Gluten-Free Blueberry Pancakes

It is a tradition at our house to make pancakes on Sunday mornings before heading out to the Temescal farmers market.  It is a family affair.  I make up the mix and Kevin usually handles the production on the griddle.  Over the years I have tried to perfect my gluten-free pancake recipe so that they are fluffy (pretty much never gonna happen the way wheat based pancakes are), fairly healthy, and yummy enough that Charlotte would eat them.  This is the tried-and-true recipe that I came up with.  We usually add blueberries, but a couple of smashed up bananas or handfuls of chocolate chips are pretty fantastic too.  If you want to make this vegan, just replace eggs with your preferred egg replacement.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
1 Cup Gluten-Free Baking Mix (my favorite is Pamela's)
1/2 Cup Buckwheat Flour
1/2 Cup Coconut Flour
1/2 Cup Flax
2 eggs
2 1/2 Cups Water
1 T Coconut Oil (plus more for spreading on griddle pan)
1 1/2 Cups Blueberries (fresh or frozen, defrosted and drained)

Add all dry ingredients, add eggs, oil, and water and mix until there are no visible, fold in blueberries. The batter should not be too thick or think - add more water if necessary. Meanwhile, heat up griddle on the stove and grease with coconut oil.  Use a soup ladle to pour pancake batter onto griddle.  Flip when bubbles are present and remove from griddle when both sides are slightly browned.  Continue making pancakes until batter is gone.  Serve immediately with your favorite topping.  We like ground almond flour and maple syrup.  These can also be reheated the next day or throughout the week - I usually toast them up as they can get a little soggy in the refrigerator.  Enjoy!

Stephanie's Daily Smoothie

Ever since I got a Vitamix a few years back, I have been making green (or purple) smoothies for Kevin, Charlotte, and I every morning.  Trust me, this blender is well worth the cost!  It is amazing.  Kevin and I agree that drinking one of these each morning has made a difference in how we feel.  It gets our day off to a great start and it is a ritual we can't do without now.  It isn't a breakfast replacement for us, but more of a pre-breakfast.  I also think sometimes it is the only way we get any vegetable into Charlotte's system at all.  She is getting better at eating them, but she is still very limited.  She LOVES her morning smoothie.  Here is my general smoothie recipe.  I have noted where you can swap in/out ingredients depending on what is in season or what you have on hand.  I do a lot of prep as soon as I get home from the farmers market or grocery store so it doesn't take me more than 3-5 minutes to throw the smoothie together in the morning.

Serves 2-3 (2 small adult servings and 1 child, or probably 2 adults) If you are going to use this as a meal replacement I would double the recipe.

 Ingredients:

1/2 cup almond milk (or coconut milk, or coconut water)
1/2 cup water
3 big handfuls baby spinach (or kale, chard, or super greens)
1 medium banana
1 small handful of chopped parsley (I wash and chop a bundle and keep in container in the refrigerator)
1/2 lemon (remove seeds and peel)
1 heaping cup of frozen fruit either: blueberries, mixed berries, cherries, OR mango, pineapple, peaches, or a mix of these

Optional items if you have any of these on hand and depending on what is in season (I might do 1 or 2 of these):

6 grapes
1/2 cup of cubed melon (anything from cucumber to watermelon)
1/2 cup chopped apple or pear
handful of shredded or chopped carrots
handful of broccoli slaw (I buy this prepared already at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods)
1/4 an avocado,
2 tbsp. flax or chia seeds
1 tbsp. dried coconut (not with the berry smoothies)
1 scoop of Amazing Greens Amazing Meal

Blend thoroughly and enjoy!  I would love to hear what you put into your smoothies and your feedback on my recipe.  Feel free to leave me a comment below or reach out to me directly. I am always trying to perfect the recipes.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Oat Snacks

I make these cute little amazingly yummy snacks when I am craving a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  I got the inspiration from a few different places, but haven't seen this exact recipe.  If you don't do peanuts or peanut butter, another nut butter will work as well.  For the batch I made below, I used almond butter. I also use an all fruit spread instead of jam to leave out any added/refined sugar.   These are dairy-free, gluten-free and kid approved too!

