Happy WIAW everyone! Head on over to Peas and Crayons if you are new to the party.
This is my frist WIAW in a while where it’s just me back to my basic food. As it gets warmer, I do like my cereal sometimes. Organic Honey Nut O’s w/ frozen (thawed raspberries).
Even going back to some grapes, cheese and nuts for a snack. A classic.
I don’t know how many times I had this lunch ever since I got that bread. Sometimes I have it with the sliced turkey, other times grilled chicken.
Oh and even doing more vegetarian based dishes. I do miss my beans! I at this with some white rice and broccoli. Quick, easy, and delicious!
Another classic in my eats? Chocolate! Good ole dark chocolate versions of these. I love that they have a little bit of everything; fiber, protein and healthy fats. Not to mention, they are easy to make.
Question: What are some of your “classic eats?” I definitely do a lot of almonds and chocolate. Those are presents in some way everyday!
Tag Archives: Almonds
WIAW #45: Back To Basics
Microwaveable Cinnamon-Vanilla Pancake X’s Two
X’s Two? Well you have the choice of making it vegan or non-vegan. I love making both and it’s great because you can really use up what you have on hand. I have mixed flours and not, so don’t worry if you only have one or the other. BOTH come out very delicious and have a nice texture.
You can save these pancakes in the fridge for about 3-4 days in an air tight container or even freeze them. Best of all, it’s microwaveable. Yes, I have been super lazy and just pop the batter into the microwave and I bring to you “insta- gluten-free-microwavable-pancake-goodness.” Not to mention that the non-vegan pancake has about 12g (and about 220 calories) of protein per serving and the vegan one has about 8g (and about 170 calories) depending on which ingredients you use of course. Enjoy!
Ingredients for Non-Vegan Pancake (Serves THREE)
- 2/3 Cup of Plain (or Vanilla) Chobani Greek Yogurt (or a 6oz. container, or an extra 1/2 Cup of Milk if you don’t have yogurt on hand)
- 1 Large Egg’s White
- 1/4 Cup of Milk (of your choice, I used Cow’s)
- 1 Cup of GF Rolled Oats
- 1/4 Cup of Rice Flour (or your choice or do an extra 1/2 cup of oats)
- 1 tsp of Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 tsp Pure Maple Syrup
- 1-2 Packets of Stevia (or 1-2 tsps of your choice sugar)
- 1 tsp of Baking Powder
- 1-2 tsps of Justin’s Vanilla Almond Butter* (or your choice nut butter; optional*)
Place yogurt, milk, egg white and vanilla into a blender. Blend these wet ingredients until very liquid-y. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until you reach “pancake batter” consistency of your choice. If you want the batter thinner add more milk. If you want it thicker, add more oats or rice flour.
Divide the mixture between three large plates or six small ones that have been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle with more cinnamon or nuts of your choice. Place in the microwave for two to three minutes (depending on your microwave. Remove carefully from plate with a spatula. Drizzle with maple syrup or your favorite toppings and eat!
Ingredients for Vegan Pancake (Serves Three)
- 2/3 Cup of GF Rolled Oats
- 1/2 Cup of Soy Milk (or your choice)
- 1/4 Cup of Rice Flour (or your choice or do an extra 1/2 cup of oats)
- 2 Tbsps of Justin’s Vanilla Almond Butter (or use your favorite nut butter)
- 2/3 tsp of Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 tsp Pure Maple Syrup or Agave
- 1 Packet of Stevia (or 1 tsp of your choice sugar)
- 2/3 tsp of Baking Powder
Place milk, almond butter and vanilla into a blender. Blend these wet ingredients until very liquid-y. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until you reach “pancake batter” consistency of your choice. If you want the batter thinner add more milk. If you want it thicker, add more oats or rice flour.
Divide the mixture between three large plates or six small ones that have been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle with more cinnamon or nuts of your choice. Place in the microwave for two to three minutes (depending on your microwave. Remove carefully from plate with a spatula. Drizzle with maple syrup or your favorite toppings and eat!
Question: Do you ever get lazy with stove top or oven goodies? Now you can microwave anything; eggs, cookies, cupcakes, mini cakes, etc. I love it.
