Wk 8, Day 3: Strawberry Pancakes

This weekend we went to Bolles Organic Farm to pick some strawberries. We ended up getting one flat! The kids had a fun time running around and my daughter was so excited about all the delicious looking berries. There's one more good week of strawberry picking, then around July 10th they'll have blueberries and raspberries. My freezer will be filled with organic berries. How fantastic!

Of course, once they were cleaned (and most put into the freezer), I went to work finding ways to eat them. We started with strawberry pancakes topped with strawberries and maple syrup, strawberry smoothies and, of course, our favorite scone recipe. All delicious. I didn't have a gluten-free pancake recipe on hand, so I adapted one of my favorite pancake recipes (I don't remember where I found it originally months ago) and they were great. I think I'm getting the hang of gluten-free baking. I intended to make my daughter a side of home fried potatoes, but as I was having a veggie burger with fries for dinner, I gave her french fries instead. I do like a little time outside the kitchen!















Fluffy Strawberry Pancakes
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder (the original recipe calls for 3 1/2 tsp but I ran out. either works - the more you add the fluffier they are.)
1 tsp salt
dash of cinnamon and nutmeg
1 TB maple syrup
1 TB brown rice syrup (optional - I don't think I needed both sweeteners)
1 1/4 cup rice milk
1 egg (used egg replacer)
3 TB canola oil
1/2 - 1 cup berries

1) In a large bowl, mix flours, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt cinnamon and nutmeg. Make a well in the center and add sweetener(s), milk, egg replacer and oil. Mix until smooth. Add berries and mix, being careful not to over mix.

2) Heat lightly oiled griddle over medium heat. Pour or scoop (I use a soup ladle) batter onto griddle. Brown both sides and serve hot.

Week 2, Day 6: New Snacks & Breakfast for Dinner

I went grocery shopping today and bought tons of yummy fresh fruit and veggies. Even though its most of what we eat, I still get really excited about it because it's so good for us.

I found a few snacks for my daughter (and me). Since she's being such a good sport and loves snacks, I thought it would be a good idea. I found 2 kinds of chips:

Terra brand Sweets & Beets (Sweet Potato & Beet Chips)
Kettle Baked potato chips (lightly salted)

My daughter was very happy about the Kettle chips. The Terra chips, not so much. I agree with her, but they are something different to try. I also bought some of Trader Joe's Freeze Dried Blueberries. We've tried these before and we like them.

For dinner, the whole family joined us (and ate!). Blueberry pancakes (Namaste Foods, Waffle & Pancake Mix) with maple syrup, garlic fried potatoes and fruit salad. My daughter helped by mashing all the fruit together in the bowl, so we would "get to taste all of the fruits in each bite."  She ate it all and had seconds. Hooray for another dinner she likes! The pancakes are a little more chewy than normal ones (my husband ate a few, but he wasn't too impressed), but with maple syrup and fruit on top, and being ok for us to eat, my daughter and I thought they tasted pretty darn close to the real thing.