How to Make Apple Cinnamon Pancakes - Egg Free, Wheat Free

So good!

And...

Mmmmmm!

I love the smell of Apple Cinnamon Pancakes frying in the pan.

The aroma fills my house with deliciousness.

This is the kids absolute favorite recipe!

I am their hero every time I make it.

And they usually request pancakes for the next two days after I've made them.

Maybe it's because I make them for supper...

I stumbled upon a fantastic substitute for eggs in baking.

Sonja, who blogs over at practical-stewardship.com, uses them in her many recipes.

I'd never heard of this before (and was slightly skeptical)

but I like the results and use this "egg" all the time.

Have you ever heard of chia seeds?

Most of you should answer "YES!"

If you've ever owned, seen or heard of a "Chia Pet"....

Yep.  Those seeds!

The seeds are quite remarkable.

(*Coming Soon* Click here to read all about the magic of these little seeds.)

When they are wet, they soften and create a kinda gel that sticks them all together.  Using the seeds, and a small amount of water, you can create a "chia egg".  How cool is that?!  It's the same consistency as a real egg but without all the allergens of a real egg.  Hooray!  No allergens!!  When you create the "egg" you soften the seeds in water.  This means there is no crunch added by using these seeds.  They're really amazing to use.  Really!

I am able to purchase these seeds at our local bulk foods store.  I have also discovered that these seeds, when used as "eggs", are actually cheaper than real eggs!  So I've been using them more and more in my baking.  Which means I can create recipes for the whole family!

Win-win-win!

Of course if you like eggs and are not allergic to them,

feel free to use a real egg in place of a chia egg.

Now back to the reason we're all here......

Mmmmmm!

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Ingredients

3 tbsp Oil - I use canola

1 Chia Egg - Mix one tbsp chia seeds with three tbsp water.  Let sit 5 minutes.

3/4 cup Milk

3/4 cup Water

1 tsp Vanilla

3/4 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

2 1/2 tsp Baking powder

1 1/2 cup Oat flour - Make your own using oat flakes (oatmeal) and blending in a blender or food processor.  I purchase mine at our local bulk foods store.

1 Apple

How To

1. Create chia egg and let it sit 5 minute to gel.  While waiting peel, core and dice apple.  

Creating a chia egg.

2.  Pour chia egg (all seeds and water) into a medium bowl or large measuring cup.  Whisk in oil.  Then whisk in milk, water and vanilla.

The gel-like look of a created chia egg.

3.  Preheat a large frying pan on medium heat.

 - On my oven, with dials numbered 1-9, I use number 5.

4. Sprinkle salt, cinnamon, baking powder and oat flour over the wet ingredients.  Whisk together.

5.  Stir in the diced apple.

Cinnamon apples.  Yum, yum!

6.  Pour batter into the frying pan to create 4 small circles.  Cook until bubbles appear on the top of the pancake.  Flip and cook 30 seconds more.  Remove from pan.

7.  Repeat step 6 until all the batter has been cooked into, approximately, 20 delicious pancakes. 

8.  Serve warm with Canadian maple syrup or refrigerate them and eat them for snack.  My kids love to do that!

Fantastically easy, nutritious and egg free.

Have a wonderful day!

Happy thoughts,

Andrea

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Why I Love Laundry

I heart, heart, heart laundry!

We are keepers of the home.

We are what stands between chaos and cleanliness.

We are the soldiers who battle mountains of dirty dishes

and smelly socks on a daily basis.

Often it is a thankless battle.

That is why we become so bitter towards many of our chores.

They're not fun.  No one appreciates our work.  No one notices.

Except when they're not done.

Chores are not what we'd like to do with our time. 

They're a requirement.

*sigh*

Friends take heart!

I want to encourage you to enjoy your chores.

I want you to view your to-do list as something fun!

Think it's possible?

I do!

I love laundry and here's why:

How to Love your Laundry

1. It fits into my schedule.  Laundry is one of the wonderful chores! I can do it whenever it's convenient.  I could do it the morning, the evening, or on the weekends.  Whenever! I like to do all my laundry once a week (5 loads in a day) but when that's not possible I can easily do one load a day for 5 days.  Or I could do 2 loads one day, take a day off, then do the remaining 3 loads the next day.   Whatever order.  Whenever it's convenient.  Are doing dishes as flexible and convenient?

