I know I say this in every blog I write that includes honey, but I think it is really important to remember: When purchasing your honey, raw unprocessed honey is a good choice. 75% of all honey sold in stores contains no honey at all. A comprehensive investigation conducted by Food Safety News (FSN) has found that the vast majority of so-called honey products sold at grocery stores do not contain any pollen, which means they are not real honey. “Raw honey is thought to have many medicinal properties,” says Kathy Egan, dietitian at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.  ”Stomach ailments, anemia and allergies are just a few of the conditions that may be improved by consumption of unprocessed honey.”

A big thanks to wholesomekids.com.au for the recipe! Original recipe can be found here.

Print

Grain-Free Pancakes

See Detailed Nutrition Info on

WholeFoodRealFood.com

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca flour
• 2 tbsp coconut flour
• 2/3 cup almond milk
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1 tbsp honey
• Pinch Himalayan pink salt

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Whisk until a smooth batter is formed.
3. Wait a few minutes for batter to thicken.
4. Heat non-stick pan over medium/low heat and add ghee or coconut oil.
5. Spoon mixture into the pan.
6. When pancakes start to bubble, flip and cook for another minute.
7. Enjoy!

Notes:

Recipe courtesy of www.wholesomekids.com.au

Grain-Free Pancakes

• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca flour
• 2 tbsp coconut flour
• 2/3 cup almond milk
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1 tbsp honey
• Pinch Himalayan pink salt

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Whisk until a smooth batter is formed.
3. Wait a few minutes for batter to thicken.
4. Heat non-stick pan over medium/low heat and add ghee or coconut oil.
5. Spoon mixture into the pan.
6. When pancakes start to bubble, flip and cook for another minute.
7. Enjoy!

To receive daily health tips and gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free and sugar-free meal/snack ideas, like us at www.facebook.com/wholefoodrealfood.

“When you know better, you do better.”

There is some evidence that flaxseed may help reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes. Organic Essential Flaxseed is a perfect choice as a dietary fiber supplement to encourage proper digestion and regularity with all the added benefit of lignans. Flax lignans might lower your cancer risk by preventing pre-cancerous cellular changes, as well as slow down the progression and movement of cancer cells. The American Cancer Society reports that lignans may help to reduce the growth of hormone-related cancers including prostate, breast and ovarian cancer, though more human research is needed.  – Information provided by LIVESTRONG.com.

Although flaxseed contains many healthy components, its primary health benefits are:

• Omega-3 essential fatty acids: “good” fats that have been shown to have heart-healthy effects. Each tablespoon of ground flaxseed contains about 1.8 grams of plant omega-3s.
• Lignans: have both plant estrogen and antioxidant qualities. Flaxseed contains 75 to 800 times more lignans than other plant foods.
• Fiber: Flaxseed contains both the soluble and insoluble types.

To use flaxseed in baking, you can substitute ground flaxseed for part of the flour in recipes for quick breads, muffins, rolls, bread, bagels, pancakes, and waffles. You can typically replace 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the flour with ground flaxseed if the recipe calls for 2 or more cups of flour. For this recipe I only used flaxseed and no flour.

I also used hemp seeds in this recipe. Hemp seeds are a complete protein and very rich in Vitamin E. They provide a rich array of minerals including zinc, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and iron. Hemp seeds have a nutty flavor similar to sunflower seeds or pine nuts.

When choosing bananas for this recipe, your bananas should be extremely brown, almost to the point when you would throw them away or freeze them. If they are not overly ripe, your cookies will not be as sweet and probably not taste as good. If you are using non-ripe bananas, you should add about a 1/3 cup of maple syrup to the batter.

Print

Banana Chocolate Chip Flax Cookies

Prep Time: 8 minutes

Cook Time: 9 minutes

Total Time: 17 minutes

See Detailed Nutrition Info on

Whole Food. Real Food. Good Food. www.facebook.com/wholefoodrealfood

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup raw almond butter
• 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
• 1/4 cup raw shelled hemp seeds (hemp hearts)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut (fine shred works best)
• 1/4 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine all ingredients until well blended.
3. Drop with a tablespoon onto a greased baking sheets.
4. Bake for 9 minutes.
5. Enjoy!

Banana Chocolate Chip Flax Cookies

2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup raw almond butter
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 cup raw shelled hemp seeds (hemp hearts)
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut (fine shred works best)
1/4 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. Himalayan pink salt
2 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine all ingredients until well blended.
3. Drop with a tablespoon onto a greased baking sheets.
4. Bake for 9 minutes.
5. Enjoy!

~ “Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.” – Jim Rohn

These are not going to be your traditional fluffy pancakes, they are more dense. However, they have incredible flavor from the banana and are very satisfying. When we first started out with alternative flours such as almond and coconut, we quickly realized that we needed to change our mindset about how the food would taste. Pancakes made from these alternative flours will not taste like your IHOP pancakes, however we got used to them over the first few weeks and enjoy them very much. We re-programmed our body and taste buds, the craving for the IHOP pancakes is no longer there.

