better than mashed potatoes

My poor blog has been so neglected lately. Unfortunately, grad school is interfering with all my grand plans for new recipe creation. However, I have quite a few things that I'd like to try, so hopefully soon I'll have lots of new things to post!

I rarely post recipes that are not my own, but I recently bought some parsnips on a whim, came across this recipe, and it was so yummy that I had to share it with you.

In honor of Thanksgiving, I give you something better than mashed potatoes:

Mashed Parsnips

Ingredients

1 pound carrots, coarsely chopped
1 pound parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup butter, diced and softened
pinch ground nutmeg
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add carrots, cover partially, and simmer 5 minutes. Add parsnips, and cover partially. Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well.

Return vegetables to saucepan, and stir over medium heat until any excess moisture evaporates. Transfer to food processor or in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Add butter, and process or whip until smooth (it will still have just a little texture if you use a stand mixer). Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

They're not starch free, and just barely qualify as low starch. However, it's a nice treat and much better than a serving of mashed potatoes, which has roughly 40 grams of starch per serving.

Make 4 generous servings, with approx 10 grams of starch per serving.

My recipe is a slightly modified version of the recipe found here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/whipped-carrots-and-parsnips/detail.aspx

Innumerable Berry Pancakes

My children are not big breakfast eaters. Around here, lunch has always been the biggest meal of the day. With that in mind, this is a typical conversation that we have when these pancakes are on the agenda.

me: "Children! Breakfast is Ready!"
chorus: I'm nooottt huuungry
me: "Just have one pancake"
chorus: sigh.... "ooookkaaay"
....
Over a dozen eggs, innumerable "Can I have more please!" and 4 batches of pancakes later, I always end up rethinking the wisdom of that conversation when I make these pancakes.

So if you plan to make these, I'd advise that you have plenty of time and ingredients on hand.



Berry Pancakes

Ingredients
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs
4 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup milk

1/2 bag frozen berries, about 6 ounces (any berries work, chop them slightly to ensure that no berries or berry pieces are larger than about 1/4")

Method
Whisk together all ingredients except the berries. Fold in the berries.

Cook on Med/MedLow (about level "4" on my stove) for about 5 minutes on side, flip and cook for about 2 minutes on the other side.