Sunny KIND of pancakes

If you haven’t entered the ZenSoy pudding & soy milk giveaway, click HERE!!!

There will be 2 winners!! Giving things away makes me happy. 

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In spirit of giving away things…how about a recipe? And some long over-due reviews.

Hemp-ed Up Mango macadamia Buckwheat Pancakes

Ingredients:

½ cup WF Buckwheat pancake and waffle mix

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 egg (or 2 egg whites)

½ cup vanilla soy milk (or any milk substitute you want)

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp Manitoba Harvest hemp seed oil (or any other oil substitute) *optional*

1 tsp Manitoba Harvest golden milled hemp seeds *optional*

1 KIND PLUS Mango Macadamia Bar, crumbled

Be warned: This is a powerhouse breakfast and is yummy served with maple syrup and a fried egg

To do:

1. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix all wet ingredients in another. Pour all wet into dry. Incorporate briefly being sure not to over-mix.

2. Heat up a pan, drop your cake batter and sprinkle KIND bar pieces over the top

3. Flip when bottom is brown.

4. Remove from pan when the other side is browned.

5. Serve with Maple syrup!

Review of the pancake: As you can see, this is a dense and thick pancake, but yet not too doughy. I love my pancakes fluffy, but I find that the only fluffy ones I make aren’t high scorers in the nutrition department…any of you guys have a recipe for me??!

I scatted the KIND bar evenly throughout the pancakes, so every bite gets you a bit of nutty, tropical sunshine! To be honest, I didn’t taste the oil (which was murk green in col0r) but I definitely tasted the chewier texture of the hemp seeds in the pancakes.

Thank you Manitoba Harvest for sending the hemp seed oil and seed samples.

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A note about HEMP!

• Although hemp originates from the same plant genus as marijuana, the strains of the plant are verydifferent to its cousin!
• In terms of its nutrient content, shelled hemp seed is 34.6% protein, 46.5% fat, and 11.6% carbohydrate.
• Hemp seeds provide both of the essential fatty acids (EFAs) needed in the human diet–linoleic and alpha-linolenic acid–as well as a complete and balanced complement of all essential amino acids.
• Hemp oil has more EFA’s than flax!
• As a natural fiber, hemp is known as one of the longest, strongest, and most durable of the bunch. It is also one of the safest natural resources to maintain, as cultivation methods require no ecologically damaging chemicals, herbicides, or pesticides.

To Learn more about hemp products made by Manitoba Harvest, click here. 

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KIND PLUS Bar Review Time – Mango Macadamia

(Click here to check out the KIND bar website)

Ingredients: Macadamias, Mango Pieces (Mango Puree, Glycerine [Natural], Citric Acid [Natural], Potassium Citrate, Pectin, Vegetable Gum), Honey, Glucose, Coconut Chips, Coconut Shredded, Puffed Rice, Soluble Dietary Fiber (Maize), Calcium Sulphate, Natural Flavor VITAMINS: Folic Acid, Cholecalciferol (Vit D3)

Nutritional Stats: Calories 190, Total Fat 12g (Saturated Fat 5g, Trans Fat 0g, Monounsaturated 7g), Sodium 20mg, Total Carb. 20g, Dietary Fiber 3g, Sugars 15g, Protein 2g

Raves: Definitely the sweet yet tart flavor contrast between the mango bits and shredded coconut chunks. Crunchy macadamia’s and the tiny pearls of cereal are held together by a syrupy sauce that is definitely leaning toward the sweet side. I’m glad it’s not too sticky because I like to peel my bars apart and eat the pieces bit-by-bit.

Rants: I’m just not a big fan of the gritty dried-coconut texture, but if you get past that, I have no other rants about this bar. Maybe that it’s a little sweet and not as nutritionally “powerful” as some of the other KIND bars considering it has 190 calories, lots of nut fat, but not much protein (not filling).

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Late July Organic Cookies

Now for a review on the samples of Late July cookies from the Jessica. Like I promise, I am brutally honest about how I feel about food products so let’s just say while I really want to RAVE about the white chocolate cookies, the milk chocolate ones didn’t quite float my boat.

Late July Organic’s newest products I’m reviewing were created by the founder herself and her two young sons. All of Late July’s products are produced without synthetic pesticides, chemical fertilizers, genetic engineering, antibiotics or added growth hormones.”

From their website, “7 different endangered animals are featured on the cookies and 10% of the profits go to the Jane Goodall Institute to help with their efforts in endangered animal awareness.

These Mini Sandwich Cookies contain:

• No trans fat
• No hydrogenated oils
• No high fructose corn syrup
• No artificial flavors, colors or preservatives, and are
• Lacto (dairy) vegetarian.

Mini Milk Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

We make real milk chocolate using a blend of organic cocoas, milk and extra calcium to create this irresistible flavor combination. The milk chocolate is then sandwiched between two bite size vanilla cookies packed with whole grains for an irresistible combination.

