Sunday, February 24, 2013

Bountiful Breakfast :: Banana Pancakes

I spend my week days organizing healthy meals and snacks, avoiding alcohol like the plague, and getting in all of the key food groups. However, come Friday at 5:00pm, all bets are off.

Hey, you only live once, right? Friday night happy hours, Saturday afternoon beer and oysters, and {of course} brunch.

This weekend I went a different route than the usual eggs, biscuits and fruit. And it was a great decision, I might add, because these pancakes are really the gift that keeps on giving.

Whole Wheat Banana-Blueberry Pancakes


These pancakes are so fluffy and just slightly sweet, thanks to the honey, bananas and blueberries. Topped with just the tiniest bit of maple syrup, these pancakes are pure bliss.

{This recipe is adapted from 100 Days of Real Food}

Ingredients

2 cups whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 ¾ cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 ripe bananas, mashed
butter or light butter alternative for frying
100% pure maple syrup for serving

Directions

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Make a well (hole) in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the honey, eggs, almond milk, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Whisk together thoroughly, but do not overmix.
Gently fold the mashed bananas into the batter with a spatula.
Heat a griddle or sauté pan over medium-high heat. Swirl enough butter around the pan until it is well coated. Add pancake batter using a soup ladle, then drop in blueberries.
When the pancakes have begun brown on the bottom, flip them over to cook the other side.
_____

As noted in her blog post, these are perfect for freezing! I was excited to read this because Ross loves nothing more than high sugar breakfast items during the week {blueberry muffins from the bakery, apple turnovers, everything bagels}, so this is a nice alternative that's lower in sugar and includes whole grains.

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Friday, February 22, 2013

Weekend Notes

{Forgive me for my tardiness. Weekend notes :: one week late}

I had an absolutely amazing weekend. One of those weekends where Monday through Friday were filled reminiscing, holding in giggles and smiles about how perfect and highly entertaining it really was.

Ross and I both had friends come in from Mississippi and we all stayed at Emerald Grande {approximately 2 miles away from our house} for a mini-vacation.


The weekend, simply stated, was gluttonous. We collectively consumed over 25 types of gumbo {at the Sandestin Gumbo Festival} and at least 7 dozen oysters throughout the weekend.  We drank bloody marys {the best I've ever had at Acme Oyster House} and peeled and ate {most of it, anyway} 6 lbs of shrimp.

There was also a lot of cheetah print involved on Saturday night. Clearly I had to collage it.


It was fabulous.

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Sunday, February 3, 2013

Sunday Supper :: Super Bowl Snacks

I love Super Bowl Sunday. 

Mostly because I can't get enough of tailgate food, and the commercials are always great, but this year we have at least two Rebels in the Super Bowl: Michael Oher and Patrick Willis. I absolutely do not care who wins, however I do care what we will be eating and I have quite a few ideas, courtesy of Pinterest.

{All photos and links back to the recipes can be found on my Football Fever Pinterest board.}

Right now I'm leaning toward the King Cake balls and Buffalo Chicken cups, but I'm tempted to make every recipe shown because they all look divine

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

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Friday, February 1, 2013

Ingredient Swap :: Pizza Dough for Cauliflower

This is another Pinterest recipe that I had to try. I honestly thought I'd just make it once and move on, but here I am making cauliflower pizza yet again because I was actually craving it. 


Cauliflower Pizza Dough
{makes 4 individual pizzas}
1 head cauliflower
1 cup shredded low moisture, part skim mozzarella cheese
1 tbsp fresh basil
2 eggs

First, you need to "rice" the raw cauliflower. You can either: chop the cauliflower head into smaller pieces, removing the hard part of the stem, and pulse in a food processor until rice-like; or run the cauliflower over a cheese grater until you've grated everything except the hard part of the stem.

Place the riced cauliflower into a cheese cloth or towel and squeeze out excess moisture. Then, combine cauliflower with all remaining ingredients and form into four equal sized balls.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place two balls of dough at opposite ends of the pan.  {You will need an extra cookie sheet if you want to bake all four at once.} Press the dough out into two thin, round crusts making sure they do not touch. Bake at 450° for 12 to 15 minutes, then add toppings and bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes.

Nutritional info per serving
{does not include toppings, calculated via MyFitnessPal.com}
169 calories
13g carbohydrates
8g fat
16g protein
__________

That's it. So easy! The first time I made it I had the house to myself and was experimenting with this recipe. Ross came home and grabbed a pizza out of the refrigerator and heated it in the oven {we all know how unpleasant pizza heated in the microwave can be}. He knew it tasted different than your average pizza, but noted that it was "delicious" and to "please make more."

This time I topped each pizza with marinara, spinach, mushrooms, orange bell pepper, green olives and an italian cheese blend. One pizza with a side salad was the perfect size meal for me.

Just do it. You're going to like it. Promise.

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