No Need for A Cup — “Milkshake” Recipe and WIAW

I must say I was aghast at how many of you admitted to disliking superhero movies on Friday’s post. Truly I intended the question to be more rhetorical and expected everyone to agree that superhero movies are wonderful. While I do think that some of you are missing out on what is Chris Hemsworth in metal breastplates and locks of gold, I’m also happy that you feel like you can be honest on here without being judged (I only thought *slightly* less of you Thor-haters 😉 ).

While we speak of being honest I must also admit to forgetting quite a few promised posts. Today is just one check off the list of several that I will be knocking down. Starting Monday I have plans to tackle them full force, one each week. Today though is all about the food. Since I tend to only post recipes for baked goods, you may have started to think that that’s all my family eats. On the contrary those make up just one or two days out of the weekend and during the work week their days are dessert-less (aka. much more lackluster 😉 ). On Friday I showed you a savory recipe involving beef and vegetables that is much closer to what my mom and dad have for supper each night.

Another thing that my dad personally consumes multiple times a week is his smoothie. Oh how the man loves his smoothies! When home I (and my mom) are probably asked four times a day if we will make him one. And only about 25% of the time do we say yes.

I posted one of the smoothies on Instagram two weeks ago but I also want to share a version of it on here. While the smoothies that I make do contain fruit and yogurt, they actually are much more “milkshake” like in taste and texture (at least that’s what my dad has led me to believe!)

The base of the smoothie always includes one or more bananas and some plain organic yogurt. Most often I also add in nut butter and carob powder as well. Here is the recipe that I have been making most recently:

Banana, Carob, Nut Butter “Milkshake”

Grain/Gluten/Wheat-Free, Dairy/Nut-Free Options, Egg-Free, Vegan Option, Paleo/Primal

Makes about 2 1/2 cups (1 or 2 servings)

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas, sliced and frozen
• 2/3 cup plain organic yogurt (use coconut to make this dairy-free)
• 2-4 tbsp nut butter (just a “big scoop!”) (to make nut-free use sunflower seed butter)
• 2-4 tbsp carob powder (again, I just add a scoop in, no measuring necessary)
• optional: a splash of vanilla and a dash of sea salt

Directions:

1. Place the frozen bananas in the food processor first and blend until creamy and smooth. You may need to use a spoon occasionally to scrape down the sides of the processor to fully incorporate the bananas.
2. Next add the yogurt and blend.
3. Now with my base I add in the nut butter, carob powder, vanilla and sea salt. Give it a whirl until it is all one color and thoroughly combined!
4. Enjoy 🙂

Note: He also likes them with strawberries which I would add instead of the nut butter (1/2-1 cup frozen). But peanut butter and carob is his favorite combination.

***Although the pictures are in a glass, my dad much prefers I just hand him a spoon with the food processor, blade and all 🙂 ***

Are you someone who can drink your smoothie straight out of the food processor or blender? Or do you always have to serve it in a glass? Have you ever eaten your oatmeal straight from the pan, or a lasagna right from the casserole dish? Or does it just not feel “right” unless you eat your serving from a plate or bowl?

I’m definitely an in-betweener on this. While I feel perfectly fine snacking straight out of whatever I cooked/made my food in, I always have to eventually remove it to a plate/bowl/cup to eat my actual “meal.” Otherwise it doesn’t feel legitimate to me… Am I the only one?

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Before I skidaddle, I want to fulfill my promise from Friday and give a quick review of Thor 2.

Using one of the most frequent words in my vocabulary, it was AWESOME! 🙂

If you enjoyed the first movie you will certainly like this one as well because there is a lot of character development with Thor and Loki. There is also some great chemistry between Jane and Thor which I adored.

If you didn’t like the first movie, I would still encourage you to watch the sequel. After it was over I was explaining to my friend that I can’t pick a favorite of the two because they are just so DIFFERENT. It’s would be like comparing… a smoothie and a milkshake? ( 😉 ) Both are amazing but to compare the two is unfair because they have different qualities that don’t crossover.

This sequel was extremely fast-paced and was jam-packed with humor. I don’t think I stopped laughing for more than a minute before Loki made some snarky comment again. Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis was as hilarious as ever, and the minor characters of Dr. Erik Selvig, the new intern Ian, and of course all of the royalty/warriors from Asgard were wonderful too. The lines were very well written and the back-and-forth dynamic between the characters was perfect. Witty. Visually Stunning….

