Paleo Banana and Blueberry Pancakes

Another pancake recipe, you say?  But of course!  I feel that my kids don't do breakfast well during the weekdays, which is why I have so many different breakfast recipes.  Aside from my green smoothie pancake found here, my kids vary between eating whole wheat bread with jam, or yummy hawaiian rolls.  I wanted to find another go-to meal for them, so I thought I'd try these out.

Scrolling through the web for ideas, I came across a paleo recipe for pancakes.  There aren't that many ingredients either, and I had most of them, so that made trying them out easier.  Blueberries?  Check!  Ripe bananas? Check!  Eggs?  Check!  I did have to purchase shredded coconut though, so I did that on one of my grocery runs anticipating that I would be making these.

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas
6 organic eggs
1 Cup shredded coconut (I bought organic unsweetened)
1/2 Cup fresh blueberries (or thawed frozen)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
coconut oil for cooking

Directions
Batter: Peel the bananas and mash with a fork. Beat eggs in a bowl and mix it together with the mashed bananas. Add shredded coconut, blueberries, and cinnamon. Stir to combine.

Cook: Heat coconut oil in frying pan on low to medium (NOTE: be careful of the heat of your pan.  I found that the pancakes burned easily if the pan was too hot).  Pour 3 small portions of pancake batter in the pan at a time, and flip after 2-3 minutes (gauge the timing with the heat of your pan). Serve with shredded coconut and blueberries and dust with cinnamon (optional).

Also note that the blueberries can burst as they are being cooked, so be aware of that.  Overall, the taste was good.  Banana with coconut bits, with an eggy flavor.  I only tasted the blueberries when my bite had blueberries in it or had blueberry juice.  Kids approved!

Italian Style Cauliflower

Someone in one of our accountability groups posted this recipe and said that her family loved it.  I figured that since it's already been tried, I might as well try it for my family.  It's actually a recipe from Cooking Light and it's rather easy.  I did have to adapt the recipe to what I had on hand, as well as to my family's taste.  For example, I didn't include the crushed red pepper because I have young children eating the meal, and I used ground turkey instead of ground sirloin.

It didn't take too long to get this meal on the table, but if I were in a rush, I wouldn't make it unless I had prepped the ingredients beforehand.

Ingredients:

1 TBSP olive oil
1 C chopped onion
4 garlie cloves, minced
6 oz ground turkey
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (I opted out)
1/4 tsp black pepper (I only did a couple of dashes)
1.5 C spaghetti sauce (the recipe called for lower sodium marinara sauce, but I used what I had on hand)
2 oz pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
1.5 lbs cauliflower, cut into florets
cooking spray
1/4 C mounding breadcrumbs (also what I had on hand.  Original recipe called for you to make your own)
1/4 C grated cheese (original recipe called for fresh pecorino Romano cheese--I had shredded mixed cheese so I used that instead)


Prep

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan.  Add onion, cook for 4 minutes.  Add garlic, cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.  Stir in meat. Sprinkle with salt and peppers, and cook 3 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble.  Stir in sauce and olives.

2. Preheat broiler.

3. Steam cauliflower 4 minutes or until crisp-tender.  (I personally did a bit more than a blanch in boiling water).  Place cauliflower in an 11x7 inch broiler-safe baking dish coated with cooking spray; top with sauce mixture.

4.  If you're making your own bread crumbs, do so in this step.  Combine crumbs and cheese; sprinkle over cauliflower mixture.  Broil 4 minutes or until browned.

Results?  My husband and I loved it.  My son liked it quite a bit, and my 3 year old daughter just liked it.  Haha.  The kalamata olives take some getting use to, so my kids weren't too fond of that (though my son ate them).  This will definitely be a repeat recipe.  Enjoy!

No Flour Peanut Butter Squares

I love me some peanut butter, and peanut butter in a bar?  SCORE!  This recipe came from the Fixate cookbook and it came out soooo good.  Totally kids (and parents) approved AND fix approved too (it counts as one yellow container and 2.5 tsp of oil).  It was super easy to make and there is no flour.


Ingredients:
nonstick cooking spray
1.5 C     all-natural smooth peanut butter
1/2 C     raw honey (or pure maple syrup)
2 tsp      vanilla extract
2            large eggs, at room temp
1/2 tsp   baking soda

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2.  Lightly coat 8x8 inch baking pan with spray.
3.  Combine peanut butter, honey, extract, eggs, and baking soda in a large bowl.  Mix well.
4.  Evenly spread batter into prepared pan.  Smooth top with a spatula.
5.  Bake for 20-23 minutes.  Squares may be a little soft when coming out of the oven, but they will   continue to cook.
6.  Cool.  Cut into squares.

Enjoy!

Coach Sneak Peek!

Ever wonder what it is exactly that coaches do?  Now's your time to find out.  I'm sharing, along with other coaches, what we do starting September 14th.  Interested?  Find me on Facebook (Sabrina Cheng) and message me.  You can also leave a comment below on this post and I'll get back to you.

