Banana, Chia and Hemp? Can breakfast be that easy?

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Yes, it can!

Banana, Chia and Hemp? Can breakfast be that easy?
 
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Easy. Fast. Great for on the go. 3 ingredients and you are done.
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • 1 to 2 bananas - depending on your personal goals and how hungry you are.
  • 1 TBSP of chia seeds
  • 1 TBSP of Hemp Hearts
Instructions
  1. Cut banana in less than ½ inch thick circles in a regular bowl.
  2. Sprinkle the Chia and Hemp on top of the banana.
  3. Enjoy!
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Zucchini Bake

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This is a closer picture than I normally would take but the kids and I ate some before it dawned on me to take the picture.

Brief Story

Zucchini bake has been a faithful staple in our family’s food rotation. It has given us a lot of comfort on the hard days in this whole food journey.   Depending on our family’s current IGg test results or if my husband or I decided to do a detox with our health care providers help.  This recipe has been able to be adjusted to meet all those heavy requirements.  For example, we just recently added tomatoes back in because they had been on my IGg test result before.

Fresh or Canned is there really a difference?

We tried canned tomatoes at first but they made my mouth feel weird.  I am not an expert or a scientist but for some reason, I feel that the citric acid they use in canned foods in combination with the tomatoes chemistry does not agree with me.  But fresh tomatoes I don’t have that problem with.

 

Zucchini Bake
 
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Depending on how you chose to make this recipe, it has the potential to be a crustless pizza. If you think I am joking, I double dare you to make this tonight.
Author:
Recipe type: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Ingredients
  • 4 to 5 Zucchini- sliced and quartered *
  • 1-2 Summer squash sliced and quartered
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 5 to 6 fresh Campari tomatoes (not canned) see blog post above why
  • 1 tsp Oregano - can add more or less to taste. ( Basil can be used as a substitute)
  • Sea Salt - to taste*
  • 1½ Tbsp Avocado Oil
  • 1 clove of Garlic - Chopped - can omit
  • Topping
  • Sheep Cheese or Baba Ganosh *
Instructions
  1. Put all above ingredients except the topping section the into a large glass bowl.
  2. Toss to combine.
  3. Transfer to a 9x13 glass casserole dish.
  4. Bake in an electric oven for 30 min at 375 or in a Convection oven for 35 to 40 min on 350
  5. Once removed from the oven you can choose your topping.
  6. Sheep cheese- enough to cover the top
  7. Dairy-free option you can cover the top with Baba Ganoush- see below
Notes
Currently, we are not using any garlic in our meals but we are using sheep cheese. This combination has left the dish tasting more like a crustless pizza.

Tonight I even had the idea to shredded the zucchini like the cheese, so my son couldn't pick it out as easily since he really enjoys the tomatoes. Since the addition of the tomatoes, he now eats more of it. Play around with it and let me know any modifications you make to this recipe so I can try them too!
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Baba Ganoush
Baba Ganoush
 
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It can be a dip similar to hummus or a wonderful topping in casseroles.
Author:
Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients
  • 1-2 eggplants sliced
  • 1 clove garlic minced- depending on your food processor you can just put it in whole.
  • 2 Tbsp Avocado oil- you may need more to get the desired texture - plus some extra to brush with
  • Sea Salt to sprinkle
Instructions
  1. Slice the eggplant into 1 inch thick rounds- so they look like a circle.
  2. Put the 2tbls of Avo oil in a small dish
  3. Lay eggplant rounds down on a baking sheet and brush them lightly with Avo oil and sprinkle with a little sea salt.
  4. Broil the rounds for 5 to 10 min a side- keep an eye on this step.Flip them over and repeat step 2 and 3.
  5. After both sides are softened let them cool enough for you to handle them somewhat.
  6. Once cooled peel off the skin. You could leave it on, but I think it messes with the overall texture.
  7. Cut the eggplant enough to fit into your food processor -we use a Vitamix for large batches and this food processorfor smaller batches.
  8. Add garlic
  9. Blend- Add oil slowly if you are looking for a particular texture. You may need to add more than what is left of your brushing bowl. I usually add 1 tsp at a time over the recommended amount if it says to taste or preference with oil.
Notes
I have not added a picture of what this looks like because when cooked it does not look pretty. It looks grey. But it tastes amazing.

