ArcaMax

Even if you never touch dessert it’s still easy to have too much sugar in your diet. We all know now that sugar is virtually everywhere in our food system. Plan Z dieters know to stay away from things like bread, pasta, pancakes, baked goods, sodas, fruit drinks, and virtually every processed food. When you include HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) it seems like sugar is everywhere.

Good news is you can still enjoy sweets and not totally blow a low carb existence. You don’t have to feel deprived either.

One trick is to concentrate on NATURAL sugar sources. Obviously, you’ll have to keep them in check and not go crazy with these but here are some ideas on how you can use them. Leave all the chemistry involved in processed table sugar and artificial sweeteners by the wayside. That means diet soda is not your friend. Research has proven that it never really made you skinnier, and some new research even links it to overeating.

Here are the top six sweeteners to use when you’re living a low carb life...

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

Pumpkin Pancakes

Hot off the Griddle. “Zolafied” pancakes. Dieter Joan sent me her family recipe for pumpkin pancakes. They are a favorite with her family. She asked me if I could do a “healthy version” of pumpkin pancakes that she can serve at the holidays and keep her family full and satisfied as well as healthy. So here it is!

Servings: This makes 12 four-inch pancakes.

Ingredients:

2 cups of Super Fine Ground almond flour (Bob’s Redmill is the most popular brand)
4 eggs
1/2 cup of water
1/4 tsp of grated sea salt
3 tsp of Truvia (stevia)
3 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of baking soda
1 cup of pumpkin pie puree (the stuff from the can works great)
coconut oil or butter for cooking

Instructions:

Put all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix with your electric mixer on medium high for a full 30 seconds. Scrape the bowl and mix a bit again. Many pancake experts recommend you let the pancake mix sit for 15 minutes before you make the pancakes. This allows the active ingredients to do their job. I let this batter sit too. Just before grilling the pancakes, I gave it one more five second swirl with my electric mixer.

For oils. First batch I did with coconut oil. Works great. Second batch I did with butter. Works equally as well. Your choice. The batter with be a bit thicker than regular pancake batter. You could add a bit more water if you want your batter thinner. Cook the batter over medium to medium-high heat.

The pancakes will not bubble like normal ones so just watch for them to be golden brown on the bottom and then gently flip them. They do puff up like regular pancakes.

Leftovers can keep in zipper bags in the refrigerator and re-heated.

Serve with Pumpking Spiced Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

1 cup of whipping cream
2 tsp of vanilla
1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice

:

Mix with your mixer until still peaks form; just like regular whipped cream. Serve this on your pancakes instead of syrup. Or if you want some syrup just do a teeny bit; like a capful. And use REAL maple syrup. No diet syrup. A bit of the real stuff is better for you. I served mine with the whipped cream and a very teeny drizzle of syrup. It was WAY YUMMY!

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola