Peanut Butter Banana Waffles

If you're like me, then you are perpetually on a schedule you set for yourself.  No matter what day of the week, whether you have an open or empty schedule, whether you feel great or awful, this schedule is followed.  This means wake up time, meal times, exercise time, general go to bed time, they don't really change.  And if you are wondering, no, I'm not a fly by the seat of my pants kinda lady.  I like structure and routine, and need it to keep my sanity.

My husband, on the other hand, is not so routine oriented.  When we first got married, he would sleep until noon on the weekends, not eat until dinner, and then go to bed at 4am.  (On worknights, he'd stay awake until 1am, which always blew my mind since he has to get up at 5am.  Crazy boy!)

Luckily, my routine has made a big impact on him in the last three years of marriage.  On weeknights, we both retire around 10pm(or sometimes 9:45.....).  Saturdays and Sundays, he now wakes up around 9am and eats two meals.  Really, he's made some great strides.

So, for a lady like me who leads an incredibly structured weekend without much wiggle room, I have to find the time to make him a super healthy and filling breakfast to last him until dinner.  Because, let's face it, I don't have time to make him lunch and he has never once expressed an interest in learning to make a meal for himself.  

I started making these waffles for him a little over a month ago, when I started spending my weekend afternoons outside working on the yard.  He'd want to eat around noon, right before I was heading out and wouldn't be back until it was time to make dinner.

What's so great about this recipe is that there is minimal sugar, filled with protein rich peanut butter, hearty banana, and makes two waffles.  I whip the batter up on Saturday morning, use half that morning and the rest on Sunday.  This is especially convenient, because I make him breakfast on Sunday upon immediately returning from grocery shopping and the last thing I want to do is gather together ingredients to make waffles while simultaneously putting away food.

These waffles are for anyone who loves peanut butter, banana, and waffles.  You can divide the batter like I do, to make breakfast for two days.  Or you can eat two waffles for breakfast.  Or you can make them for you and your sweetie.  Really, the possibilities are endless.

Peanut Butter Banana Waffles

makes two belgian waffles

1/4 c sorghum

1/4 c millet

1/3 c potato starch

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 c almond milk

2 heaping tbsp creamy all natural peanut butter

1/2 large banana, thinly sliced

1 tsp maple syrup

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

up to an additional 1/4 almond milk to thin out batter(if necessary)

Earth Balance

to top: Earth Balance, peanut butter,  other half of banana sliced, maple syrup

Preheat your waffle iron.  In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flours and baking powder.  Add in almond milk.  Add in bananas and mash into the batter(I leave some little pieces and not so little pieces in there).  Mix in peanut butter.  Lastly, add maple syrup and vinegar and mix until batter is uniform in color and consistency.

Thoroughly grease waffle iron with Earth Balance.  Add batter and cook until medium brown and crispy on the outside.  Remove from waffle iron, top with desired toppings.  Enjoy!

Cinco de Mayo Feast

I had no plans for cooking Mexican food yesterday in celebration of Cinco de Mayo.  That is, until I woke up with an extreme craving for the Mushroom and Asparagus Tacos and Fajita Soup from Great Gluten-Free Vegan Eats.  This came as a bit of a surprise since I haven't made and devoured those dishes since I recipe tested for the book nearly 2 years ago.  But, what better day to make a Mexican feast than Cinco de Mayo?!

The tacos were better than I remembered, and the soup was perfectly spiced with lots of colorful veggies.  It was the perfect meal to enjoy while still eating incredibly healthy.

Additionally, I made taco pizza, which has been a dinner staple in our house since Richa posted this recipe over two months ago.  I use her gluten-free oat crust as the base and it turns out perfect every time.  In fact, I often make the dough on Sunday mornings, let it rise all afternoon, and then bake it for dinner*.  I think the crust comes out even better that way, super soft with lots of those little air pockets.

