VBK's Best Healthified Pancake Saturday Stack [wild blueberry and cinnamon mylkshake pancakes]

So many Pancake Sundays have gone by without notice. Such a shame. At least tomorrow shall be celebrated and praised with pancakes. I'm not sure why-maybe it's because making pancakes and taking pictures of them and noshing decorations for them making them pretty cute takes a long time. I am a girl with not a lot of patience. I like to get to the end of the story, where the girl lives happily ever after in the spotlight. I like my banana ice-cream right out of the blender, as opposed to letting it freeze for 2 hours just for the consistency. And I like pancakes that take less than 30 minutes. I'm pretty sure I've just done that. 

So fluffy, so light, and cinnamony with warmth and a heavenly scent that fills the house. I guess I should really take the time to make some delightful pancakes like these more often, because it's obviously all worth it! 

Cinnamony cinnamony eat it up, yum! These taste even better with wild blueberries inside them. They burst with a jammy flavor in your mouth- but don't let the wild blueberries spill everywhere! That happened to me and it was so not fun sweeping them up while they're juices spilled purple all over the place! 

VBK''S BEST PANCAKE SATURDAY STACK   

*1/8 C of coconut flour and pumpkin puree each

*1/2 C of oat flour (you can either buy this or grind rolled oats up in a blender/food processor.) + 1 Tbs. of rolled oats

*2 Tbs. of greek yogurt, plain or vanilla works well

*1 tsp. each of baking powder, vanilla bean extract, cinnamon, and either natural maple syrup or maple extract

*1/2 tsp. each of nutmeg, optional maca powder, and coconut sugar

*1/4 C of coconut milk

*2 egg whites or for a vegan substitute, use 1 flaxseed egg

Method to happiness:

1. Mix everything together and flip on a pre-heated pancake pan and top with lots of goodies.

2. ENJOY!! 

Let's go wild blueberry picking please

Xxxx, Alli

Stupid People & The Never-Ending Neapolitan Pancake Stack Attack

I hate people. I love all of you, but sometimes, people suck. I opened the door for a lady at Whole Foods the other day, and she didn't even acknowledge me! Someone said that my food choices are stupid and living organic and free of pesticides and most dairy products will equal the most boring-est life ever, because apparently eating healthy is too stupid and you "only live once", and yolo actually really means eating all the junk in the world because who wants to spend a life eating healthy crap that tastes like cardboard? (So does that mean that you've eaten cardboard and healthy stuff at the same time? Or are your taste-buds just too cool for nutrition??) Oh, and my sisters are only friends with wifi and they have not gone outside (except for school) in forever. And last but not least, my sweet potatoes all burned in the oven last week because I forgot to take them out and set a timer. (I guess I sucked there, too)

I am not trying to be a hater on the gator. I am just trying to distinguish the difference between holding your tongue and being just plain blunt like a side of plain mashed potatoes for dessert on Thanksgiving at grammy's. Saying the phrases "no offense" and "to be honest" does not cut it, people! So, no-offense-but-I-think-your-new-natural-makeup-makes-your-face-look-just-like-Rod-Stewart's is okay? Just because no offense links a mean comment does not mean that everything should be taken lightly. This is another reason why sometimes people (including myself) suck. Words and wording words the right ways can get really tricky. 

Anyway, that was a rant I needed to get out into the world. So without some more ranting on sucky people, here is my favorite pancake stack and the recipe included down below. These pancakes are so fluffy and moist with rich flavors of carob, berries, and of course the ever lasting vanilla. I often feel the slightest bit of sympathy for vanilla, because berries and chocolate often over-rule the simple, but divine  flavor of vanilla. Vanilla beans are elegant and strong. Their magical essence embraces and pops even the dullest of dullest juices out. Vanilla is the new chocolate touch- and so beware when you stumble across vanilla bean extract in almost all of my recipes. Enjoy!

THE NEVER ENDING NEAPOLITAN STACK OF YUMMY(and what you will need):

*2 Tbs. of pure, organic and raw carob powder (I used Bob's Red Mill brand from Whole Foods)

*4 egg whites from the carton

*1 NOT FROZEN smushy and mushy and spotty-dotty banana

*2 Tbs. of coconut milk

*2 tsp. divided, each of coconut sugar, vanilla bean paste/pure vanilla bean extract (I use TJ)

*A handful of an assortment of berries

*1 Tbs. of honey/agave nectar and lemon juice- freshly squeezed or from the bottle, and maple syrup

*1/3 C oat flour (you can either make this yourself, or buy it very expensive at a health food store. All you have to do is blend up the oats in either a very high-speed blender or food processor.)

*handful of cacao nibs/carob chips

**OPTIONAL: 1 tsp. of mesquite powder for an extra superfood boost and caramel taste***

HOW TO MAKE THE BEST STACK THAT NEAPOLITAN HAS EVER SEEN: 

1. Pre-heat your stove to medium-medium low. Stir the oat flour, egg whites, honey/agave, coconut milk and mushed banana together. Set this aside for 5-10 minutes. 

2. Separate the pancake batter into 2 equal parts in separate bowls. In one bowl, add the carob powder, a tsp. of vanilla bean paste, maple syrup, and optional mesquite powder. 

3. In the other bowl, stir in another tsp. of vanilla bean paste, lemon juice, and carob chips/cacao nibs. Very gently fold in the berries. You should have two flavors of berry-bean and carob-caramel. 

4. Spray some coconut oil or veggie oil onto your stove and turn the heat down to low. Alternate flavors on the stove until you have a pattern of berry, chocolate, berry, chocolate. 

5. Now it's done! Take the extra time to drizzle maple syrup on your pancakes. You can top this with more berries, kisses, sliced fruit, carob sauce, more carob chips/cacao nibs, desiccated coconut, and even greek yogurt mixed with fresh berries for a beautiful pink-berry "frosting". 

ENJOY, MY LOVELIES!! Xxx, Alli <33

                                        I want that costume for Halloween; What a cute kid!

Seattle, sippin' fruit and juice, and lots of laughs!

                                                               Whether it's in Utah,

or Seattle, 

green smoothies make up at least 25% of my diet. I'm not going to tell you that they refresh my mind or that they let my inner organic shine through. Green smoothies make me happier-inside and out! I'm not sure what it is, but something about green makes me want to eat it and makes me not want to at the same time. You can literally make any kind of green smoothie taste good, no matter what shade of green! (I personally like lime green best, like the Seattle picture one) 

   In July, I took a trip to Seattle with my cousin Sarena and we went alone on a plane to see our dear aunt, Ching. Auntie Ching is a flight attendant who travels many places! She gets to explore Paris, Amsterdam, Alaska, and many more places that I cannot think of at the moment. Us three girlies had the time of our lives! AC (short for Aunt Ching) was so kind and lovely to have us. She really was the star of our trip with her great wit! We probably pulled muscles in our tummies from laughing so much.

                                         We went to Pike's Market and sampled the tastiest treats!

AC took us to her nail person and we brought her some lovely flowers from Pike's market!

To be morally honest, we spent most of our time there eating! I didn't mind that.

We at least bought 8 pounds of blueberries at this one blueberry farm. They were big and fresh, juicy and sweet, and probably perfect for a hangover for anyone who needs them, haha! XD

 Every morning for breakie, we slurped on some smoothies. AC had just bought a new Ninja Blender, so every night and morning was a blast of fun creating lots of smoothie recipes. I always took a green smoothie that was filled with lots of greens! At the Pike Market, greens were literally around every corner.

YASSSSSSS

   Anywho, the asian stores we went to had so many exotic fruits to behold and try. There was jack-fruit, pitaya/dragon fruit, lots of lychee (I kind of…. ate a whole bag myself! oops), berries that were insanely sweet, and even durian was there. Oh and the pineapple was good too, mmmm. Of course we had to experiment smoothie recipes, so below is the recipe we all came up with:

SEATTLE'S GREEN MONSTER DRINK-WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 

*2 celery stalks- cubed

*2-6 oz. of freshly squeezed orange juice

*1/2 a granny smith green apple 

*10-12 green grapes 

*3/4 of an asian pear

*about 5 strawberries (LEAVE THE STEMS ON. IT IS ADDED NUTRITION)

*1 whole cubed and diced cucumber- peeled

*a handful of both spinach and kale

BLEND IT ALL UP AND ENJOY! I SUGGEST YOU DRINK THIS BY A BEAUTIFUL HYDRENGEA BUSH LIKE I DID.

AT-THE-TOP-OF-THE-PAGE GREEN SMOOTHIE RECIPE-WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

*2 oz. each of almond milk and coconut milk (I used Trader Joe's) 

*1 tsp. each of date sugar, hemp seeds, and maple extract

*4 oz. of frozen pineapple and raspberries

*3 ice cubes

*HUGE handful of baby spinach (Yeah, baby! XD)

*1/4 each of a Fuji apple and a very huge and juicy orange

BLEND IT ALL UP AND THERE YOU GO HAVE A NICE DAY XD