Soaked Wheat Pancakes

I have been learning more about soaking grains making them easier to digest and have more nutritional value. So we can get more vitamins and minerals out of the grains!

Soaked Wheat Pancakes
2 c. Milk
2 TB kefir, whey, lemon juice, or vinegar
---mix together than add:
2 c. soft wheat flour (if using lemon juice or vinegar, add another 1/2 c. flour)
Mix well and allow to sit overnight in a warm place. I set mine in the oven and leave the oven light on, since our house cools down to 60˚ at night.
The next morning mix in:
2 eggs
1/3 c. melted coconut oil or butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda

Fry on hot griddle, they come out thinner than typical pancakes and I allow all the bubbles to rise to the surface and pop before I flip them, otherwise they are a bit doughy in the middle.

The kids like theirs with peanut butter and honey!

Oatmeal Apple Raisin Cookies

Brian is a Scout Master for our church scout troop. One of the things they are supposed to learn as scouts is to eat healthy, I've done different snacks for them, carrots, apples, cookies, muffins, cinnamon rolls... Today, I wanted to make something healthier than I have the last few times...



Oatmeal Apple Raisin Cookies
3/4 c. coconut oil
1 c. sugar
2 T. molasses
1 egg
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
3 c. rolled oats
1 peeled, diced apple
1/2 c. raisins

Mix coconut oil, sugar, molasses, egg, milk and vanilla together, then add the dry ingredients, sifting them together first (I typically put the flour in the bowl on the wet ingredients, put salt, baking soda, etc on top and stir it up slightly before mixing it with the wet ingredients.)

Drop by spoonfuls on cookie sheet, bake at 375˚ for 13-14 minutes, let cool on cookie sheet 1-2 minutes before moving them to the cooling rack.

Coconut Oil

I've been hearing alot about the health benefits of oils and fats and I've been hearing some wonderful things about coconut oil. Now, I hate coconut. I can't stand the smell, the taste, the texture- nothing. But the rest of the family likes it and Brian loves coconut.

I typically use Extra Virgin Olive Oil for all my cooking. But then I started hearing things like this:

The higher the temperature to which the olive oil is heated, the more one should prefer the use of refined olive oils. When extra-virgin olive oil is heated above 350 °C (662 °F), the unrefined particles within the oil get burned. This leads to deteriorated taste and even toxicity

I went and visited my friend Cara, who made me lunch and used coconut oil. I hadn't noticed! Yay for me!!

So, I decided to give it a try. I was able to get Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil from Tropical Traditions.

I've been using it in everything to see what I think. I made scrambled eggs with it- tasted slight coconut.
Made cheesecake crust: replaced the butter with coconut oil- very coconutty, my mom loved it.
Greased my pans with it, used a pastry brush- it was like shortening. I could smell the coconut on the bread, but couldn't taste it. No one else noticed.
Used it to fry chicken in- no one noticed, not even me.
Put it in Baked Oatmeal, replacing the applesauce- I noticed it, but no one else did.
I still want to make granola with it, using the coconut oil instead of butter. I will say though, that since I know how strong this oil can be, I won't be tasting that one, but I'm confident everyone else will enjoy it.
I have really enjoyed using this and I'm really impressed with how they process it.
I think next I will try Expeller-Pressed Coconut Oil because it's not supposed to have much of a coconut taste, but still very healthy.

Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

**If you are purchasing from Tropical Traditions for the first time you can get a FREE copy of their Virgin Coconut Oil Book. Simply choose "Referred by a Friend" and enter my User ID# 5691384. This gets me credit toward coconut oil too. :-)**

Deal on Coconut Oil

Cara wrote about a coupon code for Tropical Traditions. I would encourage you to check out their Black Friday deal!! I'm going to be ordering some oil myself. She gets credit if you use her referral code, so I would encourage you to do that. :-)

The $10 off coupon code is good till midnight Nov. 29th, so check it out!