Another fun tip I use Baba Ganoush instead of Cream of Mushroom soup. Even in Green Bean Cassorle.
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The Most Versatile Velvety Vegan Cheese Sauce!

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To all the Mac and Cheese lovers out there.

Looking for the perfect non-dairy cheese sauce to use with all your old recipes?

Look no further, this is it!

I will update the picture as soon as I get this new nutritional yeast. ( I wanted an ooey-gooey noodle picture, but this one does show how versatile it is.)  On this particular day I had a craving for a cheeseburger, you know the kind of cheeseburger that has so much melted cheese on it that it oozes all over your hand and plate.

The above picture was my gluten-free, dairy free, soy free, corn free, egg free no bun version.

Vegan Cheese Sauce
 
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For all you mac and cheese lovers out there, who choose not to eat dairy, I have just the sauce for you. Come check this one out.
Author:
Recipe type: Sauce
Cuisine: American
Serves: 4 cups
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Boil Carrots and Potatoes until fork tender.
  2. After the potatoes and carrots are soft, use a slotted spoon and spoon them into a high powered blender. I use the Vitamix. DO NOT THROW OUT THE WATER!
  3. Put all remaining ingredients into Vitamix.
  4. Blend until desired consistency.
Notes
You may have to add more potato water if the consistency is to thick.

It loses its meltiness in about 7 days, after that it just tastes like stale mashed potatoes.

Store in Fridge.

Reheats on the stove well. Depending on how old it is and the consistency you are looking for you may need to add a little more filtered water.

Fun fact- the reason I use the potato water is it has a lot of vitamins and minerals in it. Why not use them, right?

The link to the unfortified nutritional yeast- Currently I have not tried this brand or the unfortified version as of this posting. I recently figured out that common brands of nutritional yeast have Folic Acid in it. Again please be gentle with yourself, if you are currently eating box mac and cheese and you want to try regular nutritional yeast, go for it. I am all about whole foods and Folic Acid is a man-made substitute for Folate. I would strongly encourage anyone that wants to know more about the two, to do your research and see which version is best for you.


Adapted from here.
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Other Recipes

Cheeseburger Soup ( Coming Soon)

 

Action Step

I would love to have new ideas for this recipe too.  Please share with us.  If you try out this recipe and love it, post a comment below or Join my free closed Facebook Group.  I would love to hear from you.

Blessings 🙂

 

 

 

This post does contain Affiliate links.

Soft Pretzels or Garlic Knots? Regardless a tasty treat.

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If a treat tastes amazing does it really matter what you call it?

This recipe has a funny story.  Every time we make it we usually change something about the recipe. This particular time we didn’t have enough ingredients to make a whole batch, and most of the ingredients were… let’s say sketchy at best.  They still turned out.  The kids ate them.  I call that a win.

The original recipe, which I can’t find at the moment but will update this post once I do, had a really nice description of why she weighed out the ingredients instead of measuring them.   So convincing that I weigh them out every time I do this recipe.  Except for the salt.  I can’t bring myself to put that much salt in it.  That is why it is in teaspoons instead of weight.  See the recipe below for more information.  From what I can remember of the post it is more exact to weigh the ingredients out than to measure them.

Soft Pretzels Or Garlic Knots?
 
