Cream Cheese pancakes - an adaptation of the original

As with any dietary change we attempt, we try to find substitutes for those yummy foods we know and love.

Originally upon transitioning to a Paleo/Primal way of eating, I used this recipe from a blog called I Breathe, I'm Hungry. It's a blog that specializes in low-carb recipes. The only problem was that I missed thick, fluffy pancakes. These, from my experience, don't make big fluffy pancakes. So, as with all recipes we find, we put our own little tweak on it to hopefully get the end product we desire.  

I started by adding coconut flour to keep with the gluten-free aspect. It helped to thicken the mixture, but never really got the consistency I wanted. So I kept trying. 

I had recently read the label on Bob's Red Mill baking powder and that it gets activated with heat, causing foods to develop air bubbles and thus "rise". I decided to try some in the cream cheese pancakes. I also increased the amount of coconut flour to make the batter just a touch thicker. 

I added 1 teaspoon of baking powder and 8 heaping teaspoons of coconut flour. This is how they turned out:






They rose beautifully!! And tasted just as great!


Recipe:

8 large eggs
8 oz Philadelphia Original cream cheese*
vanilla to taste (I use about 1 tbsp)
1 tsp baking powder
8 heaping teaspoons coconut flour

Blend the cream cheese, eggs, and vanilla using a stick blender (a regular blender would probably work well too). Blend in baking powder. Add coconut flour 1 tsp at a time until the batter is to your desired consistency - be careful not to add too much. Coconut flour thickens as it sits.

Pour on griddle (or pan) and wait til bubbles appear and start to pop and flip. If you flip too early, the pancakes will probably break - mine do. After flipping, wait a couple minutes to ensure the batter cooks through.


Top with butter and 100% pure maple syrup.

*I have found that Philadelphia cream cheese is softer than other brands and makes a thinner batter. When I use the generic brand at our local grocery store, the batter comes out thicker before adding coconut flour, so adjust your coconut flour as needed for your preferred consistency. 

Substitutions:

For those who are dairy free, as my son will be again after his birthday party tomorrow, there is a dairy-free cream cheese recipe out there that uses cashews. I have not tried it yet, but have heard it tastes delicious with these pancakes. The recipe for the dairy-free cream cheese can be found here. 

Products: 

If you're interested in using the same products I used to make these, you can find them at the links below. 


Bob's Red Mill Coconut Flour

Bob's Red Mill Baking Powder

I'd LOVE to hear what you think of these after you try them. Leave a comment in the box below, if you please. :) 

Low Carb Breakfast Lasagna

Tomorrow my family has a family Christmas celebration on my husband's side. Because everyone does the traditional meal plan for Christmas, this one is a bit different to break up the monotony of turkey and ham and other traditional Christmas foods. This one is a brunch. I rack my brain every year trying to decide what to bring to share with the family. Someone else is covering fruit, potatoes, and all the usual non-Paleo foods, so I'm always at a loss. This morning as I was eating my breakfast, it dawned on me what I could make that would be breakfast related and also Paleo without being your usual eggs and bacon.  

I want to preface first and foremost that this recipe is not dairy free, but it is gluten- and grain-free. It's a recipe I found at one of my favorite recipe blogs, I Breathe, I'm Hungry. I absolutely love that blog and think you should all get on over there and check it out when you have time. 

Anyhow, when I first ventured into the Paleo lifestyle, I perused a lot of recipe blogs and in doing so, I stumbled across a link to Mellissa's site for cream cheese pancakes. From there, I found her breakfast lasagna. So yum!  She says this feeds four, but it can easily be stretched on a buffet style family breakfast. It's very filing as a standalone breakfast dish, as well, so rest assured, you will not go away from the table hungry! 

Without any further ado... Breakfast Lasagna!

Ingredients:

8 eggs, scrambled

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

12 sausage links, fully cooked

12 cream cheese pancakes (unsweetened)

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Next, find an 8x8 inch cake pan. Place 4 of the cream cheese pancakes in the bottom of the pan. Layer in some scrambled eggs and sprinkle with cheese. Add a second layer of 4 pancakes, then lay all of the sausage links on top of the pancakes. Sprinkle with some more cheddar cheese. Layer on the last 4 pancakes, the remaining scrambled eggs and remaining cheese. 

Place in the oven for 8-10 minutes to melt the cheese (or if your pan is ceramic, place in the microwave for 3-4 minutes if you'd prefer not to bake it). 

Here's a picture of it from Mellissa's blog. 

This dish is very yummy and will be a returning visitor to your breakfast table. I promise! :)

Primal Pasta Sauce

I don't measure anything anymore when I make this. It is derived from a pasta sauce I found at MarksDailyApple.com. Here is a link to the original recipe: How to Make the Ultimate Tomato Sauce. Mine is pretty well simplified from the MDA version. 

I make mine a bit differently... ok, a lot differently b/c we didn't like it in its original form. Probably would be fine without the wine. Like I said, I don't measure anything anymore, so measurements are approximate. 

28 oz crushed tomatoes
12 oz tomato paste
small can of mushrooms
2 lbs ground beef (could use venison, pork or other ground meat)
1/2 medium onion - chopped
3 cloves garlic - chopped
Italian seasoning
garlic powder
bay leaf
salt and pepper

Brown burger and onion together until meat is done. Add rest of ingredients. Simmer for as long as you want. The longer it simmers, the better it is. Remove bay leaf before eating. Yeah, pretty simple. Simple enough to adjust for your own family's tastes. :) 

This makes a TON of sauce, usually enough for two nights of spaghetti. I usually freeze half of it for use later. I serve it to my family with DeBoles gluten free angel hair pasta, but eat my own with a spaghetti squash. 

To prepare the spaghetti squash, I cut the ends off, then set the squash on one flat end and cut in half. Scrape out the stuff, place cut face down in a glass dish. Add about 1 inch of water and 1 tbsp butter. Nuke on high for 15-20 minutes. The squash will still have a veggie consistency, but has great flavor. It will NOT feel like pasta, just sayin'. 

Paleo Double Layer Fudge

Stole another recipe!! This one looks delicious!

Double Layer Fudge

Prep time: 10 mins

Total time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil
• 1 cup almond butter
• 1/2 cup raw honey
• 1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 4-5 heaping tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• a handful of Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips or your choice of dark chocolate chips
• extra sprinkle of unsweetened shredded coconut

Instructions

1. Add your coconut oil to a food processor. It doesn’t have to be melted so don’t you worry your little heart about melting it down!
2. Then add your almond butter, unsweetened shredded coconut, vanilla extract, and honey and just a small pinch of salt.
3. Mix all ingredients until fully combined.
4. Pour half the ingredients into a bread pan and use a spoon to spread out evenly. It doesn’t matter what size bread pan you use. The smaller it is, the taller your fudge will be and vise versa.
5. Place in freezer to harden.
6. Then place food processor bowl back on the motor and add your cocoa powder. Add 1-2 tablespoons at a time, mixing as you go to make sure you don’t use too much.
7. Once cocoa powder is incorporated in, add a pinch of salt, mix thoroughly, then pour your chocolate fudge on top of your now hardened light fudge.
8. Sprinkle with chocolate chips, shredded coconut, and a bit of salt and place is freezer for 10-15 minutes.
9. Cut into chunks.
10. Eat the chunks.
11. Store the leftover chunks in the fridge.

Notes

This serves either one person or a lot of people. You be the judge.

To find other great recipes like this one, go to PaleOMG

Low Carb Raspberry Cheesecake Bars

Stole this and copied it straight from the source... don't worry, I give props and credit where it is due...

I will SO be making these. They look delish! Just have to find a substitute for the granulated sugar substitute... probably coconut sugar or raw honey.

Macaroon crust ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar substitute
1/2 cup desiccated unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup coconut flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

Filling ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar substitute
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup raspberries
2 Tbl granulated sugar substitute


To make the crust:  Cream together the butter and sugar substitute.  Add the coconut, coconut flour and baking powder, mixing until thoroughly combined.  Press into a lightly greased 9 x 9 pan and set aside. 


To make the cheesecake filling:  Beat the cream cheese and sugar substitute together until smooth.  Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until thoroughly combined.  Pour mixture over the crust.  In a small bowl, mash the raspberries and sugar substitute together with a fork.  Drop by spoonfuls over the cheesecake mixture and then swirl it gently with the fork until distributed over the entire top - don't over mix.  Bake in a 350 degree (F) oven for 25 minutes.  Remove and chill before serving.  Nom.

Approximate nutrition info per bar:  230 calories, 22g fat, 3g net carbs, 4g protein. Makes 9 large bars

Original recipe is located at I Breathe... I'm Hungry...: Low Carb Raspberry Cheesecake Bars.

Bacon Burgers

My family loves these!! 

2 lbs ground beef (I prefer grass-fed/finished, but if that is not available, an 85/15 fat blend works best)
1/2 pound bacon
loads of bacon grease

Use kitchen sheers to cut bacon in half lengthwise, then chop into 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch pieces (or there abouts)

Cook bacon until about half done in skillet. Pour bacon and grease into bowl with ground burger. Mix and patty. 

Melt bacon grease in skillet at medium heat and place patties in pan. Cover pan with lid to cut down on mess and speed cooking. Flip when bottom starts to brown. Continue cooking/flipping until burgers are done. Keep adding bacon grease as the pan starts to dry out - this will prevent the burgers from burning. 

I enjoy these with barbecue sauce (again, my 20%) but my kids like them with cheese and ketchup. 

Primal Meatloaf

For the original recipe, please go to Mark's Daily Apple.

2 pounds ground meat (we use a mix of pork and venison)

2 eggs, whisked

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, grated or finely chopped

1 celery rib, finely chopped

2 tablespoons butter (or bacon grease)

Small handful of fresh parsley springs, chopped

1/2 teaspoon dried dill

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Saute garlic, onion, carrot, and celery in butter (or bacon grease) over medium heat until onions are soft, 6-8 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together. The best way to mix meatloaf is with your hands.

Put the meat into a loaf pan. (we have even made these into meatballs and had just as good of luck, except they cook faster)

Bake for 45 minutes or until center is done. Top with a Paleo/Primal ketchup if you have a recipe you like. We still use Heinz and consider it our 20%.