Finding ways to adapt favourite recipes to avoid inflammatory foods or sensitivities can be tricky. But here is a family-approved version that we all enjoy together without making two different pancake batters.
2 Flax Eggs - (2 tbsp flax meal with 6 tbsp of water - let it sit while mixing up other ingredients)
2.5 cups Buttermilk (use any non-dairy milk and add 2 tsps of Lemon Juice to make it into Buttermilk
2 tbsp Melted Butter or Coconut Oil
1 tbsp molasses or honey
1.5 cups Buckwheat Flour
1/2 cup Millet Flour
3/4 tsp Baking Soda (corn-free)
3/4 tsp Sea Salt
Butter or Coconut oil for cooking
1. In a large bowl, whisk together flax eggs, buttermilk, melted butter/ oil, and molasses.
2. in a separate bowl stir together buckwheat flour, millet flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. Sprinkle over the buttermilk mixture and stir just enough to moisten.
4. In a skillet, melt just enough butter/ oil over medium heat to coat the surface of the pan. Cook batter - 1/4 cup for each pancake for 1.5-2 minutes or until bubbles on top break but do not fill in. Turn pancakes and cook for 30-60 seconds or until they are golden brown.
Makes 16-20 Pancakes.
For crepes, thin out the pancake batter to desired consistency with water.
Try adding frozen or fresh blueberries, diced strawberries or chocolate chips to the batter for different flavour options.
Enjoy with real maple syrup or top with fruit.
Here are some family favourite recipes that avoid these sensitivities:
Chicken Fingers and Fries were always my favourite comfort food. When I had to remove gluten, corn, soy, and nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant), dairy, eggs and sugar, I wasn't sure what was left to eat. So finding or experimenting with allergen-free versions of some meals I missed led to some awesome discoveries. This is one of our family favourites!
INGREDIENTS:
5 Chicken Breasts
1/2 Cup Milk (Almond, Coconut, Milkadamia, Hemp, Rice for Dairy Free)
1 Cup Flour (Millett, Coconut or Almond work well!)
4 tbsp Flax or Sesame Seeds (Milled Flaxseeds were used in the photo above)
2 tbsp Baking Powder
2 tbsp Paprika
1 tsp Sea Salt or Herbamere
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F.
- Cut Chicken Breasts into slices of equal thickness (4-5 pieces per breast).
- Put cut slices in a bag or dish and cover with your choice of milk to coat.
- In a separate bag or container, mix up the rest of the ingredients to make the coating: Your Choice of Flour, Seeds, Baking Powder, Paprika, Sea Salt.
- Take chicken pieces a few at a time and drop them in the coating and shake to coat.
- Place them on a Baking Sheet covered with parchment paper.
- Bake in the oven until cooked through and inside temperature is 165 degrees F.
Serve with a Sweet Dipping Sauce!
I use 1/2 jar of Apricot Jam mixed with Poppyseed Dressing (Goodness Me makes an awesome version to avoid allergens). Just stir together and enjoy!
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When I was living at Silver Lake Camp and Lance was director, I noticed how little protein was included in most breakfast cereals that were the staple of many morning offerings. The egg meals with meat lasted longer to help staff make it to lunchtime with good nourishing fuel, but the cold breakfast offerings were nutritionally deficient. Commercial cereals were high in sugar and processed grains that elevate blood sugars but then burn off quickly leaving most staff and campers with a sugar crash in the late morning long before lunch. We tried adding yogurt, but the food industry keeps adding sugar and fillers to these and dairy-free diets were left with only bread options... and fruit. I had a blender and could make morning smoothies to keep myself fuelled - but that was not a good option for just under one hundred people on site.
So I asked my friend, Linda Jacobs for her granola recipe which my family has tweaked for our allergies. We made a nut-free version for camp and offered it as an option on cereal morning. It became a favourite as it kept bodies fuelled well all morning long.
This version makes a large batch to last my family a month or more as a breakfast and snacking option. We have added protein powder to increase the staying power for growing teenage boys, but for lesser protein needs, feel free to leave it out.
You can cut this recipe in half for smaller households!
INGREDIENTS:
- 9 cups Gluten Free Oats (this just means they weren't grown with wheat to get cross pollinated).
- 1 cup Milled Flax Seed
- 1 cup Milled Chia Seeds
- 1 cup Hemp Seeds
- 2 tbsp Cinnamon
- 1/4- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
- 4 Scoops of Vanilla Protein Powder or Collagen of Choice (We find this adds sweetness so we use less sugar but it is optional.)
- Nuts and Seeds - add as you wish - Pumpkin Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Slivered Almonds, Sesame Seeds
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
In a large measuring cup or separate bowl combine:
- 3/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Liquid Coconut Oil
- 3/4 Cup Honey
- 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 Can of Apple Juice Concentrate (Optional - makes a chewier texture- we leave this out)
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Pour wet ingredients over dry in a very large mixing bowl. Mix well to coat (using our hands works well!).
- Pour granola in two 9"x!3" pans or larger (approximately 2" deep)
- Bake at 300 F for 15 minutes.
- Remove granola from oven to stir well before returning it to bake another 15 minutes.
- Let cool completely and store in air tight containers for adding to ice cream sundaes, or for an easy nutrient dense breakfast. You only need a little to fill up most adults. :)
Enjoy experimenting!
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As I listened to several speakers at the Menopause Summit a few weeks ago, the idea that certain foods cause inflammation kept coming up again and again. These were medical doctors who moved to functional practices to widen the options for meeting the needs of their patients. Instead of a pill for every ill, they discovered that many imbalances can be addressed by removing certain foods from the diet.
They called these high intolerance foods: gluten, corn, soy, eggs, dairy, peanuts and artificial sweeteners - all the ones I had to remove from our family meals years ago for healing from autoimmune and leaky gut.
It can be so difficult to learn to cook a whole new way. Here are some substitutions we find work well to keep the flavours we love with a new set of ingredients!
Here's what I often use instead:
Gluten - can cause chronic inflammation that leads to symptoms like stubborn weight gain, bloating,
joint pain, and headaches.
Substitutes: millet flour, almond meal, coconut flour, arrowroot starch, gluten-free oats - millet flour is great for thickening and almond meal is a favourite base for baked goods like muffins and cookies. For noodles we like quinoa pasta for its texture and nourishment. We love these crackers: Simple Mills Almond Flour Crackers, 482 g | Costco (costcobusinesscentre.ca)
Corn - the highest GMO product that elevates blood sugars and causes inflammation.
Substitutes: Grain Free Tortilla Chips for nacho chips, Rice Wraps, Green Superfood Wraps, spiced almonds for snacks, protein bites
Soy - can mimic estrogens and cause hormone imbalance.
Substitutes: Almond Milk, Oat Milk, Milkadamia, Hemp Milk or Coconut Milk instead of Soy Milk. Try to find a version without food gums since their inclusion can create digestive problems. Chocolate without soy lecithin - Made Good Chocolate Chips, Cocoa Camino Chocolate is ethically sourced and fair trade. Mint chocolate lovers might join me in loving this one!
Eggs - can be an awesome source of quick, easy protein, but for many of us with chronic illness, they can be a source of abdominal cramping, fatigue, headaches and uncomfortable bloating.
In Baking, substitute: Flax Egg - 1 tbsp Flax Meal in 3 tbsp Water for baking recipes.
Dairy - If you have any of these symptoms: skin breakouts, sinus congestion, headaches, and gut issues - take a break from dairy for a few months to let it out of your system to see how you feel.
Substitutes: For Cheesy sauces try Coconut cream with pureed cashews in water. Sprinkle Yeast Extract like Parmesan on Spaghetti. Daiya has improved its flavour for a grated cheese option. The kinds of milk listed above work well on cereal as a milk substitute.
Peanuts - as a legume, they can often impact people with candida imbalance and create inflammation.
Substitute with other nuts and seeds. Costco has a great nut and seed blend that we love for flavour and better pricing. It works well to replace peanut butter in recipes. If nuts are an issue, look for a seed butter you can tolerate.
Artificial Sweeteners - sucralose or aspartame for sugar, you might be surprised to hear that they are linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other serious diseases. I also have to be careful with sugars or grains that convert to sugar due to the candida connection to chronic fatigue syndrome and Fibromyalgia.
Substitutes: Raw honey, Pure Maple Syrup, Stevia, Krisda Monk Fruit Natural Sweetener and Coconut Sugar.
Nightshades: - Eggplant, Tomato, Potato, Peppers are high in lectins and many people with autoimmune do best by limiting or eliminating them. A Comprehensive List of Nightshade Vegetables - Gundry MD
Cheers to eating to heal!
Here are some family favourite recipes that avoid these sensitivities:
For more on this topic, this is an excellent article: Top 10 Most Inflammatory Foods to Avoid - DrJockers.com
It can be tricky to navigate baking for our family. We have to avoid gluten, corn, soy, eggs, peanuts, dairy, and nightshades as we minimize sugars and grains. We lean heavily on coconut, nuts, meat and veggies in our meals - so our recipes aren't for those with nut allergies or vegetarians though we borrow our dairy substitutes from Vegan recipes.
But I am always experimenting with substitutions that can let us enjoy some of our favourite snacks, desserts and comfort foods while respecting our body's signals and work to heal from leaky gut (intestinal dysbiosis) that is often part of autoimmune disorders.
We cooked up our Halloween pumpkin and put most of it in the freezer - but I left 1 1/3 cups out to enjoy a double batch of pumpkin muffins!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
GF, DF, Egg Free, Paleo
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups Almond Flour
- 1/4 cup Arrowroot Flour or Millet Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tbsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Cloves
- 1 tsp Nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
- 3 Flax Eggs (3 tbsp Ground Flax Seeds in 9 tbsp Water - let it sit to soak in the liquids)
- 1/4 cup smooth nut and seed butter - we use a great blend of Cashew, Almond, Chia Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, and Hazelnut - by Nuts for Nature
- 2/3 cup Coconut Sugar or Sucanat or Monk Fruit Extract
- 1/4 cup Dairy Free Milk -Almond or Coconut Milk (use 1 tbsp of canned milk and top up with water)
- 2/3 cup Pumpkin Puree
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (or Dark Chocolate without soy lecithin)
HERE ARE THE HOW-TOs:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- For best results, line the muffin tray with paper liners. These are so moist, that the liner helps them remove easily from the tin.
- In a large bowl, whisk together Almond Flour, Arrowroot Flour, Baking Soda, Sea Salt, Cinnamon, Cloves, and Nutmeg until well blended.
- In a medium bowl, cream together Flax Eggs, Nut & Seed Butter, Coconut Sugar, Coconut/ Almond Milk, Pumpkin and Vanilla Extract. I used to tell my boys to "mix until it looks like one thing - you can't see any of the individual ingredients anymore."
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and blend until just combined.
- Add in the chocolate chips and mix throughout the batter.
- Spoon into the muffin tin evenly.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 22 minutes until risen, set in the center and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool before removing from muffin tins.
Wright boys love this version!
Breathe deeply and know that you are nourishing your body without spiking blood sugars and creating inflammation. I usually keep mine in the fridge because they are so moist.
Enjoy!
Here are some family favourite recipes that you might enjoy:
