I’ve been one week back on plan and I feel great! It’s incredible how just one week of eating the way I’ve been prescribed to will improve the way I feel and the way my body works. There is already evidence on the scales, but feeling better is the best reward. Someone please shake me and sit me down if I start to forget this!
This morning I let myself have a mild cheat, though it’s not much of one because the entire thing was still low-carb* and pretty healthy. I pulled out a bag of Bob’s Red Mill Low-Carb Baking Mix that I’ve had in the freezer for a while and used their recipe on the back as a base, then added just a few things of my own. The result was a delicious stack of pancakes (most of which will be frozen individually for future breakfasts) that I took great joy in eating this morning with a strong cup of coffee. It was a great way to use some of the several pounds of fresh blackberries that I’ve picked over the past week. I wanted to use up as much as I could before freezing, because things just aren’t the same after they’ve hit the freezer. There are a lot of cobblers in the futures of my loved ones.
* “Low-carb” does not have to equal “tastes like cardboard”! This is one of those recipes that people who aren’t on this kind of diet can enjoy as well (I’ll admit that there are some out there that are 1) not of any interest to a person who doesn’t have to eat this way and 2) honestly, not the healthiest choice for someone who isn’t low-carbing. The Atkins Mexican Hot Chocolate recipe, for example. If you are not making up for the added fat by restricting carbohydrates, you really should stay away from some of those things.)
Here’s the recipe in case you are interested:
Low-Carb Blackberry Pancakes
1 cup Low-Carb Baking Mix
3/4 cup half & half
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 packet xylitol
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup blackberries
Mix together all ingredients except blackberries. Once combined, fold in blackberries. Pour about 1/4 cup batter on griddle for each pancake. Flip once bubbles form on raw side. Cook until each side is golden brown and steam no longer rises from pancake.
Makes about 4 servings (8 pancakes). 260 cals, 13g carbohydrates, 5g fiber, 18g protein
Oklahoma girl through-and-through. Writer, aspiring domestic goddess and totalitarian dictator. Taking on the world one carb-induced coma at a time. Co-host of Picture Shows & Petticoats. 
What is xylitol? (I thought that was in gum/toothpaste.) And how does it work in the recipe?
“Xylitol is a sugar alcohol sweetener used as a naturally occurring sugar substitute.”
Common in low-carb cooking because it’s a sugar alcohol and doesn’t affect blood sugar the way that regular sugar does. It’s absorbed more slowly. I buy it in powder form at the health food store.