3 ingredient Pumpkin Pancakes

School started today, so I'm in the mood for fall. That means pumpkin season!! This little recipe is quick to whip up, minimal ingredients, and grain free! I hope it's a hit in your family, too!













Ingredients:
1/4 cup pumpkin purée (I used canned)

1/2 banana (mashed)

2 eggs

Optional:

1 tsp Pumpkin spice seasoning

1/2 tsp vanilla 

Chocolate chips

Whisk together all ingredients and pour on to a hot, greased, skillet or griddle, over medium heat. Flip when pancakes start to bubble on top. 

Enjoy!

Sunbutter Banana Chocolate chip muffins

My boys are creatures of habit. They want some type of chocolate chip muffin every.single.morning for breakfast. Their eczema is flaring, so I'm trying to cut out all wheat and dairy again to see if it improves. Since I have a ton of coconut flour in the pantry, I experimented a little to come up with a filling muffin that still has their coveted (demanded) chocolate chips in it. These turned out great, and are going into our on hand freezer rotation! (Did you know that you can freeze any of our muffin recipes, and just thaw or microwave for 30 seconds? Makes preparing lots of muffins at a time well worth it!) ~ C

Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
3 bananas

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup Sunbutter* (or any nut seed butter)

1/8 cup applesauce

2 eggs
Dry Ingredients

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp sea salt
Add Ins

1/2 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tins with coconut oil.

• Preheat over to 350 degrees. Grease your muffin tin with coconut oil or use liners. 
• Mix all wet ingredients together in your mixer. Make sure the banana gets good and mashed up in the mixing process. 
• While your wet ingredients are in the mixer, put all your dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and mix together with a fork or spoon.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the mixer. Mix until well blended. 
• Add the "add ins" and mix by hand, or on the mixers lowest setting.
• Pour into muffin pan and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Muffins are done when toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. 

*Note: Sunbutter may take on a greenish hue in the baking process. Do NOT be alarmed. In fact, your kids may think it's pretty cool. If you want to teach your kids a science lesson, check out this science fair winner on the Sunbutter website!

Easy Plantain Blender Pancakes (Grain free & Dairy Free)

If you're looking for a quick, easy fluffy, grain free pancake that tastes good, then you've found it! I've been experimenting with plantains as a flour substitute and so far I've been really happy with the results. Using green plantains does not add a plantain flavor, and the end result is a fluffy pancake with a flour like texture.

The great thing about this recipe, is all you need to do is dump the ingredients into a blender, then pour into the pan. Add any toppings as soon as you put in pan and you're all set! 

Depending on the type of blender you have, you may want to blend these at two separate times. First after the plantains and coconut oil, then after the remaining ingredients. 

Ingredients

2 green plantains, cut/broken into 1-2 inch pieces.

2 tbsp coconut oil

Blend

2 eggs

1 ripe banana*

1 tbsp coconut flour

1/4 tsp sea salt

Blend

Pour into frying pan, using coconut oil to coat the pan. I find they are easiest to flip sand dollar size.

Top with chocolate chips or blueberries (or other topping) as soon as you pour into pan. Let sit for a minute or two, to allow to firm on one side, before flipping. 

My kids and husband love these! Hope you enjoy them, too! ~ C

*I've been using a ripe banana in place of honey or maple syrup in my recipes and it's worked out great. No kid complaints here! 

Chipotle Black Bean Mango Salad

Lately I have been wanting Southwestern flavors non-stop, so I have been testing all kinds of new Mexican and Southwestern recipes to satisfy the craving. In my hunt I stumbled across this super tasty burrito bowl recipe from Damn Delicious. It is so tasty and a great substitute for my favorite Burrito Bowl from Chipotle, but it's a little heavy to eat as frequently as I want. I really liked the flavor combination and could seriously have eaten her burrito bowl everyday for lunch, so I have been tweaking her recipe and I finally came up with the perfect vegetarian salad I can eat for lunch everyday guilt-free. Here is my newest food obsession -

Chipotle Black Bean Mango Salad

Salad Ingredients: 

2-3 cups chopped lettuce of your choice, washed (I like red leaf or romaine)

1/2 cup black beans, rinsed

1 medium tomato, chopped

1/4 cup chopped mango

1/2 avocado, chopped

1/4 cup yellow or orange bell pepper, chopped (optional)

Cilantro for garnish, to taste (I'm a little heavy-handed with the cilantro as you can see)

Dressing Ingredients: 

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream

1/4 cup salsa of your choice (I like to use a fresh salsa)

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

1/8-1/4 tsp ground Chipotle pepper - more if you like it extra smoky (I use Penzey's) 

I'm heavy-handed with the Chipotle because I can't get enough of the smoky flavor. 

Instructions: 

In a salad bowl, layer the lettuce, black beans, tomato, mango, avocado, and bell pepper (if using). In a small bowl, stir Greek yogurt (or sour cream), salsa, lime juice, and ground Chipotle seasoning together until well blended. Pour the dressing over the layered salad, add cilantro, and toss ingredients until combined and coated with dressing. Enjoy! 

Because we all know I love my gadgetry, I just had to add a little plug for the value of a mango slicer. If you haven't invested in a mango slicer yet, you seriously should! I picked one up for $0.60 at St. Vinny's a few months ago, and we have eaten more mango in the past few months than I think I have in my whole life. It is SOOO handy; I just put it over the stem, press down, and voila - 2 perfect halves of edible mango. After it's cut, I just scoop the fruit out with a spoon, just like an avocado. Here's a photo from today (because I was, of course, making this salad for probably the sixth time in 2 weeks). 

Perfectly Sliced Mango!!

Grain Free Cauliflower Pizza Casserole!

I came across a pin of a healthy "Pizza Casserole" on Pinterest,  but could never find an actual recipe for it. (Isn't that the most annoying thing ever? Why pin it if you're not going to tell us how to make it??) Ok, rant over... It looked like it wasn't that difficult, so I threw this together for supper tonight, and was very pleased with the simplicity of it. The best part is that my boys are eating their veggies, without even realizing it!
--C

Ingredients:
4 cups cooked cauliflower, cut into bite size pieces.
1 cup freshly shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup of your favorite marinara or pizza sauce
Toppings of choice. I used Boars Head Pepperoni

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl mix the cooked cauliflower, marinara and 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese.
Pour into a 2.8 liter (3 quart) casserole dish.
Top with remaining cheese and any additional toppings.
Bake uncovered for approximately 20-25 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.