So I kind of missed my blogs first anniversary. It came and went so quickly, and so much has been happening in my life lately. My baby boy was 1 month old when I started this website, and now he is on the run, stealing dog treats,giving kisses and throwing limp noodle temper tantrums. The last year has been filled with learning experiences, and they continue on stronger than ever. Am I actually supposed to be an adult by now? The longer I’m on this planet, the less I think I know about anything. I sure hope this trend doesn’t last forever, though I have a feeling it does. As we get older, those strong resilient egos start to lighten up and if we’re lucky we become humbled by this precious human experience.
Though I forgot my blogiversary, it certainly doesn’t mean that this space, the opportunity to create and share what I love isn’t monumentally appreciated. Looking back, it wasn’t until a year ago that I even knew anyone could start a website (or even profit of it for that matter). If you know me at all, you know that I don’t have a cell phone and I don’t own a television. I’m probably the most real deal cave-woman millennial out there. But seriously, I somehow managed to pull the resources together and start this site which for me is a big thing. I poured so much time into learning the ins and outs of having a successful blog. Its so surreal when a big site features my photos. It’s the same feeling that lingered behind me like a shadow on mothers day. I’m a mother? Say what?! Every happy mothers day made me feel like some fraud. A fraud with a beautiful robust baby sucking at her breast, but a fraud none the less. Things like motherhood and websites were reserved for other people in my mind. People who have it all together, who’ve gone to school and have stable homes and relationships. Funny right? I’m grateful that barrier is crossed and I can live my life regardless of societal expectations.
I’ve been very absent lately, a major life shift has occurred, one that I didn’t see coming. It’s so difficult to do the things you love when life is beating you down, when your heart is aching. Fact is, that’s when its most important, but you can never force inspiration. It comes when it comes. As always, my head and heart are constantly competing for the spotlight. Does anyone else have that problem? The logical voice says to get a real job or go to school but my heart screams that I should keep doing what makes me happy. Which is writing and creating nourishing recipes, inspiring others to be better and in turn inspiring myself.
I’d like to turn this space into a more all encompassing health arena. Somewhere we can talk about all things to do with wellness, even the stuff that’s taboo. But I’m wondering how to go about doing that, a name change, a redesign? I just don’t know at this point. I think I’ll let the head and heart have it out on this one for awhile, until we can all come to a consensus.
In late honour of the birth of my little corner of the web, cookies are in order. These Maple Pecan Paleo Protein Cookies are decadent,chewy and loaded with protein. I love me some maple pecan, but I had to give them a little extra sustenance. Truth be told, I can’t stop eating lately, I am a hungry wolf mama constantly scrounging for more. Little man is fast approaching the 15 month mark and still can’t get enough of the liquid gold. He’s so sweet, I can’t cut him off just yet, it’s no biggie considering how much I love food. Things like cookies though, lord help me to eat just one nowadays, if these didn’t have the extra protein I could easily eat 6 in a sitting. With some almond milk…mmmmm….
Blessings friends, here’s to another year filled with learning and fun.
Okay I’ll just let the cat right out of the bag…these pancakes were supposed to be waffles. Never buy a waffle iron at a second hand store, there is a reason its there. After one very sticky pile of nothing I thought it would be best to turn them into pancakes which luckily was a massive success.
I’ve never been a huge fan of sweet breakfasts, so savoury pancakes are right up my alley. If you’re into cheese, you can throw some aged raw cheddar in these for an extra special treat. I like to smother them in butter with a bit of maple syrup.
Hello lovelies, it’s been awhile and I’m all up in a spring tizzy. My how time flies as the days get longer, along with the to-do list. My mom and grandma are visiting right now, gigi is meeting her great grandson for the first time!
As a lovely surprise I made them this decadent raw pie, oddly reminiscent of a pink creamsicle. The rhubarb in our garden is off the hook, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. The more you pull, the more springs up. I find myself searching for new ways to use rhubarb, aside from pie there are few ideas out there. Any ideas?
The new moon just passed so we took the opportunity to plant seeds in the garden. In biodynamic gardening, planting and harvesting is planned according to the lunar cycles. Which makes good sense, as the moon affects the ebb and flow of all H2O containing life. As the moon grows so do the plants, hopefully, fingers crossed, it’s the first year I’ve had a garden in awhile.
More about this pie. Roasted rhubarb is the way to do rhubarb, this roasted rhubarb + vanilla cream raw pie is healthy and light yet super satisfying. You’re going to love it, even if you hate rhubarb. I tricked my mom, who claims she hates rhubarb, but when I gave her a slice she unknowingly bit into it and thought it was oh so delicious. This brings to light a lot of misconceptions about rhubarb. Many folks think it’s too sour or stringy or bitter. I beg to differ, especially when roasted as it caramelizes the natural sugars. Do give this pie a chance, I wouldn’t lead you astray.
3/4 C raisins or dates (soaked for at least 30 mins)
1/2 C + 1/2 C + 3 Tbs coconut oil
2 C raw cashews (soaked 4-8 hrs)
1 C coconut milk
3/4 tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean, scraped
1/3 C raw honey or maple syrup
pinch sea salt
4 large rhubarb stalks
1/3 C raw honey or coconut sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F and roast rhubarb on a baking sheet for 20 minutes.
Using a food processor or high powered blender, combine raw almonds, rainsins or dates and 1/2 C coconut oil until smooth. Press this crust into the bottom of a 12 inch springform pan. Set in the freezer while making the filling.
Clean out the blender or food processor. Add the drained cashews, 1/2 C coconut oil, coconut milk, honey or maple syrup and vanilla and blend on high until super smooth and creamy. Pour over the set crust and place back in the freezer while making the topping.
Clean out the blender or food processor and add rhubarb, 3 Tbs coconut oil and honey or coconut sugar. Pour topping evenly over the vanilla cream and allow to set in the fridge or freezer for at least 2 hours before serving.
Vegetables rock. They never get boring, truly there must be millions of variations to get your veg in. While I’m starting to feel the itch for fresh spring veg, I’m also still ever so enamoured with hardy winter varieties. These roasted root veggies have all the flavour of stuffing without the bread. Perfect with roast chicken or turkey, you could even mix them up and throw them in the roasting pan with your bird.
There’s a little sage bush right outside my house, its starting to spring back to life and I’m enjoying the bounty of fresh sage. Crispy friend sage is sinfully delicious, but it also adds a certain aromatic lingering presence to all things hearty and roasted.
I hope you all had a great weekend, mine was jam packed with birthday cake and love as my little baby Mav turned 1. Such a big day, hard to believe it was just one year ago he came into our lives and made life so much more joyous. Being a mom has been such a trip. Did you fall into the parent role naturally? Or does it take time for everyone? It took awhile before I even thought of myself as a mother, there’s so much to learn and I’m sure it’s endless. Now I’m starting embrace this fairly new role, I am now the one who makes birthday cakes (delicious paleo ones) and kisses sore knees. About that cake, I really wanted to share it with you. Admittedly I am a terrible party planner but I ace the catering side of things. Perhaps I’ll make the cake again just so that we can photograph it and share the recipe, it was sooooooo perfect!
All cake aside, we’re talking root veg. This Roasted Balsamic Sage Root Vegetable Stuffing is about to become your new best friend.
Wow today is one those brilliant sun ray filled, first purple crocus blossoms of spring kind of days. A worthy day for the most easy and tasty little tostadas on the porch for lunch.
Rolled out the yoga mat, not that I got much of anything done with my little man who likes to chew on the corners. Eek, that’s almost as bad as letting him eat subway bread, right?! Ha. Gross who puts plastic chemicals in bread. Don’t worry I promptly stopped his little fangs from devouring my mat. Then he went straight on to pulling dirt out of the planters, oh children.
