Vegan Yack Attack's Protein-Packed Dessert for Breakfast Smoothie!

Thank you Vegan Yack Attack for putting together several of my favorite things! Smoothies, chia seeds, chocolate, and frozen bananas. This was the perfect quick snack while I was busy crafting all afternoon! It reminds me of a shake my parents used to make with bananas, icecream, and slim fast powder: but WAY healthier!

For the recipe I used almond butter instead of peanut butter and about 3/4 cup of almond milk. YUMMY

Here's the recipe

Smoothies!

We all love those smoothie places, right? Why is it that at home we can’t match the flavors? I found 3 reasons.

1.              I don’t use ice cream in fruit smoothies

2.              I was using ice.

3.              My blender was crap and I have bit of floating ice and fruit.

The last problem I fixed a few summers ago when I was at the county fair and I learned about the Vitamix. I went home did a ton of research. That week I received the best commission paycheck I’d ever had, so I decided to splurge. My smoothies instantly got better but were still watery. As result of the Vitamix cookbook I started using a lot of frozen fruit instead of ice. Yum!

What I started recently was actually a result of ready “The Sneaky Chef.” The book suggests blending up fruits and vegetables ahead of time and adding them to recipes for added nutrition. What I soon found was that these purees made fabulous instant smoothies! A few fruit/veggies cubes and some juice and the perfect smoothie in seconds.

It’s really easy and takes very little time. Here’s what you do:

Gather a bunch of fruits and vegetables. You can use fresh or frozen. If you want to use fresh, this is the perfect thing to do when the produce starts getting a little soft and right before they go bad. I like mixing fruits and veggies in every puree.

 

I’m starting with kale and blueberries. I added about ½ a cup of pomegranate juice to a package of blueberries and a small bunch of kale in the blender. Puree until smooth. I then fill up 2 ice cube trays with the puree and freeze. After pop them out and save in a big ziplock bag.

The next puree I did today was 1 package of strawberries, one package of raspberries, five whole carrots, the juice of half a lemon, and ½ a cup pomegranate juice.

The last thing I do on smoothie prep day was chop up all my browning bananas and put them in another ziplock bag.

Other combinations I love:

Strawberries, fresh beets, and raspberries

Carrots, sweet potatoes, and bananas

Spinach, blackberries, and lemon

This makes smoothie making so easy in the morning. You can grab a few “cubes” and just add some juice or almond milk. If it’s thin enough to drink through a straw go for it, and if it is super thick it’s great with a little granola on top.

YUM!

Anna Mae’s Power Cookies

 

Anna Mae is my friend. She’s vegan and watching her on some camping and other adventures, I realized that being vegan doesn’t mean just salads if you're out and about. Last time I saw her we went to the Lotus Festival- I went searching to buy some vegan treats and she busted out these vegan and gluten free “cookies.” She made them very simple but let me know she jazzes them up for her boyfriend.

The idea of chickpeas, applesauce, and oatmeal instead of flour, butter, and sugar sounds weird- but trust me it’s great. If you don’t like the taste of chickpeas I highly suggest adding a tablespoon of peanut or almond butter. It doesn’t overwhelm the recipe, but it kind of cancels out the bean-y taste.

If you are allergic to gluten or are avoiding gluten completely, make sure you get gluten free oats! I bought a giant thing of Quaker Oats a few months ago at Costco, and although I’m avoiding white flour and a lot of gluten- I’m also try to be resourceful and I refuse to waste the food!

My favorite version of this recipe is the basic recipe + agave, vanilla, cinnamon, almond, butter, mashed banana, vegan chocolate chips, raisins, and chopped walnuts. I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting though, zucchini and carrots- I’ll let you know if I have a breakthrough in deliciousness!

These cookies are a perfect replacement for protein bars. I take these everywhere now! Work, the zoo, amusement parks, and the movies. Hope you enjoy them!

Anna Mae’s Power Cookies

Basic Recipe:

2 cans of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)

1 cup of applesauce

1 cup of oatmeal

2 tbsp of oil

2 tsp of baking powder

2 tsp of baking soda

Any amount of optional ingredients*

1.              Preheat oven to 350, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2.              Blend chickpeas and applesauce in blender until smooth.

3.              Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until combined.

4.              Spoon onto cookie sheet in heaping tablespoons and bake for 30-35 minutes.

* Optional Ingredients:

1 tbsp of agave

2 tsp vanilla

Sprinkle of cinnamon

2 tbsp of almond or peanut butter

1 mashed banana

½ cup vegan chocolate chips

½ cup raisins

¼ cup sunflower seeds

¼ cup chopped nuts

2 tablespoons of cocoa powder

Sweet Potato and Banana Pizza

 Okay- so you’re probably thinking: “Sweet potato on a pizza????” OR “Banana on a pizza????” OR “Sweet potatoes and bananas?” Or you might be thinking all three things. Trust me this is delicious.

Remember that show Doug? I remember an episode where there was a cooking contest, someone made pizza, someone made banana pudding, and somehow the pudding ended up on the pizza but it was great. The next time my sister and I ate a pizza we sliced up banana. I remember I LOVED it. But I stopped- I must have rediscovered pineapple and jalapenos. 

Anyway, the night I came up with this recipe- Brian and I were trying to decide what to do for dinner. We had kale, sweet potatoes, and bananas. (We also made this pizza with the kale) Brian casually mentioned he had had banana pizza in Sweden and something triggered. Suddenly the idea of sweet potatoes and bananas sounded so good- on pizza. I was hesitant putting the sauce and cheese on, but I figured why not.

The result was in my opinion successful. Hope you enjoy too!

Sweet Potato and Banana Pizza

1 8” pizza crust

1 banana (thinly sliced)

1 sweet potato (shredded)

¾ cup tomato sauce (more or less to your liking)

¼ cup of shredded vegan pepper jack (or more)

Coconut oil

Cinnamon

1.              Preheat oven to 425 or whatever your crust suggests.

2.              Put a little oil in a skillet on medium heat.

3.              Add the shredded sweet potato and a few shakes of cinnamon. Sauté for a few minutes until it is soft.

4.              Spread the sauce over the pizza crust.

5.              Transfer the sweet potatoes on top of the sauce.

6.              Sprinkle the cheese over the sweet potatoes.

7.              Arrange the bananas over everything and sprinkle a little more cinnamon on top.

8.              Bake for about 12 minutes, until cheese has melted.

9.              Let cool for a few minutes, slice up and enjoy!