Easy Taco Pizza

makes one 9" pizza
1 batch of Richa's gluten-free dough
1 c salsa refried beans (I get mine from Trader Joes)
1/4-1/3 c cheddar-style cheese (I use Teese)
toppings: diced tomatoes, avocado, shredded lettuce, sour cream

Prepare dough and allow to rise for an hour(or more*).  Preheat oven to 375 and line a 9" springform pan with parchment paper.  Press dough into prepared pan, cover with aluminum foil, and bake in preheated oven for 19 minutes.  Uncover, cover the top with refried beans, cheese, and bake for an additional 15 minutes.  Top with diced tomato, avocado, sour cream, and shredded lettuce.  Enjoy!

All of these recipes are super simple to throw together and are perfect for those weekends filled with yardwork and gardening.  Happy May!

Welcome Spring Salad with Mango Dressing

Winter's wrath has begun to leave the Philadelphia area and I could not be happier.  I am finally able to give much needed love and attention to my yard, which was a little neglected by the previous owner.  I've spent almost all of my free time pulling out tremendously ugly plants, cutting very overgrown bushes, pulling out vine-weeds that tangled themselves all over the very overgrown bushes, and pulling up grass to extend the garden bed(aka the hardest thing in the world to do).  There is still about a million more things to do before I can relax and be happy.  But for now, I am trying to embrace and enjoy the time spent working to get my property the way I want it.  It's a bonding experience of sorts.

Another advantage of the warmer weather is trading in soups, stews, and stir-fries for gigantic salads.  As cliche as it may sound, I still love eating salads more than any other meal.  What I've learned over the years, though, is how to make them fun.  And when a salad is fun to eat, it makes it even more delicious and healthy at the same time.

The first trick to making a salad more fun is to first gather as many different vegetables as you can find and then chop them as small as possible.  That way, you get a little bit of everything with each bite.  I try to cut everything small enough to use a spoon, but sometimes my patience does not allow that much precision.  Secondly, I add as many "fun stuff" as possible. This provides the salad with different tastes and textures.  Some of my favorites include hearts of palm, olives, raisins, walnuts, chickpeas, mango, and roasted peppers.  Lastly, the salad is tossed very thoroughly before adding a delicious and healthful dressing and mixing again.  The ending result is my dinner of choice just about every night.  I love adding a hefty sprinkling of nutritional yeast to the top, then reapplying after I eat each layer.  No B-12 shortage in this little body.

I started using this particular salad dressing last summer when I read the book Thrive.  I love the idea of pureed fruit as the main component because it's delicious while still being very healthy at the same time.  (There's nothing worse than making a gigantic salad and then adding in a dressing full of oil and fat.  It kind of defeats the purpose, in my opinion.)  The ending result is a giant salad, but it's filling without being heavy.  And that is the perfect feeling to have when you go outside to trim overgrown bushes immediately following dinner.

Welcome Spring Salad

serves one as a meal, or more if sharing

2 large handfuls of spinach, roughly chopped

1 inch slice of purple cabbage, chopped

1 c cauliflower, finely chopped

1 c broccoli, finely chopped

4 baby bella mushrooms, finely chopped

1/2 slice red onion, finely chopped

1 large carrot, finely sliced

6 cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/4 mango, chopped

1/4 c chickpeas

1/4 c hearts of palm, chopped

1/4 c fire roasted red peppers(from a jar)

handful of walnuts, chopped

3 black olives, sliced

sprinkling of raisins

mango salad dressing, recipe below

nutritional yeast, to top

Combine all ingredients(except for dressing and nutritional yeast) in a large bowl(I use my largest mixing bowl) and toss until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.  Add salad dressing(about two large spoonfuls) and toss again until everything is  evenly coated.  Top with nutritional yeast.  Enjoy!

Mango Salad Dressing

adapted from Thrive

2 large mangoes, cut into cubes

1/4-1/2 jalapeno, chopped

juice of 2 limes

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Combine all ingredients into a blender and puree until smooth.

