Spelt Lemon & Chia Pancakes Topped With Blueberry Honey Compote

Mondays are my Saturdays. After having worked with cupcakes all weekend, you would think the last thing I would want to do is bake or cook. Wrong. I find myself staying awake after I've gone to bed on Sunday nights thinking of what I can create on my days off. As breakfast will be my next meal, pancake recipe ideas tend to float around my head quite a bit. So this morning I got into my kitchen with the intent of making lemon pancakes. The end result was Spelt Lemon and Chia Pancakes with a Blueberry Honey Compote. These pancakes are full of fiber from the flax and chia seeds and made with stevia as the sweetener. The compote is sweetened with honey, and for serving, I drizzled a little more honey on top.

Spelt Lemon and Chia Pancakes with a Blueberry Honey Compote 

Ingredients for Pancakes (makes 6 pancakes)

Dry Ingredients:

1/2 cup spelt flour

2 Tablespoons coconut flour

1 Tablespoon ground flax seed

1 Tablespoon chia seeds

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 packets of stevia (I use NuNaturals brand.)

Pinch of salt

Wet Ingredients:

1 egg

3/4 cup almond milk

2 Tablespoons Greek yogurt

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Juice from 1/2 lemon

1/4 teaspoon lemon extract

How to Prepare:

Preheat large frying pan on stove over low heat.

In a medium-large bowl, sift all of your dry ingredients (expect chia seeds). Once everything is sifted, add chia seeds and mix together till flour mixture is evenly blended.

In another medium size bowl, add all of your wet ingredients and whisk together. 

Add the wet ingredients to dry and mix well till evenly combined. 

Adjust heat on stove to medium-high. Grease frying pan with oil or butter.

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop pancake batter into pan. 

Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side. If you are familiar with making pancakes, you will be able to tell when they need to be flipped (when you see bubbles forming around sides.)

Blueberry Honey Compote

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen).

2 Tablespoons honey

Juice from 1/2 lemon

2 pinches of lemon zest

In a medium size frying pan over medium-high heat, add blueberries, honey, lemon juice and lemon zest.  Mix well.  Turn the heat up to high and let cook, stirring frequently until compote thickens. Cooking time varies depending on how thick you like it.

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.

Healthy Burger, No Fries

My mind has been a bit fuzzy lately, so I knew I needed to add some more protein into my diet.  I do love a good steak (hormone and antibiotic free, of course) but  I'm terrible at preparing them at home.  Burgers are easier.  I seasoned ground beef with a little salt, pepper, and cayenne.  I cooked it on my mini George Foreman grill.  It's great to use for grilling vegetables, which is what I did with the bell pepper on my salad.  For the burger "bun" I used Julian Bakery dinner bread.  Its wheat-free and delicious.  They add rosemary, which gives it a really yummy flavor.  I always love this bread toasted.  On one slice I spread horseradish and Dijon mustard.  I just discovered this mustard from True Natural Taste the other day at the the health food store. It's wheat and gluten free, organic, and made with cider vinegar.  On the other toasted slice of bread I spread some hummus.  I've been on a hummus kick lately so I'm eating it with everything. The salad consists of arugula, grilled red bell pepper, feta cheese, ground flax seeds and a dressing of olive oil, flax oil, and lemon juice. This is a healthy alternative to a burger and fries.

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Everyone always talks about making turkey sandwiches with their Thanksgiving leftovers but why not a turkey salad? This morning I made myself a salad with the leftover arugula, pecans, and blue cheese we used for our roasted pear and arugula salad, turkey, and quinoa stuffing. I heated both the turkey and stuffing to take the chill off. I also added ground flax and pomegranate seeds. The dressing was a mixture of olive and flax oil and lemon juice. 

I had a lovely thanksgiving this year. It was just my mom and me. For the past two years I haven't been home so it was so nice to cook and spend time with her. Our goal was to create a very healthy meal and we did just that. Everything we made was free of wheat and refined sugars. Here is what we made to go along with our turkey.

Roasted pear and arugula salad with blue cheese and toasted pecans.

Steamed green beans.

Steamed sweet potatoes and yams mashed with yacon syrup and a splash of cream.

Quinoa stuffing with Julian Bakery dinner bread.

Cranberry sauce with orange zest and agave.

Gravy made from roasted veggies and vegetable stock.

My New Favorite

I got these chips as a sample from my work and they are delicious! I am so excited to find chips that contain no corn! They are also gluten, wheat, and soy free. I went to their website and they offer another chip made from pinto beans and flax. I'm already thinking of all the different recipes I can incorporate these into... yum!

Beanitos Bean Chips Amazing Health Benefits - Beanitos.com

First Post, First Meal

The other day I heard someone say "let food be your canvas". One of my favorite things about food is just being able to create so many different combinations and concoctions. I have had a few flops here and there but each time is a learning process for me. I'm not too big on exact measurements when cooking. It's all about what feels right. 

As this is my first blog post, I thought I should base it around the first thing I ate this morning. I was craving eggs so I made a poached egg with sliced onion, micro greens, and almond butter on Julian Bakery spelt multigrain bread. This bread is wheat and yeast free and it's pretty tasty. The key with these kind of breads is to toast them... a lot. I love my bread very toasted and crunchy. It was a little messy when the yolk broke but as long as you have a napkin you are fine : )