Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pancakes

I am officially OBSESSED with all things pumpkin. I want to get my hands on everything!

I had an OB ultrasound this morning (baby girl at 24 weeks is healthy and beautiful!) and on the way home, I had a serious sudden craving for pumpkin pancakes. I don't crave anything in particular this pregnancy (neither did I the last one), but if I want something, I just HAVE TO HAVE IT!

I happened to have leftover pumpkin puree from making the Pumpkin Apple Spice Vanilla Shakeology a few days ago. I also remembered a 2-ingredient pancake recipe I haven't made in awhile. It didn't take me long to to decide I was going to add some pumpkin puree to the pancake recipe to make a healthy version of pumpkin pancakes.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs (beaten)
• 1 banana (ripe and mashed)
• dash of pumpkin pie spice (optional, but highly recommended!)

Instruction:

• In a bowl, beat 2 eggs with a fork. 
• In another bowl, mash a ripe banana with a fork. 
• Mix all ingredients until there are no banana lumps. 
• In a pan on medium high heat (not too hot, otherwise it'll burn real fast), put some coconut oil and swirl it around in the pan. 
• Pour little circles of pancake "batter" onto the pan. Keep a close eye and don't leave it on the pan too long. Once you see the edges cooked, flip over carefully. They will break if you're not careful. 
• If your banana is ripe, that'll take care of the sweetness for you. If you really want some syrup, go right ahead! 

ENJOY!

Cauliflower Buffalo Bites

I'm learning you can do a whole lot of creative cooking with cauliflower. I'm in the midst of trying several recipes before posting, but this one was delicious and I knew I had to share immediately!

When I think of buffalo wings, I think of football or a sports bar or my hubby, CJ. CJ loves him some buffalo wings. Breaded, naked, spicy, mild. You name it, he'll eat it. I am always down to try a veggie dish, so I can make sure the hubs gets in some veggies. If your husband is anything like mine, he won't voluntarily sit there and munch on vegetables. I have to make it taste good. He enjoyed these bites and said they were really tasty though it was more of a teaser. He wanted the real deal. Maybe tomorrow, babe.

Cauliflower Buffalo Bites

Recipe cred theleancleaneatingmachine.com

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower; chopped into bite-sized pieces

1/2 brown rice flour

1/2 cup water

pinch of kosher salt

pinch of granulated garlic powder

non-stick spray

Sauce: Frank's Red Hot sauce or your favorite buffalo sauce

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• In a small bowl, combine the flour, water, salt and garlic powder. Mix well with a whisk.
• Dip cauliflower into batter until coated evenly. Place on a lightly greased baking pan.
• Bake 10 minutes or until batter hardens. Turn and bake another 5 minutes. 
• In a saucepan, heat up 1/2 cup of Frank's Hot sauce. Turn off heat.
• When cauliflower is done, throw them into the sauce pan and cover cauliflowers in the hot sauce.
• Let it sit in room temperature for 20 minutes and enjoy!

Julia's Notes: I followed the original recipe closely with a few exceptions. I didn't use butter. I didn't have brown rice flour, but I did have barley flour. I also didn't brush on the hot sauce or let the cauliflower bake for the final 10 minutes. I love roasted cauliflower and buffalo hot sauce is yummy, so even though I didn't follow the recipe exactly, I knew this would turn out delicious. And delicious it was!

 

 

Two Ingredient Pancakes

That's right...two ingredient pancakes. I didn't believe it myself until I read the recipe. This is THE EASIEST PANCAKE RECIPE...E-V-E-R. If you can't make this, Lord have mercy on you. It's so delicious and Christopher devours it. Baby bonus!

Without further ado...

Two Ingredient Pancakes

Recipe cred rabbitfoodformybunnyteeth.com

Ingredients:

1 ripe banana
2 eggs

Instructions:

In a bowl, mash the banana with a fork. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and then add the mashed bananas. Mix it all together. Heat a pan on medium heat and grease it with coconut oil. Add a silver dollar-sized amount in the pan. It cooks quickly, so keep an eye on it. I wait until the edges are brown, about 30 seconds to a minute, and then I flip. Eat it alone or sprinkle fruit. The bananas make it sweet, so I didn't use syrup. Whatever your fancy, it is delicious!

Peanut-Sesame Slaw with Soba Noodles

For the past two weeks, CJ and I have been eating healthy. I'm talking about cottage cheese, flaxseeds, ginger tea, salads, veggie patties, fish, chicken, quinoa, walnuts, brazilian nuts...doesn't sound too appetizing, right? I can see you scrunching your face saying "ewww". Get it out of your system. Done? Great. Read on.

CJ is a meats and potatoes type of guy. I know this is a huge transition for him (I love you for riding along with minimal complaints). Healthy eating can be quite tasty with some research and creativity. We are both learning that once your body gets used to eating healthy, your body craves it and your tummy aches when you eat crap food.

Though we're buying a lot of organic foods, we're actually saving money because I'm not buying chips, soda, bacon, hot dogs, and red meat. I've been more focused on veggies, tuna, salmon, brown rice, fruit, and the list goes on. 

A few nights ago, I needed to whip up a quick dinner. Where else would I go, but Pinterest for inspiration and ideas! Gawd, I love Pinterest.

I came across a tasty looking photo and clicked on it and discovered this recipe. If you're not a peanut butter fan, move on and just know you're no longer my friend. i...love...PEANUT...BUTTERRRRR!! I really want to go on and on about it, but really, I should just stop yapping and post the recipe already. Crunch, crunch, chomp, chomp...enjoy!

PEANUT-SESAME SLAW WITH SOBA NOODLES

Recipe cred goes to Cookie+Kate

Ingredients

Slaw

• 4 ounces soba noodles (omit if you want it to be gluten-free, unless it's gluten-free soba...duh)
• 1 small purple or green cabbage, sliced into quarters and core removed
• ½ pound (about 12) Brussels sprouts, optional
• 4 carrots, peeled
• 1 bunch green onions, trimmed and sliced into thin rounds

Peanut-sesame dressing

• ½ cup peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar or rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari or other soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar
• 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced

Garnish

• Sprinkle of coarsely chopped peanuts
• Handful of cilantro, coarsely torn
• 1 lime, sliced into wedges

Instructions

1. Cook the soba noodles: bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water before returning to pot.
2. Prepare the vegetables: This is easier in a food processor than by hand. If using a food processor, shred the cabbage and sprouts with the slicing disk, then grate the carrots using the grating disk. Or use a chef's knife to chop the cabbage and sprouts into thin strips, then coarsely grate the carrots.
3. Prepare the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients until smooth.
4. In a large serving bowl, combine the cooked soba noodles, shredded cabbage and sprouts, grated carrots, and chopped green onions. Pour dressing over the vegetables and toss to coat (you may or may not need all of the dressing). For best flavor, let the slaw marinate for 20 minutes before serving.
5. Serve slaw with a sprinkling of chopped peanuts, torn cilantro and a lime wedge.

Julia's Notes: I didn't use brussel sprouts, green onions or chopped peanuts because I didn't have them on hand.  Tasted just fine, but I bet it'll be tastier with them. The photo above doesn't have soba noodles, but I did add it later...yummo. If you want a lighter fare, omit the soba noodles.