We have a tradition in our house, that every Sunday, also known as family day, I make everyone, including our 2 dogs, pancakes. I love to play around, banana chocolate chip, cinnamon spice, you name I have stuck it in a pancake… Ok, not everything, but you get my drift. The base to pancake heaven is pretty simple, I have toyed around with many alterations and found the best low-fat, reduced calorie recipe that still tastes EXACTLY like the real deal!!! We love them in our house and hope you do too!

Simple Pancake Recipe

1 1/2 cups of Organic whole wheat pastry flour (can sub with Quinoa or regular whole wheat flour)

3 1/2 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp of sea salt

1/2 tbls of agave nectar

3 tbls of organic unsweetened apple sauce

2 egg whites (or one egg but do not use egg mix, not as fluffy)

1 1/4 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk (this is gluten-free and the vanilla adds a great kick, but you can use skim milk, increase milk to 1 1/3 cup if not using pastry flour or quinoa flour)

Method

Place pancake griddle on burner(s) and start preheating at medium. If your range runs hot, set at just under medium. Add dry ingredients to bowl, mix with fork, add remaining ingredients and mix. I have added everything all at the same time and it still turns out perfect!

Using an ice cream scoop (my scoop is barely used for ice cream), pour batter on griddle and spread using back of scoop till pancakes are uniform in size and shape.

Cook until center starts to bubble, make sure sides are cooked, then flip and cook for an additional 45 seconds to a minute. DO NOT press down unless you want hard disks…

If you like yours on the light side, reduce heat, if you like on the dark crispy side, just cook until sides are really done and then 1.5 minutes on other side.

We serve ours with Justin’s hazelnut spread or real organic maple syrup, which is much sweeter than normal so a little goes a long way, plus it ain’t cheap… But you can add anything to the mix, try sauted apples with cinnamon and nutmeg for a holiday treat. Or add some cocoa and chocolate chips for a decadent treat. Just be mindful of the fat and calories you add. Enjoy!!!

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month I wanted to post a pink recipe. Since this cake is not extremely sweet, the hub thinks it is more like a breakfast cake. I personally think it is a great dessert cake, especially paired with a little ice cream.

Ingredients

1 stick of organic butter (room temp – can sub with canola oil)

1/2 cup of unsweetened organic apple sauce

1 cup of agave

6 large egg whites

2 tsp of vanilla extra (I prefer alcohol free from Trader Joe’s)

2 1/4 cups of whole wheat pastry flour (I used organic from Red Mills, but can sub for regular cake flour – do not flour that isn’t cake or pastry unless doing GF)

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp of sea salt

1/2 cup of strawberry puree (see recipe below)

Note: if doing GF, use GF butter or canola oil and sub flour for 1 1/4 cup of quinoa flour and 1 cup of rice pastry flour

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 round 9” cake pans and set aside. In a mixing bowl cream butter till smooth, add apple sauce and mix on low for 30 seconds, add agave and vanilla and then mix on low for one minute. Add egg whites and mix for another minute. Pour in milk and mix until incorporated on low. Sift flour into a separate bowl, add salt and baking powder and mix with fork. Slowly add dry ingredients into the wet 1/4 at a time on low. Mix until smooth and silky. Stir in puree until fully mixed. If color is not pink enough you can add a few drops of food coloring. Note that because it is whole wheat color will not pop as much once cooked. Pour mix into cake pans 1/2 way up and bake for 25 minutes. Remove cake and let stand for 5 minutes, transfer to cooling rack. Once cooled spread 1/2 of remaining puree on top of bottom layer, add 2nd layer and then spread remaining puree. You can do a simple buttercream, but they are crazy fattening so we do not use. I suggest pairing with ice cream which is non-fat yogurt in our house.

Strawberry Puree

Wash and haul one and 1/2 packages of ripe organic strawberries. Rough chop and stir in 1 tsp of sugar, let stand for an hour or until juicy. In a medium sauce pan on low heat add berries and 1/2 cup of water. Cook down berries, about 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Pour berries into strainer and use rubber spatula to press berries into bowl. Once berries are in bowl transfer back into sauce pan and cook down until you have about 1 cup left.

As you know I am an organic girl so when a daycare fellow Mom told me that you can get organic local vegis and fruits delivered straight to your door I had to try it. Mostly because I go to 2 grocery stores and thought if I could cut out some of my grocery shopping maybe I will have time for a pedi, psshh yeah right! Anyhoo, this is my first week and my first box. I paid $50 and got a dozen eggs and enough fruit to feed our family a week and the 4 kids at daycare for a week. I wasn’t sure what I would get so I decided to wait to menu plan until after I got my box. This week we will be eating baked egg plant parm, vegetarian black bean burritos, turkey chili and chicken and broccoli stir fry, all things we like. The cool thing is I can tell them things we do not want, like leeks and kale, yeah I just can never find a recipe that my fam will eat and like but maybe that will be a new challenge. I did some research and a lot of cities have similar services. So google organic vegetable delivery in blank city and see what you find. Happy almost Friday!!!

Since it is officially fall and kids are back to school, I thought a healthy kid friendly muffin (cupcake to my daughter) would be a great first recipe. I do mini muffins since they are a perfect kid portion and this is a great mid day snack. My daughter doesn’t eat vegis unless they are hidden and she loves these muffins so does my hub!

Ingredients

1 1/4 Cup of organic whole wheat flour (Red Mills is great)

1/4 Cup of organic oats

2 tsp of baking soda

1 tsp of cinnamon

1/2 tsp of nutmeg

1/2 tsp of ground ginger

1 cup of organic unsweetened apple sauce

1 tbsn of canola or flax seed oil

1 egg or 2 egg whites

1 medium organic zucchini shredded on 2nd to finest shred (about a cup or so)

1 good sized organic peeled carrot shredded (about a cup)

1/4 cup of organic agave nectar

 

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all ingredients, but vegis, with wooden spoon, batter will be almost bread like. Stir in zucchini and carrots. Take a 24 mini muffin pan (can use a standard 12 muffin tin) and spray with nonstick spray. DO NOT USE LINERS!!! Using a tablespoon, spoon mix into muffin tin evenly. Bake 14-18 minutes or until golden and bounce bake after touching.

Note: To convert to GF, use 1 1/4 cups of Quinoa flour instead of whole wheat flour and verify on labels that other items are GF.