Buckwheat Blueberry Chocolate Pancakes

Yesterday my friend Shawnna and I tried a new vegetarian restaurant for the first time, Sadie's Diner. Cozy and adorable on a rainy night, it was adorable and looked like someone's granny's kitchen. I was overwhelmed for choice with the menu, but had been craving a veggie burger, so I went for that.

No regrets, it was the tastiest morsel I've eaten in awhile. It tasted like it had been home cooked on a BBQ in the summer, and I probably put off everyone around me with the ketchup dripping all over my face while I ate it.

Incredibly meaty seeming for a veggie burger, and with some delish onions on top. Definitely going back! Shawnna got pancakes which led me to my inspiration for this post. Lately my pancake experiments haven't been quite right, they're tasty but missing that fluffy cakiness that is quintessential pancakes, to me. I haven't attempted buckwheat pancakes before, but had some buckwheat hanging out in my cupboard, so these were born.

If you're feeling eager you can mix the dry ingredients up in a bowl the night before so you can have pancakes even faster in the morning. Then you don't have to try to figure out measurements that early in the day. I'm always at a loss for why blueberry and chocolate chips have to be two seperate options on the menu. I want it all in one pancake.

Topped with some blueberry compote, maple syrup, and pumpkin butter, these were a perfect start to a Tuesday. Depending on your protein powder, the batter might get a little too thick. Add some almond milk if that happens, you want it to be not quite liquid, but still pourable.

I like to wait til the pancakes are in the pan to add the blueberries, to avoid turning the batter grey.

Buckwheat Blueberry Chocolate Pancakes

1 cup buckwheat flour
1 1/4 cup almond milk
1 scoop chocolate protein powder(I used Vega)
2 packets of stevia
1 tablespoon agave(optional)
cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 flax egg(1 tablespoon flax meal, 3 tablespoons water mixed and allowed to thicken)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup blueberries

In a bowl mix together buckwheat flour, protein powder, stevia, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips.

Mix together almond milk, agave, vanilla and flax egg. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in wet. Stir until smooth. Add more almond milk if necessary.

In a medium heat pan, cook pancakes, about 2-3 mins each side depending on size. They're ready to flip when the edges look firm and a bit bubbly.

Banana Soft Serve

This week is flying by, I can't believe it's Thursday already. This morning I woke up planning on maybe making today a rest day, but I was feeling zesty and wanted to go lift some weights, so off to the gym I went! It was empty today, which is my favorite way for it to be. I did some strength moves in short bursts of 20-30 seconds, with 15 second breaks which was great for getting my heart rate up. I feel like I noticeably lost strength when I stopped lifting heavier while I was in Vancouver, so I've been easing back into it slowly.

While I was in Vancouver I was experimenting with adding more healthy fat into my diet, and somehow from that I lost weight. Or toned up a bit more, or a bit of both. I've been using photos to measure progress because they don't seem to bother me the same way knowing numbers does. Even though it's been a year since I started making a conscious effort to feed my body what it needs, and not restrict it still seems like it's slowly stabilizing itself still. I only started getting regular periods in January, and I guess things are still working themselves out.

Lately I've been trying adding more carbs into my diet in the forms of whole grains mostly. It's kind of making my energy levels go off the walls! In my head for some reason I still think I should stay away from carbs, even though I know your body needs them. Still learning to let go of weird food hangups I guess.

I've done miraculously well with cutting down my sugar intake the past couple days. I've been eating less fruit than previously, and more lower sugar fruits. One thing I noticed was even though I've been eating lower sugar fruits, after I eat them I crave more for no particular reason, even if I'm full. It's interesting to see how foods can affect you when you start paying more attention to them.

I had my 5th Health History session today, and I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of it. It was so much easier to talk and connect, and get meaningful answers. I enjoy so much about learning about other people's diets and journeys'. I never get tired of talking about food.

Banana soft serve is so ridiculously easy, and not even really a recipe. It's one that's been floating around the internet for awhile. I made some the other day because I was excited to try my new food processor, and it photographed well, so here it is:

Banana Soft Serve

Take 2 bananas, chop into pieces, then freeze til hard. Process in a food processor until soft. It will sounds like the food processor is about to die initially, but it will be okay!

For a bit firmer texture freeze it for about half an hour before serving, or use as is for a more soft serve consistency.

You can add 1/2 cup frozen other fruit as well, like strawberries, blueberries, mango, etc. Chocolate chips are a good mix in as well.

I topped mine with this recipe!

Blueberry Peach Parfaits

Summer is my favorite season for eating. All the fruit, berries, and vegetables in the stores looks luscious and vibrant, and all my favorite fruits are in season. I find that the simplest ways to enjoy them are sometimes the best, as they taste so great they don't really need much done to them. I picked up some peaches recently, and we had a fridge overflowing in blueberries, so I decided to throw them together, make some extra blueberry sauce for topping, and make some parfaits.

I've tried some brands of soy yogurt previously, but wasn't all to impressed with the flavours. When some genius (Amande, which is French for almond by the way), started making almond milk into yogurt. Probiotics and almond milk, what's not to like?! I tried vanilla, and it tasted great to me. The texture is remarkably similar to dairy yogurt, and it has a similar sweet tanginess.

