Clap Your Hands For Cheesecake Pancakes

Last week in my comeback post, I said I wasn’t sure whether I’d blog about my quest for health through diet considering most of my experience was an epic failure. However, I’m happy to share a few gems I discovered along the way in the form of recipes. First up, cheesecake pancakes! These delightful pancakes are super low in carbs (about 1 pancake = 1g!), and they taste fabulous.

Ingredients

• 2 large brown eggs
• 4 oz organic cream cheese
• 1/8 -1 tsp stevia (depending on brand and concentration)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon (cinnamon is great for blood sugar control, so I get a bit liberal with how much I put in)
• 1 tbsp ground flax seed
• 1 dash salt

 Note: With the amount of work and clean-up involved in this process, I made a double batch, which yielded 8 pancakes from 8 oz of cream cheese. But then, I’m also a fan of leftovers. However, because of the slow cook time and how runny the batter is, I had to do one pancake at a time, and the entire double batch took me two hours! I am not a kitchen person, so yeesh.

Directions

1. Separate egg whites from egg yolks and beat egg whites with electric mixer.
2. In a larger bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. (I will note that the original recipe doesn’t specify electric as it does for the egg whites, but I used one anyway. It didn’t quite work except to make the cream cheese nice and smooth and stuck in the beaters.)
3. Add egg yolks, stevia, cinnamon, salt, and flaxseed into cream cheese and beat together.
4. Add egg whites. (Not all of the cream cheese blended well, but ended up at the bottom of the bowl, so you might want to follow up with a fork or manual whisk.)
5. Heat Cast Iron or Stainless Steel pan over medium low heat. Grease lightly. (I used Grapeseed Oil cooking spray and sprayed the pan before each pancake.)
6. Use 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake and cook until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes on each side. (Really, I think it took longer than that, but I wasn’t timing myself, just eyeballing it. The important thing is not to turn the heat up so you avoid turning the butter/oil into bad fat.)

And voila! I think they taste just dandy with butter, but you could add fruit, jam, or even syrup. Just keep in mind that if you do, they won’t be low-carb anymore.

For recommended ingredient brands, see the original recipe at Dr. Pompa’s website, cellularhealingdiet.com/cheesecake-pancakes/

Note 2: While I haven’t tried this, a friend of mine made a similar recipe using a blender rather than a beater. I imagine it might go about smoothing the batter more easily.

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Writing the Pain I Know

Based on my social media persona, you all probably know me as a writer whose imagination is way more interesting than her everyday life, a person who loves cats and books, and can be funny (on occasion).

What you probably don’t know is behind this computer screen, every single day is a battle with my health. I’m a Type 1 diabetic, but my cells have stopped processing insulin properly. This leads to high blood sugars and stress on the organs. So three months ago I reduced my diet to protein and produce. I was already celiac and couldn’t have wheat gluten, but now all grains, including rice and corn are off the list. I have allergies 24/7, 365 days a year, and the only reason I drink coffee is to keep the migraines at bay—which works most days.

Recently I found out I’ve got heavy metal toxins preventing any form of true healing from happening. That means detox, but if you’ve ever quit giving your body something it’s used to, you’ve probably experienced that things get worse before they get better. Your body doesn’t function very well holding all those toxins tightly in its cells, but when you detox, the floodgates open and all those nasty things are allowed to wreak havoc on your entire system. The plan my doctor lined up will take months, and I must confess that seeing the other side of this path is like looking down a road covered in blinding thick fog—with rattlesnakes in the bushes; I can’t see how far away the end is—or if there is one.

Last October (wow, almost a year ago!) I posted about outliving my expiration date. I’ve made a lot of lifestyle changes since then. I’ve been gluten free for over a year now, something I never thought I could do (or would). I’ve eliminated 99% of sugar, including artificial sweeteners, from my diet—no more cookies, candy, or ice cream. I say 99% because lots of grocery items have some form of sugar, like some canned beans!

The process of making these changes has been brutal, and the most discouraging thing of all is they haven’t made me feel better. With my doctor’s current plan, he hopes I’ll start feeling better in a month. And then we’ll keep going with the regimen for as long as it takes. Can you imagine thinking of recovery time in months or over a year? It’s daunting.

People have asked if I would ever write a character with diabetes or similar health issues, and the answer in the past has always been ‘no.’ When I write, I’d rather spend time with someone who isn’t held back by such weaknesses and inconveniences. One of the reasons I write is to pretend, just for a little, that I can go and do and be someone else.

However, with my current struggles and the frustration, that’s changed. I started a new book and this time my character has just as many health problems as me. Of course, I’m throwing in supernatural stuff as well. 😉 This character will face weakness and learn to find different kinds of strength. Because even though the days are hard and sometimes I feel so discouraged as to cry (or say “screw it all, I want the cookie!”), I keep going. I keep living and doing what I love. Writing this book started out as a therapeutic venture, but I hope the final product will be something worth sharing with you all.

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In the meantime, watch for the release of Earth Tones, Elemental Magic 3 coming October 20th! Check out the book trailer and stay tuned for the cover reveal next Wednesday!

I’m putting together a blog tour for the release with dates in November, and if anyone would like to participate, let me know! You can check out the tour schedule’s page on the right.

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I hope you enjoyed your visit and come back for more!  You can subscribe using RSS, Twitter, or Facebook.  And if you want to ensure you don’t miss any new releases, you can sign up for the newsletter!