Chana Masala

Over the weekend, I had a serious craving for chana masala.  This is kind of weird, considering the fact that I've only had the dish once, three years ago, and I couldn't for the life of me say if it was good or not.  I scarfed it down as quickly as possible, as it was the night of my wedding and was more interested in visiting all of our guests then sitting around, savoring my meal.  

This past weekend, though, I was reminiscing and wanted to recreate the dinner from the best night of my life, which occurred exactly three years ago on Tuesday.  I don't know the first thing about Indian cuisine, but luckily I have an amazing friend who knows everything about it.  I had been eyeing up Richa's chana masala recipe for over a year now and knew this was the perfect occasion to make it.  It was my anniversary gift to myself.

I followed Richa's recipe almost to a T, only eliminating the hing and raw sugar, and substituting the chana masala spice blend with garam masala.  I prepared the meal on the stovetop, rather than the pressure cooker, and it took almost no time from start to finish

The recipe did not disappoint in any way, and although I cannot say for sure, was almost definitely better than the chana masala I ate at my wedding.  From the fast preparation to the perfect blend of spices, this dish warmed my heart and belly, and made me smile with complete content.  There's nothing like preparing a dish from your past, and having it turn out better than remembered.

Woodstock Salad

Hey Cait, what are your plans for Saturday?  Without fail, I am asked this question every. single. week. by my dad.  It's code for "Would you like to have lunch on Saturday?"  Although I'm not a big lunch person, I make an exception for this occasion.  Lunch with my dad has become an incredibly important part of my weekly schedule and one which I look forward to for days ahead.  We sit, eat, and talk about every little thing that pops into our minds.  It's therapeutic, occasionally with eye opening revelations, but mostly just an excuse for good food and father-daughter bonding time.

A couple of weeks ago, my dad started telling me about a restaurant that he and my mom had recently discovered and fell in love with.  He was over-the-moon in explaining to me the friendliness of the staff and how accommodating they are to special diets.  They'll make you anything you want!  he kept claiming.  After thoroughly reading the online menu and asking him questions like Exactly how big are the salads?(I need a BIG salad), I agreed to give this new place a shot.

I was immediately overtaken with the restaurant's homey and relaxed environment.  Their staff, in fact, has the friendliest and most accommodating people I have ever dealt with in a restaurant.  Upon hearing about my food restrictions, our waitress told me which soup of the day I could eat(sweet potato corn, which I am still dreaming about) and additionally said all salads could be made to be both gluten-free and vegan.  After debating for what seemed forever(they have a lot of fantastic sounding salads), I chose the Woodstock Salad.  Filled with lots of fresh vegetables, olives, sunflower seeds, and hummus, this salad is hearty with lots of different tastes and textures.  I immediately went home and dreamed about making this salad at home, and so I did.  It was delicious homemade, but I definitely will be going back to that restaurant again and again with my dad ;)

Woodstock Salad

makes one large salad

2 c romaine lettuce, chopped

1 medium tomato, sliced

1/2 cucumber or zucchini, sliced

1 heaping c broccoli florets

2 tbsp dry roasted sunflower seeds

1 tbsp raisins

4 kalamata olives

1/4 c your favorite hummus

olive oil

apple cider vinegar

Combine all vegetables on a large plate.  Top with sunflower seeds, raisins, and olives.  Lightly drizzle olive oil and apple cider vinegar.  Use the hummus as a dip for the vegetables or to top salad.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cupcakes

Growing up in a traditional Judeo-Christian household, Easter was a holiday my family "celebrated" every year.  When I was younger, we'd wake up to our mega stuffed Easter baskets, attend church in the morning, visit my dad's side of the family in the afternoon, and have dinner with my mom's family in the evening.  It was a fun time for me, as I got to dress up in a frilly Easter dress and spend the day with both sides of my family.  My dad even surprised me and my brother with bunnies one year.  We were only five and three at the time, and it was the greatest thing ever.