We served the pancakes with maple syrup. When using syrup, maple syrup is a good choice because it is natural and pure. Maple syrup is an excellent source of manganese and a good source of zinc. The trace mineral manganese is an essential for energy production and antioxidant defenses. Zinc and manganese are also important allies in the immune system. Most traditional pancake syrups contain added salt, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup and sodium benzoate. Both corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup are potential GM (genetically modified) ingredients.

I use Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. These chips are certified gluten free, contain no wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg or soy. They are also made without casein, potato, sesame or sulfites and contain no trans fat or cholesterol. They are certified kosher, vegan – no preservatives, all natural. I replaced our Toll House chips with these chips without telling my kids and no one knew the difference.

Here is a visual breakdown of the difference between our pancakes and the Eggo pancakes I used to feed my kids:

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes vs. Eggo Chocolate Chip Pancakes 

Organic Bananas, Organic Eggs, Coconut Flour, Organic Almond Butter, Chocolate Chips (Evaporated Cane Juice, Natural Chocolate Liquor (Non-Alcoholic), Non-Dairy Cocoa Butter), Ghee, Sea Salt vs. Flour Enriched (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron Reduced, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic Acid (Vitamin aB)) , Water, Sugar, Vegetable(s) Oil (Soybean(s) Oil, Palm Oil and Palm Kernel Oil with TBHQ and Citric Acid) , Chocolate Semisweet (Sugar, Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Dextrose, Chocolate Processed With Alkali, Soy Lecithin, and Flavor(s) Artificial) Egg(s), Leavening (Baking Soda, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate), Contains 2% or less of the Following: Flavor(s) Artificial, Soy Lecithin, Whey, Corn Starch, Confectioner’s Glaze, Vitamin A Palmitate, Niacinamide (Vitamin aB), Iron Reduced, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (HCL) (Vitamin B6) , Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2),Vitamin B12

The items bolded in red are potential GMO ingredients. To read the risks (other than being genetically modified) of the ingredients in red, see my Label Library.

Why is “Enriched Flour” not good for you? A wheat grain contains three parts, the bran, germ, and the endosperm. The bran is the outer hard shell of the grain. It’s the part of the grain that provides the most fiber and most of the B vitamins and minerals. The germ is the next layer and is packed with nutrients including essential fatty acids and vitamin E. The endosperm is the soft starchy part in the center of the grain.

White flour (including enriched wheat flour) is a refined grain, meaning the germ and bran are removed and all that remains is the starch. In the United States, we enrich or add some vitamins and one mineral back into refined grains. About 11 vitamins and minerals are removed with the elimination of the germ and bran, and only five are added back.

All white flours (unless otherwise stated) use bleaching agents such as chlorines, bromates, and peroxides. Use of chlorine, bromates, and peroxides is not allowed in many countries due to health concerns. Chlorine bleaching agents have been linked to a chemical reaction in the body that has been shown to destroy beta cells in the pancreas, which in turn promotes diabetes.

Bromate rapidly breaks down to form innocuous bromide. Bromate has been shown to cause cancer in animals. The tiny amounts of bromate that may remain in bread pose a small risk to us, however, Bromate has been banned virtually worldwide except in Japan and the United States. It is rarely used in California because a cancer warning might be required on the label.

Benzoyl Peroxide is a bleaching agent used in refined flours, cheese, milk, rice, starch. It’s also used as an acne medication, an antiseptic in many cough medications and an anti fungal in ointments. There is concern that ingredients treated with benzoyl peroxide leave trace amounts of benzene, a known carcinogenic when baked. Although the amounts of benzene that form are small, leading to only a very small risk of cancer, there is no need to expose you or your family to this risk. – Information Provided By: American Diabetes Association

Print

Grain-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

See Detailed Nutrition Info on

Whole Food. Real Food. Good Food. www.facebook.com/wholefoodrealfood

Ingredients

• 2 bananas
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp coconut flour
• 1 tbsp almond butter
• blueberries or Enjoy Life chocolate chips
• coconut oil or ghee
• dash of Himalayan pink salt (optional)

Instructions

1. Mash bananas in a bowl.
2. Add the eggs, coconut flour, almond butter, blueberries or chocolate chips, and salt, and whisk until well blended.
3. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat along with a small pat of coconut oil.
4. Use a tablespoon to pour small discs of batter onto the hot pan (around 3-4" around). They'll be easier to flip if you keep them from the edges of the pan.
5. Flip when batter loses its "tackiness" around the edges.
6. Cook other side slowly over medium heat until fully cooked.
7. Reapply oil to the pan after each round of pancakes

Notes:

This recipe is easily doubled so you can freeze for future use.

Grain-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes