Giant Baked Paleo Pancake

I seriously sat down to type this blog post almost an hour ago…it’s so easy to get sucked into the interwebs! My cat has fleas. This weekend we finally moved into our new house and it looks like the old owner’s cat must have left some behind. Ugh. He didn’t leave us anything useful. Just fleas, old army memorabilia and the 100 billion stickers his son put on the wall in his bedroom. Great.

But other than that I am THRILLED to finally be in our new house. I will do another house specific blog post but here are a few pictures from moving this weekend.

Celebratory drink…been waiting for this one!!

Last week I talked about blogger recipe development and it got me to thinking that normally when I bake things, I have to follow a specific recipe. But recently I have been experimenting with “winging it” when baking and have finally come up with one I could share!

I often throw together some sort of bread/muffins/quiche to eat for breakfast that I can quickly warm up. I was about to make zucchini pancakes to warm up one night last week but decided I didn’t want to bother with the griddle so I just poured the entire batter into a loaf pan and came up with this recipe: the Giant Baked Paleo Pancake. This would be approved on the 21 day sugar detox if you used a green tipped banana. The 21 Day Sugar Detox book comes out soon…so does Well Fed 2! AND I just saw today that Juli at PaleOMG and George at Civilized Caveman are joining forces to write a book. So many Paleo books..what do I do?!?!? Hello Christmas list!!!!

Giant Baked Paleo Pancake

Makes 2 servings, Prep Time: 5 minutes, Bake Time: 25 min

3 eggs

1 cup of shredded zucchini (take the measurement AFTER you squeeze the water out)

1 banana

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

2 tablespoons of coconut flour

dash of salt

handful of Enjoy life Chocolate chips

**** You COULD add 1 tablespoon of honey and I highly suggest you add sweetener if you aren’t used to naturally sweetened baked goods. I thought of this more as a savory dish than sweet so I didn’t need it.

1. Pre-heat oven to 375. Shred the zucchini in a food processor and squeeze all the water out (I used a paper towel).

2. In a mixing bowl, add eggs and bananas and mix well. Then add zucchini.

3. Add the cinnamon, coconut flour, and baking powder and salt. Then add chocolate chips. Mix until incorporated.

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Make sure to check on it because my oven is really weak.

I ate mine topped with sunbutter- duh. I was talking to a friend about substitutes for ketchup and salad dressing…..and I came to the realization that I don’t really use these two things anymore. And I got to thinking what I could tell her to use instead and what I used. Then I realized I literally put nut butter on everything….including carrot and sweet potato fries….eggs….and THEN I realized why I PROBABLY have gained a bunch of weight since my wedding. Woops. Oh well. At least it’s not a mystery….

Do you ever experience with baking?

What challenges did you face moving into a new house?

How to make hemp protein powder taste good

I’m baaaaack! Like you even noticed I was gone. Wedding and honeymoon are a wrap! It all went perfectly! There will be plenty of pictures of everything once the professional ones come in. It’s now back to life as usual (not back to work for me yet…. Joys of being a teacher) and back to my regularly scheduled eating program. All inclusive resort food and my body do not get along!

I mentioned in an earlier post how I bought hemp protein powder in order to avoid some additives in regular whey protein. I also mentioned how it tasted like dirt. But alas, I still have a tub of it and I don’t waste food! Here are two recipes I’ve been using to make it palatable.

Hemp Protein Shake Two Ways

Peanut Butter- Chocolate

4 tbsp hemp protein powder
One medium banana
1 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp cacao powder
4-5 ice cubes

Chocolate Raspberry

3 tbsp hemp protein powder
1/2 banana
1/2 cup frozen or fresh raspberries
1 tbsp cacao
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup coconut milk
4-5 ice cubes

I topped mine with some coconut flakes! The key it to have one or two sweet components as well as the cocoa or cacao to cover up the terrible taste! You could also add honey, stevia or another sweetener if it is still unpalatable. I was trying to avoid added sugars so I didn’t.

Other things happening in my life….

Found a new brand of coconut milk at no where else but Wal-Mart! Ingredients: only coconut milk and water! Score!

 

Also….I was waiting until things were semi- official to mention Austin and I are buying a house! Not just any house..a 26 Acre farm! Eeek! I am so excited and nervous to start this next journey and chapter of our lives. We don’t know much about buying a house, or farming. But we couldn’t pass up this chance to pursue our dream and are learning together as we go. This will definitely become a future blog topic. For now, I’m starting with some light reading…..

That’s all for now!

Have you had hemp protein? How do you make it taste good?
Any advice for a first time home buyer?

 

 

 

Paleo Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Typing this I realize I forgot to take a picture of the finished product…

Usually it’s the opposite. I get a pic of the finished product but forget to take pictures along the way. I like a blog that has pictures of the various steps. I succeeded in that for this recipe but forgot to snap a pic of the muffins when they were finished. I guess you just have to trust me on this one!!! They were so moist and delicious and Austin just ate the last one. So unless I ask him to regurgitate it you don’t get a finished pic. Hopefully, I can fake you out into thinking these were mine.

 

source- not mine

Did I trick you? No? Oh well. Trust me they were greeaaat! So make them.

I am super excited because I got to use something really exciting for the first time while making these. Drum roll please…….

Kitchen Aid!!!! I got this at my shower Sunday. Technically I’m “not supposed to use this until we’re married”. Pshhhhhhhhh. Can’t wait. #sorrynotsorry

I was inspired to make these because my friend Jenna knows I will eat a banana up until they are way past normal brown status, and she threw some of these in my shower present. Can’t let them go to waste!!!!!!