Whilst in Whole Foods I was overwhelmed with the choices of dairy free whipped cream toppings, so I decided to purchase them all so I could determine which one I liked best, and then share that knowledge with you. In the past faux whipped cream has been very hit or miss(more misses than hits, really). While it's not too difficult to make your own using agar, I missed the joy of squeezing whipped cream out of a can into pretty shapes. Presentation is everything, my friends. And while yes I could just get my own piping tubes, I'm not really that motivated in that direction.

Soyatoo makes both a soy whipped topping and a rice milk one, which both contain about 16 calories per tablespoon. They don't have any strange ingredients on the label, which is a plus in my books(I'm looking at you Cool Whip)! The soy one tasted a little strange on it's own, but when mixed with other ingredients, it passed muster. It was a bit harder to get out of the can, and was a bit more solid than most whipping creams, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. There was a bit of a weird sweetness to it though. I'd eat it again however!

The rice milk one was definitely my favorite in terms of taste and resembling real whipped cream texture. It came out of the can a little easier, and didn't have the weird sweet flavor to it. I've still yet to try the nut milk whipped cream, which comes in a carton and you have to whip it yourself. I'll report back on that one soon!

Blueberry Peach Parfaits

Blueberry Sauce(recipe to follow)
1/2 cup blueberries
1 peach, chopped finely
1/4 cup puffed quinoa
1/2 cup dairy free yogurt
Vegan whipped cream to top

Layer some blueberries in a glass, cover with a layer of yogurt, puffed quinoa, and peaches. Repeat in both glasses til all ingredients are used up, then top with blueberry sauce, more quinoa puffs and whipped cream.

If you can't find puffed quinoa substitute granola or buckwheat.

Blueberry Sauce

2 cups blueberries
2-3 packets stevia
juice and zest from half a lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
dash of cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Turn down to medium low and let simmer until reduced into a thick sauce.

Chocolate Banana Protein Pancakes

Toronto is a sweltering 43 today! The only places I want to go are wear swimwear is acceptable attire, or something frozen and delicious is promised at the end. I can't complain too much though I suppose, it's better than all the rain and Junevember that the Wet Coast is having.

This morning I decided to go all out and make pancakes. Chocolate Banana Protein Pancakes, to be precise. Protein pancakes are a tricky thing as a vegan it seems, they're not fond of sticking together. I think I've somewhat mastered the secret now though, and these were amazing with a little maple syrup and a lot of blueberries!

Building muscle as a vegan is always a topic of interest to me, and building muscle on a plant based diet definitely has it's advantages. After a weight training session, muscles are broken down, which causes them to become inflamed. With whey based proteins, this will exacerbate inflammation. This causes gains in size, but also decreases functionality of the muscle. Which is a problem if you're trying to lift heavier to get stronger. More time will also be required between training sessions. Since frequency and intensity are pillars of gaining muscle, inflammation can inhibit progress.

In replacement of acid forming foods post workout, plant based foods can help keep inflammation at a minimum. Hemp, Soy, Rice and Pea Proteins are all good sources, and plants can help provide the vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids(EFA's), enzymes, and antioxidants required. Post workout meals/smoothies that deliver these in addition to protein yield greater results.

While a plant based diet won't make you a better athlete, it will allow you to train harder, for longer, which WILL make you a better athlete. After a workout your body needs high quality protein to help it rebuild the tissues, and these pancakes can be a great way to deliver that!

I've tried a couple vegan proteins, and here's a couple of my favorites:

Vega Performance Protein

Sunwarrior Protein Powder

Perfect Fit Protein

Vega is my all time favorite, high raw, organic, and made by a fellow Vancouverite! Chocolate is my favorite, I haven't tried any other flavours since I'm too enamoured with it. With 26g protein and 120 calories a scoop, and no added sugars, it fits my nutritional profile as well. It also has BCCA's and L-Glutamine in it which helps with muscle recovery and repair.

Sunwarrior is an all raw brown rice protein powder, and is sweetened with stevia. In one serving it has 80 calories and 16 grams of protein. It tastes great, but can be a bit on the pricier side. It comes in a large bag though, which should last awhile!

Perfect Fit is an amazing tasting vanilla flavoured brown rice protein. Made by the Tone It Up girls, it's raw, organic, and comes in handy 'to-go' packets for travelling ease. It also dissolves in water quite well, so it's easy to just toss into a water bottle. It has almost a caramelly flavour to me. With 70 calories and 15grams of protein per packet, it's great for drinking alone or using in recipes!

Chocolate Banana Protein Pancakes


1 scoop chocolate protein powder
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
2 tablespoons psyllium husk
1 mashed banana
1 cup almond milk
packet of stevia
pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Let sit for 15 minutes, mixture will thicken up. In a non-stick pan on medium/low heat, dollop a large spoonful of batter, spread out to form a circle. Allow to cook til it looks like the top is darker/cooked, carefully flip over and allow to cook for a few more minutes. The pancakes will be delicate, but will firm up upon cooling. Serve with fruit and maple syrup!