Chocolate Chickpea Bites

Hey all you people, hey all you people, hey all you people won’t you listen to meeeeeee????

GUYS, HI! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve written a post, created a funky recipe or even scrolled through the wonderful feed of WordPress… But here I am! I’m so excited to be back and I’m hoping to be a little more present this semester.

I just returned back to school from a LOVELY weekend break at home with my family. I hung out with my grandparents, was tackling by my adorable dogs and took some serious time to recollect and breathe before a month long stretch of school. Definitely needed!

Anyways, as I was home, my family and I decided to throw a small Super Bowl party consisting of… us! Yep, just us four and honestly, it was wonderful. My dad was screaming a lot (which is hilarious because he does NOT watch football unless he’s with my mom) and my dog Walter was mesmerized by the commercials and practically pressed his nose against the screen. ((ps- the Justin Timberlake commercial for Bai…. SWOON VILLE!)) We ordered pizzas, I made a veggie tray and homemade guac and we hung out together as one big Q fam…

I realized early on that we definitely needed a sweet after pizza ((I mean, come on, no dessert?!)) SO i decided to whip up a cute and easy little recipe for some tiny chocolate chip cookie bites using chickpeas and my favorite Enjoylife dairy-free chippies! SO simple, SO delicious, and SO healthy. BAM BABY.

They aren’t super sweet, but they give a good bite and satisfy your need for a little chocolate for sure.

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servings: 28 cookies 

prep time: 20 minutes 

cook time: 15 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 Cup raw oats
• 1 can chickpeas (15 oz)
• 1/3 Cup raw cashews
• 1 very ripe banana
• 1/3 Cup pure maple syrup
• 1 pasteurized egg
• 1 Teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 Teaspoon baking powder
• 2 Tablespoons nut milk
• 1/2 Cup Enjoylife chocolate chips

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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Blend together the raw cashews and chickpeas in a blender or food processor until the mixture becomes somewhat smooth.
3. Add in the oats, banana, extract, maple syrup, baking powder and egg as the processor is going. The mixture will become very thick (which is where the nut milk comes in!) and you may have to take some out and work in shifts.
4. Move the mixture once blended from the processor to a medium mixing bowl and add in the chocolate chips. Mix those babies in! You can also add some cacao powder to make chocolate bites, too!
5. Drop a tablespoon and a half of dough onto cookie sheets. You can press them down slightly for a cookie shape or leave them round for little bites.
6. Place cookie sheet in the oven for fifteen minutes; take them out and let them cool for two minutes.
7. DEVOUR!

 

Simple Almond Flour Waffles

I love a good waffle just as anyone, but unfortunately when you go away, most waffle mixes available to you are highly processed, and chocked full of ingredients I can’t understand.

As you can probably guess, I haven’t been eating waffles at school since I got there. And that makes me incredibly sad!

Waffles have been a huge part of my life ever since I started to recover from anorexia two years ago, and they have stuck in my life as I have continued to grow my interests in cooking and holistic food choices. I have constantly upped my game, and am always searching for new recipe including fewer, more complex ingredients to make the perfect, crispy waffle (as I like mine!).

This morning, I craved a darn waffle and I knew I wanted to try something with an almond flour base as I tried Simple Mills over Thanksgiving break and fell in love with the concept of it. I decided this morning would be the morning to give it a shot, and boy am I glad I did!

Few mistakes were made: forgot to oil my waffle makes (DUHHHH!), and I also forgot to top with pure maple syrup…. THE STRUGGLE OF MY LIFE, FRIENDS.

Don’t worry, they’re still amazing no matter if they need to be yanked from the maker or you just eat them plain (dipped in black coffee, anyone?). Waffles are waffles, no matter how messy your morning turns out to be.

Poor Walter!

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Makes: 3 small waffles, or one large

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/3 C. plus 2 TBSP. Almond flour (I used Almond Pro)
• 1/4 C. Unsweetened almond milk (Califia Farms)
• 2 Egg whites
• 1 tsp. Ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. Baking soda
• 1/2 TBSP. Coconut sugar
• 1 tsp. Pure vanilla extract
• 1-2 TBSP. Coconut oil

*optional toppings:  banana, blueberries, pure maple syrup, nut butter, etc….*

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1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Make sure they are all consistently blended together. I like to use a fork to press them into each other.
2. Melt coconut oil into the waffle maker (unlike I did!) to ensure the waffles come right off!
3. Evenly divide your batter into three parts as you cook your waffles.
4. Top those babies right away with any fruit or nut butter, pure maple syrup, honey  , etc…. and dig a fork in while they’re still hot!

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

I’m sure so many of you indulge in pumpkin pie around the holidays. I mean, it is the season!

And while some love pumpkin pie, some love a good pumpkin spice latte. Well, this girl loves a darn good bowl of oatmeal as it comes to November and December.

Okay- I love oats all the time- just, bear with me for the sake of the cheesy opening to my recipe!

