breakfast -

May 9, 2017

Paleo Pancake Recipe {Best Ever!}

I recently shared our family’s favorite waffle recipe (see awful paleo waffles here), so it’s only fitting that I give you our favorite paleo pancake recipe too!

We’re coming to the end of our spring birthday season (my youngest turns three next week! *sniffle*), a period of six weeks where three out of our four boys have a birthday every three weeks on the dot. Right now little man has only requested one thing for his birthday: a purple cake. Though we’ll be traveling this week, I’ll have access to a kitchen, so I’m dreaming of using purple sweet potatoes in a cake.

Which makes me think of unicorns and the controversy over the new unicorn drink from Starbucks. Which makes me chuckle. Then I start dreaming of all the gorgeous colors found in real food like beets and what I can do with them.

If I pull off the purple cake of my little guy’s dreams, I’ll be sure to share. And if I throw in the towel and hit up a gluten-free bakery, I’ll be sure to tell you about that too. Because I’m human. (Update: I made the purple sweet potato cake! It was pretty sweet-potato-y, but my little guy was happy!)

But, whether I make or buy the cake, these pancakes will be on the breakfast table for his big day. This paleo pancake recipe was created for my last guy’s birthday almost three weeks ago and got rave reviews from all my little men. They are the absolute closest to conventional pancakes that I’ve ever made.

Why this paleo pancake recipe is boss

I’ve made every type of paleo pancake recipe imaginable: coconut flour was the first, then I moved on to almond flour, and have since made pancakes from bananas, nut butter, and even butternut squash.

Some of them tasted really strong and just didn’t taste like the pancakes we all loved and missed. Others didn’t have great texture. Still others contained inflammatory ingredients that we didn’t tolerate well.

I love that cassava flour tastes and feels more like all purpose flour than any other flour I’ve tried to date, which means these pancakes taste more like conventional pancakes than any others I’ve made. These are officially our favorite paleo pancakes and I’m willing to bet your family will love them too!

To recap, if you’re not familiar with cassava flour, I love using it because:

it more closely mimics all-purpose flour than anything else I’ve tried
it is free from inflammatory proteins
it is a good source of resistant starch, which feeds the good bacteria in your gut
it’s totally grain- and gluten-free
it contains minerals like calcium, manganese, and iron
it’s a good source of fiber
it’s a good source of carbohydrates

Now, cassava is not a good choice if you’re on the GAPS diet or other low-carb or keto diet. It’s not low carb, and it is starchy. However, it’s a much better choice than wheat or even gluten-free flours.

Get my favorite cassava flour here, then grab our family’s favorite paleo pancakes recipe below.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Paleo Cassava Flour Pancakes

Prep Time5

Cook Time30

Total Time35

Servings: pancakes

Author: Jaclyn

Ingredients

1 cup almond milk or milk of choice; buttermilk is also yummy!
3/4 cup cassava flour
1/3 cup coconut flour
3 eggs beaten
2 Tbsp avocado oil
1 Tbsp maple or coconut sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice omit if using buttermilk.
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
dash salt
fat for greasing skillet

Instructions

Preheat a stainless steel skillet on medium-low heat. Grease with butter or fat of choice.
Combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, avocado oil, and lemon juice, then add to the flour mixture. Stir until combined.
Pour or spread about 1/4 cup batter onto pre-heated skillet, spacing pancakes at least a couple inches apart. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until air bubbles appear on the top, then gently flip to cook an additional 2-3 minutes on the other side.
If pancakes cook too quickly on the outside, but are undercooked on the inside, turn the heat down.
Serve with butter and maple syrup for a classic pancake experience.

April 2, 2017

Paleo Waffles with Cassava Flour

Awful waffles are my boys’ favorite breakfast (that or pancakes), because you get to smother them in liquid sweetener and it’s ok. We call them “awful waffles” because when my five year old was first talking, he called waffles “awfuls” and it was the cutest! But these paleo waffles are anything but awful.

Making really good waffles from cassava flour has been a goal of mine since I got that first bag of Otto’s. Waffles were the first thing I tried making and I excitedly whipped up a recipe, astounded at how perfect the consistency of the batter was.

