Showing posts with label Paleo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paleo. Show all posts

Thursday, October 16, 2014

2 Ingredient Banana Pancakes

Legends of the mystical "2 ingredient pancakes" have been floating around the blogosphere for many moons, so I decided it was finally time to find out for myself if this mythical culinary unicorn did in fact exist.  The lore, frankly, just seemed too good to be true.

There are a few key features of this "recipe" that set my soul on fire.  First and foremost, you only need 2 ingredients.  I'm sold right there.  As someone who does the bare minimum in terms of cooking and meal preparation, I do not have a fully stocked kitchen.  Many times, I'll come across recipes online I'd love to try, only to discover I don't currently have any of the needed ingredients and frankly, wouldn't even know where to procure them!  (ie. almond flour, brewer's yeast)

In addition, these pancakes are healthy and pack a nutritional punch.  They're low-carb, high protein and dairy free!  Pretty much the complete opposite of your standard pancake, hence the reason I rarely eat pancakes, unless they're prepared by me.  Because there's no flour, they're also gluten free.

Alright so I've been sung their praises on blog after blog for months.  Time to find out if they live up to the hype.  I decided to treat myself to these little gems this morning before work.  Most days I'm up and out the door before 7 so taking a little time to sit down to a  hot breakfast was a really nice treat!  (My normal breakfasts lately have been a bowl of cold cereal or a protein shake.)  With the fall weather upon us, it also just feels like the perfect time to be eating pancakes.

Without further ado, I present to you step by step instructions for this incredibly complicated recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
2 eggs
1 banana (ripe)

 
 
DIRECTIONS:

1.  Mush up your banana with a fork in a bowl.  You should be using a fairly ripe banana for this recipe.  Mush as finely as you can because as noted in another blog, if you don't, you're just going to end up with scrambled eggs, with chunks of banana mixed in.  And no one wants that.

2.  Once the banana is finely mushed (technical term I'm sure), add in your 2 eggs and whisk with the fork until combined.  Your batter ends up looking like this:



3.  Spoon batter onto a greased skillet (I used non-stick cooking spray) and cook at medium-low to medium heat.  I started my first pancake out at medium heat, but by the time I got to my 3rd pancake, the pan was getting too hot and I had to crank it down. 

 
 
4.  Check for browning and that flip that baby to side #2:
 
 
 
5.  You're done!  Top with bit of real maple syrup like I did or anything else your heart desires (fruit, nuts, whipped cream, go crazy) and DIG IN:
 


FYI:  1 banana + 2 eggs yielded 3 large pancakes for me, so keep that in mind if you are preparing these for more than one person or an entire family. 
 
VERDICT:
The unicorn does exist!  I enjoyed not only the extreme ease of preparation of these pancakes, but the 'cakes themselves.  They were YUMMY!  They are obviously not quite as doughy or fluffy as regular pancakes, but they tasted like warm banana bread to me.  Mmmmmmmmmmmm.  Healthy comfort food at its finest.
 
*A tip I saw on another blog suggested adding a pinch of baking powder to make them fluffier.  I may try this next time.  I've also seen suggestions to add vanilla extract for flavor, but I actually really liked the banana flavor.



So, what do you think? 

Will you try the infamous 2 ingredient pancakes?! 

Have you tried them already? 

Thursday, September 4, 2014

AMRAP Protein Bars Review and GIVEAWAY!

Happy Thursday everyone!  It's going to be a great one, because I have some tasty news coming at you today.  Through my affiliation with SweatPink/FitApproach, I was afforded the opportunity to try out some new protein bars made by a company called AMRAP Nutrition. 


AMRAP is a company founded by several athletes, nutrition experts and Paleo lifestyle enthusiasts.  They have developed nutrition bars that are clean, 100% Paleo and free from GMO's, Gluten, Dairy, Soy, Preservatives and Artificial Sweeteners.  All good things right?  But how did they TASTE?!

I was sent one of each of their three flavors to sample, including:  Almond Honey, Cashew Vanilla and Fig Cacao

 
 
So far, I have tried the Cashew Vanilla and the Almond Honey.  INCREDIBLE!  The Cashew Vanilla was by far my favorite.  It contains coconut and I love coconut flavored anything.  As far as nutrition goes, being dairy free is KEY for me.  As you know, it's often difficult for me to find protein bars, snacks and powders that are made without dairy ingredients.  I also like that these bars contain only a few ingredients and are all natural.
 
For example, the Cashew Vanilla bar has only 7 ingredients!  (Cashews, Honey, Cashew Butter, Unsweetened Coconut, Egg White Protein, Vanilla Extract and Sea Salt)  There is literally no crap and nothing artificial or unnecessary in here.  When compared with some other protein bars I usually eat, like LUNA or Odwalla, they often have 20 or more!
 
 


If you can't see all of the nutrition details in my pic above and you'd like a full nutritional breakdown of each bar, you can check out that information on AMRAP's website here.

The bars are around 300 calories each and contain anywhere from 12-15 grams of protein.  While most of the bars I usually consume are closer to the 200 calorie range, I don't mind a more energy-dense bar, especially because it kept my hunger at bay at work for hours! 

Right now, I believe you can only purchase the bars online through the company's website, or through gyms that decide to carry the bars.  However you are in luck, because AMRAP is allowing me to give one lucky reader a 12 bar pack ($48 value)! 

All you have to do is enter the Rafflecopter below.  Winner will be selected next Thursday.  GOOD LUCK!


a Rafflecopter giveaway


*Disclosure:  I was given a sample pack of AMRAP bars to review, but was not compensated in any way for this post.  All opinions are always my own!