Whole Wheat Blueberry Quinoa Pancakes

My camera is taking really weird long pictures. I have no idea what it's problem is but it is causing problems with me. I am trying to eat more whole grains. I know- totally against what all the world is doing with the Paleo and Whole30 movements but I've done a lot of thinking and pondering on this. I really think that we don't really eat a lot of whole grains- bread doesn't count. I found this recipe and I love it so much that I have already made it twice this week. It is filling, very filling, and tastes so amazing!

QUINOA PANCAKES WITH BLUEBERRY MAPLE SYRUP

QUINOA (makes 3 cups)
1 cup black or white quinoa, rinsed thoroughly and drained (I prefer black for these pancakes)
2 cups water
Place quinoa and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until all of the water is absorbed. Quinoa is done when the spiral-like germ, or tail, has popped from the seed.

BLUEBERRY MAPLE SYRUP
6 ounces fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained
½ cup blueberry syrup
½ cup maple syrup
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer until blueberries are heated through.

QUINOA PANCAKES
2 eggs
2 ½ cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons butter
 2 ½ cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons organic sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cooked black or white quinoa (I prefer the texture of the black)
blueberries, fresh

Beat eggs well. Add remaining ingredients and mix until blended, but do not overmix. Pour onto a hot, lightly oiled griddle. Add the fresh blueberries to the top on the poured batter. The hot oil will create those crisp edges to your pancakes. Flip pancakes once air bubbles surface and pop, and the batter appears to firm up. This will make flipping easier. Keep first batches warm in a 200º oven.
GARNISH with toasted walnuts and Blueberry Maple Syrup.

Overnight Oats

Our breakfast of choice the last week has been this recipe for overnight oats. It is packed with healthy goodness. I tried it first with jsut regular rolled oats and it tasted a little gritty to me so I got the thickest rolled oats I could find. They were in the bulk section at our grocery store. And it solved the problem. We have tried this lots of ways and every way has been really good. My favorite so far is the Almond Mango.

Overnight Oats
1/2 C thick rolled oats
1/2 C plain yogurt
2/3 C milk- we used almond milk
1 T chia seeds

Mix all ingredients in a wide mouth pint sized jar and put in the fridge overnight. You can also put the extras in the night before or the morning.

Variations-
Almond mango- Add 1/2 c fresh mango, dash of almond extract, 1 tsp honey
Vanilla triple berry- 1/2 c frozen triple berries, contents of 1/2 vanilla bean scraped, 1 tsp honey
Blueberry cream- 1/2 C blueberries, 1 tsp agave
Banana maple nut granola- 1/4 c maple nut granola, 1/2 banana, chopped, 1 tsp agave

The possibilities are endless!

Blueberry Tart With Walnut Crust

While perusing the Eating Well website I found this recipe and just had to use it to celebrate Independence day with.

Blueberry Tart with Walnut Crust

12 servings | Active Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours (including cooling & chilling time)

Ingredients

Crust

• 1/2 cup walnuts, lightly toasted (see Tip)
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs, preferably whole-wheat (see Note)
• 1 large egg white
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon peanut or canola oil
• Pinch of salt

Filling

• 8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel), softened
• 1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, preferably grade B, divided
• 2 cups fresh blueberries

Preparation

1. To prepare crust: Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Coarsely chop walnuts in a food processor. Add graham cracker crumbs and process until the mixture looks like fine crumbs.
3. Whisk egg white in a medium bowl until frothy. Add the crumb mixture, butter, oil and salt; toss to combine. Press the mixture into the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of a 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan. Set the pan on a baking sheet. Bake until dry and slightly darker around the edges, about 8 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
4. To prepare filling: Beat cream cheese, sour cream and 1/4 cup maple syrup in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until smooth. When the crust is cool, spread the filling evenly into it, being careful not to break up the delicate crust. Arrange blueberries on the filling, pressing lightly so they set in. Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons maple syrup over the berries. Chill for at least 1 hour to firm up.

