Chocolate Pancakes with Berries and Cherries

How I love and hate PMS. I love it because I crave the yummiest treats but hate it for the way I feel after indulging too much. It's about that time of the month now when all I crave is sweets and carbs.  Since I have been very watchful over my sugar intake lately, I had to come up with something sweet that wouldn't contain too much sugar. After smelling chocolate cupcakes all morning at work I had the biggest craving for brownies, but I thought that my sweet treat, rather my lunch, should be a bit more substantial. I decided to make chocolate pancakes. Last week at the health food store I got a sample of Pamela's chocolate brownie mix. Molasses and honey are used as the sweetener. I mixed 1/4 cup of that with 1/4 cup of Pamela's pancake and baking mix. I added 1 Tablespoon of ground flax seed. The Spectrum brand is my favorite for ground flax seeds. A few drops of stevia and some water will give the mix a runny consistency. I also added some chopped unsweetened baking chocolate.

Chocolate with fruit is such a lovely combination.

To top my Pancakes I added a scoop of plain greek yogurt with blueberries, cherries, and walnuts. I did end up adding a little bit of yacon syrup as well, in place of maple syrup.

Gluten Free and Sugar Free Pancakes

 

I ♥ pancakes. They are great because you can prepare them so many different ways depending on what fruits or nuts you like. My favorite is banana chocolate chip but since I must watch my sugar intake again I need to find an alternative. I usually use Pamela's gluten free pancake flour but I've been trying to create my own mix using buckwheat flour as the base. I just love the taste, it has a very hardy flavor. I'm also using almond flour, and ground flax seeds in the mix. In my batch this morning I added chia seeds and Healthforce's Warrrior Food. It's their protein powder which consists of organic brown rice and hemp protein along with herbs and enzymes. I topped these pancakes with strawberries and a "no sugar added" fig spread by St. Dalfour. This spread is absolutely divine...so yummy. 

Because maple syrup is high in sugar, I made my own syrup by combining cinnamon flax oil (this was all I had at home but regular flax oil would work just as well), yacon syrup and a few drops of stevia. Once I get all the tweaks worked out in my flour blend I will post the recipe.

Veggie Tacos

 

Wow it's been awhile since I've shared any of my culinary creations. I think it's funny how my last post was on tacos and now I'm sharing another taco recipe in honor of Cinco de Mayo. These veggie tacos are inspired by the Sun Tacos from New Frontiers, the health food store where I work.  If you've ever had them you know how yummy they are. They start out with two corn tortillas and spread miso on each one. They add cheese and sunflower seeds and toast until the cheese is melted. Then they top them with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, sprouts, and avocado. Using what I had in my kitchen, I spread miso on two corn tortillas and sprinkled pumpkin seeds and jack cheese. After letting it toast I topped them with a mico green mix purchased at the farmers market along with onions, artichoke hearts, and tomato. I ended up adding a little salsa too. It was almost as good as having the real thing.