There’s one thing you need to know about eating healthier. It gets easier. Really. It even — OMG — gets to the place where you so crazy love what you eat that you don’t even care one tiny bit if you never again eat all the stuff you thought was heaven.
Believe me? If you haven’t been on this journey, I bet you don’t. But, if you have, you’re nodding happily along with me, aren’t you?
Okay, let’s let everyone else in on the secret. And, since I think stories help explain and since I’m sorta/kinda a story teller, let me tell you about my pancake journey.
Long, long ago, in the land of food is just food, I loved pancakes. The regular sort of kind. Maybe my own mix of flour and such … white flour … gasp … and white sugar … and everything white. More often the nice stuff in a box that didn’t require me to do much. If I wanted to be healthier (translate: skinnier), I might use “lite” pancake syrup.
Then I started reading about whole grains. Okay, okay, I switched to whole grains. And organic whole grain mix. Yay! And, eventually, I liked it, I really liked it! With real maple syrup. No more fake stuff, at least.
Then I heard about gluten-free. Okay, okay, let me try gluten-free mix. I like it; I really like it, too! Damn, this is going along well.
Pretty proud of my “healthy” pancakes at that point, I must say. Then I decided to try an ayurvedic practitioner as one of my holistic resources for health. She asked what I liked for breakfast. Pancakes, I replied. Oh, no, she replied. But they are all healthy and stuff, I argued. Oh, no, she replied.
Then she gave me the good news. I could have pancakes, but she would tell me how to make them truly healthy. Yes! My eyes (and taste buds and pancake buds) grew all happy. Then she gave me the recipe:
Take mung beans, cook them to smush, stir in other weird spices and such, pat them into circles, fry in ghee and, voila, pancakes!
Really? REALLY? Pancakes do not simply equal circular-shaped whatevers. They equal cinnamony, mapley sort of goodness. I was sad. And, actually, angry. Seemed like a particularly nasty form of torture to promise me pancakes, then give me smushy beans.
I was undeterred. I continued to pursue healthy pancakes. I read and pondered. Ah hah, looks like almond meal would make a healthy pancake base. Then what? I kept adding. And now I have:
Truly Healthy Pancakes That Taste Awesome
(and aren’t smushy beans)
My recipe: (Kinda/sorta as I ain’t a recipe type person so please bear with me)
Ingredients:
- Chia seeds
- Almond meal (or almond flour)
- Almond milk (unsweetened vanilla is best)
- Cinnamon
- Sea Salt
- Optional: vanilla protein powder
- Also optional: Chopped pecans. When you create each pancake in your skillet, sprinkle it with a bit of pecans, if you like. It also adds a really nice flavor.
Optional topping:
- Butter
- Coconut palm sugar
- Maple extract
For one good-sized serving:
In a very small cup or bowl, mix together:
- 1 tablespoon (forever more known as T) chia seeds
- 3 T warm water
Stir well, and set aside to gel.
In another bowl, mix together:
- 1/4 cup almond meal
- Cinnamon to taste
- Dash of sea salt
- Almond milk until the dry mix is a very thick liquid
- Optional: 1 T natural protein powder (adds an extra bit of protein that helps keep you full longer plus a nice flavor when you get the vanilla version)
Stir the chia/water mix into the almond meal, etc. mix. Spread in small circles on a pan coated with coconut oil. (Don’t skimp on the coconut oil. You don’t need the pancakes to float, but you do need enough so the pancakes don’t stick.) Sprinkle some chopped pecans on top, if you’re choosing to add those. Let them cook enough on one side (this takes a while) on medium heat until they look more dry, and you can flip them over easily. Finish cooking the other side to your preference. I like them crispy.
Topping:
- 1 T butter
- 2-3 teaspoons of coconut palm sugar
- Few drops of maple extract
Melt the butter; stir in the rest; spread over pancakes. Or, you can use a topping of your choice, but this makes a really decadent tasting topping that is still healthy for you.
Eat; enjoy! Skip the mushy bean taste. 😀