Nutrition

Per serving : 177 Calories; 11 g Fat; 4 g Sat; 3 g Mono; 18 mg Cholesterol; 17 g Carbohydrates; 4 g Protein; 1 g Fiber; 138 mg Sodium; 103 mg Potassium
1 Carbohydrate Serving
Exchanges: 1 carbohydrate (other), 2 fat

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Refrigerate for up to 1 day. | Equipment: 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan

• Tip: To toast walnuts, spread on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F, stirring once, until fragrant, 7 to 9 minutes.
• Note: To avoid trans fats, look for graham crackers without partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. To make crumbs, pulse graham crackers in a food processor or place in a large sealable plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. (You'll need about 14 whole-wheat graham cracker squares to make 1 cup of crumbs.)

A previous TWD that I HAD to try!

A few weeks ago the featured recipe for TWD was Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream and I just HAD to try it. I wish I could find the words to properly describe the smooth, velvet texture of this amazing ice cream. I am thinking I need to eat healthy every day of the month except TWD days because if the other recipes we make are as good as these first two I have tried I am going to easily gain 100 lbs this year alone- and this year is more than half over! lol

I altered the recipe a little because I wanted to double it, knowing that my family of 7 would need more than one batch. I am SO glad I did!

Here's my take on this smooth blueberry delight:

Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

2 C blueberries
1/2 C lemon juice
pinch of salt
2/3 C sugar
3/4 C heavy Cream
3/4 C half and half
1 1/2 C sour cream (I used lite trying to offset the heavy cream or at least mentally give me a reason to eat more!)

In saucepan heat to boiling the berries, lemon juice, salt and sugar until the berries 'pop'. Transfer to a blender and blend until it is mostly smooth. Add the cream, half and half, and sour cream pulsing just until blended. Put in a bowl to chill in the fridge. When it is chilled put it in an ice cream maker and process. Once it has frozen up move it to the freezer to get hard enough to scoop out pretty solid scoops of ice cream. And enjoy with family and loved ones...because you might eat it all yourself if you don't!

Crepes w/ banana fluff and blueberries

My quest for good food without refined sugars continues. One thing I love to eat is crepes filled with cream cheese filling and fruit. So I had to find something else to fill the crepes with since the cream cheese filling is usually filled with sugar. Although I do have a cream cheese honey mixture I might try next time. This breakfast was delicious and filling. The banana fluff was just that- fluffy! And the protein from the egg whites filled me up. It was really good. Crepes

1 C flour (as always I did 1/2 white, 1/2 wheat)

1 T sugar (I used agave nectar this time and it worked great)
¼ tsp salt

1 ½ C milk
2 large eggs, beaten
Cooking spray

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Whisk in milk and eggs until smooth. Chill 15 min. Bake in crepe pan. Makes about 10 crepes.

Banana Fluff

1 lg egg white, room temperature- if it's not room temp it takes a lot longer to do this.

1 T frozen apple juice concentrate

1 lg ripe banana, mashed

1 T lemon juice

Beat egg white until frothy and then add the apple juice slowly. Mix well. Combine the banana and lemon juice together and then add to the egg mixture. Beat to stiff peaks. Makes 8-1/4 C servings

Cal- 32

Banana BlueberryMuffins- no refined sugars!

This is one of my favorite healthy muffins. The flavors are BEST the day after you make them.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

2 banana's mashed

2 lg egg whites

3/4 c frozen unsweetened apple juice concentrate, thawed or 3/4 c honey

2 c whole wheat flour(I do half white, half wheat)

1/2 c rolled oats

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 c butter- melted

1 c blueberries- unsweetened

Beat banana's til smooth add egg whites and beat until frothy. Add apple juice or honey and mix well. Add flour, oats, baking powder and soda and mix. Add melted butter and beat well. Gently fold in blueberries. Makes 16 muffins. Bake 325 for 25-30 minutes.