I cooked ’em up and expectantly took a bite… and was disappointed when the center was a gooey, squishy mess.

That’s because there’s a bit of a learning curve when cooking with cassava flour. While it is most similar to all-purpose flour out of all of the alternative flours I’ve tried, in my experience, it generally doesn’t sub perfectly in every recipe.

With a little tweaking and creativity, however, I’ve found that I can nail perfect baked-good texture with cassava flour, and these paleo waffles are proof!

Real food in real life

I told you a little last week about how I’ve really had to re-commit myself to the grain-free, paleo-style that our family does best on. With the stress of our move dragging out, I was buying a lot of gluten-free bread and other convenience foods at the store.

And that was totally ok and may be ok in seasons, but it’s felt good getting busy in the kitchen and sticking with a plan.

Meal planning is my jam.

Like, I can hardly function without it. If I don’t at least jot down a general list of what I’m going to make for each meal of the week, I basically run around like a chicken with my head chopped off, feeding my kids whatever I can quickly grab without thinking too much about it.

Again, I think there’s grace for stressful seasons when some lesser-quality food choices can’t be avoided, BUT, I think in most cases, they CAN be avoided with a little planning.

More than anything, I love having my meal plans done for me, especially since so many great meal-planning services have come out that allow for special diet needs.

But did you know there’s a meal planning site that even offers GAPS and strict paleo meal plans? You can even easily alter the menu to exclude ingredients your family is allergic to. I’ve been blown away by Real Plans!

Meal planning for lazy moms

Or just really busy. Or stressed.

Whatever your excuse, Real Plans is meal planning done for you, according your family’s unique dietary needs!

Whether you eat gluten-free, dairy-free, grain-free, paleo, GAPS, or just real food, Real Plans is totally customizable, and you can even add in your favorite recipes from around the web (hint hint- add this paleo waffle recipe to your breakfast routine with ease!).

They even offer Whole30 meals plans!

Real Plans even has an app, so you can look up your grocery list right from your phone, as well as pull up recipes at the touch of a button. My favorite part is that I can pull up the next day’s meal plan and see if there’s any meat I need to thaw or anything else I should do to be prepared.

Y’all know I don’t tell you about something unless I love it. And because I LOVE my readers, I want to share things that I think will be valueable to you. The first time I tried Real Plans, I called my mom, my sister, my paleo bestie, and my real food bestie and told them all to try it stat.

That’s how much of a difference Real Plans has made in my life!

If you want to give Real Plans a try, you can get the meal planning for as little as $6/mo (if you sign up annually), up to $14/mo (if you choose to pay monthly). They also have a 30 day money back guarantee, and you can cancel at any time. Give it a try here.

Now on to paleo waffles

Now that I’ve waved a magic wand to make your real food dreams come true, on to my next magic trick: delectable cassava flour paleo waffles.

I’ve made these several times now, and our family just adores them. I’ve found a great combo to get a not-too-gooey, perfectly palatable waffle recipe. Gone are my first days of cassava flour failures.

If you want to give these waffles a try, grab your cassava flour here, then follow the recipe below!

By the way, I get asked often about non-stick cooking surfaces and good alternatives. Our family switched to a ceramic waffle maker last year, which is naturally nonstick without the harsh, harmful chemicals of teflon and other typical nonstick surfaces. You can find the one we have here.

Print Recipe

Paleo Waffles with Cassava Flour

Prep Time5

Cook Time30

Total Time35

Servings: waffles

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup milk of choice
1 1/4 cup cassava flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup avocado oil
2 eggs
2 tbsp coconut sugar
1 tbsp grain-free or homemade baking powder
1/2 tbsp vanilla
dash salt

Instructions

In a medium bowl, combine flours, coconut sugar, baking powder, and salt and stir well.
In a separate bowl, beat eggs for a moment before adding milk, oil and vanilla and mix well.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until combined, just until lumps are gone.
Pour about 3/4 cup at a time on waffle maker and cook 3-4 minutes on medium.
Use a fork to remove waffles as they're done, and repeat steps with remaining batter.
Serve with butter or ghee and maple syrup.
Serves 4-6.

