Whole Wheat Honey Pancakes

It's been awhile since I updated on here again, but I have good excuses. Moving to Texas is the main one. 

But seriously, I have a back stock of things I have been meaning to post so hopefully I can get back into it again. For today I want to share with you a variation on one of my mom's recipes. These are definitely one of my favorite breakfast foods when I am in the mood to exert the effort to make them! 

Whole Wheat Honey Pancakes 

Ingredients:

(this is for a single batch, I generally double the recipe)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup white flour

1 Tbsp honey (can add more to taste)

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 large egg

1 cup milk (can add more or less depending on how thick you like yours)

2 tsp oil (or melted butter)

Toppings of choice! 

Instructions:

Combine dry ingredients first, then add the wet ingredients. Stir just to mix. 

Let sit a few minutes for the baking powder to rise (thus making fluffier pancakes)

Turn your griddle onto high (or your stove/pan). Pour mixture onto surface once hot. Size doesn't matter, but since the dough tends to be thick, watch out because they can get really dense if you made too big!

Cook evenly on both sides then remove from heat and enjoy!

I highly recommend topping these with real maple syrup or natural honey. They're even better with bananas and raisins :) 

Alterations:

If you wish, you can change your flour amounts around. I like to do 1/2 cup wheat, 1/4 cup white, and 1/4 cup oatmeal. You can also do 3/4 wheat and 1/4 white, or try other flours also!

They taste really good with mix-ins, like raisins! I bet they'd be amazing with chocolate chips also.

Experiment and have fun. No matter how you like your pancakes, I am sure they'll be delicious!

Nutritional Info: 

(per serving.  One serving - approx 2 large pancakes)

445  calories 

19g fat 

865 mg sodium

56 g carbs

15 g sugar (Before syrup/toppings)

15 g protein

So not the greatest, but way better (ingredient wise anyway) than standard pancakes.

Happy Monday everyone!

Wednesday Recipe: Easy Breakfast Scramble

It seems like a good time to share another yummy recipe I concocted with you guys! 

As we all should know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And also that time when we are supposed to eat the most of our calories (but I bet most of us don't actually do that!). So I have been messing around with changing my breakfast meals up and came up with this super simple breakfast egg scramble that I find both delicious and easy!

Easy Breakfast Scramble

Ingredients:2 large grade A eggs (or whatever eggs you have in the cabinet).

Milk to taste (I generally just use a tablespoon)

Organic Spinach (about 1/4 - 1/2 cup)

Grated Cheddar Cheese (about 1/4 cup)

Organic Baby Tomatoes (about 4 - 5, cut in half)

Whatever other things you want to mix in. I have used ham/lunchmeat and fresh pepper before.

Cooking spray (to spray the pan, if needed)

Instructions:

Spray your pan, and add the 2 eggs plus the milk. Turn the burner onto high and watch for it to begin cooking.

Stir eggs as they cook and turn down heat if needed.

Once they start to fluff up, begin adding other ingredients (generally, it's best to wait until eggs are all but done)

After adding ingredients, continue cooking so that cheese melts and veggies get cooked/warmed a bit. 

Transfer to plate, sprinkle with extra cheese if desired, and enjoy!

Even better with a bowl of cereal and fresh fruit!

Nutritional Info:
(per serving; one serving - 1 recipe)

256  calories 

16 g fat (mostly from eggs)

302 mg sodium

8 g carbs

7 g sugar 

19 g protein

This is really one of my favorite things to make on the weekends for breakfast. It's so simple and so fast. And tastes so good. And the cleanup is easy also. I hope you have a chance to try it - let me know if you find any yummy ingredients!

~Lisa 

Healthy(er) Chocolate Coconut Cake

About a month ago I was in my local health food store and found an organic cake mix on a clearance rack. Given my obsession with all things chocolate, I decided to pick it up. It's been sitting in the pantry since, mostly because I have been just too busy to care. But I had last Friday off, and decided to see what I could come up with.