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Kids of any age will love these. They are tasty and fun to make. Depending on the shape you chose. You can make a pretzel or you can make a knot.
Author:
Recipe type: Snack
Cuisine: American
Serves: 22
Ingredients
  • Pretzel
  • 360g of Tapioca Starch
  • 120g plantain flour
  • ½ tsp Sea Salt
  • 8 g baking powder
  • 1cup of filtered water
  • 1½ TB of beef gelatin*see note below
  • Avocado oil ( oil of choice) 6tbls- I tried less and they were hard to deal with.
  • Oil Topping
  • 1 to 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 TB of Avocado oil *see note below and step #3
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven 400 degrees.
  2. In a medium bowl weigh out Tapioca Starch, Plantain, Sea Salt and baking powder. Mix to combine.
  3. Have a small dish with the Avocado oil measured out.
  4. In a small pot add water add sprinkle gelatin in a little at a time mix until all of it looks wet.
  5. Then turn on the heat to med/low until it looks like it all dissolves.
  6. Pour in Oil and gelatin mixture into the dry bowl and mix until it looks like a dough ball ***Caution it might be too hot to handle. You might need to wait until it cools down.
Notes
Depending on your taste adjust the sea salt to your liking. I put a rough estimate of the sea salt. The original recipe calls for 12 g, which I think is insane. So we usually eyeball it. I don't think the ½ tsp would hurt it. You may have to experiment to get the right amount that you prefer.

Oil topping.
This is an amazing and simple topping. In a small pan, on a warm setting, heat the avocado oil and minced garlic until your home smells amazing- hehe- Or to your taste preference. Sometimes I think I add sea salt to this to taste as well. This will go on top of the knots when you serve them. Or can act as a dip. I love dipping things. Do you?

Other helpful tips:
I use this scale to weigh out my ingredients. I love it. It is small and compact and works well.
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Tips

This is what the dough should look like.  If it does not, it will be hard to work with.

 

 

Final Thoughts

Kids approved.  This is another reason I love homeschooling.  I get to teach my kids real life skills that they will use every day.  Ps.  The outfits were Christmas gifts.  Don’t they look so cute?

 

 

 

I would love to know any additions or your experience with this delightful treat. Comment to the post or join us in my Facebook Group Simple Life Steps with Sandy

Enjoy!

Banana Waffels- Gluten Free

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Banana Waffles- Gluten Free
 
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Pretty close to their gluten counterpart in texture and taste. A must try. With fun new ingredients just waiting for you to explore. Hey, my dad even likes this. That is saying something.
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 1 cup of pureed bananas- which is about 2 medium bananas
  • ¼ cup ground chia seeds
  • ½ cup filtered water
  • ½ cup hemp milk
  • 2 TB of Avocado Oil * see note
  • 1 cup of Millet Flour
  • ½ cup of Tapioca Starch * see note
  • 1 TB Baking powder
  • 1 tsp of cinnamon * optional
  • Homemade vanilla "extract" *optional to taste a good starting point would be ¼tsp
  • ¼ tsp. Sea salt*see note
Instructions
  1. Depending on what kind of blender you have you may have to adjust how you start this.
  2. I have done this in a bullet and a Vitamix. Of course, I prefer the Vitamix.
  3. The bullet will get the job done but it will take 20min longer.
  4. So below are instructions for a Vitamix.
  5. Put all ingredients into the Vitamix.
  6. I like putting the two bananas in first and some liquid.
  7. If you don't like a lot of banana then only use 1 and ½ bananas. I would not use more than 2 bananas for a single batch.
  8. Blend until all ingredients are combined well and the batter is pourable, but not runny.
  9. If it is runny add a ½ TB of ground chia to the batter and mix well. If it is still runny wait 5 min to see if that would thicken it up more.
  10. Pour the amount you desire into your waffle maker. I make them smaller so they cook faster. Note they can brown in a regular waffle maker but it all depends on the texture you like your waffles. I don't like my waffles firm so mine are barely golden.
  11. Currently, we have a regular waffle maker but we have this on our wish list for the new house.
Notes
* I get my Tapioca Starch from a local "farm type" place. I have heard that sometimes certain brands can be contaminated with corn or less nutrient dense. Once again know your products and their sources.

A great example of knowing your sources is the Avocado oil listed above is the one I use, but I am looking for one that is not refined. Not sure if that is even a thing, but if I find one that I like I will update the link. I add this note about that just so you can see my process.

Sea salt note: the first time you make this use what is listed. We usually put more salt in. It really does make a difference to me at least. I like salt, so keep that in mind.

If you are using a bullet, my expert tip would be to mix all the wet ingredients together and then add the dry on top. This is why it takes longer to do with the bullet.

Time will vary depending on what blender you use and how done you like your waffles.
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