Recipe: American Style Peanut, Apple and Blueberry Pancakes

Hello lovelies!

I'm carrying on the pancake obsession, so I thought I'd share these beauties that I made this morning with you.

We're using the same basic recipe as my American Style Blueberry Chocolate Chip Pancakes - 1/2 cup (GF) flour, 1/2 cup (soya) milk (plus a bit extra if using GF flour), 1 tsp baking powder, 1 Tbsp + 1 heaped tsp caster sugar. Mix together until smooth using a fork then add 1 tbsp peanut butter, 1/2 a grated apple (I used a sharp cooking apple), 1/2 tsp cinnamon and a sprinkling of blueberries. Mix again until thick and smooth.

Spoon 1/2 a ladle of batter into a hot oiled frying pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes until golden underneath and then flip with a spatula or fish slice.

Is it wrong that I find this picture a bit cute?

Delicious! I really enjoy this flavour combination - perfect for autumn :)

Makes 8-10 delicious pancakes.

Questions:
Do you ever get obsessed with making the same thing over and over again?
What's your favourite flavour combination at the moment?

Recipe: American Style Blueberry Peanut Chocolate Chip Pancakes

We all love pancakes right? I'm yet to meet a person who can honestly say they don't love them. Anyway, the other day I had a pancake craving, so I decided to whip up these bad boys. They're super easy, hence why I'm not going to give you step by step photos (I've also lost one of the batteries to my camera... *sigh*)

In a mixing bowl combine 1/2 cup flour (I use Doves Farm Gluten Free but regular flour will work fine), 1/2 cup (soya) milk (plus a few spoonfuls extra if using Gluten Free flour), 1 tsp Baking Powder, 1 Tbsp + 1 Tsp Caster Sugar and 1 Tbsp Peanut Butter with Chocolate chips (or regular peanut butter and a sprinkle of chocolate chips). Use a fork or a whisk to mix until smooth then add a handful of blueberries (frozen or fresh work fine).

I use around half a ladle of batter for each pancake:

Cook over a medium flame in a hot oiled non-stick frying pan (I use a teeny dribble of oil for each pancake and swipe it around with a silicon pastry brush). Turn after a minute or two using a fish slice/spatula.

I serve mine with Provamel Apple and Green Tea yoghurt on the side. Yum Yum!

Notes:
If you can't have/don't want peanut butter, sub it out. They should still work, although you may wish to add a little oil to the batter.
Play around with flavours - other berries, raisin and cinnamon, almonds.... have fun!

Makes 8-10 yummy pancakes.

PS Sorry for the shockingly bad quality photos from my phone.
PPS Special mention to my twitter friend RicheyRevol who suggested I should make blueberry pancakes in the first place.

Topman replied...

... and here's what they said:

"Dear Emily, 

Thank you for your email received 14 September 2011, regarding the ‘New Girlfriend’ T-shirt.
I was extremely concerned to note your comments on the design that is on this T-shirt, and would like to offer my sincere apologies on behalf of Topman for the obvious upset this particular garment has caused you.
Topman stock T-shirts with various designs on them, and by featuring this particular design we certainly did not mean to cause offence to our customers or any members of the public. Please accept my assurances that this image was meant to be light hearted without carrying any serious meaning.
I have passed a copy of your email to our Buying Director, so that he is aware of how strongly you feel about this issue. We are proud of our reputation as a retailer, and do not want to risk damaging this by causing any unnecessary upset to anyone. He has confirmed that the decision has been made to remove this T-shirt from online and in store.

I am grateful you have taken the time to bring your concerns to our attention, and once again apologise for the upset this T-shirt caused you.

Regards,

Steph
Topman Customer Service"


Anyone else get a response from them?

UPDATE: Having spoken to another friend who emailed them, this is their copy and paste response (as I expected)

Err, What the Hell Topman?