Anywho, I’ve been bored lately, and so I’ve started really working on creating new things I can munch on in my dorm room which is super fabulous because I’ve truly missed cooking and have felt extremely detached from a part of me that I really enjoy. So I woke up this morning, and remembered the organic pumpkin that was on sale at target I bought on Friday! I also received pie spice from my friend’s mom on Saturday, and knew oats were on the way.

This breakfast literally kept me full for hours on end, powered my workout, and celebrated fall all in one bowl! Now that’s what I call a good start to a Tuesday morning!

I also named this skeleton Fredrick for October, and since I have to put him away…. he needed a small appearance!

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prep: 5 minutes

cook: 2 minutes (in microwave!)

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Ingredients:

• 1/2 C. raw rolled oats
• 1 tbsp. chia seed
• 1/3 scoop vanilla protein (Sunwarrior)
• 3 tbsp. organic pumpkin puree  (Simply Balanced)
• 1/2 C. unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tsp. pie spice (Penzy’s)
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/3 C. water
• Small banana*
• 2 tbsp. granola (Lovegrown Foods)*
• 1 tbsp. almond butter, raw (Woodstock Foods)*

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1. Add to a bowl your raw oats, chia seed, pumpkin and protein. Stir the ingredients until mixed. (if you are using a stove, this should be a pot over medium heat!)
2. Now add in your water and about half of your almond milk. The other half will be used to top the oats.
3. Stir this around until creamy and smooth. You may need to add a touch more water.
4. Start adding your spices, and stir these into the mix.
5. If you are using a microwave, cook for two minutes. The stove top requires a longer time frame, and should cook until the oats have absorbed all the liquids.
6. Add another sprinkle of cinnamon and top those suckers with all them toppings and your left over almond milk!
7. SMASHHHHHH!!!!!

*Toppings are not necessary but are HIGHLY recommended. I mean, what’s a bowl of oats without some killer toppings???

Cacao Coffee Overnight Oats

Here we go- another darn bowl of oats.

Nah, I’m kidding’ you- these oats have been inspired by my drive to add more variety and spunk to my diet again after some serious hard times of eating the same things and ending up gorging on foods my system does not like. It’s a long story, but starting this week, I’m making it my goal to eat new foods, and explore some fun recipes for my dorm.

These make the list.

I had a concert last night, so of course I want a breakfast I can grab to run to class, and give myself a couple extra hours. Then, when I was thinking about that, I remembered that I didn’t finish a cup of coffee from the morning.

“MR. KRABS, I HAVE AN IDEAAAAAAAAAA”

I took the coffee, grabbed almond milk and some cacao powder and went ham.

Then, I layered some Siggi’s yogurt, banana slices, coconut chips, hemp seeds and cacao nibs for the most perfect bite in the morning I’ve ever had.

Love ya overnight oats!

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serves:1

prep time: 10 minutes

cook time: 2-3 hours; or overnight 

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Ingredients:

• 1/2 C. rolled oats
• 1 TBSP chia seeds
• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder  Sunwarrior)
• 1 TBSP. cacao powder
• 1/2 C. brewed black coffee
• 1/3 C. unsweetened almond milk (Califia Farms)
• 1/2 container of plain Siggi’s
• 1 banana
• 1/2 TBSP. hemp seed
• 1 TSP. cacao nibs
• 1 TBSP. coconut chips

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Instructions:

1. Find a cute ass jar.
2. Now add the oats, chia seed, cacao  and protein powder. Make sure you stir the dry ingredients around before adding liquids!
3. After you stir the dry ingredients, add your coffee and almond milk until you get the consistency you enjoy.
4. Stir and stir WELL! You don’t want chunks of chia, now do you???
5. Slice a full banana and add half, then layer on the yogurt To the oats.
6. Layer the other half of the banana on top of this, then add the rest of the toppings as you like!
7. Scoff this sucker down!

Almond Oat Maple Cakes

I was in need of pancakes this morning.

Yes, a real good ol’ stack of cakes because today, I left for college. You know what that means?

NO OVEN.

I’m slightly dying over here.

I went for a short run to clear my head and then went straight for the kitchen to make these babies. Simple ingredients, subtle flavor, and toppings galore before I depart and leave my beautiful stove and kitchen.

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serves: 1

overall time: 15-20 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup raw oats, ground into flour
• 2 Tablespoons almond flour (I used Almond PRO)
• 2 Egg whites
• 1 Tablespoon maple syrup, pure
• 1/2 C. Unsweetened almond milk (Califia Farms)
• 1/4 Teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of sea salt
• Dash of cinnamon
• 1/4 Teaspoon maple extract
• 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
  

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1. Ground raw oats into flour and dump into medium bowl with almond flour.
2. Add all other ingredients besides the coconut oil to the bowl in order, and mix until it becomes a smooth and creamy base. You may need to add water to make the mix a bit more runny.
3. Heat a frying pan with the coconut oil.
4. Using a ladle, drop two to three tablespoons of the pancake mix onto the pan and wait for bubbles to form on the top.
5. Flip your cakes as the bubble begin popping!
6. Throw those suckers on a plate and top away! I used fresh banana, mango and of course, nut butter!

 Let me know if you try these babies- they’re delicious!!!