Be sure to share this paleo waffle recipe or pin the image below!

December 21, 2016

Super Antioxidant Blueberry Chia Seed Smoothie Easy to Prepare Recipe

I’ve gotta be honest, I kind of get tired of cooking three square meals every day. I’m just being real. I let my Vitamix do the work sometimes… ok, a lot of the time, and I make puddings, protein drinks, and smoothies quite often. I love to make a quick, yummy blueberry chia seed smoothie on occasion, since it’s super simple and packed full of nutrition.

Smoothies started as a way for me to sneak in a plethora of super health foods. I got really over the top for a while and have put everything from steamed mushrooms to liver in smoothies. Now, I keep my smoothies pretty basic and use just a handful of key ingredients.

My criteria for a healthy smoothie is as follows:

high protein
good fats
fiber
no junkie fillers or protein powders
only sneak in superfoods when tasty and appropriate 🙂

It’s also important that smoothies be fast and easy to make, as my husband likes to blend one on his way out the door to work, and my kids like to be able to make smoothies themselves.

While you can get fancy and add lots of ingredients, I like to keep it simple, sir. Like, really simple. This blueberry chia seed smoothie is super simple and nourishing, and best of all, kid-pleasing.

In this blueberry chia seed smoothie, you’ll find:

Organic frozen blueberries- I always make sure to buy berries organic because they are one of the most likely types of produce to have a high amount of pesticide residue. Blueberries are rich in vitamin C and antioxidants, which help to keep you youthful and repair damaged cells. Buying them frozen makes for a perfect, icy smoothie texture.

Chia seeds- these tiny nutrition powerhouses pack a huge punch in a small package. In just one ounce, you’ll find over 4g protein, 9g fat (good, essential fatty acid, omega fats!), tons of calcium and magnesium, plus fiber, antioxidants, and other nutrition that make this little seed worthy of scooping into your daily smoothie.

(Just keep in mind that the omega fats in chia seeds are ALA, whereas our bodies can better use DHA, found in fish and fish products like extra virgin cod liver oil, so try to get both plant-based ALA and fish based DHA fats in your diet and supplement routine.)

Raw milk- Our family loves raw milk, for the nutrition, and pure enjoyment of all the foods we can make from it, like ice cream, plus there’s the satisfaction of a tall glass of cold milk. Raw milk also boasts 8g protein per cup, as well as vitamins D, K, and A, and heart-healthy saturated fat found in the cream. If you don’t tolerate dairy or can’t get your hands on raw milk, coconut milk is a good substitution.

Greens- I also like to throw a handful of fresh, raw greens in my smoothies to bump up the nutrition. Kale is a favorite, as well as spinach, but really, anything will do. Fresh greens boast vitamins K and C, as well as fiber.

Collagen peptides- like gelatin, peptides are made from collagen, but do not congeal, or gel up. Instead, they dissolve easily in both hot and cold liquids, so they are perfect for blending into smoothies for an added protein source. They’re also a great source of gut-healing amino acids. (I use these or these.)

Be sure to blend your smoothie up well, as chia seeds have a unique texture, and the better they’re blended, the less noticeable they’ll be. I love using my Vitamix for this because it’s powerful and blends things very smoothly.

Print Recipe

Blueberry Chia Seed Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups raw milk or coconut milk
1 cup frozen organic blueberries
1 oz about 2 tbsp chia seeds
handful fresh greens of choice optional
1 scoop collagen peptides I use these or these.
splash of vanilla extract

Instructions

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high until smooth.

Know a friend who would love this blueberry chia seed smoothie? Share using one of our links!

February 29, 2016

45 Primal and Paleo Diet Breakfast Recipes to Get You Out of Your Breakfast Rut

If you’ve never done the grain-free thing before, you may be wondering “what the heck can I eat for breakfast?” Cereal is out. Oatmeal is out. Toast is definitely out. Unless you make it grain-free! 😉 Maybe you’ve been grain-free for a while and are in need of some new paleo diet breakfast ideas.

I myself get tired of the same ol’ eggs and bacon getup every morning, so I’m excited that my fellow bloggers have come to the rescue with some stellar recipes to keep things interesting for breakfast. Observe: