Coco's Happy Pancakes: Pumpkin Banana Love

Happy January everyone! I recently got back from home over in Canada, attempting to blog whilst I was away I decided to fully lounge into the luxury of a holiday, but now that I am back I am super excited to share one of my favourite recipes with you on my blog. This is probably one that I cook most often and one that I get praised for. I have to say I am seriously working on the "Healthy Cooking" concept. I love eating this way, but things don't go right all the time and I believe it takes lots of patience, forgiveness and giggles to get it right, and thats exactly how this pancake recipe worked for me.

I like to call these pancakes "Coco's Happy Pancakes", Ok well I hashtag every picture of the pancakes I make on Instagram with #Coco'sHappyPancakes, but seriously having these as a late brunch on a Sunday morning just makes me super happy. *Oh and I quick side note I have many different variations of these pancakes and I cannot wait to share them all on this blog, but for now I want to share with you these first ones I have made. I started working on this recipe from the beginning of September when the "Squash, Pumpkin" family was just rolling into season, so these lovelies are my Happy(Vegan) Pumpkin Banana Pancakes. *This recipe makes 2 servings.

Ingredients: 

Coco's Happy Pumpkin Pancakes with Buckwheat Granola

- 1 ripe Banana
- 3 Tbsp Pumpkin Purée
- 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tbsp Chia Seeds
- 1/2 Cup Self Rising Flour
- 1/2 Cup Buckwheat Flour
- 1/4 Cup Oats
- 1 Tsp Baking Powder
- 3 Tbsp Coconut Palm Sugar
- Pinch of Salt
- 1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
- 1/2 Cup Coconut Milk
- 2 Tbsp Raisins (Optional)
- 7 Dashes of Cinnamon
- 1 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice



Directions:

1. Start by mixing the Flours, Oats, Baking powder, Sugar, Maple Syrup, Salt, Cinnamon, Pumpkin pie Spice (DRY Ingredients) in a large mixing bowl.

2. Next mash up your 1 super ripe Banana and mix in the Pumpkin Purée in a separate bowl for (WET Ingredients)

3. Add Coconut Milk to the Banana and Pumpkin Mixture (WET Ingredients) and add in your Vanilla Extract, and Chia Seeds. Allow this to sit for around 10 minutes or slightly more.

4. Now pour your WET Ingredients mixture into your DRY bowl, and mix together gently.
* The consistency of the pancake batter should be slightly runny so if it is too stiff add in a Tbsp of Coconut Milk, or Maple Syrup depending on your preference.

5. Now lightly grease your pan with some coconut oil and cook these little guys up!
* Lightly grease, and flip the pancakes once the sides begin to bubble.

I personally love topping off these pancakes with my "Buckwheat Granola" which I will share with you all very soon, and of course fresh Blueberries, Coconut Oil and Maple Syrup. *I am Canadian after all. I hope you all enjoy this recipe and it brings happiness into the new 2016!
xoxo
Coco

Happy Sunday

December Days

Happy December!

Its the most wonderful time of the year again! This morning when I woke up even with a slight cold and having the fact that I need to go to work I still yet awoke in a super happy mood. This is all because we have finally entered December, my favourite month of the year. Ok… I have to admit with living in Holland the weather has been crazy with the non stop rain, and the gloomy grey clouds, but seriously its the month of Christmas, and all things wonderful.

Currently at work we are rehearsing a lot for the upcoming performances of The Nutcracker. I remember every year at school in Canada where I grew up we would have performances of the Nutcracker and this was one of the major things that reminds me of the Holidays. But other than lots of rehearsals everyday here is kinda what a day off of dancing looks like for me.

Usually our free days are on a sunday and lets pretend its a sunny sunday, since the sunny days in Amsterdam are quite limited. On our free day I usually begin the day with "Waking up Late" this is something I dream of doing throughout the whole week but seriously when I get the chance to stay in bed, I stay in bed. Finally when I can no longer stand my empty stomach demanding food I would make my way into the kitchen. Now the real fun begins. On these sundays I really love taking the time to make a fancy breakfast and that usually includes pancakes, an array of fresh fruits, baked goods, or any kind of porridge. (Hahaha… fancy) Yup when I have time breakfast pretty much looks like this…

Now that breakfast or shall I say brunch is finished I usually fall back asleep or I make a cup of coffee and then fall asleep. If I ever awake from this nap I either try to clean up the apartment a little with my boyfriend or I start to sew my pointe shoes for the next week of work.  Now if every sunday were like last Sunday then my most amazing boyfriend will make my favourite lunch… "Okonomiyaki" which is basically a Japanese Pancake made out of cabbage, flour, eggs, and either seafood or choices of meat. I normally eat completely "Vegan" but I believe that you must not deprive yourself of what you want to eat, I do not believe in harming animals, but I also do not believe in restricting yourself from what you want to eat. This is an occasional treat for me and it seriously is one of my all time favourite dishes. 

And when the late brunch or lunch is finished I love to cuddle up with a blanket on the couch and read under the sun. And yes I do fall asleep usually. If this isn't the case then I am on the computer looking up some recipes to cook, or writing a little on this blog. 

Late afternoons would definitely involve a snack or major baking of either muffins or cookies. My boyfriend and I would usually devour it all with a nice cup of coffee. This sunday we baked some "Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Muffins". 

And finally Sunday night we usually take a walk over to the movie theatre to watch a movie or we make our own 'seriously addictive' popcorn at home and sit down to a nice movie.  And of course the popcorn is gone within 5 minutes.  So Pretty much this is how a Sunday looks like for me, now reading over this post I can state the obvious… when I don't dance I usually sleep and eat.

Hope this was fun to read… 

xoxo Coco