"Asian" Turkey Lettuce Wraps

The school year starting with a new kindergartner has me scouring the internet for recipes (I adapted this from newleafwellness) that will make my life after work-life easier.  That means trying out recipes that require minimal cooking or cooking that I don't need to watch over.  I decided I needed to try using my crockpot more often, so I happened upon a recipe for chicken lettuce wraps.  I put quotes on the word Asian, because it really doesn't taste anything like the Chinese lettuce wraps I've had in restaurants growing up, but there is an Asian flavor to them.   In any case, I decided to give it a try.  It's a bit sweet and a bit salty, so that worked out.  The original recipe called for ground chicken, but since I didn't have that, I used ground turkey instead.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of ground turkey
• 1 medium-sized red bell pepper, diced
• 2 large carrots, grated (1 cup)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I opted out of using these as I wanted my kids to eat it)

Directions

1.   Add all ingredients to your slow cooker and cook on “low” setting for 4-6 hours or until chicken is tender.
2.   Break apart chicken and serve.

Now my slow cooker has a few settings, and it's no exactly adjustable.  I can cook on high for 4 or 6 hours, or low on 8 or 10 hours.  Hmm...what to do?  Since I'm not home to monitor this, I opted for the low on 8 hours cooking time.  When I got back, parts of the sauce were a bit burnt, which added a slightly smokey flavor my husband liked, but my kids didn't.  I think the next time I might do the 4 hours on high.  Or if I'm home, do the 8 hours on low setting but stop at 4 hours.  Haha.  In any case, the kids really liked it (I just scooped them the parts that didn't have the slightly burnt sauce) and we ate it using romaine lettuce.  It was a hit for my 3 yo too, who didn't want to eat the lettuce part initially.   I think watching her brother eat it and seeing that you can wrap it like a burrito made it more fun for her.

I didn't try to freeze this, but it's probably going to be in my rotation soon with maybe a few tweaks to the recipe.  But here are instructions on how to freeze.

Freezing instructions

Add all ingredients to a gallon-sized plastic freezer bag.  Remove as much air as possible, seal, and freeze for up to three months.  Thaw in refrigerator overnight and then cook in slow cooker for 4-6 hours on “low” setting.  Break apart chicken and spoon onto lettuce.

French Toast Sticks

As the school year just started, I wanted to find some other quick breakfast recipes that I can prepare ahead of time and freeze for my kids to eat as we rush out the door in the morning.  (In the past, we've relied on this, and it's still a favorite).  I came across a version of french toast from iowagirleats that baked them, instead of pan frying them.  I instantly thought, SCORE!!  I don't want to have to stand over a hot stove for about 30 minutes frying up these babies.

As my son is now 5.5 yo (and I'm more willing to have him help), he helped me mix the eggs into the dip mixture, as well as pour in the vanilla.


Original recipe

Makes 12 French Toast Sticks

Ingredients
- 4 slices Texas Toast
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 C milk
- 1 TBSP melted butter, slightly cooled
- 1 Tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, then spray a baking sheet very well with non-stick spray and set aside. Cut bread slices into thirds, then set aside.

2. In a large shallow dish, whisk together eggs, milk, melted butter, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Dunk bread sticks into batter, let excess drip off, then place onto prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 16-18 minutes, spraying the tops of the French toast sticks with non-stick spray before flipping halfway through.

3. To freeze: Let cool, then place onto baking sheet and freeze.  (I don't have that much freezer space, so I just cooled it on wax paper, stacked them with a sheet between each layer, put into a ziploc, and then froze flat).  To reheat, microwave for 30 second to 1 minute.


They came out great!  I didn't have texas toast, nor did I want to hunt for it.  So I went to our neighborhood small chain market and found some bread that was sliced thicker than a regular slice of bread.   I also doubled the recipe so that I would have more.  I figured that the more bread to soak up the dip, the better.  And I've made french toast with regular toast before, and I wouldn't think they'd hold up as well when cut into sticks.  I even forgot to add the butter I had already melted and they still turned out great.  A side note, instead of placing the battered bread straight onto the cookie sheet, I used my Silpat mats.  Easier clean up and more even cooking, without the spray. 

Enjoy!

Zucchini and Carrot Turkey Meatballs

I'm always trying to find ways to get my little ones to eat more veggies.  They are doing well, but some times they are just not willing to try new things.  I found this recipe online (onelovelylife.com) and tweaked it a bit.  I made this the other night as part of dinner, and it came out so well!  I didn't have all the ingredients listed, so I opted to add some grated baby carrots (that's what I had) to the recipe too.  The meatballs were moist and delicious.  They are gluten free and dairy free.

Ingredients:

- 1 lb ground turkey
- 2 C grated zucchini, leaving the skin on
- 1/4 C grated carrot
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- coconut oil, for cooking (or avocado oil)


Instructions:

Toss turkey with zucchini, carrot, garlic, salt, and peer.  Mixture will be quite wet.

To cook on the stove top:  Heat oil in medium pan over medium heat. Use a small scoop or a heaped tablespoon to scoop meatballs into the pan.  Cook 8-10 at a time for about 5-6 minutes on the first side.  Flip and cook an additional 4-5 minutes, or until golden brown and the centers are cooked through.

To bake:  Drizzle a bit of oil into a baking sheet.  Scoop meatballs onto the greased pan. Drizzle a bit of additional oil over the meatballs.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until cooked through.  If desired, place under the broiler for an additional 2-3 minutes or until browned on top.

Serve with guacamole, salsa, or your favorite dip.



I cooked mine on the stove top with coconut oil and then placed them out on a paper towel to absorb the extra oil.  I think the next time I make them, I'm going to bake them.  I think it will be quicker overall to cook a large batch at once.

The verdict?  The kids loved them (yay!).  Again, even after heating the leftovers up, they were still so moist.  So make sure you do not wring out the liquid that comes from the grated zucchinis.  Enjoy!