Oatmeal Banana Peanut Butter Pancakes

I’m usually not a picky eater in the morning. For the most part, a banana with toast or cereal does just fine. However, today, my stomach was in the mood for something very particular – oatmeal pancakes. I found the perfect recipe on the Healthy Happy Life blog. The only tips I’d give for this recipe: make sure your pan isn’t insanely hot and use a metal spatula. You’ll see why these are important later. Happy morning to you all!

Oatmeal Banana Peanut Butter Pancakes

• 3-4 Tbls peanut butter
• 3 Tbls rolled oats
• 3 Tbls agave syrup
• 3/4 c whole wheat flour
• 1 c non-dairy milk (I used flax milk)
• 1 tsp flax seeds (I used chia)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• sliced banana

 

1. Mix the chia and milk together, let thicken

2. Combine dry ingredients

3. Add the agave, vanilla, peanut butter into the chia/milk mixture. Stir well

4. Pour wet into dry, mix, and then fold in the apple cider vinegar

5. Scoop 1/4 c amounts onto a medium hot skillet. Add sliced bananas. Flip. Plate…Eat!

plastic spatula did not fulfill its duty!

Pumpkins Gone Wild!

I currently live without a TV and at times I am very grateful for this. Tonight was one of those times. To unwind after a long day of work and class, I ate my dinner while getting caught up on the Facebook. Post after post was about this debate. I had yet to catch any of the debates, so I decided to tune into cnn.com. Wow. Big mistake. After a few minutes I was in need of foods from the top of the pyramid. I’ve been wanting to try out a pumpkin cookie recipe and dabbled with two recipes. The first is a plain pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip and the second is a maple chocolate pumpkin. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 c rolled oats
• 1 1/4 c whole wheat
• 1 c sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbls baking powder
• 1/3 c water + 1 tsp flax seeds + 1 tsp chia seeds (flax/chia egg)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 c pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbls canola oil
• 3/4 c vegan chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F
2. Combine oats through baking powder
3. Make the flax/chia egg
4. Stir wet ingredients together, adding in flax/chia egg
5. Add wet into dry. Fold in chocolate chips
6. Let cookie mixture firm up in the fridge for 15 minutes (I usually let the oven preheat during this time)
7. Form into tablespoon sized balls and cook for 12-15 minutes

Maple Chocolate Pumpkin Cookie

(I basically halved the recipe above – to utilize one can of pumpkin, and added in cocoa)

Ingredients

• 1/2 c whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c oats
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tbls baking powder
• 1/4 c cocoa powder
• 1/6 cup water + 1 tsp chia
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp maple extract
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbls canola oil

Directions

1. Add flour through cocoa
2. Mix the chia egg. Stir into wet ingredients
3. Combine wet into dry. Store in fridge for at least 15 minutes (preheat to 375 F)
4. Roll into tablespoon sized balls and cook for 12-15 minutes

Sunday Funnies

Joey joined me for breakfast today. He checked out the funnies while I sipped my coffee and ate some pumpkin bread (recipe below). In addition to this, I also made Oh She Glow’s early morning peanut butter banana oatmeal. I couldn’t believe how sweet this was without adding any sugars. I will definitely make this again and probably with more peanut butter because I found the nutty taste to be lost a bit.

Hope you all are enjoying your Sunday as much as Joe Joe and I are 🙂

Pumpkin Bread modified from Midwest Veg

• 1 c white flour
• 1/2 c wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp clove
• 1/2 c light brown sugar
• 8 oz pumpkin puree
• 2 tbls flax + 6 tbls water
• 1/2 c vegan butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 c chopped pecans

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F
2. Mix flours, powder, soda, salt and spices together, set aside
3. Add the flax and water to a pan, bring to a boil. Once this gets goopy, take off heat
4. Combine the remaining ingredients with the flax goo. Pour into the dry mixture. Fold in pecans. Stir until just combined
5. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 40-50 minutes

Late Night Snack

My day today has been long and busy, yet I couldn’t help but dive right into the kitchen when I got home. I’ve been wanting to try out this “heart-healthy chocolate chip cookie” recipe. I started baking at 10:30pm and am just wrapping up now. I followed the recipe pretty closely, the only things I modified were the amount of chocolate chips (I prefer less) and salt. They turned out surprisingly well. They don’t taste healthy at all!

I ended up making 20 medium-large sized cookies…

• 3 tbls canola oil
• 2 c walnuts
• 1 c light brown sugar (packed)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1½ c oat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2-1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• 2 c rolled oats
• 1 c vegan chocolate chips

Throw the nuts into a food processor, pulse until they create a powder. Add 3 tbls oil and run for 2-3 minutes.

While this is going, boil 1/2 c water and add 1 c light brown sugar. After boiling, remove from heat.

Add walnut mixture to a bowl and pour in brown sugar mixture. To this add the vanilla extract. Stir out any lumps.

Sift the dry ingredients (except oats and chips) and add to wet. Let this sit and cool for a few minutes. Then fold in oats and chips. Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes.