Gluten-Free, Vegan Pancakes

Several years ago after Avery was born, I made a "Food Bucket List" of all the recipes I wanted to not only try, but make so good that as she grew up she would say, "Oh Mom, please make your ________! They are my favorite!" Every mom can dream right? At the time I had a few go-to recipes that were pretty good, but I wanted some I was famous for (in my home) and pancakes were at the top of my list along with hummus, gluten-free pizza crust and biscuits, and some "healthified" cupcakes and frosting for birthday parties.

I grew up eating Bisquick pancakes from home as well as pancakes from IHOP (anyone else used to love the strawberry syrup they had there?) and as I've gotten older, cleaned up my diet and cleared out the foods I had sensitivities to (gluten and dairy), pancakes became a little more difficult to make.

But with my new-mommy enthusiasm, I began testing recipes. I had flat pancakes, burnt pancakes, bland pancakes, and dry pancakes...but I didn't give up. Luckily I found a recipe from a blog several years ago (which is unfortunately no longer around for me to link to) and it really helped me to finally see some success. Since then, I've adapted the recipe some more and I truly think you will love the results. They are fluffy, golden and soft, sometimes rare features in gluten-free, vegan pancakes!

This is a recipe I make on almost a weekly basis so I have enough pancakes to get my family and I through the week. I usually have my pancakes each day for a morning snack to hold me over until lunch and with the greens in my diet and the reduced sugar in this recipe, I don't feel too guilty about indulging in this snack so frequently. Best of all they are homemade and since I can control the ingredients I don't have to worry about preservatives or other additives...win win!

Let's get started with that recipe:


"Gluten-Free, Vegan Pancakes"
Servings: 18-20 pancakes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rice milk (I use "Trader Joe's Rice Drink")
• 3/4 cup unsweetened organic applesauce
• 1/4 cup safflower oil (or whatever oil you use)
• 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 3 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1 cup millet flour
• 1 1/2 cups tapioca flour
• 1/2 cup Lakanto sweetener or coconut sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. guar gum or xanthan gum
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 pinches of salt

The dry ingredients

The wet ingredients...because they all would not fit in one shot!

Steps:

1. Combine all the dry ingredients into a bowl.

2. Combine all the wet ingredients into a second bowl, whisk together.

3. Combine dry into wet and stir until there are no clumps. Now allow the
batter to sit and thicken for at least 5 minutes.

4. While you're waiting, turn your griddle on to about 280 degrees. 

Since the batter is vegan (no eggs) I feed it to my batter-lovin girls who
eat it up by the spoonful. 

Check out the end of the video to see a funny animal sound conversation
I had with Mila while she ate her batter. 

Now that the batter has thickened and the griddle is warm you can use a 1/3 cup
measuring cup to scoop out the batter or I like to use an old ice cream scoop
we have that seems to get the portions right as well. 

5. Now pour the batter onto a semi-greased griddle (I use a tsp. or so of the safflower
oil I used earlier in the recipe and I spread it around evenly with a cloth
napkin.

6. Next I let the pancakes cook on the first side for about 3-4 minutes.

7. Then I flip them and cook the other side for another 3-4 minutes.

8. Once finished I remove them from the griddle and stack them on a plate
to cool.

Cooling off..

Once I get to the end of my batter I like to do some fun mix-ins like
chocolate chips (I use this brand: Lily's Sweets Baking Chips that
are sweetened with stevia)

Another favorite mix-in of our's is strawberries and since fresh strawberries
aren't in season, I just chop up some organic frozen ones and stir them into
the batter. Sometimes it helps to put the batter in a separate bowl for this part.

Then I cook them as I did with the previous batches.

So thick and fluffy!

Then the pancakes are complete! This batch makes about 18-20
pancakes if you use 1/3 cup batter per pancake, this pic is just a shot
of a few of them.

I usually try to make this recipe on the weekend and then I save them to
eat during the week.

Oddly enough, my favorite way to top my pancakes is with Earth Balance
Vegan Butter and Trader Joe's Organic Strawberry Fruit Spread. I used to use
maple syrup but that has about 27g of sugar for 2 Tbs. and just 1 Tbs. (all I
usually use my typical serving of 2 pancakes) has 7g of sugar. Yum!

Now I'm off to go save some of my pancakes before a hungry one-year-old
takes them!

Share below, what's your favorite pancake recipe? Do you like mix-ins? If so, what are they? Also, how do you top your pancakes? Can't wait to hear. 

If you make this recipe, tag me on Instagram @ashleysgreenlife, I'd love to see them. 

See you next week greenies!

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A Peek Inside My Vegan Fridge

One of my favorite types of posts to read other than what someone eats in a day, is what's inside their fridge and pantry.  Not only to see what they buy, eat, and love but also how they organize and store it. So after several of you requested to see mine, I'm excited to share it with you today!

This will be a two part post where I will first share what's inside my fridge, and in the next post we'll tour my pantry.

If you're new to my blog I'll let you know that I feed four people in my family: my 2 daughters (Avery 3, Mila 1), my husband, and myself. My girls and I are gluten-free vegans. My husband is vegetarian and can eat wheat. We try to avoid GMOs when possible (click here to read why), and I try to get organic as much as possible especially for my fruits and veggies. I use the Environmental Working Group's Dirty Dozen/Clean Fifteen to help guide my priorities when it comes to choosing which foods to buy organic and which to buy conventional.

Another thing to note is that several months ago I cut sugar from my diet in nearly all forms (sugar, evaporated cane juice, coconut sugar, date syrup, agave nectar, maple syrup, etc.). The only sweeteners I use now are stevia, a new sweeter called Lakanto (you'll see more about this in my "pantry" post), and fruit. I've always been really sensitive to the effects of sugar in how I get instant headaches and really tired when I eat it, so I've been feeling much better since I've cut it out of my diet. With that said, you will still find a few products in my fridge and pantry that contain sugar, but they are mainly for Brandon and Avery (I do let her have sugar occasionally).

My go-to sweeteners these days.

I've also been reducing my soy intake lately. As a vegan it's easy to go soy-crazy, since so many meat, cheese, and dairy alternatives are made from soy. But for me, I've found that if I eat too much soy, too often and in a more processed form (like soy veggie burgers, soy yogurt, soy "chicken" strips, etc.) I end up with an upset stomach. So lately I've reduced my soy intake to 2-3 times a week, and only in a less processed form like tofu. For example, we'll have tofu for dinner one night, followed by leftovers the next day, and then I'll maybe have tofu for one other meal that week= my 3 servings a week. This is a reduction for me because I used to have it daily, and sometimes twice a day. I'm not anti-soy by any means, but I think that I feel better when I have it more in moderation and in a more whole form, not so processed.

Last, I mention several things about green juice in this post, which I try to have daily and if not, at least several times a week. If you're interested in learning more about my favorite green juice recipe and why I juice, click here to read: "My Daily Green Juice" post.


Okay, now that we've got all that out of the way, let's get to the tour!


No time for the video? Here's a picture tour...

Let's enter my vegan fridge...

Top shelf: 

• leftover pineaple spears for green juice
• leftover Trader Joe's Vegetable Broth
• Trader Joe's Organic Rice Drink, this is our go-to non-dairy milk as we use it for baking, drinking, and in cereal. Even better, there's no carrageenan in it!
• Trader Joe's Organic Orange Juice (only ingredient: organic orange juice) Now it's been years since I've had soda and Avery has never even tasted it, so the only "fun drink" we have other than green juice and rice milk is this organic orange juice...I know, we're living on the edge right?!) 

Bread and Fruit Shelf:

• Rudi's Honey Sweet Whole Wheat Bread (for Brandon)
• Food for Life Gluten Free Brown Rice Bread (This is my favorite gluten-free, vegan bread, since most gluten-free breads have eggs.)
• Drawer with organic lemons for warm lemon water and organic Gala apples for green juice and snacks

Here's the rest of my fruit, I usually get 3-4 bunches of bananas each week
for snacks and the rest go in the freezer for smoothies. Oh and I've
got a tomato there too!

Snack Shelf:

• Almond Dream Strawberry Yogurt This is a favorite of the girls!
• Trader Joe's Organic Applesauce I use this applesauce a lot in my vegan baking and it's a great "dinner extender" as I call it when Mila says, "All done!" after just 5 minutes of eating. 
• Muir Glen Organic Mild Salsa This is my go-to salsa, as it does not contain any sugar and is mild in flavor. Sometimes I'll mix some fresh cilantro in to freshen it up.
• Engine 2 Plant Strong Traditional Hummus. Hummus is one of our favorite afternoon snacks to have with some baby carrots or sprouted chips. 
• So Delicious Dairy-Free CocoWhip I just recently discovered this at Whole Foods and Avery is more than impressed! It does contain sugar, but she loves it on top of some frozen fruit. 

Leftover Shelf:

• (in the back) breastmilk I've pumped for Mila, learn more about how I go green with my pumping and baby bottle routine in this post.
• Leftovers- gluten-free rice noodles on top and quinoa and black beans on the bottom
• 2 containers of gluten-free, sugar-free, vegan pancakes (I always make a double batch on the weekend for us to eat throughout the week) 
• Flax seed hair gel, click the title to learn how to make it and why I have to keep it in the fridge
• Leftover cucumber for green juice
• Earth Balance Soy-Free Natural Buttery Spread
• Applesauce/Fruit Pouches for the girls, I use Santa Cruz Organic's Apple Strawberry Sauce and Ella's Kitchen Smoothie Fruits. I used to think these were not very green, but then I had 2 kids and realized how great they are for a healthy snack on the go!

A double batch of pancakes I made on the weekend to
have throughout the week...keep reading to find my new
favorite pancake topping (that's not maple syrup!).

Cheese/Tofu Drawer:

• Daiya Cheese (Cheddar Style Block, Mozzarella Style Shreds, Smoked Gouda Style Block) This is the only brand of vegan cheese we will ever buy, it melts great, tastes great, and is soy-free! Avery is a big fan of this stuff.
• Tofurky Deli Slices (contains wheat) Brandon loves making sandwiches with these.
• Beyond Meat's Beyond Chicken Strips Although I've been trying to reduce my processed soy, both girls love these strips so they have them occasionally. 
• Nasoya Extra Firm Organic Tofu I've tried a lot of tofus, and this is by far my favorite. Other brands can be dry or have an after taste, but not this one. Perfect tofu every time! 

Veggie Drawer: (almost all from Trader Joe's) I love to get almost all of my fruits and veggies from Trader Joe's because they have some of the lowest prices on organic produce)

• 2 bags of cauliflower florets, one of our favorite veggies to roast in the oven with a little garlic and salt. We all eat it like it's candy! 
• 1 bag of organic baby carrots 
• 1 bag of organic carrots
• 1 bag of organic broccoli florets
• 1 red pepper and 1 green pepper
• 4 organic cucumbers (for green juice)
• 1 organic celery stalk
• 1 bunch of cilantro

Greens Drawer (also all from Trader Joe's):

• 1 bag of organic baby romaine lettuce (for salads that I don't eat...I actually can't tolerate the texture of lettuce, I only like it in smoothies or green juice, but Brandon and Avery love salads!)
• 1 bag of organic Tuscan kale (for green juice)
• 2-3 bags of organic baby spinach (for smoothies)

Moving on to the door of the fridge...

 Top shelf:

• organic lime and lemon juice 
• fresh ginger (for green juice)
• India Tree's Nature's Colors Decorating Set These are my alternatives to traditional food colorings, you can read more about how and why I use these here. 

Sauces and Condiment Shelf: 

• Tree of Life Organic Yellow Mustard
• Trinity Hill Farms Sweet Chili Sauce, Ketchup and Barbecue Sauce
• Hampton Creek's Just Mayo Chipotle (this does have sugar)
• Red Star Quick Rise Yeast (I love making my own pizza crust with this)
• Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos: Raw Coconut Aminos, Garlic Sauce, Teriyaki Sauce

Here's a closer look at the Trinity Hill Farms condiments I love.
As you can imagine, it's impossible to find a ketchup or Barbecue
sauce without sugar, but then I found Trinity Hill Farms.
They use stevia to sweeten their sauces, and they are gluten-free and vegan.
At this time they are only available online.

And here's a close up of my other favorite sauces the Coconut Secret Aminos.
I use the Raw Coconut Aminos in place of Bragg's Liquid Aminos (a soy-based sauce
that I used to use in place of wheat-based soy sauce). We also make delicious stir-fry
with the Garlic Sauce and Teriyaki Sauce. I love that these sauces have no sugar
added and are sweetened instead by coconut sap. They have a super short ingredient
list too! Win win!

Smoothie/Chocolate Shelf:

• Ah!laska Chocolate Syrup (This has sugar, but Avery and Brandon love this mixed with rice milk for chocolate milk or hot chocolate)
• Trader Joe's Organic Grade B Maple Syrup (Avery's favorite pancake topping!)
• Wax Orchard's Oh, Fudge! Sauce I just recently discovered this yummy dip and was surprised to find out it has no sugar added, instead it is sweetened with fruit juice concentrates. Still what we call "a sometimes food" but it hits the spot when you're craving some chocolate. 
• Organic Chia Seeds. I have 3-4 Tablespoons of these powerful seeds daily in a homemade chia seed drink, click here for the recipe. 
• Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts. I like to add these to my girl's fruit smoothies. 
• Navitas Naturals Organic Raw Cacao Powder . A great add-in for smoothies and vegan baking. Here's my all-time favorite smoothie recipe to make with it: "Chocolate Ice Cream Smoothie."

