Low Carb Pancakes

Last week I posted this very simple crepe recipe. It's a handy way to get some eggs inside you in the morning. However, if you're willing to go to a little more effort or want something a bit more substantial, try these gorgeous pancakes.

pancakes ala instagram

I'll usually have these with M&S dry cured smoked streaky bacon and sugar-free maple syrup. Like the crepes, these also work well as a dessert option with homemade nutella and mascarpone.

These measurements make about four pancakes. Make more and keep the mixture in the fridge for up to three days. If you find the coconut flour too sweet, just switch it for almond flour.

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons coconut flour
2 Large eggs
2 Teaspoons of unsweetened almond milk
1/2 Tablespoon of double cream
Pinch of cinnamon
3 Teaspoons of stevia or another sugar substitute

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients together, whisking well.

2. Put your frying pan on the heat, and melt a 1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil. I like to use refined oil as it is odourless and tasteless.

Pro-Tip: Fry your rashers first, then cook the pancakes in the same oil for extra bacon-y goodness.

3. Spoon the mixture into the  pan and cook for about 2 minutes on each side. Done!

If you're counting carbs make sure to do the math based on the ingredients you've used.

Fillet Steak

Tonight I made fillet steak with some simple sides of steamed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. I picked up the steak on my way home through The English Market, though for the life of me I can't remember which stall I settled on! I've outlined what I think is the best way to cook steak here.

Also pictured is Le Froglet Shiraz from M&S. It's a light, easy to drink wine which is perfect with steak. Le Froglet is great value for money at only €7, though it definitely benefits from decanting.

Low Carb Milk Alternatives

When you start to think about it, drinking another animal's milk is pretty odd behaviour. Are there any other creatures that do what we do? The fact that babies can't digest cow milk leads one to wonder if that's a sign that we're just not built for it.

As a child I suffered with asthma, and on a nutritionist's advice I stayed away from dairy products for a couple of years. It made massive difference to my breathing, and allowed me to cut down on the inhalers and chemicals I was putting into my body. Though I grew up in the hippy-organic-food-mecca that is West Cork, the options for non-dairy milk were far more limited than they are now. Thankfully, overpriced and oversweet rice milk has given way to gorgeous almond and soya milks which you can get in pretty much any supermarket.

coffee with foamed almond milk

These days I stay away from cow's milk for another reason. Think back to your secondary school science or home economics classes; anything ending in -ose is a sugar, and sugar is a carbohydrate. Cow, goat and sheep milks (even low-fat) all contain lactose.

You can think of your traditional cow's milk as what's left over once all the good stuff has been skimmed off, and you can get more than enough calcium and other good nutrients from cream and cheese, both of which contain far lower levels of carbohydrates.
A cup of full-fat milk will have about 12g of carbohydrates in it, while a cup of double cream will have about 6g. If you're trying to stick to a low-carb diet (less than 20g per day) then even adding milk to your tea or coffee can push you close to your daily limit.

S and I are both into our coffee, and thankfully both almond and soya milk foam beautifully. If you feel like it's still missing something, try mixing a little bit of double cream with water and you really won't know the difference.

There are so many other milk options out there that going without cow's milk is really no challenge at all these days.

Crepes

I'm not a big fan of eggs, I don't like them boiled, fried or scrambled. My mother blames herself for not giving them to me as a child, though she didn't give me wine either and I certainly developed a taste for that.

Eggs are such a great source of protein, and an important part of eating a low-carb diet, so I'm always looking for a way to trick myself into eating them. These crepes are so quick to make, and go with everything.

The recipe below makes three crepes, but it's a great idea to triple the quantities and keep the mixture in the fridge. You'll have three days' worth of breakfast ready to go and a washed out squeezy mayonnaise bottle is a handy dispenser.

Ingredients

2 Large eggs
2 Tablespoons of double cream
1 Teaspoon of vegetable oil

Method

1. Mix everything together in a bowl.

2. Lightly grease the hot frying pan with a small amount of butter or oil, then spoon in the mixture.

3. Give each crepe about a minute on each side.

4. Serve with streaky bacon and sugar-free maple syrup for an American-style breakfast.


Pro-Tip: These crepes also make a great dessert option. Serve with homemade nutella, mascarpone and crushed walnuts or pecans.