Healthy(er) Chocolate Coconut Cake

Ingredients:

1 chocolate cake mix ( I bet it would work with any kind, but why not go organic? I used Madhava)

1 cup coconut milk (or whatever amount the box calls for)

1/2 cup coconut oil (or whatever amount the box calls for)

3 eggs (or whatever amount the box calls for)

Instructions:

Preheat oven according to box. For mine, it's 325.

If needed, melt your coconut oil in the microwave (no more than 30sec should do it). 

After you have the melted oil, mix all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Make sure you get it mixed really good so the oil doesn't separate.

Pour into a greased cake pan. (I greased my pan with more coconut oil)

Bake as instructed, for mine it was 35 minutes

Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before removing from pan (if you plan to remove from pan). 

Allow to cool at least an hour before frosting.

So frosting is another story. I mean, what's the point of a "Healthy" cake if you buy that hydrogenated, trans-fat laden Pillsbury frosting at the grocery store?  I went in search of the perfect frosting for this cake and struck gold.

Chocolate/Coconut Frosting:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dutch cocoa powder

1/4 cup coconut oil (softened)

1 Tbsp raw honey or pure maple syrup

1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

pinch of sea salt (although I did not use this because we didn't have any)

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl and pour/spread over cooled cake. 

Top with shredded coconut, sea salt, strawberries, fruit, etc. 

I think my favorite part of this cake was eating it. After refrigerating for a bit to stiffen the frosting, it became more like a dense chocolate bar and less like a cake. It has so much texture and flavor. My sister says she thinks it really tastes like coconut. Even my dad liked this, and he's usually only into traditional recipes.  In my book, that's a seal of approval. Just watch out - coconut oil has quite a bit of saturated fat, the good kind, but still. Overall, I think I will probably find myself making most of my cake mixes (organic or not) this way again. I wonder what vanilla would taste like?

~Lisa

Citrus Chicken with Garlic-Parm Potatoes and Steamed Greenbeans

I have decided to start a new on the whole food blogging thing. I've been doing so many different things in my kitchen lately that it just makes sense.

Expect lots of great things to come! Including, but not limited to, recipe sharing, cooking/kitchen tips, food reviews and my ramblings about all things foodie.

Let's start with a recipe!

Citrus Rubbed Chicken

(served with garlic-parm potatoes and steamed organic green beans)

This is a recipe I found via pinterest. For the original, visit Eatsy. 

Ingredients:

Chicken pieces, at least the equivalent of a whole chicken, but you can generally fit two whole chickens in a large pan. I used Simple Truth free range chicken, but you can use any you like. 

1 tablespoon of salt (we just used the basic table salt)

2 teaspoons of paprika (or more/less to taste)

1 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)

2 lemons (to zest and juice)

1 large orange (to zest and juice)

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

Mix together your citrus zests with the paprika, salt and pepper. Combine well. It will be a bit "sticky"

Clean your chicken and place in a baking pan. It will cook better if the pan is packed pretty full. 

Apply your zest mixture to the top/sides of your chicken. Rub in the best you can. 

Cut the lemons and orange into wedges, and squeeze a bit of juice over the top of the chicken. Place the wedges in the pan and under the chicken for added flavor.

If desired, let the chicken marinate for an hour or so.

Roast your chicken in the oven at 400 degrees for about an hour, or until it is no longer pink all the way through (165 degrees is a good temperature). The fuller the pan, the longer it will take to cook (ours took about 90 minutes).

Remove from oven and let it cool a bit before serving.

The chicken should juice up pretty well as it cooks, this juice is great spooned on top as you eat, as well as squeezing more oranges/lemons on top.

Nutrition info:

(per serving, serving size: 1/4 chicken)

44 calories 

1 g fat

18 mg cholesterol

2546 mg sodium

91 mg potassium

2 g carbs

2 g fiber

0 g sugar (unless you count small amount from juicing)

7 g protein

13% daily vitamin a

15% daily vitamin c

2% daily calcium

4% daily iron

If you're looking for a great full meal, I highly recommend my go-to Parmesan potatoes recipe. If you use fresh grated parm and good quality olive oil, they turn out superb. For veggies, you can't go wrong with organic steamed green beans or broccoli.

I hope you enjoyed my first new post. I can't wait to share more amazing food adventures with you all!

~Lisa