pancakes with NO flour at all

Hello there!  I found a great way to make a very healthy pancake that your whole family will LOVE!

I got the idea from paleo mama or the paleomom....I can't remember, I read and look at so many cook books and posts..... but I took it and made some alterations and well I want to share it with you!  My kids absolutely love these and beg for them every morning and they are pretty easy to make!

What  you will need!

2 plantains make sure they are green
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cream of tarter
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon or you could add a bit more if you want a bigger flavour
1 tsp of homemade vanilla extract (when I make some more I will show you how we make home made vanilla extract that is oh so easy and delicious to add to any meal!
4 eggs
1 Tbs of coconut oil or grass fed butter.
fat for heating skillet.

Heat skillet using butter or coconut oil on medium heat.  While skillet is heating up, peal the green plantains and add all your ingredients in a blender....plantains, baking soda, cream of tarter, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla extract, eggs, coconut or butter....you choose...just put it all in and turn on the blender!  That is it....that easy.....if you want a thinner pancake batter you can add a little milk to it if you wish...add small amounts at a time until you get desired consistency.  But we stick to the thicker batter.

here is my pancake batter 

Cook the pancakes as you would any normal pancake and whala you have a crowd pleaser.  This recipe usually makes around a dozen or so normal size pancakes!

Here is the finished product, ready to be devoured by my hungry little munchkins!  like the cinnamon sticks, I am getting fancy! :o)

TRY THIS AND DROP ME A LINE, LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK, AND WHAT YOU DID DIFFERENT TO MAKE IT YOURS!

UPDATE******UPDATE******UPDATE*****UPDATE*****UPDATE*****UPDATE*****

Here is a quick and better version of the pancakes.  Follow the recipe above but instead   
Use 5 eggs instead of 4
Add one banana 
3 TBS of ground flax 
These are even better then previous posted.

home made chicken stock!

A lot of my recipes, I use bone broth.  I make chicken stock and I also make beef stock from the bones. There are many benefits of consuming bone broth and here are just a few that I have learned.

1)  If you have leaky gut, consuming bone broth helps to heal your gut.

2)  Helps with the appearance of skin and hair, clearing skin and making hair shinny.

3)  Great to consume during colds and flu time!

4)  Many healthy minerals consumed from the bones.

5)  Knowing that you are consuming healthy, natural substance!

Many commercial bone broths have spices and natural flavors which is code for man made chemicals and has nothing to do with natural.  A few bone broths have MSG or rather known as monosodium  glutamate which is a neuro toxin.

Just the other day we did our last and final butcher of the season on our homestead.  We don't like to waste anything, so I take the chicken frames and make good, nutritious bone broth for our family to consume in egg drop soups, chicken noodle soups and for flavoring.  I will share my recipe with you today.   This is a 2 day process as I slow simmer the frames and ingredients for 2 days that creates the deepest, richest best tasting broth!  It sounds like a lot of hard work but is really rather easy.

3 chicken frames in a stock pot and yes I will use the chicken feet as well (but if that is something that isn't your thing...you don't have to use the feet but the feet make very rich broth).
water
salt
pepper
3-4 garlic cloves
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
1 red onion
1tsp of vinegar (vinegar helps to pull out the minerals that are in the bones.

Put chicken frames in stock pot and cover with water.   Add 2 TBS of salt and a dash or two of pepper.  I never measure the pepper add vinegar (optional).   Bring water to a boil and then turn down to a simmer.  Continue throughout the day to check on the water and when water levels begin to lower, add more water.   Keep doing this, every few hours you will need to add water.  At night I will either take the broth off the stove or just put the stove on the lowest setting to keep the broth warm over night and as soon as I wake up, I turn it up to a simmer.   I then add my garlic, carrots, celery, onion to the mix and let simmer all day....the nutrients are pulled out of the veggies, into the broth and help give a nice flavour.   At the end of day two you will have a deep rich golden broth and the aroma will permeate throughout your entire home!  Strain the broth through cheese cloth, and I will usually pick the meat off the bones and use for casserole, burritos later.....  I then transfer to jars, ziploc bags or those bps plastic ball jars that are made for the freezer.  Since it is so concentrated, you will only need to use half that ball jar for soups etx...a little does go a long way.

day 2, the broth is turning into a golden yellow colour!  

The veggies have been added, we are getting close!

Roasted Brussel sprouts

I don't know about you, but when I was little but the sprouts were a four letter word.  It took me a long while before I really even wanted to try to eat them again.  In my last post I prepared left over meal with turkey and a side of roasted sprouts.  Well, I wanted to provide you with the quick recipe on how to fix the sprouts so even your children will eat them!

What you will need:
Brussel sprouts
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea salt.

Pre-heat oven to 400.  Wash, and half the sprouts.  Lay them on cookie sheet, douce them with olive oil, and generously salt.   Once ready, place in oven and roast for 15-20 minutes.

That's it folks, that easy, that simple, but oh so delicious!

The struggles

Well, it has been over 2 months since we have been trying to go completely gluten free/grain free, very low carbohydrates, getting rid of simple carbs almost completely and only having complex carbs once in awhile and trying to do the paleo diet.

I have been a long time proponent of WAPF diet, and they advocate many similar diets that paleo diet does; with a main difference, WAPF advocates raw milk and sprouted, fermented grains.  The paleo diet does allow raw milk, but only if one can tolerate raw milk.  My son can not and I have lactose intolerance to milk, so if I indulge too much, WATCH OUT!  Grains are another issue.  My husband was allergic to wheat when he was little, I have one child with eczema, another with pretty significant GI issues, chronic constipation, distended stomach and I having had to deal with a chronic left sided nagging dull pain, in which I have had CT scans done and ultrasounds done finding nothing wrong, so I have just "lived" with that chronic nagging pain for 9 years.  Even trying to consume grains the WAPF way, we still have issues.  Well.  I finally did it.  After playing around with grains, no grains, some grains, 50/50 grains/no grains, I just said we are doing it good bye grains, wheat and bread.   Hello Paleo, hello to a whole new world!  I haven't been perfect with this but only through time I will get better at it!

It hasn't been easy and there are still foods that I would love to have but I know will be problematic for me or my kids.  Here are some changes I have seen in the last couple months.

I have lost 4 pounds!
My daughter does not have a pop belly, she has a flat tummy and her pants aren't tight she can button her pants!
My daughter is having regular trips to the bathroom that are not painful.
My son's chicken skin eczema is going away.
My aches and pains that I have been having, (I felt like I was 80 literally rolling out of bed) have gone away!  Yes they have gone away and YES I can now jump out of bed with energy.
I don't hit the afternoon brick wall feeling like I want to fall over.  I have energy throughout the day.
My 3 year old who would wake up on an average of 5-10 times a night screaming, is no longer doing that.  He may wake up once and maybe now not at all.

I went at this thing with an open mind.  I said what the heck, why not try it, if it works, great, if it doesn't then back to the drawing board.  I am still struggling from time to time, when I see a cookie, or cake or those no no foods, but hey I am human!  We always want what we can't  have I suppose.
Through this, I am playing a bit more in the kitchen trying out new ways to cook food, some that I have learned and some that I am creating on my own and putting a new twist to it.  I will begin to share those as they are tested a few more times and approved!

I am not a professional dietician, but I do read and research a lot.  Through this blog, I hope to document my journey, what I learn, share what I have read, in hopes that we can connect and I inspire one another to journey here on earth healthier and happier!