2. I can multi-task.  This is probably my favorite reason for loving laundry.  I can do the laundry and absolutely anything else.  At the same time!   If I set aside time for my chores (say 20 minutes), I only need 5 minutes to put a load in the washer.  Then I can read, play with the kids, or have a nap for the next 15 minutes!  Awesome.  And, even better,  when I'm asked, "What did you do today?"  I can say, "I did the laundry".  When really it only took a few minutes of my time moving the laundry from one machine to the next.  This reason helps me enjoy those reading and playing times since I feel I'm still getting my chores done.  I'm relaxing and yet I'm still going to cross "laundry" off my to-do list.

3. I can complete it sitting down.  I have many chores.  Many many chores.  Most of them I'm on my feet.  I'm on my feet most of the day really.  So when the evening comes, and I've switched the loads back and forth through the laundry machines in the day, I can now sit and fold.  Often I'll sit on the couch and my husband will turn on a movie or tv show for us to watch.  I just sit and fold and finish up the laundry.  Or sometimes I'll spread all the clean laundry out on the bed.  I'll sit on the edge and just fold.  It's relaxing because I love sitting.  After a long day, it's really nice to just sit.  And to be surrounded by the smell of warm clean laundry?  Heaven!

4. It brings chaos to disorder.  I know not everyone will identify with this reason. But I love taking mess and organizing it.  I love taking the jumble of clothes and folding them all nice and neat.  My little organizer's heart loves looking at a beautifully folded pile of clothes.  *Swoon*

5.  I'm a hero! I try to keep my kids' clothes minimal.  Brooklynn does not need 12 pairs of pants (although she'd tell you otherwise).  It keeps me from overspending and keeps them grateful for what they have.  If the kids only have 9 pairs of pants, and I do the laundry once a week, then by the end of the week the pants' drawer is looking very empty.  But not to worry.... Super Mom is here!  I unload the clean pile of clothes and I'm a hero! Every week!  Or sometimes a child will spill something on a most cherished shirt.  They will look up at me with tears in their eyes.  "Don't worry.  Mommy can clean it," I say.  And their sad faces turn into joyful faces.  Of course my kids are still little and still think Mommy is magical.  But it's still a reason I love doing the laundry. 

 Of course at times I get behind on the laundry.  Life just happens.  Things come up.  Kids get sick.  I get sick.  It just happens.  I still try my best to put through some loads (since, as mentioned above, the machines do most of the work) but if I don't get them folded or put away, that's okay.  I know when we're all better I'll catch up.   After all,

I Love Laundry!

Happy thoughts,

Andrea

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How to Make Granola Cereal

Breakfast!

Yep.  Still my fav.

Another wonderful recipe I have made is Granola  Cereal.

Around here we call it "Crunchy cereal".

Jackson LOVES it!

It makes me smile inside when my husband asks what he wants for breakfast.

Most often he shouts out, "Mommy's cereal!"  What he means is the one I make.

*Mommy heart melt*

Not only is this a wonderfully delicious recipe, 

especially if you love cereal as our family does,

but it is a wonderfully easy recipe to make.

Both Maverick and Matilda love helping me in the kitchen to make this one.

They love stirring the oats

and making a little brown sugar "castle".

This is a copy cat recipe for Quaker Harvest Crunch cereal.

I've worked and reworked it until it is perfect!

I've also tried to use lower cost ingredients where possible

so it's easy on the pocket book too.

Granola Cereal

A half cup of oil and a brown sugar castle.

Ingredients

3 cups Quick rolled oats

2 cups Large rolled oats

1 cup Flour (I use oat flour)

1/8 tsp Salt

1/2 cup Oil (I use canola.  
Melted coconut oil works best if you have it on hand.)

1/4 cup Honey

2 tbsp Vanilla

1/3 cup Brown sugar

2/3 cup Sliced almonds

2/3 cup Raisins (optional)

How To

1. Combine all ingredients.

Turn crystallized honey back into liquid honey by "melting" in the microwave.

My granola cereal does not have the optional raisins as my kids will not eat raisins in their cereal.

2.  Spread evenly over two parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheets.

3.  Bake at 350F for 12 minutes.

4.  Let cool.  Break apart.  Store in an airtight container.  Tip: Stir dry cereal to break it apart more evenly.

So good!

You'll make this time and time again.

Taking a place a prominence - on our fireplace mantel!

When I make "Crunchy Cereal"

 I will often also make my homemade granola bars (click here to view).

They use almost the exact same ingredients!

I mix the granola bar recipe in the same bowl

and bake it on the same baking sheet as the cereal.

But not at the same time of course! *Grin*

Until next time...

Happy thoughts,

Andrea

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