Coconut Pancakes

I posted a photo of these pancakes on the Facebook page yesterday and they got lots of attention.... Thing is, I had them for lunch. How can you eat pancakes for lunch when your goal is fat loss??

Well... it's pretty simply! First of all these pancakes are full of fantastic ingredients which won't affect your goals. They're high fat & protein and low carb...Secondly, and most importantly, I'm smart about it.... if I have something like this for lunch that's a little high on the calorie side, you can be sure that the rest of my meals are planned with this in mind. I'm not for one second suggesting that you should eat pancakes every day of the week.... BUT if you're going to, make it these beauties :) 

For the pancakes:

• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp coconut milk (or full fat cow's milk) 
• 1 tbsp coconut flour
• 1 scoop protein powder of your choice (usually approx 25g)
• 1 tbsp dessicated coconut
• 2 tsp baking powder

Whisk all the ingredients together in a large bowl until light & fluffy. 

The mixture will be quite runny at this stage, so you need to put it in the fridge for 15 minutes. Coconut flour absorbs a lot of moisture, but it takes a few minutes to do this & give you a thick pancake batter. 

While you're waiting.... you can make the most amazing topping for pancakes ever...Frozen raspberry fluff!! 

For the fluff (can't believe I'm calling it fluff but hey... it tastes good!)..

• 60g frozen raspberries 
• 1 scoop protein powder (I used vanilla whey protein)
• 2 tbsp Greek Yoghurt

Blend together in a food processor/using a hand blender & watch it form a frothy pink fluff! 

By now your pancakes will be ready to cook, so pop the fluff into the freezer until you need it to keep it like frozen yoghurt... 

To cook the pancakes: 

Simple cooking at it's best... 

Melt a little coconut oil in a frying pan, drop large spoonfuls of the batter onto the hot oil. 

Don't attempt to flip the pancakes until you see little air bubbles on the surface of the pancakes. This means the underside is cooked. 

To assemble your mountain of pancakes:

Take your frozen yoghurt from the freezer. It will have solidified slightly at this stage. You can use a stick blender to break up any ice crystals that have formed. 

Simple really... a pancake, a layer of fluff & repeat.... 

Watch the warm pancakes melt the fluff slightly....Yum! 

Drizzle the top of the mountain with the remaining fluff. 

To decorate, I drizzled with a teaspoon of Keen Almond Butter, some flaked coconut & a raspberry. 

It took serious self control to have the patience to take photos before devouring these!! While it's a real treat to have something like this... there's lot of healthy fats from the coconut, eggs & Greek Yoghurt, and they're a great protein source....

YUM! 

Fish and chips in 30 minutes...

Yep.. you can still have fish and chips!

I was never a fan of the traditional grease laden fish and chips from a takeaway, so I can't say it's something I've missed from my diet. A friend was calling round for lunch, and said they fancied fish and chips.....that meant one of two things, they were either going to have to go to a takeaway alone, or be disappointed! I like looking after people... it's probably one of the things I do best. I would hate to disappoint, so I set out to make grown up fish and chips for our lunch...Believe me, they weren't disappointed and this will definitely be added to my growing repertoire of favourite dishes..

I love meals that are quick and simple to make...they're vital tools in an argument with someone who says that they just don't have the time to cook healthy food. Cook this once for a friend who is 'too busy' too cook, or for fussy children who only ask for processed fish fingers and chips for dinner, and they'll never go back to the freezer aisle for fish fingers!

Fish bites: 

• salmon darnes (or any fish of your choice)
• almond flour (or ground almonds from the baking aisle)
• dessicated coconut
• 1 lime, zest and juice
• pinch of sea salt
• coconut oil

Start by cutting fish into bite size pieces. 

Place a few tablespoons of almond flour and dessicated coconut on a plate with 1 teaspoon of lime zest & sea salt and toss together. 

Start by rolling each piece of fish in the almond flour mix, coating lightly. 

Next dip in lime juice (you want a thick coating on eat bite, so the juice will help it stick & add flavour...you can use lemon, egg or coconut milk for this step depending on what type of flavour you want)

Roll each piece of fish in the almond flour mixture again until well coated. 

Place on baking tray, and drizzle with a little melted coconut oil.

Sweet potato chips: 

• sweet potato (you can peel it if you prefer, but I like the crispy texture the skin gives the chips)
• chilli flakes
• sea salt 
• coconut oil

Slice sweet potato into chips. 

Drizzle with melted coconut oil and sprinkle with chilli and sea salt. 

Place on baking tray with the salmon bites as they'll take about the same length of time to cook. (If you've made thick chips, place these in the oven 10 minutes before the fish bites to avoid overcooking the fish) 

Place in preheated oven (170d) and bake until fish and chips are golden and crispy (15-20 minutes)

Serve with peas and some homemade chilli & lime dipping sauce. (Just mix tomato paste, lime juice, chilli flakes, crushed garlic and sea salt together... this is very much down to personal taste so add a little of each at a time until you like the flavour)

This was a really delicious lunch, and it took only 30 mins between preparation and cooking time...I'm pretty sure it would take longer to cook frozen fish and chips, or go to the takeaway! Besides, if you can't find the time in your day to may sure you're eating food to maintain your health, then you really need to look at your priorities...