Pancake Day
“Some days are like that, even in Australia.” From Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
13 February 2024
The day didn’t start like that, it started as any normal day would, but at some point, I looked at my phone notifications and saw that it was “Pancake Day”.
Now this is a bit of a traumatic day for me, as when I (a Californian) think of pancakes it is a totally different concept than when my wife (a Londoner) thinks of pancakes. She refers to mine as drop scones (which they aren’t) and I refer to hers as crêpes, which aren’t actually pancakes—they are crêpes.
Rewind to 17 February 2015
When we were first married, Maddie and I were living in a two-bedroom/one bathroom apartment with another couple (our friends who got married in Vegas the day after we did, long story don’t ask). I had just moved to London from San Diego a week previously and being I was the only one not gainfully employed, they assigned me Dinner Duty. Around 2 pm I got a call from Maddie telling me that it was “Pancake Day”, and was instructed to make pancakes for dinner.
To the disappointment of my two British and one Australian housemates, I made potato pancakes with all the accoutrements, the only pancakes I deemed acceptable for dinner. Despite being full of all the amazing things we can no longer eat (eggs, white potatoes, cheese, and crème fraîche), they didn’t seem to be getting much enjoyment from them. They finally explained that pancakes weren’t actually pancakes, they were crêpes. At which point they took over and made crêpes. I ate all the potato pancakes out of spite.
Fast-forward back to 13 February 2024
I decided to adjust my meal plan to now include some form of pancake—it has reluctantly become a tradition in the house, making savory crêpes for dinner and then having the leftover ones with sugar and lemon, Nutella, and various fruit compotes for dessert.
I had been trying out AIP (Autoimmune Protocol) compliant crêpes on occasion to break up our liquid breakfast routine, but they were more recipes that worked yet didn’t really inspire. Deciding that I needed to try a new recipe, I searched and finally found one that seemed to be okay.
As I looked over the recipe, I saw that it was ¼ starch in proportion to the flour (good so far), didn’t have any eggs(great), but did have gelatin. Oops too late, I’d already added all the other ingredients. How important could 1 tsp of gelatin be? Disaster. The crêpes turned out into this glutinous mess of perfectly browned outside and gummy inedible inside. Start over.
I found a second recipe, this time with no starch at all, just cassava and tigernut flours. Perfect, there is no way that these could be glutinous. Well, after adding in twice the amount of water to get the desired consistency, I cooked the first one—glutinous mess…I pressed on out of pure obstinance, and still glutinous mess, though less so…Again…it seems to be working. So I kept making them. Disaster…glutinous mess. 2 hours gone.
“Forget the pancakes.” Maddie told me. “Just make the stir-fry.”
So out comes the broccoli, onion, zucchini, carrots, ginger, and ginger powder. Cut up the chicken and sauté it in a pan (of which I forgot the oil), add some oil and then add the coconut aminos and more ginger powder. 10 minutes later we are just sitting down to eat. Holding the hot wok in one hand and a spoon in the other, I put a spoon full of stir-fry into Maddie’s bowl. I put the wok down on the table…and miss the table completely. It’s now all over the floor.
(This is my first time writing a recipe for others, so constructive criticism is very welcome).
Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry Recipe
Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes
150 grams of Chicken Breast (Cut into Pieces)
1 Medium head of Broccoli (in Florets)
1 Medium Onion (Cut in Quarters)
1 Large Carrot (Cut into Coins)
1 Large Zucchini (Spiraled)
2 TBSP of Mild Flavored Olive Oil
2 TBSP of Coconut Amino Acids
1 TSP of Ground Ginger
2 cm of Fresh Ginger (Diced or Grated)
Prepare your vegetables, starting with the Broccoli and Onion, followed by the Carrot, Ginger and Zucchini. When finished with the vegetables, cut the chicken into bite-sized piece, place in a bowl, and sprinkle with the cut ginger, salt, pepper, and a dash of coconut amino acids. Set aside.
Heat the 1 TBSP of oil in a wok or frying pan. Add the onion and broccoli stalks with a pinch of salt on medium heat, allowing the onion to soften. Once the onion has softened, add the broccoli florets, carrots, the ground ginger and coconut amino acids. If the pan is becoming too hot, add a couple tablespoons of water to pan (no need to be overly accurate, estimating will be fine).
Let the stir-fry cook for 3-5 minutes and then in a small frying pan heat 1 TBSP of oil and when hot, add the chicken mix and cook on medium heat, making sure to sear the outside of the chicken.
When the chicken is done, add the spiraled zucchini and chicken to the wok, mix well making sure to coat the zucchini in the sauce at the bottom of the pan. The zucchini should only need 2-3 minutes to cook.
Serve on plates (not the floor) and enjoy!
Thanks for reading! Please feel free to share this with anyone you think will benefit. Also (due to algorithm considerations) hit like if you did like it. I’d also like to reiterate that this isn’t to be considered medical advice, this is just our individual experience. Some people respond to the diet, some people respond to the medication, and some people respond to both. The idea is that it is YOUR healing journey, I’m just offering up our experiences on our healing journey in the hopes that if you are suffering from anything similar, you’ll take a little bit of inspiration from M as I do on a daily basis.