Vanilla Vegan Protein Pancakes - Elimination Diet Friendly

All psyched up to make vegi packed omelettes this morning - I discovered we were out of free range eggs! Ooops!

Pancakes....well, typically they have eggs. But what if we skipped the eggs? So my daughter and I set out to make a new pancake recipe. I had made Teff pancakes before, which my kids loved.

However, this time I wanted to have "protein power" as I am trying to get a lot of vegan, alkaline based protein into my husband for his recovery. He is a lover of vanilla...so I decided to add in the Arbonne Essentials pure vanilla protein powder - which not only provided sweetness from the low glycemic stevia, but a wonderful vanilla flavor to the pancakes. The result, the kids gobbled them up and my husband, whose appetite had been sparse, asked for a second large pancake. Two thumps up - family approved!  We hope you enjoy these pancakes. If you have children in the home, get them involved. Kids love to use the coffee grinder to grind up the seeds.

These pancakes provide fuel for the brain and muscles. Because they are low glycemic - it is the perfect pancake recipe for those conscience of stabilizing blood sugars, such as those with type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol or high blood pressure.

Vanilla Vegan Protein Pancakes
(Gluten Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Low Glycemic)

1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup teff flour
1/2 cup sweet sorghum flour
1/4 cup of freshly ground quinoa to make flour
1 T of freshly ground flax seed
1 T of freshly ground black chia seed
2 scoops Arbonne essentials vanilla protein powder
1 cup organic applesauce
1 t. quality vanilla extract (do not use artificial!)
2 T of quality cinnamon
1 t. Baking powder (Rumford aluminum free)
1/2 cup unsweetened Silk original almond milk
3 drops liquid stevia extract (NOW Better Stevia Liquid Extract - optional)

Mix all ingredients in order listed above until well blended. Add extra milk if desired. 
Stevia extract is optional, the pancakes are sweet enough with the vanilla protein powdeer and sweet sorghum flour.  Depending on the desired consitency, you may wish to add up to an additional 1/2 cup of almond milk.

Place on hot ceramic or stainless steel flat pan on medium temperature, that has been prepped with 1/2 t. of cold pressed organic coconut oil.  Make sure pan is hot (medium heat to start) before placing batter on pan. Batter should sizzle when making contact with the pan. Turn down heat to medium low once pan is hot or your pancakes will burn.  It is important to avoid non stick cookware. Even unscratched, it leaches chemicals that are considered excito-toxins.

Serve pancakes with fresh fruit. Using a blender, puree some fruit to make a fresh syrup and add a couple drops of raw honey if desired. Or serve with locally produced maple syrup.

Protein sources for this pancake are in abundance with the use of quinoa and Arbonne Essentials protein powder.  Flax and chia seeds are powerhouses for brain fuel and cell membrane repair. Complex carbohydrates, contrary to those who tout "grain free" diets, are critical for brain function. 

To your health,
Rita S.

30 day Healthy Living Challenge Biggest Loser

I am so very proud of my AB 30 Day Healthy Living Challenge team!
Team TnT lost a total of 76 INCHES in the month of January - with 12 people it averages to 6.333"/person. Thats\'s the AB Advantage!
Three people really carried the team - and were close in numbers, with the BIGGEST LOSER, my sister Diane, losing a total of 12" and 20 lbs., 2nd place was Sheila, having lost 11 inches, and third place, and so close, was Kelly with a loss of 10.5 inches. KUDOS to these amazing ladies!!
I am proud to introduce my sister, Diane, of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Diane held true to the 30 day Healthy Living Challenge plan.  Although she had plenty of opportunities, she held fast and true to the plan and although she WAS not tempted by elimination  foods on the list to "avoid" - she did not give in and chose instead to be transformed!
Because Diane was so successful I asked her to share what her protocol had been through the challenge, which began January 2 and ended January 31. Diane writes:

I used the Arbonne protein shake and fiber booster every morning for breakfast. I had a strawberry or blueberry vanilla Arbonne protein shake. (which means she added berries to her vanilla shake.)
For lunch I had a salad and protein .... usually leftover chicken, hardboiled egg, turkeyburger (no bun etc). Except those few days I ran out of greens when I just took leftover dinner. My salad usually had sunflower seeds and homemad raspberry vinegrette dressing.(the vinegar used was Bragg's organic apple cider vinegar.)

For dinner, I had more variety.
I only had red meat twice... roast beef 1 night and beef hamburger another night.
I had things like turkey chili, chicken and a vegetable - like broccoli or cauliflower, chicken brown rice soup (Recipe from the official 30 Day plan - although I ran out of broth so it turned into more of a goulash, but quite yummy). My favorite dish was brown rice pasta with turkey burger and marinara sauce.
In addition to cutting out gluten, dairy etc, I cut way down on the carbs.  Sometimes at dinner I just had protein and vegetable... other times I had brown rice pasta or brown rice.
As far as exercise, I started up again, but nothing really regular until halfway through the month as it is so hard to always find the time after work, and I really hate exercising first thing in the morning.  So halfway through the month, I came up with the idea of doing my 10 min. ab routine every morning before work (haven't missed a day of it yet) and since it only involves laying on a mat, I don't mind doing it in the morning.  Then my husband and I tried to work out after work together, but it wasn't every day.  Sometimes it was Tony Horton's 10 minute workout (believe it or not, it still makes you pretty tired).  Sometimes it was the easy 24 min. workout we have, I rarely got the 47 min workout in at all.  I still need to improve here.

I also used Prolief (days 12-26) this month... most days twice a day, but sometimes I forgot and it was 1 x a day. And I used the 7 day body cleanse wks 2, 3, and 4 couple days each week. I believe that was about it.

Diane said her family is definitely making some permanent changes to their eating plans, which is really the purpose of the 30 day plan to begin with - it is about making life changes. She and her family  had discussions about greens so they would get the kind everyone was willing to eat (aka mixed greens were chosen over spinach), less gluten and carbs in their future, etc.
I will note that in addition to her eating plan Diane incorporated Prolief - a natural bio-identical progesterone cream into her weight loss plan.  Progesterone is a hormone that counters the effects of estrogen, and many women are estrogen dominant in relation to progesterone once they pass the age of 35.   Because progesterone is both anabolic and thermogenic, it converts fat to energy; and I personally give Prolief much credit towards my own 85 lb. weight loss a couple of years ago.  For the 30 day challenge I did not follow the plan to a T, gave in to temptation, and only managed to bring my overall weight loss to 90.  I was hoping to hit 100 - but I still have not figured out how to find time for exercise in my life of two jobs.

I am so proud of all TnT team members. Keep on blasting away at those pounds TnT - transformation not temptation!!
I hope you feel great, look great and live great - and if not, let me help you transform!

To your health, 
Rita