Stats (per 10 cookies): 130 Calories, 6g fat(2.5g saturated), 85g sodium, 19g carbs (1g fiber, 8g sugar), 2g protein

Flavor & Texture: I didn’t quite care for these cookies because they were rather bland in the flavor department. I was perhaps hoping for more of a vanilla cookie flavor with a hint of chocolate found wedged between, but instead found myself wishing for more. However, texture-wise, this was a crumbly cookies with the perfect “Oreo-like” texture (if Oreo’s came in mini sizes) and the filling was rather icing-like and sticky in texture.

Overall: If you overlook the “light” flavors in the cookie, this would be a wonderful sweet snack. They are adorable in size and in design, easy to package up and take to places, and are the perfect bite-size treat. Plus, there are so few manufacturers who use “organic whole wheat flour” as the #1 ingredient. I just wish there was more cocoa flavor in the chocolate filling and perhaps SOME kind of flavor in the cookie itself (vanilla would be good!).

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Mini White Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

We take rich, white chocolate and blend it to perfection, pack it with extra calcium and then sandwich it between delicious mini whole grain chocolate cookies.

Stats (per 10 cookies): 140 Calories, 7g fat(2.5g saturated), 85g sodium, 18g carbs (1g fiber, 9g sugar), 2g protein

Flavor & Texture: My healthy mini-cookie of choice for sure! I liked the light cocoa flavor in the mini-whole grain cookies, paired with the ever-so-unnoticeable white chocolate flavor of the cream makes this sandwich fun to eat layer by layer. I didn’t even realize that this cookie is 100% whole wheat!! The cookie itself is crisp yet crumbly, and the filling is rather icing-like and sticky.

Overall: I would totally buy this cookie again, especially over the mini milk chocolate sandwiches. They have only 10 more calories per serving, but much more fun and delectable o eat! They even make a great topping on treats like green tea frozen yogurt!

For a full page on nutritional stats and ingredient list, please click here.

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Nature’s Pride

Last but not least, something ya’ll are probably tired of seeing online by now – Nature’s Pride Bread sent from the Foodbuzz featured publisher program!

So the bread we food publishers got came from their line of “hearty breads.” It includes other delectable flavors like stone ground whole wheat with honey (um Hi! May I have some of that please??), Healthy multi-grain, Double fiber 100% whole wheat, Country white, Country Buttermilk, and Country Potato.

“Nature’s Pride™ bread is 100% natural with no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. And of course, no high fructose corn syrup.”

*Disclaimer*: I Like my bread heartier and nuttier! Multi-grain, pumpernickel, rye’s, and the” lightly sweetened with honey” breads are my favorites! I also tend not to do so well with the tiny 45 calories breads because they often lack the grainy texture, dry up too quickly, and don’t fill me up.:) Call me a monster.

The 12 grain bread

Stats (per slice): 120 calories, 2g fat, 180mg sodium, 20g carbs (2g fiber, 3g sugar, 4g protein)

The bread itself was soft, fluffy, and floppy before you toast it. More importantly, the 12-grain has my favorite kind of nutty, nubby texture that comes from grains.

The whole wheat bread

Stats (per slice): 110 Calories, 1g fat, 210mg sodium, 20g carbs (3g fiber, 4g sugar), 5g protein

This bread has the gritty texture I enjoy from using 100% whole wheat. It’s one of those breads that you know not to look for “smoothness” because you want that extra fiber! It is less sweet than the regular WW breads that I’ve ever tasted

My combination – an almond butter and jelly sandwiched between two different types of bread!

(Side note to self – I had to refrain from slathering on a ton of almond butter. Don’t mean to turn this review into one about the almond butter and jelly, but I DEFINITELY prefer my sandwiches with peanut butter and with chunkier fruit preserves!)

Overall review – I really like both these breads toasted simply because I love crusty crust! It was fun to get two different textures from the different breads – grittier from the whole wheat, and nuttier from the 12 grain. However, the WW bread definitely has better stats (marginally), with 1g more protein and 1g more of fiber per slice. Which kind I buy would depend on what I’m feeling that day – chunkier or grainier? Thanks Foodbuzz, and Thanks Nature’s Pride!!

If I had never tasted uber-grainy bread such as Dave’s Killer Bread, I would definitely pick up Nature’s bread again, however, Dave’s bread has a special spot in my heart. Dave’s an Trader Joe’s sprouted bread.

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Now back to the GIVEAWAY!

and in case you’re looking for more, here’s Janetha’s!

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Bread, Cookie, Foodbuzz, Hemp seed, Hemp seel oil, KIND Plus, Late July Organic, Mango Macadamia, Manitoba Harvest, Nature's Pride, Pancake, Products, Recipe, Reviews

October 6, 2009

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