CHICKPEA FLOUR PANCAKES/CREPES WITH BLUEBERRY SAUCE AND BANANA CREAM!

It’s been a while since I posted a recipe! I have been in my kitchen a lot but I haven't really been experimenting and coming up with anything new, until now.This recipe was inspired by my friend Laurie Boese. Laurie and I had an Indian food cooking night. We made crepes stuffed with Indian spiced potatoes and tomato, coconut curry sauce…so good! What I was so impressed with was how the crepes turned out and how incredibly easy they were to make.  They had few ingredients with a very mild flavor which Laurie suggested would make a great base to make anything from savory to sweet, like pancakes! So the next morning I whipped up a batch by just winging it and hoping for the best.  I was pleasantly surprised and Athena loved them. It feels great knowing I’m feeding her something with nutritional value that she actually enjoys rather than plain white flour and sugar. 

A little bit about chickpea flour:

Chickpea flour has a variety of names including: besan, gram flour, cici flour, chana flour and garbanzo bean flour. It’s gluten free and has its fair share of vitamins and minerals which you can check out here http://www.livestrong.com/article/160151-chickpea-flour-facts/. I buy mine at the bulk barn but I’m sure it would be available in the international isle at most grocery stores. 

These pancakes are not fluffy and they're not as thin as crepes, they're kind of in between, this doesn't mean they're not yummy though!

INGREDIENTS:

#1 2 cups chickpea flour

#2 enough water to make it the consistency of a pancake batter (sorry didn't really measure)

#3 3-4 table spoons of real maple syrup

#4 1 teaspoon cinnamon

#5 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

#6 coconut oil

WHAT TO DO:

#1 Pre heat a frying pan on medium heat, if you have cast iron pan that would work great.

#2 In a medium bowl mix together flour and water until there are no lumps. 

#3 Add in the rest of the ingredients minus the coconut oil. (The batter will be a bit thin, this is okay)

#4 Add enough coconut oil to coat the bottom of the pan.

#5 Pour enough batter in the pan to make either small or large pancakes, whatever size makes you happy.

#6 when the top of the pancakes looks bubbly and dry, it's time to flip it over and cook for another minute.

#7 Repeat steps 4 -6 until batter is gone. 

BLUEBERRY SAUCE!

INGREDIENTS:

#1 1/2 cup frozen blueberries

#2 1 tablespoon real maple syrup

#3 1 teaspoon arrowroot powder or corn starch

WHAT TO DO:

#1 Heat all ingredients in small pot until thickened. 

BANANA CREAM!

INGREDIENTS:

#1 1 frozen banana, very ripe, peeled and chopped

#2 splash of almond milk

WHAT TO DO:

#1 Put frozen banana in food processor and process until creamy, add a splash of almond milk to help it along. That's it!

NOTES: 

Athena loves these with just maple syrup. Feel free to top them with whatever you like!

 

 

CHICKPEA SALAD LETTUCE CUPS

I love chickpeas!  I’m surprised I even managed to make this recipe without eating them straight from the can and calling it lunch. Luckily, this recipe is fast and easy. It’s also super healthy and because I opted to use lettuce instead of bread, it makes it even more so. The lettuce gives it a nice crunch and compliments the chickpea salad nicely.

Chickpea Salad Lettuce Cup with a side of fresh carrots and red pepper. Lunch is served!

INGREDIENTS:

#1 1 540 ml can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

#2 slightly heaped ¼ cup of tahini

#3 1 clove garlic, minced

#4 1 lemon freshly juiced

#5 ½ teaspoon salt

#6 1 carrot , shredded

#7 ¼ red pepper

#8 4-6 romaine lettuce leaves, washed and patted dry. (or you can cheat and get the pre-washed ones all ready to go, like I did)

#9 a sprinkle of paprika

WHAT TO DO:

#1 Pour chickpeas into a medium sized bowl, slightly mash them with a fork, leaving some of them whole.