WIAW #30: Nothing But Good
Happy WIAW everyone. Today will be my eats from Monday. I can’t believe I only have less then a week left til my final exam. Next WIAW I am going to be done from school for a month. It’s crazy how time flies, right? Oh and if you don’t know what WIAW is, go check out the awesome food party at Peas and Crayons!
Breakfast was “microwaveable” vegan almond pancakes; sans the coconuts, plus tons of cinnamon (can you tell I went shaker happy?). I’ll have the recipe up soon, I just need to tweak it a bit. I’ve been to lazy to make a pancake on the stove, so why not just microwave one? 
For lunch, I had a pesto pizza. What I did was take Trader Joe’s GF pizza, shook off the frozen cheese, spread a heaping layer of pesto sauce and them sprinkled the cheese (plus more) on top. So freakin’ delicious!
My snack was this passion fruit Chobani. Oh my, it taste like heaven. I swear!
Dinner was this dish, but instead of the chicken, I had black beans. I have become obsessed with black beans again. They are just so yummy with tons of dried oregano. The roasted garlic quinoa was quite good too.
Dessert? Well now I had a chocolate mini cake that I made using Chobani Champions vanilla chocolate chunk. It’s so moist, chocolate-y and delicious. You must try it.
Question: Anyone in school have finals already? I am totally freakin’ out. Please wish me tons of study luck… I shall need every bit.
Dark Chocolate Coconut Almond Butter Cookies
Upon awaking on Sunday morning, I wanted me something similar to coconut cashew crème. I wanted to make a chocolate coconut version of it and use almonds instead. Basically it would have been a totally new recipe. The results? A HUGE FAIL and my craving was not satisfied. What’s a girl to do?
Make some chocolate and coconut cookies using almond butter, that I could probably have as a snack too. Why cookies? No idea. I looked up almond butter cookie recipes and found one that I could play with. This one by Korena In The Kitchen, caught my eye.
I bring to you my version of her original recipe. Dark Chocolate Coconut Almond Butter Cookies! That’s a mouthful isn’t it? But fear not, they are delicious, easy and gluten-free. The batch that I made (10 large cookies) had 210 calories, 6g protein, 11g sugar, 3g fiber, 22g carbs and 9g fat.
Results will vary depending on what ingredients you use (see below for me), like using whole egg or egg whites. Your almond butter and chocolate could have more or less of fat, sugar and/or calories. You can also sub the maple syrup for agave nectar or honey. Maybe even try sugar free syrup? Either way, enjoy!
Ingredients
1 1/2 Cup of Almond Butter (I used Trader Joe’s AB w/ Roasted Flax Seeds)
1/4 Cup of So Delicious Coconut Milk (Unsweetened)*
2 Tbsps of Coconut Flakes (Unsweetened)
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar (I used light)
2 Tbsps Pure Cane Sugar**
2 oz. of Dark Chocolate (70% or Higher), Melted
1 Tbsp Pure Maple Syrup
1 Large Egg or 2 Medium Egg’s Egg Whites**
1/3 Cup of Coconut Flour*
2 tsps of Baking Soda
Dash of Salt
1 tsp Vanilla Extract (Optional)
1/4 tsp of Cinnamon (Optional)
Toppings (Optional)
Sliced or Whole Almonds
Coconut Flakes
(Makes About 10 Large Cookies, 18 Medium or 25 Small Ones) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix the first eight ingredients into a bowl and blend well. Then add coconut flour, baking powder and salt. [If you'd like you can also mix in vanilla extract and/or cinnamon].
If at any point you find the batter too thick, add a splash of milk. If you find it too liquidy, add a bit more flour. Taking a Tbsp of batter (or 3 like I did for larger cookies), roll the cookie dough into a ball and place on a greased cookie sheet.
Repeat to rest of batter and top with almonds or coconut flakes. Place cookie sheet into the oven for about 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned but still soft (don’t worry, they will firm up as they cool but they will stay chewy in the middle).
Let the cookies cool for about five to ten minutes. Remove from cookie sheet and eat! Maybe have some homemade hot chocolate with it, if it’s chilly? Brr!
