Pistachio Smoothie [v.]

The weeks are flying by at a terrifying pace. As a senior in college, right now is when I’m supposed to be figuring out my future by applying to graduate school or finding a job. Lately, every conversation I have seems to comes back around to, “so what are you planning to do after graduation?”

Meanwhile, I’m trying to remain calm, and continue on with my schoolwork and extracurriculars. Calmness is vibrant pistachio smoothies and warm bowls of oatmeal with blueberries and granola. It’s listening to my Discover Weekly playlist in the morning as I sip hot coffee. I hope that you try out this recipe, and it brings you the boost it brings me.

The latest non-dairy milk I’ve been enjoying is pistachio milk. Oddly, rather than tasting like pistachios, it’s super almond-y, way more than any almond milk I’ve tried. For this reason, I’m willing to bet any nut milk plus a tiny dash of almond extract would produce the same overall taste.

This smoothie is perfectly sweet and creamy, has an extra nutritional punch thanks to leafy greens, and can be made in literally any blender (I use a 14 dollar blender from amazon). Feel free to add a little extra nut milk if the smoothie seems too thick, and if you’re a granola fiend like me, definitely sprinkle some on top and eat with a spoon.

Pistachio Smoothie

• 1 cup pistachio milk or any nut milk + 1/8 tsp almond extract
• 1/4 cup packed spinach leaves (be generous, you won’t taste spinach I promise)
• 1 sliced and frozen banana
• 1 tbs coconut flour
• optional: 2 tbs soy protein powder or 2 tbs cashew butter

Blend all the ingredients until smooth. Enjoy! Oolala.

 

 

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Gluten Free Bialys

When I was younger and my dad still ate gluten, we use to walk to a local bagel store every morning before he dropped me off at preschool.

I would have a sesame or poppyseed bagel with cream cheese (and remember being disgusted by the horribly uneven bagel to cream cheese ratio) while he would order a bialy.

Well, he would order one but I would usually toss aside my bagel and eat it instead. As picky as I was, I knew a good breakfast when I tasted it.

That morning routine seem so far away now, especially considering my dad hasn’t eaten a bagel, let alone a slice of bread, in nearly a decade.

Since I’m interested in gluten free cooking, today I decided to make gluten free bagels. As I was making the dough I remembered the bialys from my childhood, and was inspired to recreate them.

I can’t take credit for the dough because I used Pamela’s bread mix, but the final texture was fantastic. Of course, like all gluten free breads, the bialys were distinguishable from normal gluten ones, but they still tasted great.

Seriously, look at the beautiful texture of the bialys:

However, in the interest of giving you full disclosure, there is one issue with the bialys I made.

In my defense, I tried to cut the onions, I really did. It’s just– I had my glasses on and the sink running and glass of hot water by the cutting board to boot, and I still was chopping wildly with one eye closed and the other one in severe pain. Eventually I just gave up.

For anyone still confused, here’s the problem with these bialys: the onion pieces should be finely diced while mine are the size of small spaceships.

Also, while I’m being honest, I didn’t cook the onions nearly long enough. Don’t be like me and cook them until they are golden brown.

Moral of the story: be stronger than me – chop the onions finely and cook longly.

Still, these bialys were delicious and even though I may have to accept my failure and scoop off the topping, I will be making them again. Just with precut onions (or someone else’s help).

Gluten Free Bialys

Dough:

• 3 ½ cups Pamela’s Bread Mix
• 2 tsp instant yeast
• 1 1/3 cup warm water
• ¼ cup oil

Filling:

• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 2 tbs oil
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp poppy seeds

1. In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, mix the Pamela’s Bread Mix, instant yeast, warm water, and oil. Whisk on medium speed for 3 minutes.
2. Scoop out ½ cup sized portions of the dough and flatten into disks on a greased baking sheet.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for an hour.
4. Bring water to a boil and boil each disk for 25 seconds. Return to a baking sheet. (Technically bialys are not boiled, however I like the texture it gives the final product and chose to include this step.)
5. Create divots in the dough by smoothing the insides of the disks with wet fingers.
6. To make the filling, heat up the 2 tablespoons oil in a large saucepan.
7. Add the onions and sauté until golden brown.
8. Stir in the salt and poppy seeds and remove from heat.
9. Divide the filling among the bialys and bake for 20-25 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

Chocolate Oatmeal Pancakes (GF)

A while ago I posted a recipe for gluten free pancakes promising a recipe for gluten free chocolate pancakes in the future. Well, today’s that day! These pancakes are super simple to make (provided you have a blender) and they taste amazing! Chocolate lovers (aka me), these are for you!

Chocolate Oatmeal Pancakes (GF)

• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon powdered sugar
• ¼ cup milk
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tiny pinch salt
• ¼ cup oats

1. Blend all ingredients until smooth.
2. Fry on a nonstick surface! (very very important that the pan is nonstick. My other pans couldn’t handle this batter)
3. Serve with a healthy drizzle (dousing) of chocolate ganache (1 tbs of chocolate chips melted in 2 tbs heavy whipping cream)!

