Chai Spice Latte & Zucchini Griddle Cakes (Almond & Coconut Flour)

If you’re anything like me, chai lattes are hands down a favorite… Even though I love my coffee and espresso, chances are I’d choose a chai spice latte over a cup of joe any day… Anyway, it was after I had been given some of the most INCREDIBLY gorgeous and potpourri-like loose leaf chai spice tea that I came up with this recipe.

I really should have posted this MONTHS ago (as I created this insanely delicious recipe back in January, I believe) but alas, here it is!

Chai Spice Latte Zucchini Griddle Cakes w/ No Sugar Apricot Preserves & Almond Butter

I know you must be wondering, “zucchini???” Yes, zucchini… the idea came from my overly abundant package of zucchini just sitting in the fridge. Additionally, I know that zucchini adds a nice amount of moisture to breads/cakes so I thought, “Why not?”

Here’s the recipe for my Chai Spice Latte & Zucchini Griddle Cakes made with Almond & Coconut Flour:

1/4 c. almond flour
2 T coconut flour (sifted)
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t sea salt
1 t cinnamon (omit or add to taste)
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla extract
2 T loose leaf chai tea (depending on how strong or not you prefer; or a tea bag)
2 T to 1/4 c. almond milk
2 T finely shredded zucchini (I squeezed mine with a paper towel to drain excess moisture)

1. Gather materials; measure out the dry ingredients first
2. Sift and combine the almond & coconut flour with the sea salt, cinnamon and baking soda
3. Prep chai tea by placing the almond milk in a small saucepan & warming to a simmer/just before boiling (you don’t want to boil the milk)
4. When the almond milk reaches a nice simmer, add the loose leaf chai and let steep for a good 10 minutes or so (more or less, it’s really up to you but I like to get that strong flavor, personally) and let the temperature come down a bit
5. Beat the egg in a separate bowl (try to get it a bit foamy), add the vanilla to the egg then mix this in with the dry ingredients
6. Strain the chai from the saucepan/milk (unless you used a tea bag, in which case, remove it) and add it to the griddle cake mix
7. Add the zucchini to the mixture
8. Spoon your batter onto your griddle or pan, cook and voila!

I added some apricot preserves to mine with a dollop of almond butter and it was hands down, the best griddle cakes I’ve prepared to date… I really should take the time to make another batch at some point in the very near future

Oh also, if you like your pancakes a bit sweet, I’d recommend using a couple of drops of stevia extract to the batter… I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did (and will continue to!)…

Much Love and Deliciously Healthy Eats!
~K

Cinnamon Apple Spice Waffles (Almond Flour)

I came up with this recipe out of my pure love of apples, cinnamon and waffles… I… love… waffles.

K’s Cinnamon Apple Spice Waffles
1/4 c blanched almond flour
1 T flax meal (optional)
1 t cinnamon (more or less to your own preference)
1/4 t pumpkin (pie) spice
1 egg
1 T applesauce (or you can use finely diced apple–I’ve tried both and enjoyed both)
1 grind sea salt (or a pinch of salt)
1 t (or more) sweetener of your choice–maple syrup, honey, etc (or stevia drops to taste)
1/4 t baking soda
2 quick dashes cream of tartar (not necessary but I like to add it sometimes)

Combine the dry ingredients–I recommend sifting the almond flour to fluff it up a bit. Mix in the egg, then the applesauce and sweetener. I also recommend you allow the batter to rest for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the baking soda and cream of tartar to do their magic… Plop the mixture into a heated waffle iron or griddle and have at it!

*if you’d like to turn this into a griddle cake recipe, simply add liquid until it’s a bit more of a fluid consistency. I’d recommend unsweetened almond or coconut milk–try it out a tablespoon at a time.

This batch makes about 2 waffles and possibly 3 silver dollar sized griddle cakes. I topped mine with freshly ground almond butter and agave (which I’m omitting from my diet due to the affects it has on the liver).

