Oatmeal Pancakes

   For about six months now, I have been grain free. Today, I tried some flourless oatmeal pancakes. I decided if I am to introduce any grains back into my diet, I would do it slowly, and gradually and not in large amounts.

   The recipe was simple, which is what attracted me to this recipe. It had common ingredients and was easy to prepare. I added fresh blueberries to the mix.  I have added a link below to the recipe that I had found. They were very good. The site says one serving is one pancake. I think two pancakes is much more reasonable as a serving. Two pancakes is about 250 calories. Nutritional information per pancake is available at the site.

Flourless Oatmeal Pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup quick oats
2 whole eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/5 cup applesauce
1/4 cup nonfat milk

Directions

Whip eggs before mixing other ingredients. Add all other ingredients and let sit for a few minutes. Cook as you would any other pancakes.

Recipe for Flourless Oatmeal Pancakes

Bright Salad

Bright Salad is a fruitiful, beautiful salad. This is great for a desert or when you want something sweet.

This serves 4 with a calorie count of 66 per serving.

1 cup fresh pineapple chunks

½ of a small to medium cantaloupe melon, cut into chucks
1 cup fresh sliced strawberries
2 tbsp shredded coconut

Mix it all in a bowl, serve and enjoy. It’s simple, clean, bright and delicious. If it isn’t bright enough for you, you can sprinkle on some lime juice.

Per serving:

Calories: 66
Total Fat: 1.1g
   Sat. Fat: 0.8g
Sodium: 12.4mg
Carbs: 14.6g
   Fiber: 2.3g
   Sugars: 11.7g
Protein: 1.2g

Nutrient information obtained from LoseIt! app, recipe builder. I love the LoseIt! app.

Process free your diet

When you first decide to go healthy, you think to yourself, “how can hard it be?” Then you start to read labels and discover that foods you thought were healthy, weren’t. Case in point…. gluten-free products. When you first start out on a gluten-free diet, the first thing you do is try to find substitutes for your old favorites such as muffins, brownies, cakes, breads, etc. While the manufacturers consider their products to be “safe” in that they do not contain those nasty glutens, you soon discover that many pre-packaged items are high in calories, are loaded with sugar, and require lots of eggs and/or butter to be added to the product in an effort to make it taste good! Totally frustrated, you now realize that most of the stuff available on grocery store shelves (and in restaurants for that matter) can hardly be called food. While these food products give us the calories we need to survive, they do not offer the nutrients we need to thrive. So what to do? Hope and inspiration came in the form of Andrew Olson…author of the One Ingredient Chef. His premise for eating healthy is simple ... so simple in fact that a first-grader can understand. Yet his approach to healthy eating his powerful enough to save lives... only eat foods that start out as one whole ingredient you can hold it in your hand. For example, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, apples, brown rice, spinach, etc. Sounds easy enough... eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Got it!  For packaged items, it's trickier for some as requires you to read the label. So if the package says, “ingredients: brown rice, go for it! If however a package lists 300 ingredients, most of which you cannot pronounce, then forget it. To help you stay on track, his site includes recipes, articles, and tips on how to make your diet process-free.He also offers a free One Ingredient Chef eBook that may be downloaded with resources, recipes, and menu plans for improving your health by cooking with only real ingredients.

Necessity is the Mother of Re-Invention

Having grown up Italian, I have to tell you that I initially missed a number of “little indulgences” when going gluten-free…especially pasta, pizza, bread, and fried rice (yes, even fried rice). No more. I soon discovered that that with a little creativity and the Internet (and a very thoughtful husband), you can reinvent your favorite foods and not feel at all guilty about doing it.

• Pasta Zero … also known as Japanese Shirataki noodles, you can enjoy pasta with your favorite recipes and remain grain-free. Knowing that I really miss pasta, Justin found this gem at Wegmans with only 15 calories with 4g of carbs and 3 grams of fiber per serving! 
• Pizza with Zucchini Crust…one of the ladies at our monthly devotional group brought a similar recipe to our dinner meeting last month. I have to tell you that I absolutely loved it and really appreciated this dear friend thinking of the wheat-free individuals at the gathering!
• Vegan Cauliflower Fried Rice…Justin made this last night for his lunch today. After a sampling, I will say that the day you discover “rice” can be made with a head of cauliflower will be one of the happiest of your life!
• One of my favorites though is Bread in a Mug…yes folks… you can “bake” bread in a coffee mug within a matter of seconds in your microwave. What’s more if you search the Internet... and Pinterest, in particular, you will discover a lot “Bread in the Mug” recipes are out there, ranging from blueberry and banana nut to buttermilk and almond. If you like brownies and chocolate chip cookies, there's similar recipes too!

What recipes have you reinvented while going gluten-free / grain-free???

Adding Veggies to Breakfast

Most of us do not think of having vegetables for breakfast, except for maybe a flavor ingredient in an omelet. But you can add vegetables to your morning meal as more than a flavor ingredient.

Shredded savoy cabbage lightly sauteed in garlic and herb butter with black pepper provides a low glycemic treat that has hints of citric taste. It is a fresh and lively taste.

Add broccoli florets, celery, and onion along with chopped chicken sausage to scrambled eggs to give you a crust free quiche, especially with shredded three, four or five cheese blends.

Microwaved sweet potato, cubedm then lightly sauteed with apple pieces and cooked crumbled sausage makes a super treat in the morning. Spinkle it with cinnamon just before it comes out of the pan.

Of course, there are many vegetable juices you can choose from as well.

Do you enjoy vegetables for breakfast? How do you make your breakfast fresh and delicious with these nutrient rich foods?