Spreads:

• Trader Joe's Organic Salted Valencia Peanut Butter: Since I've decreased my soy, I've turned to peanut butter on occasion to give me a little protein pick me up if I need it. One of my favorite snacks is just this peanut butter on a slice of gluten-free toast.
• East Wind Organic Tahini: We use this for vegan cheese as well as homemade hummus.
• East Wind Organic Cashew Butter: I love using this to make homemade vegan rice krispies.
• Trader Joe's Super Fruit Spread: Avery's favorite "jelly" that has no added sugar.
• Trader Joe's Organic Strawberry Fruit Spread: My favorite "jelly" and my new favorite pancake topping (with a little vegan butter) since I stopped using maple syrup. This takes the sugar content from 25g (for 2 Tbs. maple syrup) to 8g (1 Tbs. jelly), which I love. 

Bulk Shelf:

• Almond flour I don't cook too often with this flour, but I do have a couple vegan desserts call for it. 
• Brown flax seeds For making flax seed hair gel as you saw above.
• Ground flax seeds A must for vegan baking, and replacing eggs (aka "Flax Egg")
• Trader Joe's cashew meal/flour. Sometimes I will use this for making vegan cheeses that call for cashews to be finely ground. 

Now moving on to the freezer...

Top shelf:

• Frozen bananas (aka our "Banana Bank" which we use for smoothies, click here to learn more about how I freeze fruit for smoothies). I don't cover them because they are used up within a couple of days and don't seem to go bad.
• Popsicles with Metro 18/8 Stainless Steel 6 pc. Popsicle Molds. So it figures that it's the middle of winter and my girls are obsessed with popsicles! But I've got a post coming soon where I show how we make them (basically just make a smoothie, pour it into the stainless steel molds), and why I chose this cool eco-friendly mold!

Avery loves her smoothie popsicles...even on the go!

Frozen Fruit Shelf (all from Trader Joe's because they have the lowest prices for organic frozen fruit that I have found):

• 4 Organic Frozen Strawberries
• 2 Frozen Pineapple Tidbits
• Frozen Organic Blueberries
• Frozen Organic Raspberries (We primarily use all of this frozen fruit for smoothies, but my girls also just love to eat them for snacks. So instead of reaching for chips or snack bars, they are often content just to eat frozen fruit...not always, but sometimes!)

Nuts/Seeds/Bread Shelf (I store them in here to keep them fresh for longer):

• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Cashews-I go through the cashews the most since they are often the base of my vegan, soy-free cheeses such as in this "Soy-Free Lasagna" recipe.
• Sunflower Seeds
• Food for Life Brown Rice Tortillas. This is the tortillas the girls and I use, and the only one we've been able to find that's gluten-free and vegan. 
• Food for Life Gluten-Free Brown Rice English Muffins. I love these English Muffins because they don't contain sugar, gluten, or eggs. I like to have them with vegan butter and organic, no-sugar added jelly. 

Brandon's Drawer: 

Many of you have asked me if my husband eats like me, and the answer is no...and that's okay! If there's one this I've learned in my green journey it is that the only person you can change is yourself. So as much as I would love it if my hubby was on board with all my crazy health antics, he does have a sweet tooth and a dairy tooth...and a caffeine tooth, so I let him choose how green/healthy he wants to be. With that said, he does have drawer in the freezer where he keeps some of his snacks, treats and  frozen dinners, such as:

• Trader Joe's Mac 'n Cheese
• Trader Joe's Bean & Rice Burritos
• Trader Joe's Egg Nog Ice Cream (Ha! Probably not what you were thinking you would see in my vegan fridge, but it's what works for him so I've learned to let it go.) 

Now onto the door of the freezer...

Veggie Burger Shelf:

• Sunshine Burger Barbecue. 
• Hilary's Eat Well The World's Best Veggie Burger: This is my favorite veggie burger right now, and as I said earlier, I've been trying to reduce my soy intake so although I loved a tofu veggie burger from Trader Joe's in the past, this quinoa-based burger is my new go-to. It's very unique, and delicious especially with some Trinity Hill Farm's Barbecue Sauce!

Frozen Veggies (all Cascadian Farms):

• Organic Green Beans
• Organic Peas
• Organic Corn (I use these mainly for soups and stews)

Avery's Shelf:

• Trader Joe's Gone Bananas (Chocolate-Covered Bananas) these do contain sugar, but she loves them and when she's only eating two per serving I think it's a pretty decent sweet treat. Adults beware...it's impossible to eat just two little chocolate-covered bananas!
• Ice Packs for if the girls get hurt. (  :

So there you have it, my vegan fridge and freezer. Did you see any food that you currently buy that we both have? How about a new product your interested in? Post it below! Got any questions? Post those too.

Be sure to check out "A Peek Inside My Vegan Pantry" which will be posted tomorrow...

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