GO. WATCH. IT.

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Oh, and go check out Jenn’s WIAW party for this week too… 😉

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Questions for you:

Just tell me your thoughts!

My Newest TV Obsession (And the Pancakes You Should Eat While Watching It)

I think Raymond Reddingtion may be my new favorite fictional bad guy. I also may be slightly idolizing over Elizabeth Keen and her super exciting job (perhaps not the whole abused-by-father and my-husband-is-not-who-he-says-he is backstory though… but that’s beside the point).

In short, The Blacklist is my newest television obsession. It has all of the necessary must-have pieces to be a potential binge-watching series. That is, if I ever fall behind on watching it on Hulu the day after they premiere. Which is unlikely.

There’s an intriguing criminal, a relateable main character, a twisted, action-filled plot in every episode, and lots of hidden secrets. Basically it’s perfect.

So do yourself a favor and if you haven’t already seen this show, go watch it. Now. And if you have watched it already, go watch an episode again just for me. Or scavenger YouTube for the preview of next week’s episode (oh wait, I already did that for you 😉 ).

I repeat: Go watch it NOW.

But first, make these pancakes so you have something to delicious to eat during the commercial breaks.

Paleo Strawberry and Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Adapted from my Unbelievably Grain-Free Berry Pancakes

Grain/Gluten/Wheat-Free, Paleo/GAPS-Friendly, Nut/Dairy-Free Option

Makes two batches of three pancakes

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 tbsp honey (optional)
• 1 small banana
• 1/4 cup light coconut milk
• 1 tsp vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup almond flour (or other nut/seed flour)
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• dash of sea salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup strawberries, frozen or fresh, sliced
• carob or chocolate chips/chunks (homemade)

Directions:

1. Preheat griddle to 350 degrees (or a pan to about medium heat). Coat with coconut oil, ghee, or cooking spray to prevent sticking.
2. Put all of the wet ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.
3. Then add the dry ingredients and combine again.
4. Using a 1/3 cup measuring spoon scoop portion out the batter onto your griddle in medium-sized circles, spreading with the back of the measuring cup if too small.
5. Cook for approximately three minutes, then place a few strawberry slices and carob/chocolate chunks on each pancake. Cook for another minute or two until the side facing up is bubbly. Flip and cook for approximately four more minutes. Repeat with remaining batter and serve!

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Happy Friday!

• What is your favorite kind of pancake?
• Have you seen The Blacklist yet?
• What is your current TV obsession?

Peanut Butter and Carob Chunk Cinnamon Rolls (WIAW)

Dang it! I was doing so well with balancing school and blogging then it all caught up with me 😦 It’s not exactly that I don’t have the time although that is part of the equation. It is more like I don’t have the brain capacity. Who knew reading about food, workouts and life required an IQ?

Unfortunately I feel as though I have reverted back to burnt marshmallow brain status. Here’s hoping that today’s post will remedy that a little. Please?!!

My mind these days is constantly swirling with horizontal models, orbital periods, blocking variables, and ups-men-throwing-computer-screens (what?!… check the bottom of my post for more on that 😉 ). Oh, and let us not forget the honor beats of Native American Grass Dance songs that haunt my dreams.

Actually, my dream are crammed full of test nightmares, homework scares and the random celebrity sighting… Hmm, as a therapist would say: “What does that say about my life?” That I’m a stressed out college student who spends way too much time on Yahoo! News and Buzzfeed? (for the record, I have determined that reading those articles for the most part does NOT require an IQ).

My plan was to catch up on some sleep, blogging, comments and the works this weekend but then I forgot about a trip that I was taking. And I may have forgotten to mention it on here too however, in my defense it didn’t seem extremely important to mention it since I went on the same trip last year.

Yes! On Saturday and Sunday I went to the Stratford Shakespeare festival again in Canada! Recap coming next week most likely on Monday (or Wednesday if I can find any food shots of other people’s exciting meals on my phone).

If I have no food to share from the trip though I guarantee that I’ll have something fabulous to write about from this coming weekend when I get to go home. And BAKE. And see my family. And BAKE. And go to a wedding. And…

Bake some more. 😉

Priorities people! I have almost run out of my arsenal of recipes because I haven’t been in a kitchen for almost three weeks.

