Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

A big thanks to my good friend Donna for her suggestion and inspiration. I used to love to get us Starbucks coffee on the way to work in the fall. I would get a pepper mint mocha frap and she would get a pumpkin spice latte. Somehow I don't think that peppermint would be good in pancakes, but pumpkin worked out well!

Better than well, actually. These pancakes are freaking delicious. I tested them out on my mom when I made a trip home this past weekend and she is still raving about them. Me too--they were totally comfort food, and surprisingly healthy!

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Combine in a measuring cup:

• 1 cup of milk (I use vanilla almond milk.)
• 1 cup of whole wheat flower
• 1/3 cup of canned pumpkin
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• Spices! I used 1/4 tsp each of freshly ground: cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, & cardamom.

I originally included 2 tbsp of brown sugar to this recipe and I felt that it was too sweet. You could completely leave it out or use just 1 tbsp.

The batter. Add extra milk if necessary to get the perfect texture.
Also, stirring with a whisk seems to make a difference somehow.

Then fry 'em up! I usually don't use any oil while cooking, but non-stick spray is an absolute MUST for this batch. Not really sure why...

These get especially fluffy. Be liberal with the non-stick spray or they'll mush when you go to flip them.

Serve with 100% pure maple syrup. Yum! I will definitely be making this recipe over and over again this winter. It is just so homey. Also, I found very interesting, a single can of pumpkin has nearly 20 grams of fiber. Who knew!

Each batch makes about 6 pancakes. Things go a lot smoother if you have a helper, too:

My doggie, Katie, begging for a taste. Who could say no to that face?

I created this recipe myself so let me know how it goes!

Banana Pancakes with Home-Made Blueberry Syrup

This recipe was inspired by post on the Hungry Hungry Hippie blog. Not having any coconut on hand, I decided to make my own version.

Banana Pancakes with Home-Made Blueberry Syrup

Don't let the home-made syrup daunt you--it is actually incredibly easy and fuss-free. All you want to do is throw a handful of blueberries in a small sauce pot (however many you want to eat), cover them only about half way with water, add two tablespoons over your favorite sweetener, and start them off at a simmer. You'll notice that as soon as they get hot the blueberries begin to burst and turn the liquid purple. Yum! Go ahead and add the juice and the finely-chopped zest of half a lemon. After about 7-10 minutes remove it from the heat. It will congeal a little bit more, so I actually ended up having to stir back in a tiny bit more water to get the right consistency. That's it! So much more healthy than the store bought kind as well. Also, you could strain this if you don't want chunks, but I didn't.

 

Blueberry pancake syrup reducing.

Next, mix up the pancake batter. I've stopped measuring entirely, but I'll try to estimate:

• 1 cup of almond milk
• 2/3 cup of whole wheat flour
• 2 tbsp of cane sugar
• 1 tbsp of baking powder
• 1 tbsp of vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 1 mashed ripe banana

Basically, put all of ingredients besides the milk in a measuring cup and that add the liquid and whisk until it looks right. There really isn't a way to ruin it. Them fry 'em up (no butter needed)!

These go incredibly fast, so keep an eye on them.

Then just stack, top with syrup, and enjoy! This recipe yielded six pancakes, which is enough for one ravenous person or two regular person (and I'm not going to tell you which I was this morning).

Why yes, that IS gooey banana oozing out of the center. De-freakin-licious.

The Perfect Pancakes

This morning's menu was pancakes, maple syrup, and fresh raspberries. Easy, delicious, and right up my ally. Now that I've made vegan pancakes a few times, I've got the recipe perfected.

Pancakes with Maple Syrup

I've discovered that it is easiest to just combine everything right in a measuring cup. That way it is easy to pour as well. You'll need:

2/3 cup of soy or almond milk
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons of cane sugar sugar
2 tablespoons of baking powder
1 and 1/2 tablespoons of vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Pour the milk up to the 2/3 mark on your measuring cup (I use one with a two cup capacity and that is plenty big) and then add the rest of the ingredients. When you've got everything dumped in, stir with a whisk--it should only take a few stirs. Let the batter set for just a moment while you let the pan get hot; medium heat should do it. You can use a bit of nonstick spray if you feel it is necessary (I never need any because I have a nonstick pan). Your batter should have gotten very fluffy in the meantime, with the actual volume increasing by about 25%. If you have a large pan you can do pancakes two at a time, but no more because they'll spread out a lot. You know the drill--wait until the top bubbles and then flip on the other side for about a minute. I've found that these pancakes go quite fast.

This recipe serves two, and made seven medium-sized pancakes for me this morning.

Quite a long shot from those thick, tough mango pancakes I made on my first day, right? I'm not sure why the batter was so thick then, which wasn't actually bad, but light and fluffy is surely the way to go. You can tell that these are wheat, but I honestly think that they are just as good as buttermilk pancakes. Enjoy!

