Pretty Little Apron

virgin red palm oil

Vanilla-Almond Freezer Pancakes

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vanillaalmondpancakes

If your mornings are super busy making breakfast ahead, freezing it, and getting it out as needed is a great idea. These pancakes are loaded with nutrients and oats, which will give you lasting energy. I love knowing when I send my school aged son off to school that he won’t be super hungry before lunch time! If you don’t want to freeze this recipe I recommend cutting it in half.


Another reason to make your own pancakes to freeze instead of buying the store bought version are the ingredients. Here are the ingredients from Kellog’s Eggo Buttermilk Pancakes:

eggo

The Red Flags

  • Soybean oil: Highly refined, unhealthy fats, GMO, never a good option!
  • High Fructose Corn Syrup: Highly refined, GMO, will likely give a spike of energy, and a crash!
  • Enrichment: The fact that they are enriching these means they are not using a whole flour that still has natural nutrients in tact. If you are consuming whole, unrefined grains there is no need for enrichment. Our bodies are also more efficient at processing naturally occuring nutrients so that is always the best way to go.

Overall, the ingredient list is just in my opinion inferior. They use the worst ingredients in each category, then go back and enrich it. I know I don’t want to start my day with unhealthy fats, gmo’s, and HFCS!  Also, if you are thinking of going the boxed mix route, some of those are even worse! Check out this post for the reasons why.

*To freeze simply place in ziplock bags and store in freezer.

 

Red Palm Superfood Cookies

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Yes, you read the title right… Superfood cookies! If you’ve been following along you know I have 3 boys. I like to make treats for them every once in a while because I don’t want them to feel like we are “weird” or “different” then other kids we know, and who doesn’t love cookies? My husband had been making these oat, walnut, and maple cookies and I decided to take them to the next level by using red palm oil. If you haven’t heard of this stuff yet it is incredible!

Health Benefits


Organic virgin red palm oil is the king of all oils. It is better then olive oil, coconut oil, and all the other oils that have great health effects on us. My husband actually just picked it up at the store one day, not even knowing what it was, so I Googled it and found this article from Dr. Oz describing how amazing it is! Here is an overview of the health benefits:

  • Rich in tocotrienol which is cancer fighting
  • Fights heart disease and high cholesterol by aiding in the removal of plaque buildup in arteries
  • Helps maintain proper blood pressure
  • Antioxidant rich- aids in preventing osteoporosis, asthma, cataracts, macular degeneration, arthritis, and liver disease
  • Slows down premature again by protecting the skin from UV rays from the sun
  • Protects against Alzheimer’s by improving blood flow to brain cells and stopping the damage of brain cells from occuring

I don’t know about you, but sign me up for the Red Palm Oil train right now!

The Cookies

Not only will you get all the health benefits from the Red Palm Oil, the rest of the ingredients are whole, natural, and also packed with nutrition! These cookies contain oat flour and rolled oats as well as all natural sugar so your body will not experience the “crash” that comes with refined flours and sugars. The best part, they taste AMAZING! I think sometimes people think of health food as cardboard-like but its 2014 and things have drastically changed!

The Oil

The most important thing is to choose the right oil. Do not get any type of refined version, as refining processes ruin the health benefits of oils. I’d highly recommend Nutivia brand Organic Red Palm Oil. It is relatively inexpensive and can be found in the “organic” section of grocery stores. If you are looking among the highly refined oils and can’t find it, look in another section. Here is a link to the oil on Amazon if you can’t find it locally.