Paleo Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes

I admit that my meal planning was a bit rushed this month. It has been a bit hectic at work and it is amazing how that translates into less energy at home. The one one amazing new recipe that I did run across this month was Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes in the Paleo Cookbook For Beginners cookbook. I am very excited about this cookbook and you will see a review - and more creations from it.

The smell of the pancake mix is heavenly. It is a deep sweet cinnamon smell. Cooking them was great. The even turned out like my old gluten pancakes. No pancake so far has had such a good looking picture!

It was not until after I realized that this recipe does not call for any sugar - not even a banana or fruit of any kind. I was a bit hesitant how this would go over with the kids. They insist on putting aguava nectar or honey on top anyway. I liked the idea they were not getting a double dose. The best part is no one missed it. L LOVED these pancakes! So did J and S - but they are so much easier to please.

You will totally be seeing these again in the recipe line up.

My First Try with Coconut Flour - Birthday Cupcakes

Looking through all the various blogs about coconut flour I was a bit dismayed to actually cook with it. There were so many posts about it not turning out. I continually read how you have to be so exacting in your measurements or you can screw everything up.

Yet, I was also excited. Coconut flour is almost twenty dollars cheaper then almond flour (for a 5lb bag). You also use a lot less of it! I had to at least give it a shot. I am so glad that I did!

I decided that I would bake J cupcakes that I got from the Power Hungry's blog.

I planned on making the cupcakes during our normal Saturday cooking - a few hours before his family party. If anything went wrong there would be no time to fix it. I decided I could deal with that. My kids would eat (or not) whatever I created and more then likely be fine with that. As for the rest of my family - they think we eat weird and gross anyway.

My first oh no moment - I forgot to take the eggs out so that they would be room temperature. How would cold eggs effect the binding process? I put them in anyway.

I ended up four times the recipe. I wanted enough to have for dessert the rest of the week - the recipe only proclaimed to serve 8 and we had over that number headed to our house.

Everything turned out fabulous! These were not just amazing Paleo cupcakes - they were amazing cupcakes period. They did not taste like coconut at all - even with the coconut flour and coconut milk. They taste more like honey - sweet and dense. We ended up making 24 cupcakes out of the batter - but they were medium to small in size.

The cupcakes we served at J's party were 'frosted' with melted chocolate chips - the same batch that we used to dip the fruit in. They were a hit! All the kids loved them. My finicky nephew eat his right up. Even grandma and my sister eat theirs and said they weren't bad. We have plans to make these again with our Christmas cooking.

Book Review - The Paleo Kid: 26 recipes that will transform your family

The Paleo Kid: 26 Recipes that will Transform your Family

by. Kate Evans Scott

 

Format: Kindle

Rating: ****(4 Stars)

This is one of those books that the rating will depend greatly on the reader. If you are a parent starting to transition your child to the Paleo diet then this book would be a great starting point. However, if you have been eating Paleo as a family for an extended period of time then there will be little new to discover in this cookbook.

The book starts with a brief introduction to the Paleo diet, including some shallow history of eating. It then continues to provide a list of food acceptable, unacceptable, and questionable while on the Paleo diet. Perhaps the most worth aspect of the introduction is the authors ideas on how to get your children involved in their diet change, as well as give them the skills to continue throughout their life. I have found that L is more likely to eat the new foods I have made if she helps me to cook them.

The recipes are then divided into breakfast, lunch, dinner, desert and condiments. There is between five to seven recipes for each section except for condiments. The condiments section contains a recipe for catsup and honey mustard. Some of the recipes are very simplistic, such as poached eggs, omelets, or asparagus wrapped in lunch meat.

However, other recipes are very useful. We are planning on using the almond cookie recipe for our Christmas cookies this year. L has also been asking for honey mustard, so I foresee me creating that soon as well. I am also excited about incorporating some new vegetables into our diet by using these child friendly recipes. It is a less daunting introduction for myself as well as my children.

Possibly the best part of this book is that the Kindle edition only costs $2.99 - well worth the recipes even if you don't use more then half of them.