine wave two more times.

Using scant ½ cup scoop {I just spooned out batter to make 4-inch crepes}, drop batter onto heated pan. Let cook until bottom is firm (the batter’s not yours) about 3-5 minutes. Flip and press lightly. Let cook for another 1-2 minutes, until crepe is set. Move to a plate to cool.

When ready to serve:

Arrange crepes on a plate (best looking side down).

In a bowl, whip heavy cream with two packets Stevia until still peaks form. Spoon cream into the center of each crepe. Roll and place seam-side down. Tuck fresh fruit in, on and around the crepes. Sprinkle one packet of Splenda along the top (optional). {I did NOT do this}

Refrigerate leftovers.

She says further down that these crepes also make great wraps for sandwiches. So I immediately made some sandwiches and set them aside for future meals. 

My "Official" Review: 

Was it easy to make? 
Yes. It was very easy to make. My only major complaint is that it took me three bowls to make. BUT, it didnt take long. I'm thinking it would be easy for me to prep some of it before hand, such as the yolk mixture and the whipping cream, to speed up the process for a quick morning. One other problem, MINOR, was that her recipe had more packets of sweetener than I saw her instructions had, so I was all about using 4 packs of sugar, and ended up using only 2.

How did it taste? 
Oh. My. Word. I kept checking the recipe to see if I had done it right because it was SO GOOD. It tasted more like a dessert than it did breakfast, and it made me giddy thinking I was eating something so good. I am still getting used to the taste of stevia versus cane sugar, but this recipe really did a great job turning me around to the healthier option.

As for the crepe itself, without the cream and berries. It tasted like a flour-based pancake. No kidding. It was very good.

Did it make me feel full? 
I ate 3 crepes {1 1/2 servings} and was seriously sufficiently full. It's been about 4 hours, and I have not even had a craving for anything else. So I would say "yes", it did make me feel full. I don't like feeling so full I want to go to sleep, so this actually hit the spot.

I will be making these Low Carb Crepes a part of my regular menu. Very, very good.

It's Not a Diet, It's a Lifestyle: The Confessions of an Addict

Photo Credit

If you have been following my blog at all, you know that I have been struggling with my weight since I had my last child four years ago. Whatever used to work no longer worked. I increased how many times I worked out, how long I worked out each time, I ate less and less calories, I increased my protein, and I would tip the scales back and forth a few pounds, never really budging from that range. 

Then I had a talk with a friend who also was having a hard time losing weight. She basically said she needed to restart her metabolism, as it had been in "starvation mode" for far too long, never burning any fat. Her words of frustrations about her weight could have been my own. So I went home and researched "restarting your metabolism", finding that apparently it's not uncommon for most Americans. We have totally screwed up our bodies making them crave starchy, sugary foods. We kid ourselves thinking that eating a big ole bowl of fruit for a meal is healthy, when in actuality, that fruit has so much sugar in it. I realized after three days of constant research, I had sabotaged my diet. I make a LOT of bread; I eat a LOT of sugary fruit; I LOVE potatoes. Oh me. All this time I was thinking it was my thyroid or something, when really it was just my menu. 

I realized I had become an addict. 
I have never smoked, a rarely drink, and Facebook has really been my recent addiction, until I realized that I was seriously addicted to SUGAR. After reading research after research, I was finding how certain sugars were actually never satsifying my body, and only making me crave more and more food. So I would go through these bouts of cutting back how much I was eating, only to never be satisfied. Then I would gain 5 pounds, and then start the cycle all over again. It was so very, very frustrating, ending with me crying a LOT and even, a few desperate times, contemplating  my diet plan in high school: anorexia. 

So I decided I needed a change. 

A healthy change

As I raise my daughter, I want to set an example of healthy living, of working your body to make it strong, and of using your brain to be the best you can be. 

I started posting pictures on Facebook of things I was trying, and I started getting a lot of emails {many encouraging, some, sadly, not so much}. A friend told me she was in the same position as I {see? so many of us have messed things up} and she wanted to know what I was doing. This is what I sent her:

1. I started researching "Restarting Your Metabolism", and found this site: 

http://www.julianbakery.com/julian-bakery-helps-restart-your-metabolism-in-8-easy-steps/. This gave me 

an idea of how much water I needed to drink per day {which was a TON at first, but my bladder handles it 

so much better now, and I find I'm actually craving water all day}. This site also helped me get started. 

Research showed that the first week of a low carb diet is usually 20-40 carbs a day. I was completely 

blowing that out of the water before. Fruit have a TON of carbs.

2. I found this site today {http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarb101/a/firstweek.htm }. I wish I had 

read it last week. It explained my "carb withdrawal" and why I was insanely craving cake.

3. I roughly followed this menu plan this past week, and will be strictly following it this coming week: 

http://www.free-healthy-diet-plans.com/free-diet-meal-plans.html#

4. I found this site yesterday and signed up for the emails with recipes. Good site: http://yourlighterside.com/

So basically increase the meat in your diet and cut as many starch carbs from your diet as much as possible. 

