Coconut Pancakes

LCHF and pancakes usually do not go hand in hand. However, there are certain hacks you can do to make it okay. When I was growing up, my dad used to make us pancakes on rainy Saturday mornings. Feeling a little nostalgic today, I decided to try to mix up the recipe my dad used.

Don’t get me wrong – you probably don’t want to eat this for breakfast every day, but once or twice a week is perfectly fine. The net carbs isn’t too bad, and even if I haven’t done the math, most of the ingredients in it is pretty low in carbs.

Here’s what I used:

❤ 2 eggs
❤ 4 (big) tablespoons of yogurt
❤ 4 tablespoons of shredded coconut (or 2 tablespoons of coconut flour)
❤ 1 scoop of bakepro (baking protein)
❤ ½ teaspoon of stevia powder
❤ 1 teaspoon of psyllium husk powder
❤ 1 teaspoon of baking powder
❤ 1 pinch of salt

Start by mixing your eggs and yoghurt, before adding the dry ingredients.

Mix well, and wait 15 minutes. This way, the dry ingredients will absorb most of the liquid.

Melt butter in a frying pan on medium/high, and add the batter like you would with normal pancakes.

Give them a few minutes before flipping them to the other side.

That’s it!

Use your topping of preference. I love the standard butter + pancake syrup (Walden Farms has one with no calories and no carbs!) or butter and strawberries. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any strawberries, so I used a strawberry sauce from Walden Farms. It tasted yummy, but I agree; It looks like there was a pancake massacre going on here:

Other toppings that I think are great for pancakes are blueberry spread, cream cheese, whipped cream, raspberries, blueberries and Walden Farms’ chocolate syrup. What’s your favourite pancake topping?

Something’s Fishy

The Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2004 (NNR2004) claims that we need at least 300 grams/10-12 oz of fish every week. If this is for breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper or a snack is not important, the main thing is that we do eat it. I think I know a zillion people who say they don’t like fish. In my opinion, they’re wrong. They’ve either been eating the kind of fish that comes in a box and is shaped like the alphabet, or they’ve been cooking it wrong. I’m not saying it’s rocket science, but if you don’t know how to cook it right, you can go really wrong. 

So why do we need to eat fish? Well, there’s always the magical effects of omega 3. Omega 3 fatty acids will lower your blood pressure, and help avoid blockage of the arteries. It also helps reduce inflammation. Salmon contains vitamin D and B12, sardines has soft bones that has lots of calcium, and halibut has loads of magnesium. There’s also lots of unsaturated fats, which keeps your arteries clean, and of course – protein. 

This is what you’ll need to make enough for four people: 

Approximately 2 lbs/800 g of salmon
Dill weed, lemon, salt and pepper for flavor
Butter for cooking

Leek sauce:
1 whole leek
2 tbs of butter
300 ml/1 1/2 cups of cream
Salt and pepper for flavor

Vegetables:
1 Squash/zucchini
3 medium sized carrots
1/2 broccoli
Olive oil, salt and pepper

 

Start with the sause. Slice the leek into whatever size you want, but make sure to wash it first. You don’t want to find sand in it -after- slicing it. Melt the butter in a sauce pan, and let the leek simmer in it for a few minutes before adding the cream. Bring it a boil, and turn the temperature down to low, and leave it for approximately 25 minutes, or until it’s thickened a bit. Add salt and pepper towards the end as the leek gives a lot of flavor for free. 

 

Wash your veggies, and chop into whatever size and shape you want them to be in. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper (be careful though, in this case less is more). Stick them in the oven at 390 degrees F/200 degrees C for approximately 15-25 minutes, depending on how crispy you like them. 
Why in the oven? Because this way, you keep the flavor, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals inside the veggies, instead of throwing them out with the water you boiled them in. Also, they taste much, much better. 

 

 

For the fish; cut it into whatever size you prefer (I’m flexible like that). Melt a little butter in a frying pan, and let the fish simmer in it for 1-2 minutes on each side. Before turning them over, add a little bit of salt, pepper and dill weed (or whatever flavor you prefer). 

 

Tada! That’s it! Add some lemon juice if you want to. Slices of lemon is also great to garnish, and add some color. Enjoy!

Give Us Today Our Daily Bread

I don’t think I’ve ever met a person who can say that they honestly don’t like bread. In a serious dislike sort of way. I mean, it’s not one of my favorite things, but there’s not a lot of things that tickle my fancy more than fresh, warm bread with butter. Unfortunately, buying bread at a store today means compromising. You can either get the sort of bread that is good for you, but tastes like a brick, or you can get the kind that tastes like sleeping on clouds, but gives you a serious push up the diabetes ladder.

Sure you want to keep eating this?

So, does this mean we have to stop eating bread? No more sandwiches for lunch? No more toast for breakfast? No, it doesn’t. It’s not about eliminating the things we like. It’s about adjusting how we make them so we can continue eating them, without feeling guilty about it. So where do we get this bread? We bake it, of course. The good news is, this is easy to make gluten free as well. You don’t have time? Well… it really wont take you that long. You’ll need approximately 15 minutes of preparation time, and an hour to bake it. Yes, you can do other stuff while it’s in the oven, and no, it does not need a babysitter. Come on… This looks good, doesn’t it?

Here’s what you’ll need.

8 eggs (medium sized)
1 1/2 cups of sour cream/yogurt/creme fraiche (use whatever you have, it’ll work either way)
8 tablespoons of olive or coconut oil
2 tablespoons of baking powder
Oregano (optional, and as much as you want.)
A pinch of salt
6 tablespoons of psyllium husk
1 cup of oats (you can get gluten free oats as well)
1 cup of pumpkin seeds
1 cup of sunflower seeds
1 cup of sesame seeds
1 cup of sun dried goji berries (if you like them)
1 cup of walnuts
1 cup of hazlenuts
1 cup of almonds

(1 cup is almost the same as 2 dl.)

If you leave out something, you might need to add some almond flour to make the dough stick together, but don’t do this until everything else has been added.

Put the eggs, creme fraiche/sour cream/yogurt and oil in a bowl, and mix well.

Add baking powder, oregano and salt to the batter.

You might want to crush your seeds, goji berries, oats and nuts before adding them. I used a blender, and they turned out like this. If you don’t have a blender, or anything similar, you can try to crush the nuts a little, but leave the seeds whole.

Add the crushed nuts and seeds to the batter, and mix well.

…yes, it is supposed to look a little gross. Should also be a bit sticky. Not as firm as a dough, but not quite like a batter either.

Another great thing is that since you don’t use yeast, you can just pop it right into the oven after mixing it. Pour the batter/dough into cupcake trays, loaf pans or whatever you have that you can leave in the oven. 350 degrees F/175 degrees C for 45-70 minutes, and this is what you get. I also like to add some poppy seeds before popping it in the oven, but you can also use sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds or whatever you want. Goji berries do not work well though. The one time I tried, they turned out tasting like charcoal.

There you have it. Super healthy, nutritious bread. No preservatives of course, so you might want to keep it in the fridge or freezer. High in protein, healthy fats, no sugar and no trans fat, and not too heavy on the carbs either. In other words: Guilt free bread!

You should try it. You might even like it.

Fast Food or Fuel Food?

As a student, I am capable of understanding that time is precious. We all have too little time, and too much to do. We all know we should exercise and eat healthy, but no one has time for that these days. My days are packed with classes, work, studying, volunteer work, meetings and relationships that require my attention. There are only 24 hours in a day, and when I barely have time for bathroom breaks and showering, let alone sleeping, how am I supposed to exercise regularly, and eat healthy? In a parallel universe, the ideal day would be at least 10 hours longer, and sleeping would be optional. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Luckily, there are certain adjustments that don’t require a lot of time and energy, but still make a huge difference. These adjustments alone are my inspiration for this blog. 

Life expectancy in Norway is approximately 81 years, only beaten by Sweden and Japan. I believe that is pretty impressive.  That being said, I don’t think living is as much about life quantity as it is about life quality. Think about it for a minute; would you rather live until you’re 120, but spend your last 50 years in an institution, or would you die sooner, but enjoy life to the fullest until the bitter end? I know what I would prefer.

These days, when “everyone” is trying to lose weight, it’s easy to lose focus as well. Food is not just about calories and carbs. It’s also about nutrients: Vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals. Everyone is obsessed with proteins, but do they really have a clue about what proteins are? Do the LCHF’ers truly understand what they are and aren’t eating? Everyone knows you shouldn’t eat too much red meat, but do you honestly know why? Nutrition is complicated. It’s a science. Unfortunately, there is only so much I know about it. But being an expert in nutrition is (so far) not my goal. What I hope to achieve with this blog is to break down the myths, and explain the basics in why your body needs fuel, not just food.

Think about this: Your body is complicated. It is much more complicated than a car. I don’t know much about cars, but rumor has it that a car will not run without fuel. Not just any fuel. It needs the right fuel. A diesel engine will not run well on gasoline, and vice versa. You don’t give your car whatever costs less. You give your car whatever it needs to run. A car will not go anywhere without the right fuel. I hate to break it to you, but neither will your body.