Chocolate Cake Batter Smoothie (Gluten-Free | Vegan | Soy-Free)

I've always loved smoothies. When I was younger, my friend and I would plan mall dates. This happened mostly during the summer, when our parents were off working and weren't able to take us to and fro all the necessary social spots we wanted to visit. I would spend the night at her house and we would check the Kitsap Transit bus schedule, plan our outfits and make our window-shopping routes (since you know, we were like ten and couldn't afford to buy anything but tasty snacks).

Then, when we were on the bus feeling all grown-up about ourselves, I got to dreaming about my Orange Julius and my friend would dream about her Cinnabon.Why I would pick a smoothie over a cinnamon roll is beyond me, but kids are weird.

The thing about some smoothie things, however, is that they're no good for keeping you full. At least, my stomach isn't having it. It knows that it's just ground up fruit and juice, which is nothing substantial.

At first, I started putting protein powder in the mix, along with peanut butter or Nutella, if I was feeling ultra decadent. Then I realized that if I'm soaking my oats in milk and with chia seeds overnight anyways, I could blend that up into a delicious concoction that was delicious as a smoothie but filling as a well-rounded breakfast ought to be.

Oh She Glows always comes through for me in the vegan department. Her recipes are not only tasty and unique, but they're easy and she's great at explaining the steps.

A friends made this recipe by her, and highly recommended it - which, duh, how could it be wrong with so many key words in the title?

I'm pleased to say, it hit the spot. The sweet, savory spot. For 4 hours, until I wanted another.

Chocolate Cake Batter Smoothie (Gluten-Free | Vegan | Soy-Free)
adapted from Oh She Glows

1 cup almond milk
1/3 cups oats
1 T chia seeds
1 frozen banana
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 t cocoa powder or hot chocolate powder
1 tbsp peanut butter
2 ice cubes
1 tbsp chocolate chips

1. In a small bowl, mix the almond milk, oats and chia seeds. Place in fridge and let it soak for at least 1 hour to soften - I prefer to do it overnight for a fast breakfast.

2. After soaking, add to blender along with the rest of the ingredients (except chocolate) blend on high speed until smooth. Add chocolate chips and blend on low until chunky.

Frozen Banana Bites (Gluten-Free | Vegan)

Most days, I leave work feeling not hungry, not full, and simply content. Just being. It's great.


Until I get on the ferry and an hour goes by and I'm staring at that woman's McDonald's bag wondering whytheheckisn'thereaMcDonaldsontheferryandwhydon'ttheymaketofuburgers?!

 It's ridiculous. I'm fully aware that there are too many people starving in this world as it is, and yet I'm hangry to the verge of tears because I haven't eaten since lunch. Then I get mad at myself and mad at my stomach and then just plain mad at the world for being so cruel and MAN, I am in a great mood when my husband finally receives me through the front door.

Which is when I go straight to the freezer and grab myself one of these puppies. I can almost feel my blood sugar evening out, the birds start chirping and rainbows popping out of my ears.

These truly are a great snack, given the carb : protein ratio. I love them for the times mentioned above, which is also right before I go on a run. They fuel my body for another hour before I start dinner, and keep my cravings of wanting to eat all the dinner ingredients while they're being prepared at bay.

These balls are good balls.

Frozen Banana Bites
Adapted from Oh She Glows

1 large banana
1 t cocoa powder
2 T peanut butter
1 T honey (or maple syrup)
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup crisp rice cereal
1/4 cup shredded coconut


1. Mash the banana in a medium bowl.

2. Add in the cocoa powder, peanut butter and honey and mix until fully combined.

3. Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly - the mix will be loose and wet.

4. Using a spoon, scoop and drop tablespoons of the mixture onto a baking dish. Mine were about 3 tablespoons big and made 6. (no need to spray). Stick balls in the freezer until frozen, then eat one (batch) and place leftovers in a baggies for the next time you crave a tofu burger at McDonald's. Weird.

Lemon Berry Granola (Gluten-free)

Granola is one of those recipes that I used to make all the time. It called for its own canister and was used by both he and she on a regular basis.

And then it fell of the map. I got really bad about eating a well-rounded breakfast and then I started leaning more towards making muffins and such for the boy to eat in the morning.

It took a couple months, but I realized how much I needed homemade granola back into my life. It's a cinch to make, it keeps well and you can tailor it exactly to your liking.

I've made plenty of different flavors, including those with peanut butter, apple butter (or whatever butter Trader Joe's has at the time), mixed seeds and nuts, various fruits and miscellaneous oils. It's nice to have a quick and easy recipe that you can easily adapt to accommodate whatever is about to rot in your kitchen. (Mmmm, I bet a mashed banana would go great in this. With peanut butter!)

Berry Lemon Granola
Makes about 3 cups

3 cups gluten-free oats (I get mine at TJ's)
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons berry jam
juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla

zest of one lemon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with tinfoil.

2. Stir together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.

3. In a saucepan, heat the oil, berry jam, lemon juice and vanilla over medium-low heat until all warm and mixed together. Pour over the dry ingredients and add the lemon zest.

4.  Spread evenly on the baking sheet and pop in the oven for 10 minutes. Keep an eye on it, as this stuff burns easily. Once 10 minutes have passed, shake it up and pop back in for another 5 or so minutes. Cool completely before storing.