Makes about 9-10 1/12 inch (ish) balls

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Crunchy all-natural peanut (or other nut) butter 

2 Cup rolled oats

2 Tablespoons (heaping) fruit spread or jam of choice

3 Tablespoons ground flax seeds

1 Teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup dried blueberries, cranberries, or raisins

Heat almond butter in microwave safe bowl for a short time to soften if it isn't already soft.  Add the fruit spread and vanilla stir to combine.  Add the oats, flax, and dried fruit and stir until all combined.  Use a tablespoon or melon baller to scoop out mixture.  Using hands form into balls about 1-1 1/2 inches in diameter.  Place on a plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes before eating or store in parchment paper lined container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.  

Green Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

This smoothie might be green, but it tastes like pumpkin pie, I promise!  Not only is it super yummy, it is very healthy as well - packed with vitamin K, A, C and iron and with no added sugar!  It will satisfy your pumpkin craving this time of year and will get your day started off right.  It is also Charlotte approved!

Serves 2-3

Ingredients (I put the ingredients in this order in the blender):
1 Cup unsweetened almond milk
2-3 Big handfuls of baby spinach
1 Cup of canned pumpkin
1-2 Tablespoons ground flax or chia seeds
1/2 Teaspoon pumpkin pie spice OR 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 ice cubes
1/2 of a ripe pear or apple
1 Large ripe banana (or 1 1/2 small to medium bananas), quartered

Blend until smooth and enjoy!!  If the smoothie ends up too thick, add a few more ice cubes and blend again.

My favorite (gluten-free) things

Some friends and family have been telling me to post some of my favorite grocery store items on my blog.  I resisted because I made this blog to post recipes, but then thought - what the heck.  It is my blog and I can do whatever!  So by request, here is my typical grocery list for tried-and-true gluten-free items (and believe me, I have tried A LOT).  I try hard not to buy anything that is highly processed since gluten-free foods seem to be more processed versions of the gluten version with more sugar, fat, and unrecognizable ingredients, but it is hard not too when I am really craving something.  This list is definitely not exhaustive, so feel free to check back.  I will update this post often.  Please do share your favorite gluten-free products with me as well!

Grains, Beans & Cereal:
Mesa Sunrise Cereal by Natures Path
Buckwheat Wildberry Frozen Waffles by Natures Path
Bob's Red Mill Organic Creamy Buckwheat Cereal
Erewhon Organic 100% Whole Grain Cereal
TruRoots Sprouted Bean Trio
Trader Joes steamed lentils (add some vinegar and oil and some chopped raw veggies and you have a meal)
Glutenfreeda instant oatmeal (great for travelling!)
Canyon Bakehouse 7-grain and raisin bread
Rudi's breads
Bionaturae penne pasta
Quinoa
Millet
Polenta

Flour:
Pamela's all-purpose flour
Buckwheat flour (I usually mix this (50/50) with the Pamelas for quick breads, cookies, pancakes, etc.)
Cup4Cup Gluten-Free Flour (expensive, but so worth it!), great for baking

Snacks/treats:
Anything from Mariposa bakery
Wow Baking Company baked treats
Lara bars
Kind bars - the nuts and spices line are all less than 5 grams of sugar!
The Good Bean chickpea snacks
Crunchmaster multi-seed crackers
Blue Diamond Artisan Nut-Thins
Blue Diamond Pecan Nut-Thins
Late July Gluten-Free Chips

Berry good smoothie

With Thanksgiving and lots of heavy (but yummy!) food on the way, I thought I would share one of my "on the lighter side" recipes.  After experimenting with creating a good tasting (and healthy!) dairy free smoothie and getting some advice from expert smoothie makers (thanks Lauren!), this version was my landing point.  A lot of times I use what I have on hand and substitutions are often made.  For example, I might throw in chard or kale instead of spinach or chia seeds instead of flax.  You could also use a different dairy free beverage instead of almond.  I just happen to prefer almond to the others.  I like making these this time of year because I love berries.  Since the fresh ones are not local and very expensive, I buy them frozen which works better for smoothies anyway.

Serves 1

Ingredients:
1/2 medium banana
1 heaping scoop hemp protein powder (or protein powder of choice)
1 heaping tablespoon ground flax seed
1 1/2  cups frozen berries
1 cup fresh spinach or kale (or other greens)
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon honey (optional)

Mix everything together in a blender until smooth.