Black bean burgers by eMeals

This is amazing. Love the flavor of the patties and the roasted sweet corn is a great touch. I added jalapeños to the black bean burger mixture.

Breaded Baked Zucchini, vegan (no oil)

These came out better than expected.

Spices

• Garlic powder
• Salt and pepper
• Oregano

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Add spices and 2 Tbsp vegan parmesan to 1/2 cup of gluten free bread crumbs.

Put 1/4 cup of shaken Just Egg into a Separate dish.

Cut zucchini into 3/4″ rounds then dredge in egg then breadcrumb mixture. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 20-23 mins.

Add salsa or marinara sauce and enjoy.

eMeals: Quinoa patties (black bean and flax)

This recipe from eMeals.com turned out well. The spices made it taste great! (EMeals, July 11-17, 2017, vegan plan)

Without any greens on hand, I made it a sandwich with Franz Gluten free hamburger bun and topped it with avocado and local tomatoes. The patty fell apart a little so I may add more flax meal next time for binding. But who doesn’t love eating messy foods – makes you feel like a kid again.

123 Gluten Free Biscuit Mix (Cinnamon Buns)

123 Gluten Free came through for satisfying my craving for cinnamon rolls. The cinnamon buns recipe is printed inside the box of the Southern Glory Buttermilk Biscuit mix or on their website. I’m on a vegan kick right now so this was the perfect dessert because it doesn’t contain eggs and allowed me to substitute the milk/heavy cream with coconut cream.

Product: 123 Gluten Free Biscuit Mix

Price: Listed as $8.99 on their website
Buy again: Yes
Recommend to friends: Yes.

• The mix was fast and easy to make.
• You can make it as cinnamon-y as you want! I put on a lot and it wasn’t quite enough IMO.
• I used 1 can of coconut cream instead of the heavy cream + half&half that the recipe calls for.  I did not add lemon or apple cider vinegar to make it buttermilk.
• Rolling it was a little difficult because I wanted to use my fingers like real cinnamon rolls but it crumbled in my fingers so I had to use the plastic wrap to roll it, which worked fine.
• For the glaze icing, I used hemp milk and powdered sugar (omitted the butter).
• They didn’t rise much, if at all, for the two hours in the fridge that the recipe calls for.
• The outside edges that touched the heavily “buttered” pan turned crunchy – yum.

I scarfed down four cinnamon rolls before realizing I should blog about it. The glaze was a little thin when I put it on, so it seeped down into the cracks of the roll.

Overnight Breakfast Polenta Bowl

After a stint with Thistle meal delivery service, I was introduced to polenta and decided to make an overnight polenta breakfast similar to overnight oats for quick morning meals.

I have tried to make polenta in the past and didn’t care for the time and attention it needed, so I switched to the tube of polenta (no herbs or flavorings added). If you want to make polenta from scratch for this recipe, I’m sure it would work. Kitchn has a quick way to make polenta.

Ingredients

• 1/2 tube of already cooked polenta
• One small piece of whole fruit (nectarine, apple, peach, pear, 1/4 cantaloupe, cherries or dried cranberries) or 1/4c jam
• 1/4 cup milk (coconut, cows, rice, etc)
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon sweeter of choice (maple syrup, honey, sugar, stevia, brown sugar, etc)
• 1 tablespoon diced nuts (walnuts, almonds) or granola

Heat polenta in a bowl for 1 minute. Smash polenta with a fork. Add 1/4 cup milk and heat 30 seconds more. Smash polenta with fork some more. Add extra milk for desired consistency.  Stir in the vanilla, cinnamon, maple syrup into polenta mixture.

Layer 1/2 diced whole fruit into a pint mason jar then 1/2 polenta mixture. Finish with remaining fruit then polenta mixture. Put in refrigerator over night. Top with nuts or granola and enjoy.

 

 

PB&J Crepes & Pancakes (Gluten Free)

PB&J Crepe

PB&J Pancake

This far exceeded my craving for pancakes. I was tired of the same old gluten free pancake and wanted a moist flavorful pancake. I had the quinoa on hand and decided to throw it in because these flavors were reminding me of my PB&J quinoa bowl recipe.

I was so impressed at how well these stuck together and flipped so nicely. I even tried making a large crepe and it didn’t do to bad when I flipped it.

