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! 

Be prepared

Be prepared is a fabulous motto, no wonder the Girl Scouts borrowed it from the Boy Scouts. It’s especially important for anyone with a restricted diet. I’ve known this, but last Sunday when I went sailing with my family- I should have better prepared myself.

We were out celebrating Brian’s dad’s birthday and everyone contributed to lunch, there was a fabulous spread of fruit, crackers, breads, cheeses, meats, and cupcakes.... I didn’t want to be a burden, so I made some vegan-gluten free corndogs, grabbed a few carrots, and a bar of vegan chocolate. I was proud of myself, and we ventured off.

Well, they ripped into some of those crackers right away; it was a little difficult not to join in. I used to be so obsessed with Wheat Thins and Cheez-its. I was doing fine- until I got a whiff of the Cheez-its. I immediately grabbed a carrot and started munching. We continued our 14-mile sail towards the islands.

Once we arrived and anchored, everyone started pulling out the cheese and breads, and my heart practically skipped a beat. It wouldn’t hurt to eat just a few bites, right?? Less than 2 months ago, I would have considered this paired with grapes a perfect meal. I again rushed down to the galley and started heating up my corn dogs. By the time I returned, I was feeling a little better, I hadn’t cheated yet and now I had real food to eat. I shared the corn dogs, and everyone seemed to like them, which was pretty cool.

When it came time to sing happy birthday and eat cupcakes, I was armed with my vegan chocolate to not feel deprived. That’s when my mom oh so rudely told me she frosted the cupcakes with Nutella! Nutella was one of my favorite spreads before this adventure started, and I found it cruel that she would do this to me. Haha- anyway I was satisfied with my vegan, sugar-free chocolate- and I thought I had made it through the day completely scot-free.

But on the way home, people were still snacking on the bread, cheeses, and crackers. Suddenly my stomach was grumbling and I had run out of snacks! I knew we were only about an hour away, but with the drive home I was feeling very tempted by all the dairy, gluten and sugar. Luckily Brian agreed that as soon as we got back we could go to a sushi restaurant and get me miso soup and avocado rolls. That held me over just enough to get through the rest of the sail without eating all the provolone.

If I could go back, I would have brought kale, corn tortillas, beans, cookies, or anything else more filling than corn dogs and a bar of chocolate! But I was very proud of myself for not cheating this time.

Lucky for me- tomorrow I’m going to Universal Studios and Wednesday I’m going to the Santa Barbara Zoo, so I’ll have a chance try again with being prepared for a day!!

Gluten Free Corn Pancakes with Beans and Kale

This breakfast was another “what do I have in my kitchen” recipe. It was a Sunday and I thought I wanted something brunch-y and I still wanted to feel good after. This was the perfect strange combination for me.

For the Beans and Kale- you could use any kind of beans. I was planning on black beans and I apparently ran out. After a quick search I discovered a can of white beans I forgot about. Yum! Since the beans were salted- I soaked and rinsed them a few times, and found I didn’t need any added salt at all. After deciding to just add a little pepper, I was particularly please when Brian asked what I seasoned them with because they were so good. I occasionally need to remind myself that sometimes simple is better!

Gluten Free Corn Pancakes

1-½ cups of masa

½ cup corn meal

2 cups boil water

¼ coconut oil (My favorite but you can use any kind)

Egg replacer for 2 eggs

1 tablespoon baking powder

¼ agave nectar

1.     Boil the water

2.     Mix masa and corn meal

3.     Add water to masa mixture and stir just until combined

4.     Add other ingredients stir gently.

5.     Cook like pancakes, I melt a little more coconut oil in a pan and fry them up.

6.     Add more agave like syrup for eating!

White Beans and Kale

1 Can of White Beans

3 Leafs of Black Kale (torn up into bite size pieces)

Olive Oil

Pepper

1.              If the beans have salt added, rinse them really well. Heck- even soak them for a few minutes. Drain them and put them in a pot on medium heat.

2.              After a few minutes add a little oil and the kale.

3.              Sautee until kale has softened in texture.