Hawaiian Kine Papaya Starberry Smoothie Bowl

In the lyrics of local Hawaii recording artist, Brother Noland, I’m “a coconut girl in a high fashion world…” LOL

Hawaiian Kine Papaya Starberry Bowl

If I haven’t already mentioned this, I’m originally from Hawaii–born and raised, Native Hawaiian. I grew up with tropical fruits, papaya being one of those essential local fruits. Both of my grandmothers ate one half to one whole papaya almost every other day. In fact, one of them was a serial papaya purchaser. She’d go to the farmer’s market and come home with like 12 papayas! LOL

Papaya is an incredible fruit. It’s very nutritious and the enzymes are great for the digestive system. I knew this beforehand but upon looking up the calorie count, I stumbled upon some great info at the Hawaii Papaya Industry Association’s website. Apparently the papaya is ranked among the top 5 most nutritious fruits by the Center for Science in DC.

I won’t name names but I will ONLY eat Hawaiian papaya… I’ve tried other papaya before and frankly they smell like vomit and taste… well, let’s not go there. Here’s a photo for reference as to what type of papaya I recommend (disregard the blueberries, lol). I do NOT recommend that you purchase any papaya that smells funky–that’s just… no.

Fresh Papaya & Frozen Blueberries

Hawaiian Kine Papaya Smoothie Bowl
1/2 fresh papaya (reserve 1/5 of the papaya for garnish, optional)
1/2 to 3/4 c frozen blueberries (plus 5 or so on the side for garnish, optional)
1/2 c non-fat kefir (or almond milk for a lower calorie/less dairy option)
1/2 c 0% fat Greek yogurt
2 T flax meal

Garnish
2 T chopped raw macadamia nuts
1 to 2 T unsweetened shredded coconut
reserved papaya
reserved blueberries

p.s.-I used the word “starberry” in place of blueberry because Native Americans referred to it as such (due to the star shape at the top of the berry) and besides… I love stars

Acai Bowl & Gluten Free Griddle Cakes (2)

A Bowl of Acai w/ Gluten/Grain Free Griddle Cakes (2)

Breakfast is a running theme for me, isn’t it? I swear, I’m going to add other recipes–I promise! I have a tendency to stick with something until I’ve perfected it, luckily, I think the following recipe for gluten/grain free pancakes (I like ‘griddle cakes’ better, I’m a Southern girl in my heart, lol) is getting there.

This recipe, in particular differs from the first one in that I actually enjoyed eating it… remember the last batch that totally sucked? Yeeeah, this one was SO much better! Go ahead and click on the link if you’d like the recipe for the Acai Bowl. Otherwise, without further ado…

Coconut Flour & Flax Meal Griddle Cakes with Almond Butter & Raspberry Preserves

This recipe makes 2 medium/small pancakes so double it or triple it accordingly

Coconut Flour & Flax Meal Griddle Cakes

2 T coconut flour
1 T ground flax meal (soaked in 1 to 2 T drinking water, you may omit the water if you want)
1/4 t baking soda
1/8 t Himalayan Pink Salt (or any good sea salt)
1 egg (beaten for a good 2-3 minutes before adding to mix)
stevia extract to taste (I used 2-3 drops but you may omit or add a bit more if you want)
1/2 t vanilla extract
2 T to 1/4 c almond milk depending on the type of consistency you prefer (I use Almond Breeze or Whole Foods 365 Brand)
*coconut oil or butter for the griddle

As a note, these pancakes will be a little “mealy” due to the flax meal but I love the texture of flax so it was fine for me. It also could have been a BIT more moist but who’s complaining, really? I just love that I can eat healthy, gluten/grain free pancakes! These also came out MUCH more fluffy and light in comparison to the first batch, which obviously made me very happy.

Also, I created another recipe for griddle cakes using almond flour and coconut flour which I will be posting in a few days… That one came out even better and has a couple of special ingredients which I think you’ll find pretty interesting.

