Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

I've been in a green smoothie kick/rut for a few months now and was craving something a little different for breakfast. I wanted it to be just as healthy and filling as my green smoothies, and leave me feeling satisfied before my workday. Recently, I purchased the ingredients for overnight oats, but as I found out I'm not the biggest fan of oatmeal, cooked regularly, as overnight oats, or flavored with pumpkin pie spices and real pumpkin.. (I was really trying to like oatmeal as it's soo good for you).  So instead, I decided to turn the oats into oat flour and make them into pancakes!


I wanted the pancakes to be plant based, gluten free and vegan. Thus my recipe experimentation began..  after two separate rounds, I found I liked the pancakes better the next day, rather than hot off the stove, so the banana has time to set.

Initially I topped my pancakes with peanut butter, bananas, chocolate chips, and drizzle of maple syrup! During the week I added other fruit on top of the peanut butter to mix it up: Strawberries and Bananas one day, and Nectarines and Bananas another day!


Oatmeal Banana Pancake Recipe:

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 tablespoons flax meal
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon agave syrup
1 ripe banana
3 cups almond milk
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
Dash of Cinnamon


Directions:

1. Grind oats into oat flour in the Vitamix - start on low then blend on high until oats become flour
2. Transfer oat flour into a large mixing bowl
3. Pour almond milk, banana, agave syrup, vanilla extract, and chia seeds into the Vitamix and blend on high until smooth
4. Mix flax seed meal and baking powder into the oat flour before adding in the liquid banana almond milk mixture
5. Stir oat flour and banana almond milk together until you get the proper pancake batter consistency, the batter will be a bit sticky)
6. Ladle onto a hot griddle on medium heat, lightly oiled with coconut oil, wait until bubbles appear and flip -  remove when done!  (These pancakes are a bit thick and will require a little more time than regular pancakes to cook all the way through.)

 

This recipe will make about a dozen medium sized pancakes, great for sharing or storing for a quick breakfast during the week, they kept me full all the way till lunch.

Asparagus, Mushroom, Pesto topped Cauliflower Crust Pizza

I had been debating all week how to use my asparagus, cauliflower and fresh tomatoes that I bought from the local farmer's market, when it hit me, combine them all in a garden fresh pizza! One of the things I love about making your own food, is seeing it go from individual ingredients into a beautiful finished meal, all parts combined to create a delicious healthy work of "food art"! lol 

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

Half a head of Cauliflower

2 egg whites

1/2 cup light mozzarella cheese

3 Garlic cloves, minced

Dash of Basil and Oregano

Salt and Pepper to taste

Toppings:

Pesto

Light Mozzarella Cheese

1 cup Mushrooms, roughly chopped

1 small organic tomato

1/8 cup sun dried tomatoes

12 stalks of Asparagus

Splash of Truffle infused olive oil - or regular olive oil

Toppings I would have added had they been on hand:

Crumbled goat cheese

Balsamic glaze drizzled over the top

Fresh spinach leaves

Sauteed Zucchini or Yellow Squash

So many options, I might just have to make another one next week!

Recipe feeds two slightly hungry people or one ravenously starving individual, like myself, after a hard workout.. Yes, I ate the whole thing.. couldn't help myself! You can increase the amount of cauliflower and add an extra egg white and a little more cheese to make a larger pizza!

Instructions:

A. Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees

1. Rice the Cauliflower: Divide the half head of Cauliflower into large florets and put them a few cups at a time into the the Vitamix on low, using the dowel to push them down into the blades. This can be done in a food processor or using a cheese grater, although the Vitamix is by far the easiest and fastest way to "rice" the cauliflower.

2. Once the Cauliflower is "riced", I microwaved it in bowl for a minute to soften it, before adding in the egg whites, minced garlic, mozzarella cheese, and the spices.  Mix thoroughly.

3. Line a large baking sheet with wax or parchment paper, and spray it liberally with nonstick cooking spray. I have missed this step too many times to count and ended up with a pizza crust that wont come off the paper, and your whole pizza/dinner is ruined.. Moral of the story, use nonstick spray every time, as the cheese which is the glue the holds the crust together, also acts as a glue with the wax paper, foil, or parchment paper.. moving on...

4. Transfer the pizza crust mixture onto the baking sheet and pat down into a pizza shaped crust, so its about a half an inch thick and round.. or square if you like too 

5. Put your pizza crust into the oven to bake for 30 minutes until your crust is barely golden brown and looks like a solid pizza crust

6. While the pizza crust is baking, chop the mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, and add them to a pan to saute with the stalks of asparagus tossed on top

7. Drizzle with olive oil, or in this case I used truffle infused olive oil, and cover with the lid to keep in the moisture, toss a few times, and after about ten minutes take them off the medium heat

8. Once the pizza crust is finished baking, top with pesto as the base, sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese, top with the sauteed mushroom and sun dried tomato mix, place freshly chopped tomatoes on top of them, and then finish with the sauteed asparagus stalks. 

9. Place your pizza with the toppings back in the oven to bake for another 10 minutes or until the cheese has fully melted.

10. Remove pizza from the oven, slice and enjoy!