I saw this t shirt posted on twitter earlier, currently available in Topman, and I feel a little sick. Below is the email I've sent to customer services. Remember how us bloggers got on to Mac for the Rodarte collection? Maybe you might want to send them a little email yourself (and feel free to post it in the comments/link me to your blog post if you do)

Dear Topman,

Hello! I'm not a man, in fact I'm a fairly plucky young woman, but I just thought I'd drop you a line to tell you how utterly offensive and degrading I find this t-shirt. No doubt you'll think I'm humourless and uncool (I'm not) but I'd really like to know what on earth made you think this was an acceptable, appropriate or even vaguely amusing slogan to allow.
Many of your customers are young, impressionable men - t-shirts like this add to the idea that a woman is an object. In fact, you're barely even bothering to consider a girlfriend an object here - more like a piece of cattle that's been acquired from the market or a dog that you'd keep under the table and feed the scraps to. We could take it broader maybe - have you thought about the fact that this is, in part, condoning the sex trafficking industry? That there are women who are very much bought and sold like cattle, who are viewed almost as something to be bred, not as individuals with their own rights, thoughts and opinions?

My hope is that you will a)respond to my email and explain yourselves, b)pull this stock from your shelves asap and c)donate any revenue from sales of this t-shirt to an appropriate charity such as Refuge or Women's Aid.

I (and my readers) hope to hear back from you soon,

Emily Birkinshaw,

http://sparkleandshade.com

You can get in touch with them here 

After I sent this, I also saw this one:

UPDATE: Topman have pulled both t shirts. However, still get in touch, let them know how you feel and badger them for a charitable donation.

Mediterranean Vegetable and Lentil Crumble.

Hello Lovelies!

I thought it was high time I brought you another recipe, and this is a rather delicious one as we move into autumn (my favourite of all the seasons - I hate summer because I never quite know what to eat or cook)

First, chop your veg into fairly small pieces - I used a small onion, 2 cloves garlic, 4 mushrooms, a medium leek (I'd added them to the pan before I took this picture), 1/2 yellow pepper, 1/2 medium courgette, 1/2 medium aubergine.

Next, heat a good glug of olive oil in a big pan and gradually add your veg, stirring. I tend to add them in the order I listed them above :) Once your veg are nice and soft (feel free to add a little more oil if they're sticking but not too much), you can add your seasoning.

As always, I encourage you to play around with the seasoning, and I didn't measure but I roughly used 1tsp each of  herbs d'prov, paprika, basil and oregano, 1/2 tsp cayenne (it was quite spicy, so you may wish to use less), pinch Za'tar, 1.5tsp Marigold bouillon, lots of pepper, a few grinds of salt, splash of vegan Worcester sauce and about a tablespoon of organic ketchup.

Next, add a tin of chopped tomatoes, around 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of lentils. Turn the heat down so that it's gently simmering and leave to cook for around 10-15 minutes, stirring regularly.

I used 1.5 tbsp dairy free marg, 3/4 cup of oats, 1/4 cup Doves Farm Gluten Free flour, 2 garlic and herb gluten free crackers (totally optional), 2 tbsp Parmazano (see picture below), 1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast Flakes, 1/4 tsp rosemary and lots of salt and pepper. For a simple version, just use marg, oats, flour and herbs/S&P. For non-vegans, add in 1/3 cup of strong grated chedder. To make this truly gluten free, sub GF flour for the oats. You might need to play around with the amount of marg that you use as well.

Magical Parmazano - you can find this in the free from asile of most supermarkets. Vegetarians, take note - parmesan is not veggie.. it always, always, always contains rennet aka baby cows stomach lining. Ewww.

Blend for around 2 or 3 minutes until you have a lovely crumbly, breadcrumb type consistency.

Transfer your vegetable mixture to a large baking dish

Top with an even layer of crumble and an extra grind of black pepper.

Bake on 180C for around 35-40 minutes. Remove when your crumble is slightly browned (I know you can't see much difference, but I promise it was).

Yum yum yum!