Coconut Flour Flax Griddle Cakes with Almond Butter & SF Raspberry Preserves

Now isn’t this just the sweetest little short-stack of pancakes EVER?! I paired my griddle cakes with a gorgeous dollop of fresh roasted almond butter and Smucker’s Sugar Free Raspberry Preserves (I put a tablespoon of it in a small pot with about 1/2 T of water to thin it out a bit) which, I know… Splenda is ‘no bueno’. I don’t like Splenda and I really didn’t want to “go there” in buying it but it was the best option that I could ‘live’ with for the time being. Until I have my own place and can dedicate time to making my own sauces and compotes, I’ll deal… so please forgive me for that! LOL

Anyway… I sincerely hope that you enjoy this recipe, I know I did!

Many Blessings & Warm and Fuzzies in your Bellies!
Kapua

Simple Breakfast (1): Just Boil Water

When I was in college, my favorite roommate (and often the only roommate I ever refer to, I’ve had five roommates) used to go home on the weekends, but she always brought back food!

She is originally from Jordan and her mother would prepare the most FABULOUS Arabic dishes. My favorite was when she would send fresh tabouleh, hummus, grilled chicken, mujadarah (a rice dish, I think it was mujadarah), labneh and pita.

I’m from Hawai’i and growing up we didn’t really have any authentic foods outside of Asian and Hawaiian cuisines! The closest thing to Mexican food was Taco Bell… I’ll put it to you this way, we didn’t even have an Olive Garden (and, no offense, but I DETEST Olive Garden–sorry folks)!

I’d always been interested in foods of the world, “exotic” compared to my own culinary upbringing… So when I went away to college in Los Angeles, it was a welcome experience, especially to my palate.

Getting back to my point… My “roomie’s” influence on me introduced me to spices, flavors and eating habits that I had never experienced and/or heard of prior. When I had spent a week with her at her family’s home we ate very well, but very simply.

For the most part, breakfast consisted of a couple of hard boiled eggs with hummus and/or labneh on a piece of pita (with fresh brewed espresso, of course). Her mom would prepare fresh hummus for us and let… me… tell… you… there is NOTHING like freshly made hummus–especially from “mom”!

With that said, when I woke up this past saturday morning and tried to figure out how to start my day (as an accompaniment, of course, to my ‘usual’ mini acai bowl with flax, seeds and whatever else I feel like adding in), it came to me… Something SIMPLE. Something LIGHT.

I don’t particularly like to start the day off with a heavy breakfast anyway, but today I had made plans to meet up with a friend for a late lunch/early dinner… So I didn’t want to eat a big, or even medium sized breakfast if I was going to end up devouring a ‘gourmet style’ turkey burger (no bun, thanks) with cheese and condiments later on in the day.

This is what I came up with…

The Perfect 7-Minute Egg with Olives, Walnuts & Tahini

A single, gorgeously boiled, 7-minute egg with a few beautifully bright green olives, a heaping tablespoon or two of walnuts and a decadently luscious dollop of tahini on the side. I LOVE the tart and almost unctuously rich and yet light flavor of tahini. With the diet that I’m on, I am not eating starches yet so full fledged hummus is out of the question. But no matter, I prefer straight up tahini to hummus any day!

I thought of what I had in my fridge and it started with eggs and tahini… Which I knew would work, but how lame would it be to eat JUST an egg and tahini? So I opened the fridge, saw the olives, rifled through my box of goods and saw the walnuts–perfect! Somehow, in my little foodie heart, I knew that these four ingredients would pair perfectly for me… and they did. The perfect balance to my simple breakfast.

I love balance. I love the simplicity of this meal… I mean really, it took less than 10 minutes to put together, what more could you ask for?

If one egg isn’t enough, have two or three! Perhaps have 1/4 cup of walnuts instead of 2 tablespoons and/or add in a slice of Etorki cheese or even better, Comte. But since I was pairing my savory start with a small acai smoothie, one egg was plenty. How could you not marvel at how lovely this dish is with those simple, basic, one-ingredient, “whole food” items?!

I know I did… I marveled alright… and then I ate every last morsel of it.