Vegan Oatmeal Pancakes

I love pancakes. I can eat them any time of day.  There is something so comforting and satisfying about them.  I wish I could take credit for these pancakes, but alas, I cannot.  I got the recipe from Vegetarian Times 2013 issue, courtesy of Mary Shore. The recipe won first place in the Reader Recipe contest.  First place?  Really?  They sound oatmeally and gummy.  I had to try them to discover what qualifies as first place.   Well good golly, they're delicious!  Hearty without being gummy!  I cannot pin point what makes them taste so great, but they are da bomb.  I think turning the soy milk into "buttermilk" using apple cider vinegar is the culprit for these tasty cakes.   Give them a try.

*Tip: maple syrup is not friendly on the hips, so pour a couple of tablespoons on your plate as a "dip" instead of pouring a half of a cup over your pancakes.  And, I'm sure I don't have to mention not to use HFCS syrup, for crying out loud.

fluffy and delicious

Ingredients:

3/4 cup soymilk
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 T. Organic pure maple syrup (plus more for dip)
2 tsp. canola oil
1/2 cup steel cut oats (I used original Quaker oats)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I used organic whole wheat pastry flour)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:

Combine soymilk, vinegar, maple syrup, and oil in a small bowl.  Add oats and let soak 10  minutes.  Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a separate mixing bowl.  Stir soymilk mixture into flour mixture.  Preheat large skillet or griddle over medium-high heat and lightly coat with oil.  Ladle 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake.  Cook 2-3 minutes on each side.  Makes 6-8 pancakes.  Two pancakes is 1 serving (196 cal.)  You know I ate more than two! 

G-F Blueberry Quinoa Muffins

I don't have a gluten intolerance, but I like to eat gluten-free as much as possible.  I feel better and more energized when I leave out bread.  I still eat plenty of whole grains, don't get me wrong!  I love brown rice, oats, millet and quinoa.  Actually, quinoa is not a grain, it's a seed related to the spinach plant.  It has a nutty, ricey flavor.  I love these muffin because they are gluten-free and packed with protein.  And you know me, I love blueberries and think they should be eaten every day for their many benefits.   These muffins are sweetened with pure maple syrup, a favorite of mine.   No white flour or white sugar, yay!

Perfect protein, fiber snack!

Ingredients:
1 cup corn meal
1 cup of rice flour (or other g-f baking flour)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup of cooked quinoa (Hint: make sure to rinse the quinoa thoroughly before cooking and use water, not veggie or chicken stalk)
1/2 cup organic pure maple syrup
1/2 cup of rice or soy milk
1/2 cup of natural organic apple sauce
1 Tbl. of lemon juice
1/4 cup canola or safflower oil
1 cup of blueberries, fresh or frozen

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Use paper baking cups or grease muffin pan (makes 1 dozen).
In one bowl, mix together dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients, plus the cooked quinoa.   Add wet mixture to dry mixture until just combined. Gently fold in blueberries.  Bake 20 minutes.
Yummers!

Sweet Cornbread

You know what's great about cornbread?  It's delicious with any meal, any time of day.   I like making my own cornbread because the ingredient list in store-bought mix cornbread is atrocious (lard, which is fat from pig intestines-gross!).  I have two very good recipes I make all the time.  One of them uses silken tofu, the other ground flax seeds.  Now, while I like these things and have them on hand, I didn't want to scare you away from making decent cornbread. So I combined and tweaked both recipes and came up with my very own version.  All ingredients can be found in your normal grocery store. Plus, you probably already have some of these items on hand.  This cornbread is deliciously sweet with with your savory dishes, or for breakfast, or a late night snack.  It's hearty and rich and full of fiber.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups yellow corn meal
1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2/3 cup evaporated cane juice sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups of non-dairy milk (I use unsweetened soy milk)
1/4 cup unsweetened natural apple sauce
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon of canola or safflower oil

Preheat oven to 425°

First, mix the apple cider vinegar with the soy milk and set a aside to let thicken and turn to "buttermilk."  Mix all the dry ingredients thoroughly.   Add the milk mixture, apple sauce, and oil to the dry ingredients and stir well. Oil or spray 13x9 pan and bake for 20 minutes.  Serve plain or with pure maple syrup.

Homemade Blueberry Pancakes

I love making these pancakes.  They are super fast and easy.  I like being able to control the salt and sugar as well.   I eat them for breakfast, lunch or a late night snack.  Very satisfying favorite in my house.  Like I said before, I try to eat blueberries as much as possible because of their antioxidant properties (ranked among the highest antioxidant activity on a per serving basis), Vitamin C, manganese, and fiber.

**Did you know whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour is still refined and processed? It's not the same as eating "whole grains."  Still, I choose whole wheat flour over white flour because I'm not a fan of eating chemicals and bleach.  White flour is stripped of it's two most nutritious and fiber-rich parts of the grain: the outside bran layer and the germ.  Plus, white flour contains Alloxan, a diabetes-producing chemical that destroys cells in the pancreas.  Alloxan is toxic, no joke.  Google it.

Click photo to enlarge

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or buckwheat flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups unsweetened soy milk
2 Tablespoons of safflower or canola oil
2 Tablespoon pure maple syrup, plus more for topping
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
1 cup of organic blueberries, rinsed in cold water

Whisk together the dry ingredients first, then add the wet.  Stir in blueberries last.  Pre-heat and oil your nonstick griddle or large frying pan as you normally would and cook pancakes.  Top with pure maple syrup (Not Log Cabin please! It's really HFCS, yuck).  Makes about 10 pancakes.  Yum-o!

Note: if you are cutting back on sugar/calories, top with a sprinkle of powdered sugar instead of syrup.

Cold Bean Salad

Yes another salad!  This salad is so easy to make, I whip it up all the time.  I've even brought it to potlucks. This is actually meant as a side-dish but I eat is as a main dish.  It's got your protein, green veggie, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.  There's a secret ingredient that makes it hard to stop eating!  Check it out.

Adapted from Vegan Heartland:
1 pound green beans, ends trimmed, I leave them long cuz it looks prettier
1 cup garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 small red onion, chopped

Dressing:
1/4 cup organic olive oil or organic expeller pressed canola oil
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar, or white wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup, surprise!
Salt and pepper to taste, about 1/4 teaspoon

Steam or blanch green beans (or get the microwave in a bag kind), and cool
Mix dressing and toss with beans
Eat and feel good!

Agave Beware!

Several friends recently mentioned to me they use Agave Nectar as a natural sweetener.  It comes from the Blue Agave plant.  It is very sweet and delicious.  I use it sometimes too, but very sparingly.  I did some more digging on Agave and here's what I uncovered:  Although Agave is lower on the glycemic index scale, many brands of Agave Nectar are highly refined, containing almost 100 percent fructose, which is a higher percentage than that found in high fructose corn syrup! Ugh!  Fructose is a sweetener known to raise triglycerides, promote belly fat, and contribute to fatty liver, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Another thing to note is that some distributors of Agave Nectar have been labeling HFCS as Agave Nectar.  What!?  Is that legal?  The FDA recommends looking for labels that say "hydrolyzed insulin syrup," which means it's real Agave.  I try to stick with Organic Brown Rice Syrup or Pure Maple Syrup as much as possible. 

A kind and heartfelt reminder on HFCS: