Plantain Crepes (grain-free, nut-free)

I created this simple plantain crepe recipe one morning on a whim, out of a need to feed my family. The kids were starving, begging for something quick. I had a bunch of plantains on my counter and plenty of pastured eggs in my fridge so I just tossed ingredients into the Vitamix and came up with a very easy gluten-free and grain-free crepe recipe. Everyone loved them, and a few minutes later all of the crepes had disappeared! The kids were hungry for more, so I made another batch, measured everything carefully, and jotted the recipe down so we could make them again. These simple whole food crepes have now become a breakfast staple! Use this recipe to test eggs during Phase 3 of The Elimination Diet.

This recipe can also be found in my new Nourishing Meals cookbook and guidebook for raising healthy children!

There are so many ways you can serve them. Here are our favorite sweet and savory ideas. Just add the fillings to one side of the crepe, then roll it up and enjoy! Please share below in the comments your favorite fillings!

Sweet:
long strips of bananas and dollops of raw almond butter
a sprinkling of cinnamon and coconut sugar
homemade berry jam and a dollop of coconut sour cream
mashed fresh strawberries and a dollop of organic Greek yogurt

Savory:
smoked wild salmon, baby arugula, chives, and organic cream cheese
cashew cream cheese, organic turkey slices, fresh dill, butter lettuce
hummus, avocado, red onion slices, and broccoli leaves
cabbage sautéed with cumin seeds, leftover cooked chicken, and sliced avocado or guacamole

Buckwheat Hazelnut Pancakes

If you have been following my blog for a while you'll know that I am a big fan of buckwheat. I buy the raw groats and then grind them myself in the dry container of my Vitamix. Raw Buckwheat Groats are soft and can also be easily ground in a coffee grinder if you don't happen to have a Vitamix. The resulting flour is very mild, creating tender, flavorful pancakes or baked goods. The buckwheat flour you find in the stores is made from roasted buckwheat groats, creating a very strong flavor, which most people don't like. Another thing about raw buckwheat is that it has its own binding power. You'll notice as you mix the batter together it becomes rather "stringy" much like a gluten flour. For this reason, it doesn't require any gums, although pancakes never do.

Buckwheat is not a grain, but rather a seed. It actually has compounds in it that help regulate blood sugar. For this reason it is a great flour to use if you are diabetic.

One of our children's favorite breakfast recipes is the Buckwheat Pancake recipe in my first book, The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook. A few months ago I began adding Hazelnut Meal to the batter to add extra protein and flavor (for this pregnant mama). I never measure, because if the first pancake doesn't turn out quite right you can easily adjust the batter. I finally nailed down the recipe to share with you, just in time for Mother's Day!

Apple-Cinnamon Teff Pancakes

I'm going to take another quick break from posting Elimination Diet recipes and share a favorite gluten-free, dairy-free pancake recipe with you. You all probably know how much I adore teff, right? I have many teff recipes on this blog that you can browse through. This lovely, warming pancake recipe is a spin off my vegan Teff Banana Pancakes. There are a few differences, mainly that I am using eggs in this recipe and replacing mashed banana with applesauce.

I buy my teff flour in 25 pound paper bags from Azure Standard. The company that makes the teff flour is called The Teff Company. 25 pounds costs me $38 ~ which is really a fantastic price if you compare the cost of one small bag of teff flour from the co-op.

For those of you who don't like to add any starch to gluten-free recipes you can make this recipe without tapioca flour, however, the end result is a bit crumbly. You can easily make gluten-free pancakes and waffles without xanthan gum, but leaving out the starch as well makes things a little tricky. My kids normally like this recipe, but when I replaced the tapioca flour with an extra 1/2 cup of teff flour they didn't really eat them stating that they couldn't use a fork and "they're too crumbly mom, what did you do to them!"

Apple-Cinnamon Teff Pancakes

This recipe makes about ten 6 to 7-inch pancakes, enough to feed my four hungry children in the morning with a few extras for leftovers. You can easily cut this recipe in half for smaller families. If you want to make these egg-free then follow the recipe for Teff Banana Pancakes and replace the banana with applesauce, remembering to add the cinnamon. I made a simple apple-cinnamon topping for these by simmering one sliced apple in a little water with a few dashes of maple syrup and ground cinnamon for about 10 minutes. You can follow an exact recipe for this topping here. Enjoy! :)

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups dark brown teff flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:

2 cups non-dairy milk

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 large organic eggs

3 tablespoons melted virgin coconut oil

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup (Grade B)

Begin to heat a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. (You may need to adjust the temp for cooking). I melt the coconut oil in here while I mix the dry ingredients. Measure it after it as melted.

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add the wet ingredients. Whisk together well.

Make sure your pan still has a little coconut oil on the bottom (just a little). Use a 1/2 cup measure to pour the batter into the pan. Cook for 60 to 90 seconds on one side, then flip and cook for 30 to 60 seconds on the second side. Add about 1/2 teaspoon of oil in between pancakes. Adjust the cooking temp as needed. I cook mine just under medium. Source: www.NourishingMeals.com.

More Pancake & Waffle Recipes:

Pumpkin Pancakes

Whole Grain Waffles

Blueberry Syrup

You may also like:

Baking Powder Recipe from The Spunky Coconut

Subscribe to this Blog via Email

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Blueberry Syrup

Today I thought I would share a very simple pancake syrup recipe that is full of blueberry lusciousness. This antioxidant-rich, blueish-purple syrup is great atop freshly made pancakes and also can be used as a Phase 2 Elimination Diet recipe!

My favorite way to use this syrup is to pour it over a stack of homemade, gluten-free buckwheat pancakes. Though lately I have found a few additional creative ways to use it. You see, it is blueberry season out here, and every year we pick at least 100 pounds of these sweet, juicy morsels. That means every year around this time our fridge is stocked with fresh blueberries and a jar of this syrup. Usually I don't measure, but since I wanted to share it with you, I painstakingly took the time to measure out all four ingredients. I know, I work hard don't I? :)

For a Phase 2 elimination diet-friendly breakfast, try pouring this syrup over a bowl of cooked short grain brown rice or quinoa and top with toasted pumpkin seeds and a sprinkling of cinnamon. Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Whole Grain Waffle Recipe

Today I wanted to share with you a tasty little waffle recipe that I created a few days ago. I know many gluten-free recipes and packaged products usually contain large amount of not-so-nutritious starches and refined flours such as white rice flour. Well this one doesn't. I rely on flours from super nutritious grains such as teff, quinoa, and millet. These flours not only significantly boost the nutrition, they add loads of flavor.

This recipe does contain eggs, though I do use coconut oil and rice milk which makes the recipe dairy-free. For those of you who do milk and butter you could easily use these ingredients instead. You can also make this recipe corn-free by using the corn-free baking powder recipe in our cookbook.

Over the last few days I have made this recipe a couple of times. Each time sharing it with my extended family who we are visiting right now. My 5 year old nephew asks me every morning, "Auntie Ali, are you going to make those waffles again today?" I take that as a success!

I bought all of the flours needed, except the millet flour, here in my parents' Midwest town. I used Bob's Red Mill brand. I think I gave my mom a bag of millet flour a few months ago while she was out visiting so I didn't need to purchase that one. I buy Arrowhead Mills millet flour which can be purchased online here.


Gluten-Free Whole Grain Waffles

This gluten-free waffle recipe is full of flavor and nutrition, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside - just like a waffle should be. It is also sugar-free, relying only on a small amount of maple syrup to add a touch of sweetness. If you need this recipe to be rice-free as well, simply substitute the rice flour for sorghum flour or millet flour. Waffles can be frozen and then reheated in a toaster or toaster oven for convenience. To make breakfasts even easier, plan a day to make a few batches of the dry ingredients up and store them in separate sealed containers. Place the directions and list of wet ingredients on the container. Enjoy! :)

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup dark teff flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup sorghum four

1/2 cup millet flour

1/2 cup quinoa flour

3/4 cup tapioca flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 to 4 teaspoons cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:

3 large organic eggs

6 tablespoons melted coconut oil (or melted butter)

4 tablespoons maple syrup

2 1/2 to 3 cups of non-dairy milk (or dairy milk)

Heat your waffle maker.

In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl whisk together the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk together well. (Start with the lesser amount of milk. Make one waffle and see if it seems too dry. If it is then add more milk. It will depend on how you measure, some of us over-measure slightly and some of us under-measure.)

Pour the batter into your waffle maker per your maker's instructions.

Source: www.NourishingMeals.com

Other breakfast recipes you might enjoy:

Vegan Maple Raspberry Scones

Bean and Rice Breakfast Bowls

Green Smoothie

Teff Banana Pancakes

Other News:

Tom was recently on the Voice America Internet Talk Radio speaking about Celiac disease. If you are interested in listening to the show you can follow this link.