Options!
If you want to have “chocolate chip” almond butter cookies, just skip the melting part and put chopped up chocolate into batter.
*If you don’t have coconut flour on hand, you could try using some other flour, I just haven’t tried. You can also use any other milk you like, I just haven’t tried one out myself either.
**You can substitute the cane sugar for 2 packets of stevia. I made it both ways and both are delicious! Same goes with using egg whites or whole egg, I just like more fat.
Coconut Almond Butter “Muffin Top”
Good morning! I bring to you my delicious breakfast from this morning. It’s still a maple almond butter “muffin top” but a little twist. As a side note, you see that the calories for this “muffin top” is about 190, but when I make it, it can get up to 250. Sometimes I add nuts on top or extra almond butter, just depends on my mood.
This recipe is low in sugar but I have made it using natural cane sugar (instead of Stevia) and pure maple syrup (instead of sugar-free). Either way, both options are delicious, just depends what you are looking for in a recipe. I was getting a tad tired of the original so I decided to play with the recipe a bit.
It’s also dairy and egg free unlike the original recipe. If you find that the mixture is too thick, simply add more milk until you reach desired consistency (or vice-versa). Enjoy!
Ingredients (Makes Two):
2/3 Cup of Rolled Oats (Not Instant)*
1/3 Cup of So Delicious Coconut Milk*
1 Tbsp Natural Almond Butter*
2 Tbsps of Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
2 Tbsps Sugar-Free Maple Syrup**
1/4 tsp of Baking Powder
1/2 tsp of Vanilla Extract*
1 Packet of Stevia*
1 Large bowl and 2 small bowls
Non-Stick Cooking Spray
Mix everything well into the large bowl. Spray the two smaller bowls with non-stick cooking spray and divide the mixture between them.
Microwave “muffin top” for about 2 minutes. Turn upside down onto another plate and let cool. Repeat to second “muffin top.” Once both are cooled, turn the “muffin tops” around and drizzle them with extra maple syrup, if desired. Dig in!
Calories: 190 Fiber: 4.5g Protein: 7g Sugars: 1.5g
*Feel free to make your own substitutions for these ingredients. Use gluten-free oats, to make it allergen friendly. If switching the sugar make it 1 tsp of sugar of your choice. You can also use any kind of extract sugar as coconut, maple, etc.
**If you would like, use 1 Tbsp of pure maple syrup instead, but sugars will go up to 4.5g and calories would be 215 per “muffin top.”
I though I’d be random and show you a couple of pictures of me. No, no not conceited or anything. I’m just happy that 1. my hair is growing and 2. Fall is upon us and that means scarves, boots and long sleeve shirts!
Question: Are you a Fall lover? Or do you wish it was still summer?
Bleh, I am summer-ed out. Bring on the cold!
Can It Be?
Yes! My hectic week is finally over! I must say, it went faster then I expected but I am glad it’s over. Now until the next crazy week comes, I’ll try to relax and get back into my normal routine of life.
I had a ton of ups and downs this week, but I went on Friday to check up on my brothers. My parents were still crusin’ so, I wanted to make sure they were okay. I went to a doctor’s appointment and then had brunch at a diner. I had a “Da Vinci” egg with omelet, which had tomatoes, basil and mozzarella. Very creative idea and delicious too!
After brunch, I went home to see my brothers. Since they really hadn’t eaten “real food,” I made them a big batch of chicken, fries and greens. I topped my greens with garlic and herb croutons. So good.
Only my younger brother was home, so we ate dinner together and chatted. It was really nice to catch up with him, since we are both always busy. For dessert I cut up strawberries.
For dessert #2, I made mousse for the both of us. His has white chocolate chips and a chocolate chip cookie in it, both topped with a whipped cream. Yum!
I woke up at 4:00am on Saturday to go straight to work. Luckily, I made an almond butter breakfast square. Quick grab and go breakfast plus banana.
The drive was a beauty. I saw the sunrise.
And a fog and sun dance.
I brought extra food for lunch to work
And of course, extra mousse for dessert.
When I finally got home, I was happy to see this little guy. Allan bought Mr. Hercules some new toys. I think he enjoyed himself, way too much.
