Chocolate Sweet Potato & Almond Butter Pancakes & Reflections on 2020
Hello loves
I hope you are feeling calm & have been able to keep an inner stability, strength & clarity especially during this week while the world is in the firing line of divine chaos & re-ordering.
I know for sure that one thing that has been keeping me grounded during this time of completely re-setting and re-constructing my inner world through the deep reflective processes that have been called forward over the last couple of months, and the last couple of weeks especially, has been to eat grounding and deeply nourishing foods. Foods that are not only nutrient-dense but foods that are comforting, warming, and soothing. And, listen, I will be the first to say that my relationship to food has been the furthest thing from simple. It has been intricate, emotional, complex & often times very difficult. And usually, it is in times of deep emotional turmoil or stress where all of my old, negative eating, sleeping & mental patterns re-emerge.
BUT, this time has been quite different. I think due to the quality of the stressors in the world right now: COVID, black lives matter movement, the MASSIVE wave of shifting consciousness, working with internal outdated thought programs and beliefs along with the literal time & space for the reflective processes demanded by these changes, has meant that the usual responses to stresses have shifted some & I am finding that I have a much wider capacity for holding myself tenderly & openly through the difficult moments. Learning this (to hold myself in love through the difficult moments) without having to rely on the false sense of security, familiarity & illusory comfort offered by disordered/addictive patterns that previous offered me those things has been a massively healing process and outcome from this year so far. I am aware that it is the accumulated strengths and courages that I have met within myself previous to this year & these trying times that give me the ability to let the strength find me more regularly and consistently as and when I need it. Like a muscle that has been exercised over the years that is becoming stronger, I find myself really growing into that ability to call courage forward in moments when my strength wanes. Almost like the trying times that preceded these, were warming me up to cope with today’s difficult moments. And today’s difficulties that spark an activation of strength within will illuminate the path of strength for facing tomorrow’s difficult moments.
And still, it’s not easy & breezy - not by a long shot. There are still gnarly, gnarly days where the throws of disordered thinking pull me down, trying to whisk me away through the trap door at the bottom of the rabbit hole and into oblivion. But, somehow, the divine grace that finds me more and more in these difficult moments somehow sees me through. And if it doesn’t see me through in that moment, and the hole is all-encompassing and blinding, it sees me through the following moments, the moments of leaning firmly into forgiveness & compassion that then holds me tight: reminding me that there is richness of life and moments of connection and love and healing waiting for me beyond this hard moment. And so we make our way through the days: learning, loving, healing, falling, coming back, pulling courage to the forefront of the heart & stepping bravely forward with grace leading the way.
I have found it quite fascinating the lens of perception during these times. A real sense of zooming in and zooming out.
Finding in the moments of being zoomed in a divine cocktail of acute stress and raptuous joy & softness. All the while riding the waves of what old wounds demand from my Soul to heal a little bit more that day, that hour, that breath. I am learning (slowly and with much stubbornness) to not be so dang impatient with my learnings and my healings. Something I need to be reminded of every day: that healing happens in its’ own divine timing and no amount of desire, force or will, will change the pace of your healing because it happens when you are ready for the healing to be there, full & unwavering: finding it’s rightful place in your body and your heart. And this is once you have understood and exercised the lesson of the wound, and this takes time, constant reflexivity & spaciousness. It takes a real trust & courage to give your inner world the spaciousness it asks for in order to heal in its’ time. Trust asks for a willingness to surrender the need to control the timing of the outcomes. And courage, to keep re-facing and working with the many lessons, openings and understandings that the wounds within offer us.
And then, in the moments of being zoomed out finding myself totally perplexed at the happenings in the world, a confusion that is truly disorienting. While simultaneously holding a deep awareness of the rightness of it all: an overarching okay-ness that is underpinned by an understanding of the placement of it all within the bigger picture. A bigger picture that somehow just “clicks” and makes sense to my being and sees me through the disorientation that would otherwise derail me. And with this wider perspective & understanding follows a deep sense of allowing and peace because there is sense to be made of this all from this wider awake-ness. A vast space where the cocktail of direct and acute stresses AND the sometimes raptuous, sometimes quiet moments of joy can still reside, but they are simply less demanding and charged.
So, if you were needing a bit of a sneak peek into some of the behind-the-scenes of how I have been moving through the last few months - navigating internal shadows, outer shadows and everything in between. This is a little glimpse into how it has been for me. I am curious, how has it been for you?
What started this reflective ramble was, in fact, me trying to say that food & good food has been a really important part of my process during this time. Taking time to heal my relationship to food - which has always been an extension of my relationship to myself, really. And if there is one thing that this time of having this major PAUSE-REFLECT button pushed on the outer, external busy-ness of life has gifted us, is the time to really hone in on how we relate and care for ourselves and the ones we love. For me, it really has been a powerful and transformative time. And these pancakes made me really happy along the way.
They are flavoursome, filled to the brim with delicious & really awesome ancient powders that bring balance, calmness and steadiness to the mind & body. Wazoogles gifted me with some of their divine products, and so in this recipe you will see I used their protein powder which is filled with high quality, plant goodness. I then also used my standard and favorite Aether Herbalist & Apothecary brand for the Ashwaghanda & Pine Pollen, giving these pancakes an extra medicinal punch.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup of gluten-free flour (I used Nature’s Choice Cake Flour mix)
1/4 cup packed sweet potato mash (I used the orange sweet potato, which I peeled, boiled & mashed)
1/4 cup of mashed banana (which was one medium-large banana)
4 tablespoon cocoa powder (you can use cacao or cocoa, I used regular cocoa as it was what I had on hand)
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp soy milk
2 tbsp raw turbinado sugar or coconut sugar
3-4 tbsp chocolate, chopped (depending on how chocolate-y you want it!)
1 tbsp nut butter (I used almond butter - peanut butter is also great!)
1 scoop of Wazoogles Vanilla Sky protein powder (or the Chocolate Moondust protein powder)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp pine pollen (optional: can also substitute maca powder or cinnamon)
1/2 tsp ashwaghanda (optional: and if you have any other kind of powder you would like to sub for this you can - things like baobab, cats claw, mucuna etc.)
pinch salt
Additional suggested toppings: chopped fruit, more almond butter & Wazoogles chocolate quinoa puff packs!
Method:
In a bowl, mash the banana. Add in the mashed sweet potato, the vanilla essence, the nut butter of choice, the salt, sugar and the chocolate chips. Mix well. Now add in the soy milk & mix again.
Add in the Wazoogles powder, the cocoa powder, the pine pollen & ashwaghanda (if you are using), the gluten-free flour mix and the baking powder. Mix well until a thick pancake batter emerges. Side note: to get your hands on some delicious, healing roots & shoots like the Ashwaghanda, Pine pollen or Maca suggested in the recipe, head over to Aetherherbalist & Apothecary & you can use the checkout code THEHEALINGROOT to get a 10% discount.
Using a non-stick frying pan, or some oil if you don’t have a non-stick, bring your pan to heat. Using a 1/8 cup measure for smaller pancakes or a 1/4 cup measure for bigger pancakes dollop the batter into the pan and flatten/round with the back of your spoon to form your circular pancake. Cook on a low-medium heat so that they cook all the way through. Flip & cook on the other side until golden brown & lucious.
Stack, drench in maple syrup/honey/agave, extra nut butter, top with Wazoogles chocolate snack pack, some other bits and bobs like roasted nuts or coconut flakes & some fresh fruit.
TUCK IN & ENJOY!