Gluten Free PB&J Crepes & Pancakes

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cups Kinnikinnick Foods Pancake & Waffle Mix (Gluten Free)
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup creamy gluten-free peanut butter or other nut butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup banana, smashed (about 1 small)
1/3 cup quinoa, cooked or 1/3 cup oatmeal, cooked

TOPPINGS
1 cup sliced strawberries or preserves of your choice
1 sliced banana, if desired
Powdered sugar for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS

1. In large bowl, stir pancake mix, warm water, peanut butter, granulated sugar, salt, and egg with whisk.
2. Fold in the quinoa or oatmeal and banana. The batter will be runny. Add a little more quinoa or oatmeal if you like thicker pancakes.
3. Heat griddle or skillet over medium heat (375°F).
4. Wait for the griddle to be hot then brush with vegetable oil if necessary.
5. For each crepe, pour 1/3 cup batter onto hot griddle; For each pancake, pour 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle.
6. Cook until bubbles form on top and edges are dry. Turn; cook other side until golden brown.
7. Top pancakes with sliced strawberries or preserves; roll for crepe or leave flat for pancake; sprinkle with powdered sugar.

 

Stack o’ Flap Jack’s

 

Oversized crepe did well flipping.

This idea was based on this recipe.

 

Alternative: 

I’ve added 1 tsp pumpkin spice to this recipe for a fall treat! Top with powder sugar.

 

Blueberry Carrot Protein Smoothie

I impressed myself with the taste of this ‘thrown together’ smoothie. Used up left over carrots to account for the veggies to balance out the fruit, veggie, protein, omega3 protein smoothie. I like blueberries and this is the first time I’ve made a smoothie made mostly with blueberries. I’m quite pleased with how it turned out.

I put my carrots in a sealed plastic bag with a paper towel to keep them from going rubbery on me. I have not tried rubbery carrots in this smoothie, but I bet it would be a good use for them instead of putting them in the compost.

Ingredients:

1 cup Coconut Milk, Unsweetened, Vanilla (or milk of choice)
1 scoop Vega Vanilla Sport Protein Powder
1 tablespoon flaxseed (optional)
2 medium carrots, pealed and cleaned
2 cups Blueberries, Whole, Frozen
1 Banana, ripe, Frozen
1 cup Water (additional water to desired smoothness)

 

Calories = 590

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I was incredibly surprised with the amount of moisture in this banana bread, the golden crunchy outside and how it didn’t taste grainy on the inside! You don’t even have to click on the picture to the right to see the moisture oozing from this bread.

This is a great banana bread even if you aren’t gluten free. I had to slice this bread and put it in the freezer asap because I had already eaten 3 pieces of it and it should be savored.

Delicious!

The amount of banana in this recipe may be reduced to 12oz or about 4 medium bananas. Nuts and dried fruit are optional, feel free to mix in your favorites.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup All Purpose Gluten Free flour or Rice Flour
1.5 cup Almond flour or Oat Flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plus 2 tbsp margarine or butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
16 oz bananas (about 5 average sized ones)
4 large eggs
3/4 cup chocolate morsels (0r cranberries or other dried fruit)
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350 and lightly spray two loaf pans.
• Sift flours, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
• In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and bananas together until smooth.
• Briefly stir in the eggs to the banana mixture.
• Pour the flour mixture into the banana mixture until blended. You will see lumps of butter if your butter was cold.
• Pour into loaf pans and bake for 60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean and the cake is just firm. If you have a glass or dark metal loaf pan, you may want to keep an eye on the loaf and put tin foil over it if the edges start to brown early.
• Cool for 10 minutes before serving or once completely cool, slice and freeze for up to a month.

Nutritional Information (per serving)
Serving = 16 (with 16oz of banana)

Modified from this recipe.

Alfajores by Wooden Table Baking Co. (Oakland, CA)

I wander into bake shops and coffee houses just to see what gluten free items they carry and this one came to a sweet surprise when I bit into the unknown cookie that I could barely pronounce. These Argentinean cookies are a traditional shortbread with a carmel like center. It was a pleasure biting into, and even better when later that day I spotted them in the market for much cheaper.

Product: Gluten Free Alfajores Cookies by Wooden Table Baking Co. in Oakland, CA

Price: $7.99 for 10 cookies (at New Leaf Market) or $2.55 for one (at a local coffee shop)
Buy again: Yes
Recommend to friends: Yes

• Light, airy
• Melts in your mouth
• Right amount of sweet
• Gluten free
• Good ratio of cake to filling
• Crumbly but the carmel filling holds it together
• Local company
• The light coconut dusting on the outside provides a nice chew

Wow Chocolate Brownie (Gluten Free)

The best gluten free brownies I’ve found have been the ones I make at home because the pre-packaged ones just fall a little short. The Wow brand chocolate brownies are no exception.

Product: Wow Chocolate Brownie (Wheat Free and Gluten Free)
What I paid: $2.99 @ New Leaf Market
Buy again: Maybe
Recommend to friends: Yes, if they don’t want to make their own

•  These have chocolate chips inside
• A little grainy
• Good amount of chocolate so would satisfy the chocolate cravings
• Not dairy free
• Good portion size