Garlic & Herb Almonds (Salad Topper)
As a “wheat” free individual, I am not going to lie. I miss croutons. Real croutons made from delicious thick Italian bread. I’ve found some replacement ones, but they are just not the same. Sometimes I’ll give in a eat a few regular croutons and that would be no bueno to my tummy.
I decided to just get rid of that idea all together and do something a little different. I’ve seen Almond Accents in the supermarket in the produce isle but If I remember correctly, I think there is corn in it.
Why not just make my own faux Almond Accents? I’m on a garlic kick lately so I decided to make a garlic and herb almonds to place on my cesear salad I planned on having for lunch the other day.
The results? Way too good to be true! I’m am going to have to buy a truck load of sliced almonds and make more concoctions. You can feel free to use herbs of your choice too.
I even put some on top of my sauteed garlic green beans. I think I will never miss croutons again. Oh yeah, I said it. Without further adieu, here is the oh so simple garlic and herb almonds recipe.
Ingredients:
1/2 tsp of Olive Oil
1/2 tsp of Butter (I used Brummel & Brown)
1/4 Cup of Sliced Almonds
1/2 tsp of Parsley Flakes
1/4 tsp of Crushed Garlic
Dash of Pepper
Turn stove top to medium heat. Take a skillet and drizzle olive oil all over. Then place crushed garlic. Let heat for one minute then add sliced almonds and parsley. Take a spatula and coat almonds well.
Take the pan and “shake” every minute or so to ensure almond don’t burn. Once the almonds turn golden brown, remove from heat and let sit for about two to three minutes. Take your almonds and top onto your favorite salad or dish. Enjoy! Makes 3-4 servings.
Cinnamon Sugared Almonds
You know that smell? The one that comes from those New York City cart vendors with candied nuts? It smells absolutely divine. I had the only craving for those nuts, but how to make them? I knew I wanted a honey flavor mixed with cinnamon sugar. I wanted to turn these simple little almonds into a treat.
My mom also has these bad boys lying around. I miss having the Stacy’s cinnamon sugar pita chips. I use to have some as breakfast with a glass of Silk vanilla soy milk and 1 Tbsp of peanut butter. Freakin’ delicious, but totally explains why I was sick all the time. I mean come on, peanut butter on top of wheat? Gee Sabrina.
After throwing some honey, maple syrup and cinnamon sugar together, I popped the almonds into the oven and made a delicious batch of cinnamon sugared almonds. But something was missing. I just didn’t know what.
After making the first batch myself, I found this website with an awesome recipe for candied nuts from Smitten Kitchen. I decided to then combine my idea with this recipe. The result? Delicious cinnamon sugared almonds that not only took care of my New York nuts craving but also the lack of Stacy’s Pita Chips in my life. Enjoy!
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Ingredients
1 1/2 Cup of Almonds*
2 Tbsps of Cinnamon Sugar*
1 Tbsp of Pure Cane Sugar*
1/4 tsp of Cinnamon (Optional)
1/4 tsp of Maple Syrup (Optional)
1 Egg White (Medium)
Dash of Salt
Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees. Mix sugars, cinnamon and salt; set aside. Beat egg white and maple syrup (or just add a splash of water) until frothy. Add almonds and stir, coating nuts evenly.
Sprinkle nuts with sugar mixture and toss until all nuts are coated evenly. Spread sugared nuts onto a cookie sheet sprayed with no-stick cooking spray (or use parchment paper).
Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10-15 minutes or just eat them warm and straight from the oven! While cooling, make sure all nuts are separated.
Calories (3 Tbsps Serving): 135 Fat: 10g Fiber: 2.5g Sugar: 6g Protein: 5g
- *You can choose to use any other nut or even a blend. The second time around I added some pecans and cashews to the mix.
- *If you don’t have cinnamon sugar you can just make your own blend using 3 Tbsps of any sugar and 1/4 tsp (or more) of cinnamon. Feel free to use what ever sugar you have on hand.
- Maybe even try Stevia or Truvia for a no sugar added recipe? Maybe a blend of sugars? Let me know!