Paleo Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Makes 1 dozen

3 eggs

2-3 ripe and mushy bananas

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tbsp olive oil (or coconut oil. didn’t feel like melting it)

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp of baking soda

 

Mix wet ingredients (bananas, eggs, maple syrup, oil) Then add the dry and mix (by hand or with your awesome Kitchen Aid like I did) until it becomes a batter. The batter will be thick. You can add more syrup or a little almond or coconut milk if it’s too thick.

Thick batter^

Then add chocolate chips. I have been obsessed with these Enjoy Life chocolate chunks. Yeah- they’re not lasting long in my house. I may or may not be grabbing handfuls as I pass by the cabinet.

I love this brand of chocolate. I like it more than regular chocolate. Never going back.

I chopped them up and added them to the batter.

I baked the muffins at 350 for about 25 minutes.

I even snapped an extremely terrible picture of them in the oven but forgot to do one at the end!!! Terrible blogger. I reaaaaaally have to get a better camera.

Does anyone want to give me suggestions for a starter camera for blogging? Seriously considering buying one. I don’t have a fortune to spend.

Grilled Banana and Peanut Butter Stuffed French Toast

I don’t really have to go into too much detail about how much I love breakfast. But I do. Here are some snapshots from this weekend’s breakfast creations:

Coconut ‘cakes

Pancake Perfection

 

More Pancakes

Since my weekend is still going strong (Thanks, MLK!), I decided to try something new today. My waffle maker is still on the fritz and I needed to use up the last of a loaf of bread, so I decided on French toast. After constructed, this recipe was too good not to share! I enjoyed it leisurely (since I have the day off…did I mention that?) paired with my French toast coffee!

Serves: 1 Cook Time: 15 minutes

2 slices low calorie all wheat bread

3 medium egg whites

1 banana

3 medium strawberries

1 tbsp PB2

1 packet stevia

Cinnamon

Syrup of choice

I started by slicing the banana in diagonal pieces and placing them on a skillet that was heated to medium heat.

I sprinkled a small amount of stevia and cinnamon on them as they cooked. I cooked them for about 3 minutes on each side until browned (eh, they burnt a little).

Beat your egg whites in a bowl with about 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and another sprinkling of stevia. When mixed, soak your bread in the mixture for 3-5 minutes while the bananas cook. 

When bananas are done, set them aside and place your bread in the pan. Let it cook for about 4 minutes on each side. Mix up one tbsp of PB2 with 1 tbsp of water and another sprinkle of stevia.

When bread is done, spread the PB2 mixture onto one piece of the bread.

You could use real PB obviously, but I love PB2 because it saves so many calories!

Layer some of your banana and cut up strawberries on the first piece of toast.

Top with the second piece of toast and the rest of the fruit. Drizzle with syrup of choice. Shove face.

It was so good! The strawberries and peanut butter almost made it taste like a PB & J some bites. I also totaled the whole thing as < 400 calories with syrup. Definitely perfect for a lazy day off! I may not even go outside today. The temperature is hovering somewhere around 10 degrees. Ew. Is it summer yet?

Quinoa Breakfast bowl & Winter Workout

Today I wanted a workout that would be quick and effective to do in the gym, because I had to work out at the school gym. I knew I would be working out amongst my students, so I wanted to limit the awkwardness and get in and get out. I find switching on and off from cardio to strength ensures my heart rate stays up during the whole workout. I tried decreasing weight reps and increasing weights as well in order to challenge myself. My favorite kind of work outs are ones that go by fast and keep me working hard so the next thing I know the workout is over and I’m covered in sweat! This one did the trick.

 

I also completed more of my 2012 Closeout Challenge Work Out:

73/503 Burpees

88/503 Lunges

88/503 Mountain Climbers

74/503 Push Ups

 

It’s been a rough week, so happy tomorrow is Friday! The other day I tried something new for breakfast….Quinoa breakfast bowl:

In the bowl:

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder

1/4 cup quinoa

1/2 of a banana

sweetener

A few chocolate chips!

I mixed the protein powder and sweetener with the yogurt in the bottom of the bowl then added everything else. I was kind of on the fence about quinoa as a sweet breakfast item. I think I prefer it savory. Everything else in the bowl was quite yummy though. And it definitely gives you plenty of protein to start your day.

Question: Do you prefer your quinoa savory or sweet? And also- I really need some strategies that people use for washing quinoa. It is such a PITA for me because I don’t have a sieve. And you definitely need to wash it because it has a bitter taste. How do you wash quinoa???

Peanut Butter Banana Protein Oats

Can someone figure out how to make oatmeal look delicious on a blog?

I am not just obsessed with pancakes. I guess I’m obsessed with breakfast in general. And coffee. And anything breakfast related. Anyway, oatmeal is another big winner. I buy plain and do variations of flavors. Sans all the added sugar in the instant oatmeal packets that are already flavored. One of my go-to flavors is peanut butter banana. Made easier and lower calorie by the best invention in the world, PB2. I also add some of my favorite whey protein (Designer Whey). But you can add any vanilla whey protein.

PB2 is God-like

Peanut Butter Banana Protein Oats

Serves 1/Cook Time 2 minutes!

One serving quick oats

2/3 cup water

2 tbsp PB 2

One half scoop vanilla or plain protein powder

Half a banana

Sweetener (optional)

Put oatmeal in a bowl with the water. Microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds. Stir in protein powder, PB2 and a quarter banana mashed. Add more water and stir. Microwave for 40 more seconds or until thick. Slice the rest of the banana on top. You may also want to add your sweetener of choice (honey, stevia, sugar, etc). I really don’t need sweetness so I don’t.

I used Organic plain Better Oats:

Anyone else have ideas on what to put in oatmeal to flavor it? I stick to two or three variations, usually banana, chocolate and peanut butter. Any ideas would be appreciated.