No breads, pastas, starchy veggies such as carrots and most definitely potatoes of any form. If you eat fruit, 

keep it to berries, and keep your portions SMALL. Cheeses are all okay except processed cheeses like the 

kind you unwrap and put on sandwiches {especially velveeta}. Do this for a week or two and then 

slllooowly add carbs back into your diet, but keeping the breads, pastas, and starch veggies at a minimum.

For you long-time low carb-ers out there, I would love to hear your input on these things. I am finding more and more that I really am just going to have to change. I remember Oprah saying one time that she was "just always going to have to be dieter", and although I don't want to "diet", I do want to change my habits. I want to see results, and I want to feel full and happy and confident with myself once again. 

So as I go through this learning stage, I will begin posting REVIEW of low carb recipes, how they taste, how easy it was to make, and how full it made me feel. 

If you have any great sites you follow that have great low carb recipes, please share the link below in the comment section. 

Thank you so much, everyone. Happy Eating. 

Food: My Go-To Pancakes

Pancakes. Yes, the good, filling food that makes most people happy. Think about all the restaurants that are open just because of pancakes. I make them at least once a week in my house. Some days I get fancy with them (see my Cappuccino Pancakes, Summer Pancakes, and Lemon Souffle Pancakes with Strawberry Syrup), but most days I just make plain ole pancakes. I have pretty much figured the best recipe (a compilation of a few different recipes I have found) for my family. And now with our new griddle, pancakes have become some serious business in our house. So here is my recipe for a basic pancake batter:

Basic, Fluffy Pancake

What You'll Need:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups  milk
• 1 egg
• 3 Tbsp butter, melted 
• 2 tsp vanilla 

Instructions: 

1. In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients. I sometimes use a fork to "sift" the ingredients. 
2. Make a little well in the middle of the dry ingredients and slowly add the wet ingredients. Mix well. (NOTE: sometimes I let this sit in the fridge overnight so the batter is ready in the morning. I really, really like how it settles. If you do this, it may be best to add the melted butter in the morning). 
3. Heat your griddle or skillet on medium heat, pour pancakes (about 4 inches in diameter). Let cook until is begins to bubble around the edges. Gently ease your spatula under the pancake and flip.Cook until it is golden brown. This should really take about 2 minutes on each side. 
4. Serve and amaze your family! 

These pancakes are so good! They rival just about any restaurant pancakes. For real. Sometimes I will add some chopped walnuts or fruit to the batter. Maybe a little cinnamon, if I'm feeling spicy. :) AND they freeze well. I normally double this recipe, making about 30 (4 inch) pancakes. My family of 5 will go through about half of that, maybe a little more, and then I freeze the rest for me to grab and reheat (15-30 secs in the microwave) for Sunday mornings before church or early morning school days when I am just not feeling the cooking thing. 

What do you like to put in your pancakes? I would love to hear what your family favorite is! 

This was what was left over after the boys all ate breakfast this morning.
Thank goodness we are having brinner tonight! 

UPDATE:

I have recently gone low carb, so these pancakes, as they are above, are really out of the question for me, as the carb count was equivalent to what I could eat in ONE DAY. So I did some experimenting. I have made a low carb version of this recipe that tastes lovely and is just as easy to make.

Low Carb Pancakes

What You'll Need:

• 1 1/2 cups ALMOND flour, I use Bob's Red Mill or my homemade version
• 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt {this is decreased...trust me}
• 1 Tbsp Truvia baking blend
• 1 1/4 cups  ALMOND milk
• 1 egg
• 3 Tbsp butter, melted 
• 2 tsp vanilla 

Instructions: 

1. In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients. I sometimes use a fork to "sift" the ingredients. 
2. Make a little well in the middle of the dry ingredients and slowly add the wet ingredients. Mix well. (NOTE: sometimes I let this sit in the fridge overnight so the batter is ready in the morning. I really, really like how it settles. If you do this, it may be best to add the melted butter in the morning). 
3. Heat your griddle or skillet on medium heat {NOTE, turn the temperature a little lower than you would the regular pancakes}, pour pancakes (about 4 inches in diameter). Let cook until is begins to bubble around the edges. This takes a little longer than regular pancakes, more like a crepe. It's a little trial and error to get it right, but I basically waited until they looked like flat eggs. Gently ease your spatula under the pancake and flip.Cook until it is golden brown. This should really take about 2-5 minutes on each side. 
4. Serve with 1/2 cup fresh berries and amaze your family! 

At 4g carbs for each serving, this turns out to be a great breakfast for those who are low carbing and still craving the pancakes. Hope you enjoy. 

See how flat they turn out? If those in the back were regular pancakes, they would be ready to turn, but these need to settle completely before flipping.