#2 In a separate bowl, add tahini, garlic lemon juice and salt. Wisk until smooth.

#3 Add the tahini sauce to the chickpeas, along with the carrots and red pepper. Mix until well incorporated.

#4 Add a few spoonfuls of chickpea salad to each of the lettuce cups and sprinkle with paprika.

#5 Enjoy!

NOTES:

#1 Chickpeas,tahini and romaine lettuce are not only a good source of plant protein, they’re also a good source of calcium! (Yes, you read that right, romaine lettuce has protein)! 

http://www.livestrong.com/article/343566-garbanzo-beans-calcium/ 

http://www.livestrong.com/article/533445-tahini-and-calcium/ 

http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/nutrition/10-surprising-nutrition-facts-about-romaine-lettuce/

STRAWBERRY BANANA DATE SMOOTHIE (with or without baby kale)

One with baby kale and one without!

Winter or not, I still love my smoothies in the morning. I always feel good when I drink them, they’re nutritious, hydrating and filling due to the high fiber content and they taste awesome to boot.The combinations of fruits and/or veggies are endless and if you add kale or spinach to the mix you’re just going to maximize the nutrition and your body will thank you…really , it will! ;)

INGREDIENTS:

#1 1 cup unsweetened almond milk

#2 1 ripe banana, peeled, chopped and frozen

#3  ½ cup frozen sliced strawberries

Strawberry Banana Date Smoothie

#4 2 medjool dates, pitted

#5 Handful of baby kale (optional)

WHAT TO DO:

If you’re using a regular blender, like I am, follow the directions below. If using a super powerful vitamix or blentec, just throw everything in and blend away!

#1 Add almond milk and dates to blender and blend well. (you might still have a few chunky pieces, but that’s just fine)

#2 Add frozen banana, blend well

#3 Add frozen strawberries and blend again

Strawberry Banana Date Smoothie with baby kale

#4 If you choose, add a handful of baby kale and blend once more until everything is well incorporated and  your smoothie is a pretty green.

#5 Enjoy!

NOTES:

Taking a moment to center out the baby kale.

  #1 Strawberries are loaded with vitamin C and kale is rich in iron, pair the two together and you’ll increase the bio-availability of the iron!

#2 Any kind of kale will work well in this smoothie, however, baby kale isn't as bitter. Spinach will work too! Experiment! And have fun with it! 

It's kinda cute isn't it? :)

WHY I SAY NO TO GLUTEN

Ever since I was little, back before I even started school, I had bathroom issues. Now before you start thinking this post is going to be full of TMI (which is probably true) Keep in mind that I’m just trying to be as honest as possible, to see if anyone can identify and possibly make the necessary changes need be. In other words, I’m just trying to help. Okay, let‘s continue, I have IBS, this stands for irritable bowel syndrome, it’s also known as mucus colitis . IBS is quite common and is becoming more so.

 Anyway, let me start from the beginning. As a child I was always very nervous and anxious. My stomach always felt as if it was in knots, I worried about everything and was always awaiting an impending doom. I strongly believe that our gut is like our second brain in that it actually physically feels our emotions.Visits to the bathroom usually took a long time as I was dealing with constipation on a regular basis, suppositories were no strangers to my bum. At the age of four I was taken to the doctor for either a flexible sigmoidoscopy or a colonoscopy, I’m not sure which. What I am sure of is that there was a tube stuck up my butt and that no amount of balloons or praise of my bravery afterwards was enough to make me feel better about it. My mother was advised to feed me more fiber in the form of vegetables and other than that not much more could be done. Later on the constipation was less frequent but the cramping and upset tummy were always a problem. 

