Poco Mountain Girl

My breakfast (and Cash’s) usually consists of a green smoothie and an omelet.  With extra sauteed mushrooms for Cash, because he’s just that kind of a crazy kid.  Although it’s rich in protein and good fats, I still usually have a light-headed spell mid morning, and need to munch again.

Until I found this recipe.

I first tried these pancakes around dinnertime, and they kept me awake most of the night.  The next time I had them brought another sleepless night, even though I ate them in the afternoon.  Hmm.  If they gave me that much energy later in the day, what would they do in the morning?  Pancakes in the morning…genius.

So I started making them (with a few adaptations) each morning.  They are pretty delish, and definitely give a good dose of energy.  I’m not really sure if they actually taste like sweet potatoes, but they taste good and have a nice sweetness.  I smother them in homemade lemon yogurt, add some blueberries for Cash, and we down them like a couple of hungry lumberjacks.  Then it’s off to hit the trail…or the dishes, or the wood studio, or whatever.  (We’re obviously not a very scheduled pair.)

The original recipe calls for pumpkin and is yummy as is, but after the first time I made them, I changed a few things to fit what I had on hand.  I have a giant bag of organic sweet potatoes from Costco, so I subbed them for pumpkin, and I like the pancakes even better that way.

They are grain free and dairy free, but not vegan.  I love eggs, and was happy to see six whole ones in this recipe.  As a former vegan, I’ve found that adding eggs to my diet has dramatically increased my production of vitamin B12–a lot more than taking supplements did.  I also eat some meat now, but eggies alone were enough to really vamp me up.

As for grains, my humble opinion is that everyone could benefit from getting rid of gluten, whether or not you’re intolerant.  Most people drop several unwanted pounds and feel better overall, since gluten can create inflammation.  Some people ditch all grains and feel better, but I think non-glutinous grains can be ok.  I kind of feel like I need some carbs or my blood sugar drops too low, so I eat quinoa and brown rice now and then, and get the rest of my carbs from non-grain sources like sweet potatoes, other veggies, and berries.

I really like using coconut flour, and this recipe calls for it.  Coconut flour is a lot different to work with than grain flours, and it’s hard to sub one for the other.  It soaks up a lot of liquid and completely changes the consistency of a batter, so it works best in recipes formulated specifically for it.  It has a nice sweetness and doesn’t carry too much of a coconut flavor.  Costco now carries a big bag for about seven bucks.  🙂

This recipe makes a pretty big batch–it keeps us in pancakes for days.  The older kids and David aren’t really into sweet potatoes, so Cash and I don’t have to share them yet…but once they get a taste, it might be all over.

Here’s the original recipe for Low Carb Pumpkin Pancakes.

And here’s my twist on them:

• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup protein powder
• 1/4 cup sweetener (I use xylitol)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 6 large eggs
• 1/2 cup mashed sweet potato
• 3/4 cup canned full-fat coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Coconut oil for the pan

See recipe for mixing and cooking directions.  Slather with your fave toppings and enjoy.

Now get out there and chop some wood!

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 26th, 2014 at 8:48 pm and is filed under Cooking, Happy Healthy Hippie Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.