But, as I hit my later teenage years, Easter became a holiday which I began to extremely dislike.  I believe my breaking point was the year I sat alone in my aunt's basement, watching the crucifixion scene in one of those horrible movies about Jesus.  I was curled up on the couch, sobbing, and decided I hate Easter.

After that self-declaration, over ten years ago, every little thing that goes wrong on Easter I immediately attribute to it being an awful holiday.  From the play Dayv and I saw at his grandparents' church with a crucifixion scene a little too real for my(and his five year old sister's) liking, to dinner being pushed back a little too late for my hypoglycemic body to handle and having a meltdown in the kitchen, those things(and so many more) make me hate Easter just a little bit more.  In fact, Dayv and I skipped the holiday entirely when it fell on the Sunday before our wedding.  We decided to stay at the apartment all day, unpacking and cleaning.  And let me tell you, it was pretty much the best Easter ever.

However, there is something special about this time of year that is worth celebrating.  For one, it's Dayv's favorite season- March Madness season!  Secondly, after what felt like five years of winter, it is finally Spring.  Lastly, when Passover also falls right around Easter, it feels like everyone has something to celebrate and no one is left out, which makes me happy.  So, in celebration of all things positive that take place in and around Easter, I had to make something special to enjoy.  So I present to you Spring Solstice-March Madness Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cupcakes aka fill in the blank with your favorite Spring holiday Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cupcakes.  These little treats are all things delicious mixed into one- chocolate and peanut butter, candy, and ice cream.  Additionally, they are already in individual serving sizes, which makes it easier to not over indulge.  And they only contain five ingredients, so if you do over indulge, you don't have to feel excessively guilty about it.  Just make sure you completely remove the cupcake liners before consuming.  I was a little sloppy doing so the first night we enjoyed them and Dayv wasn't a fan of eating tiny bits of paper(I don't mind a little paper).    

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cupcakes

makes twelve

for the ice cream:

2 cans light coconut milk

3/4 c vegan sugar

3/4 c natural creamy peanut butter

for the chocolate peanut butter cups:

1 c vegan chocolate chips

1 tbsp coconut oil

2 tbsp natural creamy peanut butter

to drizzle:

1/2 c vegan chocolate chips

1 1/2 tsp coconut oil

Make peanut butter cups:

Bring a small pot of water to boil.  Place a glass bowl over the pot and add the chocolate chips.  Stir continually until the chocolate chips are completely melted.  Add in the coconut oil and continue to stir until chocolate is very smooth. 

Spoon enough of the melted chocolate into the candy mold(or a lined mini cupcake pan) so that the bottom is covered.  Take 1/2 tsp of peanut butter and place it in the middle of the chocolate.  Cover the peanut butter with additional chocolate, filling the remainder of the mold.  Repeat until all chocolate has been used.  Lightly wrap mold on counter to level the candies.  Place in freezer until candy has hardened.  Pop out of the molds and store in airtight container, preferably in the freezer. 

 Prepare ice cream:

Prepare a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine both cans of coconut milk and sugar.  Whisk until sugar has dissolved.  Add peanut butter and continue to whisk until smooth  Remove from heat and pour into glass container, preferably with a spout.  Allow to cool on counter for about a half hour before covering the top with plastic wrap and chilling in the refrigerator.  Chill for at least 4 hours.  After ice cream mixture is chilled, transfer to ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions.  Once finished, equally spoon ice cream into prepared cupcake liners and place in freezer.  

Once candies are hardened and ice cream has been in freezer for about an hour, take one candy and carefully stick it into an ice cream cup.  Repeat with the remaining candies and ice cream cups.  Return to freezer.   

Make the chocolate drizzle:

Bring a small pot of water to boil.  Place a glass bowl over the pot and add the chocolate chips.  Stir continually until the chocolate chips are completely melted.  Add in the coconut oil and continue to stir until chocolate is very smooth. 

Remove ice cream cups from freezer and generously drizzle chocolate over each cup.  Return to freezer until completely frozen.  You can keep the cupcakes in the pan or transfer them to a 9x13 casserole dish.  Cover with aluminum foil  Enjoy!

