buckwheat pancakes (aka the best whole grain gf pancakes!)

i found this recipe somewhere online, jotted it down and now i cant find it to link here but while looking for it i found this: soaked buckwheat pancakes. i cant wait to try them soaked but i have to get some more buckwheat first.

i KNOW these are good because danny likes them and he is pretty picky. he says they taste just like regular pancakes. i used fresh flour ground in my coffee mill and half almond milk half water with a tablespoon of vinegar for the liquid.

1 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 t baking soda
2/3 t baking powder
dash of salt
mix together, set aside

1 cup liquid, see my comment above (the original recipe called for 1 1/4 so add more if it seems dry)
1 T oil
1 egg separated
separate the yolk and white. add the yolk to the rest of the wet and hn stir into the dry, set aside. beat the white till stiff and then gently fold into the rest. do it gentle or you"ll loose your fluffiness.
cook like regular pancakes, i'll assume you know how to do that ;)

tamale heaven

ok just a warning, ive only ever eaten the tamales i made and one other time a friend made basically the same recipe. so i dont *really* know what they are supposed to taste like. they might not be traditional but i know these ones are DAMN good!

something to note also is that masa is a prepared corn flour, it has been treated with lime which produces the same result as soaking flours...better digestibility

soak your corn husks in water for 15 minutes. i used about 20 but it depends how you fill them

3 cups masa
3/4 tablespoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
mix together

3/4 cups shortening, i did two scoops refined coconut oil and a scoop palm oil
mix that in pretty good so theres no more big chunks of oil.

1 jar of salsa regular size
1 can of beans , i used black once and refried pinto once they were both good
1 pound of cooked ground beef
mix that in and add water or broth until it soft but still thick. kinda like playdough but maybe a little softer.

get out your husks and use the ones that are too small to wrap to be your ties. peel them into strips. put about 3 spoonfuls in and shape it so it will fit and roll easier. (sorry this part is hard to describe, if you dont get it there is a you tube vid :) ) fold the small end of the husk over the masa mixture and roll from one side. it should form a roll that is closed on one side and open on the other. tie it with a piece of husk.

for me the hardest part was to get them to all stand up while steaming. you cant let water get in the top. i put some pot tops in the pan to take up some space and hold the tamales up. steam them for a half hour to 45 minutes. they will start to poke up out of the top and be very firm when they arre done.

we put salsa or hot sauce on them or just ate them plain. i read some where that they freeze well too. and my kids loved making them and eating them!

pel'meni

i know, theyre not exactly gorgeous and evenly shaped but they tasted damn good! pel'meni are russian sourdough egg noodles stuffed with a filling. i used sauteed leeks, ground beef and potato to fill mine, and then we put melted butter and sour cream on them. this was my first time making noodles with a soaked flour dough and they came out pretty good. they werent as stable as i would like. i definitely didnt boil them as long as the recipe says. after a few minutes they were falling apart. they were so worth the experiment though, i'll keep tweaking it and tell you what happens the next time! heres the recipe

sourdough bread

starter

dough

the final product!

one of the cookbooks that has affected my cooking the most is called "nourishing traditions" by sally fallon. it focuses on traditional preparations of food to make them as digestible and healthy as possible. as our modern society has grown some traditional ways of cooking have been forgotten in exchange for faster, easier to prepare food. faster and easier does not always mean better though! sourdough bread is a great example of a traditional method of making bread that is not necessarily hard but does take some thought and can be time consuming. once you get in the rhythm of making these kinds of foods it becomes just another part of your day and it doesnt seem as hard. my kids love helping me cook, the final product is delicious and the health benefits are worth it for sure!

ive been trying lots of soaked grain bread recipes lately and the sourdough from nourishing traditions has been by far the best. it takes 7 days to make the starter but all you do is add flour and water to it once a day. after that its totally easy. i even kneaded it in my kitchen aid. i love kneading bread dough but it nice to have the option not to. the recipe is long so im not going to post it now but if anyone wants it i will.

from nourishing traditions:

"Grains require careful preparation because they contain a number of antinutrients that can cause serious health problems. Phytic acid, for example, is an organic acid in which phosphorus is bound. It is mostly found in the bran or outer hull of seeds. Untreated phytic acid can combine with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and especially zinc in the intestinal tract and block their absorption. This is why a diet high in improperly prepared whole grains may lead to serious mineral deficiencies and bone loss.

Other antinutrients in whole grains include enzyme inhibitors which can inhibit digestion and put stress on the pancreas; irritating tannins; complex sugars which the body cannot break down; and gluten and related hard-to-digest proteins which may cause allergies, digestive disorders and even mental illness.

Most of these antinutrients are part of the seed's system of preservation—they prevent sprouting until the conditions are right. Plants need moisture, warmth, time and slight acidity in order to sprout. Proper preparation of grains is a kind and gentle process that imitates the process that occurs in nature. It involves soaking for a period in warm, acidulated water in the preparation of porridge, or long, slow sour dough fermentation in the making of bread. Such processes neutralize phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors. Vitamin content increases, particularly B vitamins. Tannins, complex sugars, gluten and other difficult-to-digest substances are partially broken down into simpler components that are more readily available for absorption. "

click here for more about digesting and cooking grains.