Raspberry-Granola Pancakes

I  love pancakes on a cold morning.  It's still quite chilly here in Northern Wisconsin for the end of March.  Nearly Easter, and I'm thinking that this recipe is perfect for Easter Morning.  You'll want to make the granola ahead of time if you're planning on making it from the recipe linked below.  I found this recipe in an advertizement in my most recent Clean Eating Magazine.  Which by the way is a fabulous magazine full of nutritional information and great recipes!

Raspberry-Granola Pancakes
Once Again Organic Sunflower Seed Butter
Makes 12 pancakes

Ingredients: 
1 cup blanched almond flour 
2 tbsp granulated sugar Honey or less
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk 
1 large egg
1/3 cup Once Again Organic Sunflower Seed Butter
2 tbsp butter coconut oil, melted 
1 tsp pure vanilla extract 
1/2 pint fresh raspberries, chopped
1 cup Paleo Vanilla Granola, without dried fruit or nuts
Pan spray Coconut Oil for pan




1. Whisk together the blanched almond flour, sugar honey, baking powder apple cider vinegar, and salt in a bowl. 
2. Whisk together the unsweetened almond milk, egg, sunflower seed butter, butter melted coconut oil, and pure vanilla in a separate bowl. 
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring just enough to combine.  
4. Gently fold in the raspberries and granola.  Break up any large pieces of granola before adding.  The batter will be thick. 
5. Heat a nonstick pan or griddle over medium-low heat.  The pan should not be very hot or the fruit will burn before the pancakes are cooked.  
6. Spray the pan with pan sprayGrease the pan with melted coconut oil.  Add scant 1/4 cups of batter to the warm pan, spreading the batter slightly with the back of a spoon.  Cook slowly until the edges are dry and the bottom is deep golden brown.  Flip, flatten gently with a spatula, and continue cooking until the other side is deep golden brown. 
7. Serve immediately with maple syrup. 

Enjoy and Happy Easter!

Paleo Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Bites

Twisted Tuesday is a day late but worth it!

I love sweets!!!  I completely love anything that has chocolate and then add the word cookie dough and I am hooked!  Well when I saw the recipe below from Averie Cooks I was hooked, but knew it needed some changes...but very minor!

Paleo sort of Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites
2/3 c raw unsalted cashews
1/3 c oats 1/3 c almond flour

2 Tbsp ground flax seed
2 Tbsp Agave 
2 -3 Tbsp Maple Syrup (Omit and use Agave to preserve true Raw Status if you care)
1 Tsp PURE Vanilla Extract
1/4 c Chocolate Chips - Enjoy Life chocolate mini's work best! (or to preserve true raw status, take 2 Tbsp Raw Cocoa Powder and add 1 Tbsp Agave Honey/Maple Syrup, optional dash of pure vanilla extract, whisk and blend.  Spread into a thin layer on wax or parchment paper, freeze.  Take frozen chocolate off parchment and crumble the shreds into the mixture as your raw “chips”.)

Recipe Yields: Approximately 17 1 tsp. size Cookie Dough Balls

These are made right in your blender.  Combine the cashews and almond flour right in your blender until together you have a almond/cashew flour texture.  Add flax seed and blend.  Add remaining ingredients minus the chocolate chips and blend.  Fold in chocolate chips and roll dough into balls.  Store in refrigerator.

Enjoy, oh and from my standpoint...make a double batch!

Creating Paleo Slow Cooked Meatballs

You may have noticed that one of my menu items needed a bit of modification this last week.  I forgot to help you out though to ensure you that all items would be gluten free:

For this weeks Twisted Tuesday we will modify the recipe (that I saw many of my friends pinning on Pintrest) of this weeks menu for the Slow Cooked Meatballs  provided by "Stay for Dinner".

NOW PALEO Slow Cooked Meatballs

(serves 4)
1 lb lean ground beef or turkey
½ cup fresh bread almond crumbs  flour(1 slice of your favorite bread aprox. 3/4 cup almonds ground in a food processor or store bought almond flour will work as well)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons fresh minced basil
¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese skip it (or try this substitute: 1 cup Brazil nuts,1 teaspoon chopped garlic, 1/3 teaspoon salt. Process the three ingredients in a food processor till fluffy.)
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
¼ cup milk 1 egg

Remaining Ingredients:
½ large onion, chopped
16 oz (2 cups) of your favorite homemade (or store-bought marinara sauce - if you are using this make sure there are no added ingredients such as sugar!!!)
Instructions:
Combine all meatball ingredients in a large bowl using your hands Pampered Chef Mix and Chop. Do not overmix. Roll Scoop the mixture into balls roughly 1 1/2″ in diameter using the Pampered Chef Large Scoop.
Scatter the chopped onion (chop this using the Pampered Chef Manual Food Processor) over the base of your slow cooker, followed by the meatballs. Pour the sauce evenly over the top, making sure to coat everything.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours.