Coconut Flour Banana Pancakes with Fresh wild blackberry smash topping

We love breakfast in our house. It might actually be one of our favorite meals of the day. After a long (well not that long we DO have a 9 month old) sleep we wake up ready for some grub. Lately, I've been honing my coconut flour pancake recipe, but actually it's really really easy to make. Here goes:

Heat a griddle. No grease.
Then, in a bowl mix 2 eggs, a healthy dash of cinnamon, 1/2 smashed banana (I just fork smash mine so there are some bigger bits of banana in the final product), a pinch (but make it a good one) of dried/dessicated unsweetened coconut (use sweetened if you prefer), and 1.5 tbsp of coconut flour. Mix until it begins to thicken and then let sit for about 1-5 minutes. The longer you let it sit the thicker and more "doughy" it will get, which will make less of a pancake and more of a griddled muffin(ish) thingy. Then pour spoonfuls onto the griddle. About 2-3 minutes per side. I top mine with fresh fruit smash. We happen to have some wild fresh picked blackberries and so that's what we've been using this week. I've used banana, raspberry, strawberry, or just gone plain in the past.

Variations of the pancake. One morning I was mixing the ingredients for these and realized that we only had one banana, one green banana...Ew! So I started thinking about what else I could use: APPLESAUCE. But, alas, we had none. But we do have a nuclear holocaust supply of baby foods. So I tried that. First I tried apples and bananas. Delicious. Then I tried pears and raspberries. Delicious. Sweet potato. Delicious. Squash. Delicious. Pumpkin. I think you see where this is going. I use only organic baby foods that consist of just crushed fruit and a touch of juice. It adds a very nice variation to an otherwise pretty boring dish.

I hope you try and enjoy these!

Salmon, Eggs, and Salad

Wonderful breakfast of pan-seared wild caught Atlantic salmon, 2 eggs, and a small side salad. Oh, and some green tea to top it off. Everything is seasoned fairly bland: a little salt and pepper on the salmon, cooked in butter and olive oil and garlic powder on the salad.

Enjoy!

Steak, Eggs & 6 grams of Carbohydrates!

Steak: Leftover filet mignon, cooked medium rare, as last nights dinner - it makes for a wonderful accompaniment to breakfast.

Egg Scramble: whisk together 2-4 eggs (I used 2 eggs + an egg white). If you want to add a little sweetness to your eggs add a splash of coconut milk, seriously, it's actually pretty good.

Serve with a side of steamed spinach.

Steak and Scramble

Yes that is Fillet Mignon! No, I am not filthy rich! That's leftover Fillet from dinner a few nights ago. There was a sale so I bough extra to have for lunch and breakfast - got be creative on Paleo!

If you use fresh steak then simply season and grill, or pan fry, to your liking - I would recommend rare-medium rare. For the scramble: in a pan with just a touch of grapeseed oil begin to cook a mixture of spinach, onions, and peppers (I use frozen vege because it's convenient before I start to train Austen). Once the onions start to clarify add a few whisked eggs - 2-4 depending on how much your protein needs are. I garnished my breakfast with a few sliced fresh figs.

Enjoy!

Pepper and Mushroom Scramble with bacon and salad

Breakfast for dinner, it just never gets old does it?

In a skillet brown some chopped garlic and onion in a splash of grapeseed oil. When the garlic and onion begin to clarify add chopped mushrooms and green bell pepper. Cook for another 5-7 minutes or so, until peppers soften. While all that's going on have your bacon cooking away. Add about 1 cup of Egg Beaters (or other brand of egg substitute) and stir frequently. You do not want the egg to stick to the pan. as your are mixing in the eggs add some spices: I added steak seasoning. When finished serve topped with homemade tomato and jalapeno salsa (chopped tomato, garlic, ground pepper and sliced jalapeno) and bacon on side. We also served this up with a salad of mixed greens, fresh fruit - strawberries and figs, and chopped walnuts. I also sprinkled some ground flaxseed on top and ground pepper.

Paleo Eggs Benedict(ish) and paleo waffles

Canadian Bacon, oven roasted green asparagus, two poached eggs (drop two eggs into low boiling water with a splash of vinegar in it, scoop out with a slotted spoon). Serve with mixed berries and Paleo waffle.

Breakfast, it's what's for dinner!

Breakfast, it does a body good!

Vegetable Omelet & Paleo Waffles

So I've already posted a ton of times about what I think is a great breakfast, but as a refresher I thought I would post again. I've had several questions lately about what to eat for breakfast: what can I eat with high protein, what can I eat if I am Zone-Paleo, or generally asked about ideas for what to eat for breakfast. Well, I have a few. The picture above is about my everyday example, but there are several others as well. 

First, if you are in a rush then I would suggest grabbing a bowl of Paleo Crunch with coconut milk. If you want to up the protein then sprinkle some whey protein on there and voila, a great, high protein, high fat, tasty as hell, breakfast that should easily hold you for a few hours, get you through a workout, or just satisfy your need to feed first thing in the am!

If you aren't in a rush then you can make a "proper" Paleo breakfast. Here's what I have about every morning (see Pic). 2 eggs - either in an omelet with some veggies or simply sunny side with a side of steamed vegetables (think spinach or broccoli), or a side salad. I also have a few Paleo waffles. They're really easy to make and round out a 4 block Zone-Paleo breakfast, if you care about such stuff. Here's the recipe, again... LOL

Whisk two eggs (preferably from free-range Omega-3 enriched chickens). Whisk in 1/3-1/2 a ripe banana (the riper the better for taste and cooking). Add almond flour to this mix. I make my own almond/nut flour by grinding up about 12-15 almonds, 2-3 pecans and a lot of cinnamon. Mix this into the egg and banana mixture. That's forms the base of your waffle batter. (Note: It can also be used as a pancake batter, although you'd probably want to add more banana or nut flour to make it a bit thicker for pancakes). To the batter you can add just about anything you like: I tend to add crushed walnuts or some dried fruit such as raisins, cranberries, blueberries, etc.)  One thing to remember about the waffles, these are not regular waffles so when your waffle iron says they are done: that light blinks or the iron makes a ding indicating it's time to take the waffles off the iron, it's not time to take the Paleo waffles off. I leave mine on for about another 1-2 minutes. That way they don't stick to the iron and you won't be left without that part of your breakfast. 

The eggs, omelet or veggies & two eggs on the side, and waffles (maybe a bit of fruit if you fancy it) rounds out to about a: 4 Protein, 4-8 Fat, and 1-3 Carb blocked meal. Perfect way to start your day, if you ask me. 

So, enjoy a good hearty Paleo breakfast. I would bet that you will feel better all day long.