On a side note, my camera is still broken 😦 Luckily I have this picture from before it broke.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Berry Syrup

Pancakes and I have a shaky history.

I remember my brother Jonathan took me to an iHop when I was younger, around the time my dad switched to a raw food diet and cut my access to all “junk food” off, and being completely astounded by the sheer number of syrup flavors, let alone pancake combinations, served. Of course, at that time, all food not raw or completely natural had a negative stigma attached to it, so my experience was only slightly tainted by the guilt of eating white flour and sugar (the horror!). Still though, they were delicious and definitely fueled the love for pancakes I have today.

Pancakes and I are on good terms now. I haven’t been to an iHop since (turns out, they’re really not that delicious compared to homemade ones), rather I prefer to make my own pancakes. My favorite part of homemade pancakes is making syrups to go along with them, a process which is actually super, super easy. Berry syrup, caramel syrup, pudding (?), the toppings for pancakes are endless.

I’m definitely going to be making pumpkin pancakes sometime soon, but for now, these super simple, but delicious, buttermilk pancakes ought to suffice.

Buttermilk Pancakes

• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 1/8 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

1. Stir together the flour, baking soda, sugar,and salt.
2. In another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, egg, and butter.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture, and GENTLY fold together. Do not overmix.
4. Cook on medium heat until golden brown.

Berry Syrup

• ¼ cup pancake syrup (I used this sugar-free syrup, and I highly recommend it. It’s delicious!)
• ¼ cup diced/crushed berries (I used about 3 strawberries and 2 blackberries)

1. Combine the syrup and berries together in a pan. Boil until the syrup is thick and the berries are cooked.
2. Serve with buttermilk pancakes! (Or basically anything)

Oatmeal Stuffed Baked Apples

I have a pretty solid routine when it comes to being on the computer.

I usually start off with facebookstalking, move on to checking my email, scroll through a billion pages of reddit, look for any tumblr updates, check my deviantart, and if I have time, oogle at the mind-numbing brilliance of foodgawker.

The other day, managing to get through my whole checklist, I was drooling at desserts on foodgawker when I came upon a recipe for this.  Ice cream stuffed apples? Yum.  My cranium began turning and all of the sudden, a simple idea invaded my thoughts: oatmeal stuffed apples.

This is a new, revolutionary food-so healthy (you get your apple a day to keep the doctor away!) and yet so simple.  Portable, filling, and best of all: DELICIOUS!

Today’s version (I’m betting there will be more in the future ;)) is super simple-an apple stuffed with cinnamon apple raison oatmeal.  They take about 30 minutes to make, but I betcha they could easily be made on a weekend, and heated in a microwave for breakfast (who wants to turn on an oven for breakfast anyways).

Eat them plain for maximum nutritional value, or top with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream for maximum yum factor.

Cinnamon Raisin Apple Oatmeal Stuffed Baked Apples

• ½ cup old fashioned oats
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbs brown sugar (add to taste)
• pumpkin pie spice, to taste (I used 1 tsp)
• 2 apples (dense apples probably not the best for this recipe)
• 1 tbs raisins
• OPTIONAL 1 tbs butter- I didn’t use.
• OPTIONAL- 1 tbs walnuts, chopped

1. Combine the oats and water in a large bowl, and microwave at high heat for four minutes.  Carefully watch to make sure it doesn’t overflow.  OR cook the oats on a stove until done.
2. Combine the brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice in a ramekin.
3. Take the apples and cut the tops off.  Scoop out and dice the flesh of the apples.  Cut off the stems.
4. *OPTIONAL* Rub the butter along the inside of the apples.
5. Take about 1 tsp of the brown sugar spice mixture and spread on the inside of the apples.
6. Add the remaining spice-sugar mixture to the oatmeal, along with the raisins, diced apple flesh, and walnuts, if using.  I only used the flesh of one apple, and fed the rest to my dogs.
7. Place the tops of the apples back on, and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
8. Serve plain, or with whipped cream and/or ice cream. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Cake

Guess what? It’s finally autumn!

Well, I guess technically it has been autumn for a little while, but I judge seasons by the weather, and it finally started raining today! 🙂

It’s actually really funny because my dad, who despises cold weather, was visiting Czech this past week, and while he was gone it was super sunny and warm.  The day he came home it actually started raining, so he missed all of the good weather!

EDIT: Yikes! My blurb got deleted! I’m not sure how

Well, I’ll add the recipe asap (a.k.a when I can find it!)