I just opened up a Twitter account, though I really have no idea how to use it. I think if you have a Twitter account you can follow us. Eventually I will learn how to use it, though right now I am really enjoying the summer with my children. We are playing hard! :)

Subscribe to this Blog via Email

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Teff Banana Pancakes

I am about to divulge another secret recipe. A sweet, nutritious little breakfast treat. Naturally gluten-free of course! Even those of you not following a gluten-free diet will enjoy these cakes. They are also egg-free making them perfect for older babies and toddlers. Our 14 month old twins began eating these a few months ago and love them. In fact, if we have leftovers, I will pack them in a to-go container and take them for them to snack on during our outings.

I like to eat them topped with a dollop of raw almond butter and a tall glass of fresh green smoothie on the side. In fact, this is my perfect pre-workout meal. Clean burning fuel that doesn't weigh you down. Energizing and refreshing.

Here are some important Pancake Making Tips:

1. Follow the recipe. We tested this a number of ways and found this recipe works perfectly. If you add just a tad bit more liquid you will find your pancakes will stick mercilessly to your pan.
2. Be sure to whisk together the dry ingredients well before adding your liquid ingredients.
3. It works best if your milk or water is not cold but rather slightly warm (not hot).
4. Heat your skillet to the correct temperature for about 3 to 5 minutes before adding anyting to it, not too hot but warm enough to cook them without sticking (I cook mine a notch or two below medium).
5. Add a teaspoon or so of oil in between pancakes.
6. Most egg-free batters are thicker than pancakes made with eggs so you will need to help your batter spread immediately after pouring it into the hot skillet. Use the back of a spoon or the measuring cup you used to pour your batter into the pan.

For those of you who can not tolerate bananas (I know it is may sound strange but yes, a banana allergy can be rather common) you can substitute equal amounts of applesauce for the mashed banana.

Ok, so now the recipe. Tom is doing the dishes now and talking and talking to me while I am trying to write. He just got back from an Autism conference in Vancouver yesterday and has lots of new information to talk about. Really fascinating new research on this subject. Tom also attended the DAN (Defeat Autism Now) conference in San Diego a few months ago and learned a great deal there as well. He will write about the benefits of the GF/CF diet in children with Autism in the coming weeks. But first look forward to yet another teff recipe this week. A scrumptious Yeasted Teff Sandwich Bread -- coming soon! If you are interested in more wholesome, gluten-free teff recipes you can check out our Teff Breakfast Muffins or Chocolate Chip Banana Teff Bread.

Teff Banana Pancakes

Teff, a very small Ethiopian grain, is now cultivated in Idaho. It is rich in minerals, particularly iron. When ground into flour, these minerals become more available. These pancakes will give you staying power until lunchtime, especially if combined with a green smoothie. For more banana punch, try chopping up a small banana and fold it into the batter. Also, now that my twins are eating these (and they can eat a lot) I need to make a double batch.

1 cup teff flour
¼ cup tapioca flour
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup water or non-dairy milk
¼ cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 small banana)
2 tablespoons melted virgin coconut oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup, honey, or agave nectar

In a small bowl mix together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk together.

Heat a stainless steel skillet over medium-low heat until hot. Add a little coconut oil. Drop batter by the ½ cupful onto hot skillet. Flip pancake after tiny bubbles form. Cook for another minute then transfer to a plate. Add about ½ teaspoon coconut oil in between cooking each pancake. © Alissa Segersten 2008 www.nourishingmeals.com

Enjoy!

Follow us on Facebook! Subscribe to this Blog!

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pancakes

I just love fall. The colors, the bountiful harvest, the warm flavors....I could go on and on. This is my favorite season to cook and bake. You will often find, if you stop by our house around 5pm, a pot of vegetable-bean soup simmering on the stove along side a pot of steaming hot whole grains. And maybe, just maybe, a loaf of gluten-free bread in the oven.

Breakfast is another story all-together. When I was a child, either my mom or dad would make a big breakfast nearly every morning. It was either eggs, toast, and fruit, or pancakes and fruit. Sometimes we would have cold cereal but that was only exciting if on that rare occasion we would have a box of Marshmallow Rice Krispies in the cabinet. My brother and I would then eat the *whole* box in one sitting!

Breakfast has come a long way, well maybe not really that far, from what I was raised on. I love making pancakes. I frequently experiment on my girls to see just how much nutrition I can pack into those little hotcakes! Teff? Sorghum? Blueberries? Bananas? Ground nuts? Well, let's just say that they like it simple. Buckwheat pancakes with pure maple syrup, period. I can throw in a green smoothie on the side and call it done.

Since it is autumn, I thought it would be fitting to create a recipe for pumpkin pancakes. I made these lovely little orange-hued pancakes the other morning. And they were a winner! My girls loved them and asked for seconds. Yes! Success!