ENERGY-PROTEIN-BLAST SMOOTHIE

This yummy smoothie is the perfect lunch or snack to satisfy your sweet-tooth AND get tons of nutrition while doing so! Packed with protein, anti-oxidants, and enough energy to get you through the day!

I am in love with Matcha. It is sooo yummy and super healthy, with 70 times the anti-oxidants of oranges, high amounts of nutrients and Vitamins, a rich source of amino-acids, 9 times the beta-carotene of spinach and 4 times the beta-carotene of carrots, and it even boosts your metabolic rate!! I even got my Mom hooked on the stuff! ^_^

Energy-Protein-Blast Smoothie:

1 Frozen Banana

1 cup Frozen Blueberries

1/4 cup Frozen Raspberries

2 teaspoons Organic Matcha-Cocoa (or 1 heaped teaspoon Matcha)

2 tablespoons Almond Butter (or Nut Butter of your choice)

1 cup Rice Milk

Blend all the Ingredients together on high speed in a good Blender until, well, blended ^_^! Serve and enjoy! Makes enough for one big smoothie or two smaller smoothies if you feel like sharing.

BREAKFAST QUINOA BANANA CRUNCH

It is best to start the morning with some nutrition, and Protein is often forgotten amongst the typical boxed cereals and pancake breakfasts. This little treat is an excellent oatmeal replacer (for those allergic to oats) and is packed full of protein!

BREAKFAST QUINOA BANANA CRUNCH

1/2 cup (just under) Quinoa

1/2 cup Water

1 tablespoon Agave Nectar (or other sweetener)

dash of Salt

1/4 cup Rice Milk

1 Banana (optional)

Granola Cereal (optional)

Cook Quinoa as usual (bring water to a boil, add Quinoa and a little salt, let simmer for approx. 13 minutes). Add the Agave Nectar and Rice Milk and cook for another 2 minutes. Transfer contents into a bowl with some fruit of your choice to add a little sweetness to the Quinoa, personally I love Bananas in the morning. Now, remember that Granola Cereal Recipe? Well, grab a hand-full and mix it in for that yummy Crunch! ^_^ I also have flaxseed oil in the morning which mixes in nicely (p.s. do not heat the flaxseed oil). Voila, yummy protein Breakfast! ^_^ This serves one person--it is a big bowl though.

Pizza Pizza! Awesome Cheeseless FALAFEL PIZZA Recipe!!

Everyone loves Pizza. I'm pretty sure it's a fact. So when you get that pizza craving and you are faced with the fact you can't eat wheat, gluten, dairy...well mostly all the things that make up your average pizza, you're bound to get a bit upset. Do you give in? I think not. Get creative!! And once again, start from scratch! ^_^

CHEESELESS FALAFEL PIZZA:

Gluten/Wheat/Yeast-free Pizza Crust:

1 cup Brown Rice Flour

1/2 cup Cornstarch

2/3 cup Rice Milk

Egg Replacer equal to 2 Eggs

1 teaspoon Salt

1 tablespoon Italian Spices (not having this on hand, I used a mixture of oregano, basil, black pepper, thyme, & garlic powder)

Mix everything together in a large mixing bowl. As previously mentioned in another recipe, I highly recommend mixing the Egg Replacer mixture separately and then adding it to the rest of the ingredients to insure you get the "eggs" right. Note, this dough will look NOTHING like your regular dough, it will be runny! Pour into your pizza tray (make sure it has edges or else it will spill, remember it's runny ~_^! Bake at 425ºF for 20 minutes (sans pizza sauce and toppings).

Time to add the Toppings!! ^_^

FALAFEL & Toppings:

Whip out that Falafel Recipe in my last post. You won't need the entire recipe but because you need a can of chickpeas you will have left-over Falafel to get creative with. Maybe have it for lunch the next day or use it all and have a Very Falafel Pizza.

Choose a pizza sauce to your liking, layer it up with the uncooked Falafel Mixture as if it were cheese, and add any toppings to your liking. I added Black Olives to mine ^_^ or even without toppings this pizza is so yum you don't need em!

Bake in the oven at 300ºF for approximately 10 minutes or until Falafel has crisped a bit. Remember Falafel doesn't need to be cooked long.

Let cool & Serve! Enjoy Pizza that isn't pizza, and, oh yes, that's right, it's healthy too and packed with good protein!! ♥♥

Nothing's Yummier than Falafel ^_^

Falafel is one of my favourite vegetarian options for supper. You can do soooo many things with it! It's high in protein, low in fat, absolutely delicious! What more could you want?

I used to buy boxed stuff where you just add water. However I haven't found any without at least one allergen in them. The solution is really quite simple...as usual, make it from scratch! What's great about this? It's suuuuuuper easy to make and is ready in minutes! Perfect if you're in a rush or just don't feel like slaving in front of the stove for hours on end.

Gluten-Free Falafel:

1 can Chickpeas, drained

2-3 Garlic Cloves

2 tablespoons Parsley (fresh or dried)

3/4 teaspoon Cumin

1/2 teaspoon Salt

2 tablespoons Brown Rice Flour (or flour of your choice)

1-2 tablespoons Water

Oil for frying.

Combine all the ingredients (except for the oil of course, that's for frying them silly! ~_^) in a Food Processor, starting with just a tablespoon of water. You want the result to be a thick paste so if it's still a little dry add one more tablespoon of water. Don't add more than this though or it'll be too runny!

If don't have a food processor you can mash the chickpeas, mince the garlic, and mix the ingredients together in a mixing bowl, but the food processor just makes it soooo much easier.

