Banana Bread Pancakes (gluten free) & Happy Valentine's Day

I am so excited about this post. These pancakes are delicious, easy to make, and gluten free. I love this photo too! I took over 30 pictures for this post.  I have come a LONG way from my early blogging days only eight months ago and am looking forward to growing in my writing and my food photography.
I picked a few Gerber daisy flowers from my garden to use in my photo shots for this recipe. I am in Florida remember. I keep a garden in the winter. It is pouring down buckets of rain down here while its a frozen tundra in the North.
As I was snapping away I noticed some movement on the flower petals. Look at the little friend that made this a great shot today.

I am wishing you a very wonderful Valentine's Day. May you take time today to be with those you love and that love you. Love and be loved!

-Brooklynn

Low-Sugar No-Cook Strawberry Jam

It is January. While it may be freezing and snowing up north; you have my sympathies if you live there; it is warm and sunny in Florida. This time of year  means strawberry season is in full swing for the sunshine state! I was able to get a great deal on 1lbs of Florida Strawberries at a local green market this past week. It was buy 2lbs at 1.99 each get 1lbs free. I knew we would not eat three pounds of berries before they turned so I decided to test drive a new type of pectin I had purchased at my natural health food store Pomona's Universal Pectin. 
What first drew me in was the natural aspect of this product. The pectin is made from citrus peel. The recipes allow for use of honey, sugar, or a sugar alternative to make your jelly or jam and most recipes only call for 1 cup of sweetener.  A traditional strawberry jam recipe can require 7 cups of sugar; yikes! My mom has always made homemade strawberry freezer jelly and it is tradition I (and Rich) want to continue sans massive amounts of white sugar.