Note that I said almost though and not completely…

Peanut Butter and Carob Chunk Cinnamon Rolls

Grain/Gluten/Wheat-Free, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free/Vegan Option, Nut-Free Option, Paleo/GAPS-Friendly

Makes 9 Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs (or 1/2 cup ground flaxseed + 1/2 cup water)
• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• 2 tbsp honey (or maple syrup to make this vegan)
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2/3-1 cup coconut flour*
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 recipe for carob chips
• “Peanut” butter filling: 2-4 tbsp honey + 1/4 cup nut butter*

Carob Chunk Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup carob powder
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small bowl mix up the carob chocolate ingredients and then pour half of the mixture into a small pan to freeze. Set the rest aside.
3. Combine the egg (or flaxseed + water), mashed banana, honey, coconut oil, and vanilla until well combined.
4. Then add the 2/3 cup coconut flour and mix well. The dough should be easily formed into a ball but not sticky. Add more coconut flour as necessary to get the proper consistency.
5. Next mix in the sea salt and baking soda.
6. Take the dough and place it on a sheet of parchment paper to roll out. I found that using my hands to mold the dough was best and formed a large rectangle that was about 1/4 inch thin approximately.
7. Mix up the “peanut” butter filling and spread it out evenly over the dough rectangle.
8. By now the carob mixture should be frozen solid in the freezer (takes about 15-20 minutes on average). Remove the carob bar from the freezer and break it into small chunks.
9. Sprinkle the carob chunks over the “peanut” butter filling then carefully roll it up. It may be a little difficult if you used the egg version of the recipe, but once it is rolled up you can just form it together with your hands and piece together any tears or holes.
10. Slice the roll into 9 pieces and place them on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown (this time is really dependent on if you use eggs vs. flaxseed, how wet your dough is, and the strength of your oven).
11. Then taking the remaining half of the carob mixture and drizzle it over the rolls. (You can make a DIY pastry bag like I did by pouring the mixture into a ziploc bag and slicing off the tip).

*Recipe Notes: I made this recipe with eggs because I have had a few people ask me about replacing the flaxseed mixture in my other two recipes with eggs. I found that this made the a wetter dough so I had to increase the coconut flour and even doing so made the dough much more difficult to handle. Next time I will probably just go back to the tried and true vegan version! The “peanut” butter for this recipe can be replaced with any type of nut butter that fits your dietary needs. I would recommend sunbutter for the most “peanut”-like taste. Almond butter would work as well!

Just in case you missed my past two cinnamon roll recipes, here they are:

Coconut Flour Cinnamon Rolls

Apple Chunk Cinnamon Rolls

Now that it’s almost fall I need to get on making some Pumpkin cinnamon rolls!

***Thanks Jenn for hosting WIAW yet again!!***

I almost forgot! Here is the video that I referenced above about the computer monitor-throwing man:

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Questions for you:

Do you like cinnamon rolls?

What kind would you like to try next?

Is your brain like a burnt marshmallow?

What did you do this past weekend?

Pin Around the Rosie

Hey everyone! I’m just popping in for a quick post today to participate in Lindsay’s Pin It Party over at The Lean Green Bean.

Today I am sharing five recipes that you can easily pin on your Pinterest boards.

For ease of use I included a Pin It button to the right of each recipe title so that you can add the picture to whatever board you like. To see the recipe itself you can either click on the recipe title or the picture itself. After pinning one recipe just hit the back button in your browser and it should take you to this post again so that you can pin even more! 😉 (Let me know if there are any technical issues or mistakes on my part with the pins/links!).

Easy enough, right?

Make sure to link-up your top five posts for Lindsay’s link-up today!

Grain-Free Cinnamon Roll Bread 

Coconut Flour Cinnamon Rolls

Grain-Free and Vegan Biscuits 

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins 

Apple Chunk Cinnamon Rolls (Grain-Free and Vegan) 

And if you’d like to follow me on Pinterest for my most recent food finds, funny memes, and all around interesting stuff, go here!

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If you’d like me to take a look at your Pin It Party post leave a link in the comments.

If you have a recipe that you think I’d enjoy and would like me to pin you can leave a second link and I’ll make sure to pin it!