Big news and a vanilla slushy

Hi guys. :) So the news is.... WE GOT A GERMAN SHEPARD! His name is Gabriel and he just turned 6 weeks old. He is quite a handful..but he is cute, right?!


Moving on to the recipe for today... It is a yummy vanilla slushy-ish type thing.  =D Summer is getting closer and I was craving something cold! Hope you like it!

YOU WILL NEED:

• 2 cups nondairy milk
• 1/4 agave
• pinch salt
• 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• optional: chocolate chips, or berries. 

DIRECTIONS: Mix all ingredients together, and freeze until solid. Once frozen, thaw it out. For this I just left it out on the counter for about 2 hours. Once it is able to come out of the container, place into an ice cream maker (I use Cuisinart) for about 10 minutes. (This step just helps to mix it) After that, you should have your "slushy!"


 

Pumpkin bars

Hi everyone. :) I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has been visiting my blog. I now have over 1000 views! I have no clue who is looking at my blog though... you guys should comment and say hi!  Either way, thanks a ton! *gives whoever is reading this a huge virtual hug*

Now onto the pumpkin bars... The last time I had tried to make pumpkin bars, I failed. They turned out to be a big, gooey, nasty mess. So I was kind of skeptical about using this recipe. However... They turned out wonderful!! Soft, cake-y texture that melts in your mouth. If you like pumpkin you are sure to adore these!

Topped with coconut butter.

YOU WILL NEED:

• 1/2 cup of oat four
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp ground flax
• 3 tbsp and half a tbsp more agave nectar 
•  1/2 cup canned pumpkin 
• 2 tbsp milk of choice
• 2 tbsp oil ( I used coconut, but vegetable would work too.)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Pour into a small, oiled baking pan. Cook for 20 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes before cutting.

Adapted from here.

 

Rice crispy treats

These rice crispy treats are yum-yum in your tum-tum.

I really wanted to make something Easter related..but I couldn't find any recipes.. Oh well. These are very delicious and a billion times healthier than the store bought kind.
 

The recipe is super simple and can be found at this lovely blog.

I apologize for my lack of posting lately, I have some big tests coming up so I have been studying for those. Thank you all for not leaving me!! :) More recipes soon to come!

Baked avocado, kale chips, and blueberry salsa

If you read the "About me" section here on my blog, you would know that I am a Girl Scout. Well, yesterday at a meeting we were doing a "New Cuisines" badge. SO NOW I HAVE THE BEST RECIPES TO SHARE WITH YOU GUYS!

First, my friend Kiersten and I made a wonderful blueberry salsa.

This was so good I can't even describe it. It was just the right amount of sweet and spice together that make your taste buds go insane. You can find the recipe here.

Next, we had kale chips. These were surprisingly tasty... When you first try one you make a face and question what you are eating... but then you become curious... and then you take another bite.. and another.. and another bite. Until you finish the whole batch and you finally realize that you really like how they taste. Recipe is here. :)

Okay and lastly, is what I had for dinner tonight! BAKED AVOCADOS.

Need I say more?  No. I didn't think so. Here is the recipe! I used ground flax seed instead of bread crumbs and it was YUM-O-RAMA.

Carrot cake waffles

EVERYONE STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND DO THE HOKEY POKEY.

I don't know why I just wrote that..but hey, the hokey pokey is fun so why not? ;) 

Today, for a super late lunch, I made... WAFFLES!! These were unbelievably good. The recipe is over here . On the "Chocolate Covered Katie" blog.. (Btw she is my cooking hero. She responded to one of my comments today and I am still SO happy that she acknowledged my existence! =D )

Okay now I will give you the recipe I used.

 (Serves 1) This recipe made 3 big waffles...and I ate them all.

YOU WILL NEED:

•  1/2 cup all purpose GF flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda 
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp agave 
• 1/4 cup shredded carrot
• 1/4 cup dairy free milk ( I used Silk soy milk)
• 1 tbsp oil 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• (Optional: vegan carob chips. They add a little bit of a crunch and I think they taste good. :) )

DIRECTIONS: In a small bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together. Pour the wet into the dry ingredients and mix well. When your waffle maker is ready, (be sure to grease it) pour about 1/4 cup of the batter into the squares and close the lid and wait! :)


Sorry for the not-so-great pictures.. I was really excited to eat these so I just snapped a quick picture!

Super easy "flatbread"

Behold... A gluten free flatbread! To me it tastes almost like pita bread... Just saying. 

This is great for a sandwich bread, for dipping sauces, or just to snack on!

How I had it today was with mustard, lunch meat, hummus and lettuce on top. It was beyond amazing! (On the side of my plate I had corn nuts and blackberries.)

YOU WILL NEED:

• 1 cup all- purpose GF flour ( plus more for rolling out the dough)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp xanthan gum 
• salt to taste ( I used 1/2 a tsp, but next time I think I will do 1 tsp of sea salt) 

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350 and get a cookie sheet with parchment paper ready. Combine all ingredients, form dough into a ball (the dough is very sticky) put into cling wrap and place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Once dough has been chilled, flour a cutting board and roll out the dough to your desired thinness. ( I cut mine into 3 strips before placing in the oven) Place onto cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes.


Hope you enjoy it! Now I am off to try and turn this flatbread in to a sweet flatbread... Wish me luck! :)

Banana bread

This banana bread tastes so real. I could have sworn I was eating the real sugary, gluten, and butter filled stuff.  Of course it is sugar, gluten, and dairy free... IT IS JUST SO AMAZING. I have had like 3 servings...and it just came out of the oven like 15 minutes ago... Whoopsie.

You can hop on over here to find the original recipe. However, I will give you the version I made. :)

YOU WILL NEED:

• 1 large banana, ripe as possible. 
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce 
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup raw honey
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 1/2 tsp plus 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose GF flour
• 1 tbsp tapioca flour
• half of a tbsp of cinnamon
• half of 1/4 tsp of nutmeg 
• (optional: carob chips and walnuts as desired.)

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350 and grease a bread pan and set aside. In a medium size bowl, mash banana, and then add all wet ingredients and mix well. Add the remaining dry ingredients while mixing thoroughly. Pour into bread pan and cook for 40 minutes. ( While it is baking, it might smell a little bit funny.. Don't worry though! It tastes fantastic.) Once it is done, let cool before slicing. 

Side post: I made a  single serving cookie last night. =) The recipe is here. All I did extra was add some carob chips to mine!  It is not the prettiest cookie, but hey, it still tasted great! :)