Spaghetti Squash Primavera

I remember the first time I ever ate spaghetti squash.  It was October 2007 and I was just beginning to climb out of the vast hole of sickness that had consumed me for the better part of three months.  Dayv had traveled down to Tennessee for his sister's wedding and I stayed behind, still afraid of a potential relapse of my mysterious illness.

My mom had recently picked up a spaghetti squash at the grocery store and explained to me that once it was cooked, resembled and could be eaten like spaghetti.  Considering the fact that I grew up loving spaghetti, but did not miss the way it made me feel afterwards, I was beyond excited at trying this pasta-like vegetable.   

My parents went out, but to where I can't remember.  I followed my mom's instructions on cooking the squash, and after it was done, scooped the entire noodly contents into a gigantic mixing bowl.  I topped it with sauteed vegetables and lots of tomato sauce.  It was my version of pasta primavera.  I sat at the computer desk, shoveling large spoonfuls into my mouth while simultaneously watching every possible youtube video I could find of a certain evolutionary biologist with the initials RD.  I felt like such a grown-up.

The other thing I remember?  I didn't really like my "pasta primavera".  The spaghetti squash was a little too al-dente and I piled so many crunchy vegetables on top that it was bit of a chore to eat.  But I ate the entire thing in one sitting because I was just proud that I had made it.  

I recently remembered this memory and had a strong desire to recreate my original recipe from five years ago.  This time, I cooked the spaghetti squash until it was tender and topped it with sauteed red onion, garlic, mushrooms, and olives, which were simmered in tomato sauce, and polenta croutons.  This time, I ate my spaghetti squash primavera and loved it, not only because I created it, but also because it was delicious. 

Notes: You have the option of either baking the polenta croutons or adding them to the vegetable saute.  Although I enjoy them both ways, when they are simmered in the tomato sauce they get perfectly soft and plump.  I also sometimes add chickpeas, which makes it a little heartier for a complete meal.  Leftovers are delicious in a casserole.  Simply layer spaghetti squash strands on the bottom of a casserole dish and top with the leftover sauce.  To reheat, bake in preheated oven to 400 for about 15-20 minutes.

Spaghetti Squash Primavera

serves three to four

1/2 c polenta

1 1/2 c water

pinch of salt

1 tbsp nutritional yeast(optional)

1 large spaghetti squash, cut in half with seeds removed

olive oil

1/2 large red onion, finely diced

2 c sliced baby bella mushrooms

16 black olives, sliced

1 c diced tomatoes

4-6 cloves of garlic, minced

homemade tomato sauce, or your favorite tomato sauce

Line an 8x8 casserole dish with parchment paper.  In a medium pot over medium high heat, combine polenta, water, and salt.  Once water begins to bubble, reduce heat to medium and continually stir.  Add in nutritional yeast when the polenta begins to "plop" and continue to stir until a very thick porridge is created.  Transfer to prepared casserole dish, smoothing the top.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  After the polenta is firm, cut it into cubes, approximately the size of croutons.

Preheat oven to 400.  Place squash cut side down on a large casserole dish that is filled about 1/2" with water.  Poke several holes through the top and cover the dish(s) with aluminum foil.  Bake for 45 minutes.  Remove from oven until cooled enough to handle.  Using a fork, scrape out the insides of the squash, which will resemble strands of spaghetti.  

In a large cast iron skillet, saute onion in olive oil until lightly tender.  Add mushrooms and continue to saute until their moisture is released.  Add in olives, garlic, tomatoes, and cubed polenta*, and saute for an additional 3-5 minutes.  Reduce heat to low and add desired amount of tomato sauce.  Start with 1 1/2 cups and add more if desired.  Simmer until tomato sauce is warm.

To serve, equally divide squash on plates and top with desired amount of sauce.  Enjoy!

*If you want a crispier crouton, place on parchment lined baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for the last 10 minutes the squash in cooking.