EDIT2: Here it is:

Oatmeal Cake

• 1 1/3 cup boiling water
• 1 cup quick oats
• ½ cup shortening or butter (I replaced half with applesauce)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar (I replaced both sugars with 2 c palm sugar + 1tbs molasses)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 ½ cup flour

1. Place the water and oats in a bowl for 20 minutes.
2. Cream shortening/butter and sugar.
3. Add eggs and vanilla. (If using applesauce, add here)
4. Sift dry ingredients together.
5. Add dry ingredients to wet.  Stir until just combined.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

I’m notorious among the people I know as being a baker.  In fact, whenever my friends come to my house, it’s normal to find us crafting various baked goods (well, in some cases it’s me baking and my friend eating XD).  My friend Sonia came over last week, and we made chocolate chip pancakes.  But, the problem (well, I wouldn’t say it’s much of a problem!) was that we made a rather large batch of chocolate-studded batter, even too much for two teens with voracious appetites!  Even after gorging on countless pancakes, I still had a gallon of batter.  Then, I proceeded to eat pancakes at every meal for the next three days.  Um, yum.  But anyways, one would think that after all those pancakes, I wouldn’t be able to look at them without feeling sick.  Nah, my love of pancakes remains firm.

These pancakes are perfectly fluffy, flavorful, and filling. If you’re not super paranoid about preservatives, you can make them super quickly using Bisquick, but if you’re more of a from-scratch type of cook, I’ve included the homemade biscuit mix recipe I myself use.  The homemade biscuit mix makes a lot, I must warn, but don’t fear, it can be used in any recipe calling for Bisquick.  (In fact, I’ll have an amazing recipe for pumpkin pie which uses the mix, which I plan on sharing shortly, perhaps when the weather cools down a bit)

Bisquick Style Biscuit Mix

• 4 cups all purpose flour (some can be subbed with WW flour)
• 2 tbs baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¾ cup buttermilk power (dry milk can be subbed, but buttermilk powder ensures optimum texture)
• 1 cup shortening (I used non hydrogenated, and it works great!)

1. In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients.  Whisk to combine.
2. Add the shortening, and kneed the mixture with your fingers until shortening is evenly distributed, and the mix barely holds its shape when squeezed.  Use in any recipe calling for bisquick.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

• 2 cups bisquick/biscuit mix (2 ½ cups for thicker, but still fluffy, pancakes)
• 1 tbs sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 cup milk (buttermilk if using bisquick)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ½ cup chocolate chips (increase or decrease as desired)

1. Mix the sugar, lemon juice, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla.
2. Pour into bisquick/biscuit mix, and stir until barely combined.
3. Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Cook the pancakes at medium heat for about 2 minutes, flip, and then cook until no raw batter remains.  The batter can be stored for up to three days (maybe even more, but there’s no way they won’t be all eaten by then!), covered, in a refrigerator.
5. Serve with whipped cream or pancake syrup, and enjoy!

Oatmeal Pancakes with Brown Sugar Banana Syrup

School has begun once again, and I’m quite frankly overwhelmed by the idea of entering junior year, and also desperately missing the friends I made the summer.  Traveling to Mexico and going to an SAT camp this summer was so fun, but I had to say goodbye to countless new friends.  Luckily, I can see all my old friends now that school has started, but it’s not the same when there’s stress and schoolwork and extracurriculars.  In Mexico, time was told by human instinct, I could eat when I was hungry, and sleep when I was tired.  Now I have to resume life during the school year, which is hectic (although to keeps me entertained!) and structured.

Probably what I miss most about the summer, is being able to wake up whenever I wanted.  I could wake up at nine, and spend hours cooking breakfast for myself, making breakfasts such as the pancakes above.  Now, I’m not say that these pancakes take hours to make, nah, but these definitely are best to make for a relaxing “weekend breakfast.”  Eating them is like a short escape from the stress of school life, a way to relive that wonderful summer mindset.

Recipe for oatmeal pancakes with banana syrup copied from here.

Oatmeal Pancakes with Banana Syrup
Banana-Walnut Syrup

• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• ¼ cup chopped walnuts
• 2 bananas, sliced
• 1 cup maple-flavored syrup

Pancakes

• 2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats
• 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 2 eggs

1. In 1 ½-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add walnuts; cook, stirring occasionally, just until walnuts and butter begin to brown. Add bananas; stir to coat with butter. Stir in syrup. Reduce heat to low; cook until warm. Keep warm while making pancakes.
2. Heat griddle or skillet over medium heat or to 375°F. Grease griddle with vegetable oil if necessary (or spray with cooking spray before heating). In medium bowl, stir all pancake ingredients with spoon until blended.
3. For each pancake, pour ¼ cup batter onto hot griddle. Cook until edges are dry. Turn; cook other sides until golden. Serve with warm syrup.

My alterations:

• Used almonds instead of walnuts
• Used a homemade bisquick mix (recipe from this book, similar recipe here)
• Made my own pancake syrup (recipe here)