These crispy little paleo tostadas can easily be made into a larger paleo tortilla, with a bit more crunch than my other paleo tortilla recipe. Whats nice about this recipe is that it doesn’t use eggs. I don’t know about you but we go through eggs like nobodies business. It was one thing when we had like 40 chickens producing ample amounts but now that we don’t I feel like I took those annoying chickens for granted. Come on though, they would come in our house and we would come home to a rooster on the stove…not cool. Though really it was the dogs fault, he learned how to open the door and then the chickens would come in and clean up (and dirty) the floor. Even still I’m trying to convince J to build a small chicken coop because I miss having fresh free run eggs. I ate a lot of hollandaise when we had those chickens. I’d make a batch with 20 egg yolks every week and good pastured ghee, shazam that was the life.
Anyhow, nowadays the eggs don’t flow in such abundance so I try to limit cakes and coconut flour recipes that call for 10 eggs. Do ya feel me! Paleo is very egg-celent and egg-centric.
Top the tostadas with whatever you have kickin around. We had some leftover grass fed beef so I fried it up with some chipotle, onions and garlic which just hit the spot. Mashed avocado with lemon and garlic is really nice too for a tasty snack. Ah just let your imagination run wild. That’s the beauty of toppable foods like pizza, tortillas, chips, pancakes, people love them because you can get creative. Darn, writing this is making me hungry again…
Combine tapioca,salt and almond flour in a large bowl.
Combine water and oil and mix into flour until fully incorporated.
Drop 1 Tbs of batter into hot frying pan and allow to cook on high for a few minutes each side.
Meanwhile in another frying pan melt some coconut oil or fat, add onions, garlic and chipotle and sauté until soft, add ground beef and cover until cooked.
Top each tostada with some beef, feta,avocado and green onion and enjoy
I lurve pancakes. Especially banana pancakes a la Jack Johnson that fill you right up to the brim with good energy. Yeah, that kind.
Maple syrups great and all but I like my pancakes with berries, and to kick it up a notch, berries and coconut cream with a hint of vanilla. So good.
Today is the day we cut the top off the rug, sew it to the bottom and pretend we made it longer. Yes, daylight savings. It’s still light out at “7” and it definitely brings on the feeling of spring. We went for a sweet hike through the woods along the winding river trail cutting in and out of the suns rays. It was gorgeous and peaceful and fuelled by pancakes, the best fuel.
This is actually the first time Baby Mav ever had pancakes. He loved them! And he singularly plucked each berry and popped it in his mouth with anticipation of the burst of deliciousness. J said that I should make Mav pancakes every day, though I think secretly he just wants pancakes every day. Who doesn’t?
Coconut flour is a delicate creature, it soaks up moisture like nobodies business. That’s why when you go to fry the pancakes make sure you use enough oil or butter, it may seem like too much but its not. At least a tablespoon per 3 pancakes. Which is part of what makes these pancakes so energizing. Also if you’re avoiding sugar, it’s not crucial to add the honey, I think they’re great without it. Hope you all had a fantastic weekend and thanks for reading!
Coconut Flour Banana Pancakes with Berries + Cream
Author: Chantelle
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2
Ingredients
2 eggs
1 banana, mashed
2 Tbs coconut oil
⅓ C coconut flour
¼ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp honey
½ tsp vanilla
1 can coconut milk
1 C fresh or frozen mixed berries
2 Tbs coconut oil or ghee for frying
Instructions
In a small saucepan combine berries,vanilla and coconut milk, reserve ½ C coconut milk for pancakes. Heat on medium-low until berries have softened and the milk turns purple.
Combine eggs, banana,coconut oil, honey and remaining coconut milk in a large bowl.
Add coconut flour,salt and baking soda and mix well.
Heat a large cast iron skillet or griddle, melt oil or ghee and drop about 1½ Tbs worth of batter per pancake onto skillet. Cook for about 2 minutes per side until nice and golden.
Serve with warm berries and cream sauce and enjoy!
Hey I'm Chantelle, my alter ego would be a mermaid if I wasn't such a terrible swimmer. I love writing authentically and cooking in my pyjamas. My favourite pastimes include eating avocados, travelling the world and hanging out with a toddler.
