Gluten Free Buckwheat Toaster Pancakes

You might be thinking-What is a toaster pancake?  It is our new favorite kid friendly gluten free recipe around the house.  These are great pancakes that can be stored in the refrigerator and heated up in the toaster.  Even better here...my husband has become the pancake expert so every Sunday he makes a batch of these and then during the week we can heat them up in the toaster when we need a quick breakfast or lunch.  My son eats them topped with goat yogurt and honey or maple syrup.  I like to mix sunflower seed butter with some honey or maple syrup and spread that on top for some extra protein. This recipe was originally developed by my lovely neighbor Juanita.

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Sunbutter Cookies

My second son Zev was born on Saturday, April 21st.  It was an incredible experience as he was born at home in water after only 5 hours in labor (it was so quick compared to the 22 hours I was in labor with Isaac!)  Before giving birth I read a post on my friend Ali's blog about using a mild form of the elimination diet to help babies transition into digestion (see her post here: www.nourishingmeals.com ).  I created these cookies with easy nursing baby foods in mind. This recipe has no dairy, eggs, gluten, soy, corn, or nuts and is vegan for those avoiding animal products all together.  For people not avoiding these foods, chocolate chips can be pressed into the tops of the cookies before baking.

ingredients:

Dry:

3/4 cup fresh ground buckwheat flour

3 tablespoons arrowroot powder

1/2 cup coconut palm sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon 

Wet:

1 tablespoon ground flax (preferably golden) whisked together well with 3 tablespoons hot water

1/4 cup sunflower seed butter 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil, gently melted

3 tablespoons maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and set aside.  In a small bowl, whisk flax and hot water together making sure to break up any clumps that the ground flax seed forms.  Let this mixture sit while you combine the rest of the wet ingredients in another medium sized bowl.  Add the  flax gel to the wet and whisk well.  Combine wet and dry ingredients and work dough until everything is incorporated.  I use my hands to sort of knead/mix the dough.Using a tablespoon, drop cookies onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and press a bit into a cookie shape.  Bake for 13-15 minutes.  We like to add chocolate chips to some of the cookies so we press them into the top before baking.

yield: 12-15 cookies

note: I use raw buckwheat and grind it using the dry blade of my Vitamix blender.  The recipe could work using store bought buckwheat flour but I have not tried it yet.  Let me know if you do and how it turns out!

Almond Flour Double Chocolate Mini Muffins

These started out as cookies, of course based on the recipe ideas of Elana Amsterdam of Elana's Pantry.  They turned out quite fluffy and cake like so I decided to make them into mini muffins.  The addition of chocolate chips is optional....a bit too sweet for me (light weight) yet perfect for my husband and the neighborhood kids.  I love the size of them as they provide a nice snack for a child without the sugary load plus added protein and good fat makes them even more awesome.

Almond Flour Double Chocolate Mini Muffins

ingredients:

Dry:

2 1/2 cups almond meal ( I like Honeyville)

1/2 cup organic cocoa or cacao powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2  teaspoon sea salt

Wet:

2 pastured eggs

2/3 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup coconut oil melted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Additional:

3/4 cup chocolate chips ( I use these )

Line 24-30 mini muffin tins with paper liners. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and set aside.  Melt coconut oil and whisk in maple syrup to coconut oil and allow to cool on stove for a few minutes while combining the eggs and vanilla extract in a separate bowl.  Add coconut oil and maple syrup to the egg mixture and whisk well.  Add this to the dry ingredients, mix well and then fold in the chocolate chips. Fill muffin tins to the top of each (not over).

Bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes (my oven is 13 minutes exactly).

yield: 28-30 mini muffins

Cleansing Winter Veggie Soup

I love this soup.  There are so many great things about it number one being that it takes no time at all to make.  I have a friend here who is a breast cancer survivor and six years after her initial diagnosis and successful battle she (not surprising) had to have surgery due to intestinal difficulties.  She called me wanting to know what to eat as nothing seemed to be sitting right with her after the surgery.  I rattled off a list of ingredients....some of this, that, steam it, add ginger, miso-done.  The next day I was at her house and she made this soup.  Divine.  I love the addition of sunchokes and winter squash keeping us in touch with the season.  You could really add any veggies to this although this exact combination is super tasty. Eating this makes me want more healthy food.  If you are interested in more recipes like this and giving your body a break, you can join nutritionist Andrea Nakayama and I for our seasonal Winter Cleanse starting February 4th. For more information click here. 

Cleansing Winter Veggie Soup

ingredients:

1 1/2 stalks celery sliced

1 sunchoke cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 onion cut into chunks

1 carrot sliced

2 cups winter squash peeled and cubed

4 leaves green kale (lacinato or green leaf)

1/2-1 inch piece of fresh ginger peeled and sliced

1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves

1/4-1/2 cup chickpea miso or to taste

sea salt to taste (optional)

preparation:

Place celery, sunchokes, onion, carrot, winter squash, kale and ginger in a soup pot and add water to cover all vegetables by 1/2 inch.  Place a lid on the pot and bring veggies to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until tender.  Remove from heat and let cool a bit, about 5 minutes. Add all steamed vegetables with steaming liquid and parsley to a high speed or Vitamix blender (for smooth consistency).  Blend until smooth and then add miso, blend again until smooth and add salt (optional) to taste.

Serves 4-6