Perfect Portobello Burger

This was my lunch for day six of the 21-Day Weight Loss Kickoff. Carla, Helen, and I are going out to dinner at supposedly very nice Asian food buffet tonight, so I decided to keep lunch light and skip the Sweet Potato Fries (again, argh!). This recipe was quick, easy, and small enough to be a nice sized portion snack, so it was the perfect choice.

While I did really like this sandwich, it didn't really photograph very well. The whole wheat bun was dark brown, the portobello was black, the caramelized onions were dark brown, and the lettuce was a very dark purple. Not to mention that the whole thing got kind of soggy and messy immediately. So, unfortunately, no pictures for this one.

I was a little nervous about that great big mushroom since I had never had one before. I love mushrooms, but I recently got a bag of shitakes that were infested with mushroom fly maggots (which you could not tell by looking, only breaking into) so I'm a little weird about the larger ones now--who knows what nasty surprises could be hiding inside! I ended up breaking this one in half once to inspect for any holes, and it turned out to be sound. In the end there was nothing to worry about at all, and I thoroughly enjoyed the mushroom.

The portobello went in a pan with a quarter inch of water, some halved garlic cloves, salt, and smoked paprika. It was done when the water had completely evaporated. I slapped that on a toasted whole wheat bun with the other ingredients and that puppy was good to go. The sandwich originally had roasted red pepper on it as well, but I picked that off half way through because it didn't really fit and it covered up the mushroom flavor too much. I thought I would miss some sort of condiment on mushroom burger as well, but it turned out just fine without it. I would most likely make this again.

This is what I imaged the Perfect Portobello Burger should look like.
Picture taken from http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/portobello_mushroom_burger/.

This morning's breakfast was alright. I made the scheduled pancakes with strawberries and Caribbean Passion Smoothie. The pancakes, being only whole wheat flour, soy milk, and baking powder, were not at all delicious. Last time the mango added some sweetness while the lime added flavor, whereas this time it was basically like cardboard. I ended up eating the strawberries off the top and drenching them in maple syrups, and even then I couldn't even finish the two of them. Next time the menu calls for plain pancakes, I think I'll add a tablespoon or two of cane sugar and some vanilla extract.

The smoothie was interesting. I almost didn't like it at first, but it grew on me over the course of the morning. I bought a smoothie blender yesterday with a travel lid so that all you have to do is blend, pop on the top, unscrew the base, and go. It was very convenient as I was rushing to get ready for my 8 am Organic Chemistry. The smoothie consisted of one banana, one orange, one mango, some pineapple, a cup of soy milk, and some cinnamon. I forgot to freeze the fruit last night so I had to blend some ice with it as well. Pretty tasty, and very filling!



This is actually the Mango Spice Smoothie, but the Caribbean Passion was almost the same except that it had cinnamon in place of serrano pepper.

Mango Lime Pancakes with Maple Syrup

This is breakfast, day one of the 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart and my "vegan adventure," as one friend put it.

Pancakes seem quite decadent to me, so I was thrilled to see them on the menu for today. I was a little nervous about the fact that they are whole wheat (that usually means they taste like cardboard), and I hadn't had real maple syrup since I was a kid--I absolutely hated it back then. But tastes change over time, so I decided to give it a try regardless.



Mango Lime Pancakes with Maple Syrup

The recipe for these pancakes called for equal parts whole wheat flour and soy milk (a serving size was a third of a cup of each), a tablespoon of baking powder, and a pinch of salt.

Ingredients and supplies.

 

 

Once the batter was stirred together, I added some diced mango and lime juice. The recipe called for only a eighth of a cup of mango, but I used a quarter cup. Also, the recipe called for just half a tablespoon of lime juice. I felt like that wasn't very much lime flavor, so I also added a quarter teaspoon of lime zest.

 

 

Diced mango, lime juice, and lime zest gave this recipe lots of really good flavor.



The batter looked appetizing, but was very, very thick.

The measurements I provided above were for a single serving. The actual recipe was for two, and I just because I didn't pay close enough attention I ended up making the entire batch. It was supposed to yield four large pancakes, but I ended up getting one small, one medium, and one large sized pancake. By the end I was getting the hang of the batter, which is so thick that I had to kind of spread it around on the pan with a spatula. You also need less batter per pancake than you think due to the fact that it puffs up a lot.

This was the first one. They got prettier as time went on...

The pancakes turned out wonderful! They took much longer to cook than normal pancakes, probably about 8 minutes a piece. The outside got quite thick, so that they were difficult to cut through with a fork. The inside was very soft and fluffy though, and not cardboardy at all. I found them to be quite on par enjoyably with your average buttermilk pancakes.

Bon Appetit!

Turns out that I actually really loved the maple syrup as well, which I was delighted with. I've had a similar experience recently with honey, which I never liked before now either. The only thing I didn't like about the pure maple syrup was that it was almost $10 for that bottle. It will last a long while, I'm sure, but it was more than I am used to spending.

All in all, I would consider this recipe a winner and a bangin' start to my new diet!