Skipping ahead to my twenties. Things weren’t much better, in fact they were worse. My diet /lifestyle sucked, it consisted of Kaft Dinner, hot dogs, canned soups, sugary cereals, alcohol, coffee, minimal exercise and a bad attitude.  If you eat like crap, you’ll feel like crap. If you eat like crap and feel fine , you most likely don’t know what feeling  good really feels like. Bold statement, I know, but I believe it to be true. Funny thing is, I never took any of this into consideration at the time. I just continued to eat and live the same way and needlessly suffer. Constipation was no longer the only issue, lucky me, it was now taking turns with diarrhea laced with mucus(I warned you about the TMI).  At 29 years old I had cut out the alcohol but all symptoms remained. I made an appointment with my doctor and what do you know, another tube makes an acquaintance with my butt. The doctor tells me I have mucus colitis, and it’s an inconvenience that I’ll just have to live with. I felt hopeless.  

Two years later, a group of friends and I decided to try a detox diet.  Basically the diet was meant to rid the body of candida but our purpose was to lose weight, fast. For ten days we were not to have sugar, meat, dairy, eggs, yeast, wheat, coffee or alcohol. It gave a list of foods we could eat, some of which I had no idea existed, quinoa? Millet? Kale? totally clueless. However, I was eager to learn and jumped in with two feet. The first few days were tough. My body reacted to the sudden lack of caffeine, and I’m sure the withdrawal from sugar and animal products wasn’t making things easy either. But interesting enough, at the end of the ten days, I felt good. I had energy, and regular bowel movements.  I was thrilled. I did a bit of research and discovered dairy was a major cause of IBS. That right there was enough for me, I would continue to eat healthy , cutting out all animal products, coffee and sugar. I was cured…or was I?

I felt good for a while and praised my new way of eating, veganisim to be specific, for being my cure. Unfortunately it wasn’t long before sugar and wheat weaseled their way back into my diet. Things started to go downhill again and I wasn’t willing to look at these two likely culprits. That is until two years later, when I had had enough. I did as much research as I could and got lots of conflicting information. A high fat diet is good, a high fat diet is bad. Carbohydrates are good, carbohydrates are bad. Fruit is good, fruit is bad. Sugar and gluten are bad, period. I decided to play around with different ways of eating all the while maintaining my veganism, by this time I was now vegan for not only health reasons but for ethical reasons as well. 

Finally giving up after not being able to pinpoint exactly what was causing me all the problems, I made an appointment with a naturopath. I wanted to be tested for food sensitivities as I felt this was my last hope. I was introduced to kinesiology which is a form of muscle testing to detect sensitivities. I was skeptical but desperate enough to try just about anything. I learned I had a few sensitivities, some of which surprised me. Wheat was the number one problem with corn and soy coming in at a close second. Cashews, lentils, millet, sunflower and pumpkin seeds were to be avoided too. A strict diet and a couple tinctures later, I was feeling good again. 

Although sugar, corn and soy have a small place in my diet today, wheat/gluten has never re- entered.  Corn and soy still leave me feeling crampy and bloated so I try to take it easy on these foods. As for the sugar, I stay away from the refined stuff, sticking with maple syrup ,majool dates and stevia as a natural substitute. I have also not experienced the diarrhea laced with mucus and constipation like I had in the past and I’m pretty sure I owe that to the absence of gluten. 

As I had mentioned earlier, I’m a firm believer that the gut is like a second brain. I’m still that anxious, nervous, worry wart of a person I was as a child. These feelings still affect my gut and my bowels. I’ve come to accept that that’s just the way my body handles stress. The trick is stress management, meditation and dialectical behavior therapy, which I’m still learning more about. When my head is out of the funk, so is my gut. It all takes practice, and I may never be 100% better but at least I know what I need to work on, what I need to eliminate and what I have to be grateful for.   

NOTES: 
I've lost and kept off 8-10 pounds since ditching gluten. That's a pretty cool added bonus!
If you want to learn more about wheat/gluten, check out the book Wheat Belly.
http://www.amazon.ca/Wheat-Belly-William-Davis/dp/1443412732

 

You can learn more about IBS and kinesiology here:

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/ibs/ 

http://www.positivehealth.com/article/allergy-testing-1/applied-kinesiology-muscle-testing-for-allergies-and-food-sensitivities