Form the mixture into small balls, and flatten them a little bit. Fry in enough about an inch of oil (I use less than this, but make sure it's enough oil that they don't stick. Oh yeah, I also use a non-stick Environmentally-friendly ceramic frying pan, this helps muchly) on fairly high heat until brown. Flip and repeat. Don't be alarmed, this only takes 2-5 minutes!

And voila! Falafel! Goes great in wraps, pitas, or even by itself ^_^

Buckwheat Pancakes!!

I had originally tried this delicious treat at my husband's parents house. His Mom is adorable and just the best. She loves to entertain and always makes certain that everyone's belly is contently full--if not completely over-stuffed.

Buckwheat Pancakes was something she made before our diet had the need for change due to allergies. They were delicious and tasted healthy--which is strange for a pancake but for me they're just perfect! I find that once you eat healthy all that junk-food you once loved the taste of, really tastes quite gross. So these were always a breakfast I looked forward to when visiting.

The recipe was originally made with eggs but we've adjusted the recipe for those of us with egg-allergies.

My favourite part about these pancakes? It's my hubby who makes them! ^_^ So I get to sit back and relax in the morning while this remains a Strom tradition.

Strom's Buckwheat Pancakes:

1 cup Buckwheat Flour

1 cup Rice Milk (or any other milk beverage)

2 tablespoons Olive Oil (or any other oil)

1 tablespoon Agave Nectar (or sweetener of your choice)

1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon Salt

Egg Replacer equal to 1 Egg.

Raspberries (or fruit of your choice)

Mix all the Ingredients together until well mixed and dough-like consistency is reached. Please note, I recommend blending the egg-replacer mixture separately and then adding it to the mixture so that it doesn't clump. For the fruit you can play around, it's really your choice what you add and how much you add to it. Make them your own! ^_^

Cook in greased pan at fairly high heat until underside is brown. Flip and repeat.

Serve with toppings of your choice. I love mine with blueberry jam, Cory loves his with a little syrup. Enjoy! ♥

♥ Raw Carob-Almond Butter Spread!! ♥

I am a bit of a Chocolate fiend. Yes I'm your typical woman and I loooooooove Chocolate ~_^. I remember when I was younger and the delight of Nutella was just to die for. Now we've all seen those adds on TV claiming this treat is umm, good for you? Well when you read the ingredient list and see sugar is the first ingredient you know it can't be good for you. And don't you love how they say "and a hint of cocoa". Well the cocoa is probably the only good part in it. :p

Well, I've still got a sweet-tooth and every time I pass by this little jar of chocolate I crave it. I did manage to find two replacements in store. One was sadly not Organic, and I am quite particular about only eating Organic nuts. The other was Raw, now this excited me but I have yet to try it since at a whopping $18.00 I'm afraid I have to turn the other cheek. But I decided to make my own!

I already make my own Almond Butter so I figured why not attempt a chocolate spread as well? I did. And it is quite yummy. Don't be mistaken, it tastes nothing like that fake sugar jar of Nutella, but it is delicious, it's nutritious, it's Raw, and it will satisfy your sweet-tooth! ^_^

Raw Carob-Almond Butter Spread:

1 cup Raw Almonds

1/2 cup Raw Carob Powder

1/4 cup Raw Agave Nectar

1/2 cup Rice Milk or Water

In a Food Processor grind up the Almonds on high for approximately 10 minutes until it becomes a creamier texture. Add the Carob Powder, Agave Nectar, and a little bit of Rice Milk. Continue to process until the mixture becomes creamy, gradually adding Milk or Water (or a lil of both is what I do) to achieve the right texture. You can taste-test this along the way and add more Sweetened or Carob as you so desire. Once the mixture is done you can scoop it out into a glass jar (I use recycled jars from previously store-bought Almond butter) and store in the refrigerator.

I love this spread on Rice Cakes but I'm sure it goes yummy yummy with just about anything ♥♥

No More Boxed Cereal! Whatever to do?!! Yummy Granola Recipe ^_^

The dilemma with a wheat-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, oat-free Food Plan is that you really can't go out and buy Any boxed cereals. Even at your local health-food store the options are obsolete. However, when you love cereal as much as I do you're going to find a way around this apparent bump in the road. Fortunately not everything comes in a box (what? no way!) so we are back to the Recipe Books!

Last Christmas my lovely Sister bought me the kick-ass Vegan recipe book "La Dolce Vegan" by Sarah Kramer. I highly recommend this and her other recipe books. She has a couple recipes in this one on how to make your own yummy Granola Cereal. Once again the daunting Allergies arise. So I took a few of her Granola recipes as a bass to start from and added my own twist to make them healthy and allergy-free! ^_^

Bianca's Protein Granola Recipe:

2 cups Barley Flakes

1 cup Quinoa Flakes

1 cup Puffed Buckwheat Puffs (or any other puffed cereal)

1/3 cup crushed Almonds

1/2 cup Flaxseeds

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/4 cup (just under) Agave Nectar (or 1/4 cup any other sweetener)

1/2 cup of Apple Juice or Water

1 cup dried fruit (optional..I have yet to experiment with this)

Preheat oven to 250ºF. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add the Agave Nectar and Apple Juice and stir until well mixed. On two 9✗13-inch baking pans, spread out even amounts of the mixture on both pans and bake for 35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Let cool and add dried fruit if desired. Store in an air-tight container.

I eat my yummy granola cereal with fruit and rice milk but feel free to eat yours however you'd like. ^_^