Cocoa Pumpkin Pancakes (THM E)

When I know it's a crazy busy week coming up, I like to use whatever free day I have to double or triple my recipes. 

Now, I'm set with E pancakes for the week!

Since our kids eat the same we do, and my kiddos for sure need crossovers, I fry my pancakes on a non-oiled pan, and then make theirs smaller and fry them in some good butter. I do the kiddo ones smaller to make it easy to distinguish between mine and theirs. Just add some peanut butter and they're eating a healthy crossover. 

My current favorite E pancake recipe is pumpkin pancakes, doubled, and add 1/4 c cocoa powder.

The base E pancakes recipe in the THM book is so good, and adding pumpkin and cocoa to the mix, its amazing! 

Whole Food Mom on a Budget is where I snagged the pumpkin pancake recipe, and adding cocoa to it upped the yum a notch! 

I eat these with home mixed vanilla greek yogurt on the top and am full for hours! 

The original recipe is HERE, and my tweaked version is below. 

Cocoa Pumpkin Pancakes (THM E)

3/4 cup oats

1/4 c oat fiber

1 cup egg whites

1 cup cottage cheese (1-2%)

1/2 cup pumpkin

1/4 c cocoa

1 tsp  cinnamon

2 tsp baking powder

dash nutmeg/cloves/salt

2-3 doonks, stevia 

Almond milk to thin 

Blend all ingredients save for almond milk in a blender. Use almond milk to thin batter to desired consistency. Fry on a VERY lightly greased pan. This is an E, so the focus is on healthy carbs vs fats.

  

Sausage Gravy, Cauliflower Style (THM S)

Cauliflower is a little wonder vegetable. We've all seen (and maybe tried, too!) the amazing recipes! 

Cauliflower Pizza Crust, Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce, Cauliflower as potatoes in recipes. 

It really is THE coolest vegetable in my books. 

So, when Aerro began begging me to make sausage gravy, I wanted to find a way to make it a little "lighter". 

I'm not afraid of fats; as a matter of fact, Trim Healthy Mama talks frequently about the importance of healthy fats! (Just don't pair them with carbs!)

So, after thinking for awhile, it came to me! If you can make alfredo out of cauliflower, why not sausage gravy?! 

Behold. A new family favorite. Plus? More veggies into the kiddos. Win/win!

Cauliflower Sausage Gravy

2 heads cauliflower, cut into florets

enough chicken stock to cover cauliflower

1.5 lb sausage,  (we do turkey) 

1 tsp EACH,  garlic powder, onion powder, salt

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp sage

dash of pepper (we like cayenne)

4 oz cream cheese

Combine florets and stock in a pot and simmer until cauliflower is fork-tender. 

With a slotted spoon, transfer florets and 1 cup of stock into a food processor or blender. Pour leftover extra broth into a container for thinning gravy if necessary. Pour cauliflower puree back into the pot.

Brown sausage into crumbles. Transfer it to gravy pot and stir in all the spices. Adjust seasoning as necessary, and whisk in more broth if necessary. 

Pour over Savory Cheesy Biscuits.

This made me not even miss "regular" sausage and gravy! Creamy, spiced, delicious. This also reheats very well! 

Sweet Biscuits (THM S)

 

As previously stated, we need to kinds of biscuits in this house. Sweet and savory!! 

(Link to favorite savory biscuits)

This....is our take on sweet biscuits to be slathered in Cottage Berry Whip or Berry Sauce! 

Sweet Biscuits 
(Original recipe HERE)

1 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP sugar (BUT WAIT! If sugar isn't your body's friend, check out this amazing THM chart!)
2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1.5 sticks butter, cold
6 eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla (or even better, 1 vanilla bean pod, beans scraped out)

Place all dry ingredients in food processor. Combine. Cut in butter until pea sized lumps form. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Drop spoonfuls on parchment lined sheet and bake for 15 minutes or so on 400 degrees.


Now, you can lower the sweetener to a couple shakes and omit the vanilla and have a basic biscuit, too! Mix it up! Add sweetener and cocoa for chocolate biscuits. Or what about almond extract instead of the vanilla? Really, the options are kind of endless!

Savory Cheesy Biscuits (THM S)

There are two types of biscuit needs in this house. 

Sweet. Savory. 

Totally different purposes. Sweet ones are topped with Berry Sauce or Berry Whip.

Savory? With my all new fav, Cauliflower Sausage Gravy.

First up, is our favorite Savory.

I took a cue from this awesome recipe, and then added my own twist! 

Savory Cheesy Biscuits

1.5 cups egg whites

1.5 cups almond flour

1/2 cup coconut flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 Tbsp cold butter

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1/2-3/4 c shredded cheese (I've done sharp, white, cheddar, and sharp white cheddar ;-) )

Combine dry ingredients in a food processor. Or, you could go oldschool and just mix them in a bowl. cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Chill for ten minutes. While this chills, mix egg whites until frothy. Fold into chilled mixture. Drop spoonfuls on a parchment lined pan. Bake on 400 for 15 minutes.  

My Medium Cookie Scoop from The Pampered Chef worked perfectly for these biscuits!