Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Blueberry Pancakes with Walunts

I felt like having pancakes for breakfast, and I have recently been trying to decide which recipe I was going to use from Chocolate Covered Katie's blog to enter in her Spiralizer giveaway. Luckily for me, she lists pancakes as one of the things you can make from her blog to get 6 entries in the contest. I didn't have the chance to make anything for her earlier pancake creation contest, but I'll take this opportunity to come up with something of my own.

I just picked up a bunch of blueberries at the farmer's market yesterday as they are getting close to the end of their season. I love chocolate, and I am quite a fan of Isa's Fudgey chocolate brownies from Vcon that have blueberries in them. I put the two together to give you, Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Blueberry Pancakes with Walnuts!

For the batter:
-1 1/8 cup whole wheat flour
-3 Tbsp cocoa powder
-1 tsp baking powder
-dash of salt
-2 Tbsp maple syrup
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/8 tsp almond extract
-1/3 cup water
-1 cup soymilk

I sifted together the dry ingredients and then mixed in the wet until the batter was well combined. I then folded in the chunky ingredients, but didn't really measure:
-chocolate chips (about 1/2 cup)
-blueberries (maybe 3/4 cup)
-walnuts (about 1/4 cup)

When I was making these, I thought "why don't more people put tons of stuff in their pancakes?" Then as I started mixing, I was a bit worried about how these loaded pancakes would hold together. No matter! They went off without a hitch, and I got quite tasty results!

As always, I drizzled some flax oil on the pancakes for some added Omega 3 benefits. Pancakes absorb stuff like a sponge, so this is such a great way to get Omegas in addition to the walnuts. I lightly drizzled the pancakes with some agave nectar, but didn't need much as they were sweetened from the vegan chocolate chips and blueberries. I'd say my creation was quite a success!

Simple Spaghetti with a Kick

I was craving spaghetti this week, but didn't feel like spending evening in the kitchen. I threw together a quick sauce, boiled some pasta, and added some TVP in for protein.

The sauce was just 2 cans of organic tomato sauce dumped onto 5 cloves of sauteed garlic with the the following added in for flavor:
-oregano
-basil
-thyme
-paprika
-cayenne pepper
-crushed red pepper flakes
-onion powder
-garlic powder
-turmeric
-sugar
-salt and pepper

I don't really measure the spices, but I just keep adding them in until I get what I want. I cooked the TVP with vegetable stock and some of the above spices. This was so easy to make and the result was exactly the taste I was going for.

A Quick Lunch

My current obsession: pesto. I've been making alot of my quick pesto/Daiya mozzarella/Yves pepperoni on bread pizzas lately, and I had some basil that was on it's way out. I got home from the farmer's market and decided to finish off the basil by making more pesto. Basil, sun-dried tomatoes, walnuts, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic powder, red chili flakes = seriously delicious! If you haven't tried walnuts in your pesto, I highly recommend it. Not only do you get a good dose of Omega 3 fatty acids, but you get a wonderfully nutty addition to your pesto! I wasn't super hungry, so I just ended up spreading my creation on some tofurky topped flax crackers. Yum!

Margarita Cupcakes!

From Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World. These were a refreshing summer treat and a hit with everybody who tried one. My boss brought in a bunch of limes from her lime tree, so I decided to use them to make these yummy cupcakes. That's one of the great things about living in SoCal...everybody has citrus trees in their backyard!

Indian Food

Spicy potatoes with peas and carrots, lentils with green beans, and spinach naan.

Asian Noodles

Rice noodles with bok choy, onion, tomatoes and tofu. Yum!

Brunch for Dinner

This is a breakfast casserole from Isa's new "Vegan Brunch" book. It's a layer of potatoes, followed by a layer of tofu, and then topped with tempeh. I added some Daiya cheese and scallions on top and served it with kale. This was a great meal and I had the leftovers for breakfast during the week.