15 Minute Protein Granola // Gluten-free & Vegan

It's raining granola over here! This is a quick 15 minute recipe that I came up with when I was in desperate need for something different for breakfast!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups gluten free oats

  • 1/4th cup cocoa powder

  • 1/4th cup pea protein

  • Pinch of sea salt

  • 2 Tbsp sunflower or peanut butter

  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

  • 4 tbsp agave

  • 4 tbsp coconut oil

Instructions

  • Set your oven to 350F

  • Mix together the dry ingredients and then mix in the wet ingredients.

  • Bake on a lined cookie sheet for 15 minutes.

  • Let cool and then enjoy with your favorite dairy free milk or yogurt or store in an airtight container to enjoy later!

Muddy Buddies // Vegan, Gluten free & Peanut Free

Ingredients

What you need

  • 1 Gallon Ziplock bag

  • Large mixing bowl

Instructions

  • In a bowl combine chocolate chips, nut butter, and coconut oil. Using the double boiler method melt together until smooth and creamy. Once melted mix in the vanilla.

  • Pour your Chex cereal into a large bowl and then pour your chocolate nut butter mixture, making sure that it is not hot, but still melted enough to easily mix in.

  • Carefully mix your Chex and chocolate nut butter mixture together until evenly coated, making sure not to crush the cereal.

  • In a gallon Ziplock bag pour in half of your powdered sugar then pour in your chocolate coated Chex and top it off with the rest of your powdered sugar. Close the Ziplock bag making sure that it’s closed completely.

  • Shake the Ziplock bag until your cereal is evenly coated in powdered sugar.

  • Pour into a bowl and enjoy!

Single Serve Gluten & Dairy-Free Protein Pancakes

Sometimes on the weekend I am left to fend for myself, Daniels filming a wedding, I get home late from work and there’s nothing left to do in the day except eat dinner! Since I am definitely not an introvert the first thing I usually do is call my mom or sister, and while I chat to them I make myself some dinner! Sometimes it’s leftovers, but on days when I am really feeling breakfast for dinner I will whip up a short stack pancakes!

Now I make a LOT of pancakes and I almost never use the same recipe so I always try to write down what I do as I go so I can bring these delectable recipes to you, and ahh also make sure I test run all of the bad recipes so you don’t have to.

And so without further interruption I bring you the single serve, gluten & dairy free, protein, pancake stack!

Ingredients

  • 1 egg

  • 1 Tbsp almond milk

  • 1 Tbsp yogurt (I used cashew yogurt)

  • 1/4th cup oat flour

  • 1 Tbsp pea protein

  • 1/4th tsp baking powder

  • 1 tsp coconut sugar

  • pinch of sea salt

Instructions

  1. in a bowl whisk together all of your dry ingredients

  2. add in your egg & almond milk and whisk together

  3. Heat up a skillet and spray with coconut oil.

  4. pouring about 1/4th cup batter onto your skillet wait until your pancake starts to bubble and the edges are cooked through, you should be able to easily flip the pancakes.

  5. cook on the other side until golden brown

  6. serve with nut butter, maple syrup, fresh fruit or yogurt, and enjoy!

Chocolate Butternut Smoothie // Vegan & Gluten-Free

In my opinion, breakfast should taste as close to dessert without being dessert. I have never been a savory breakfast type of person and grew up on waffles, pancakes, and cereal, so it’s just natural that a breakfast smoothie that highly resembles a milkshake is the way to go!

The secret to making a great smoothie relies a lot on texture! What everyone prefers is different, but I love to have a creamy cold smoothie from the combination of healthy fats such as sunflower butter and vegan yogurt. Adding little bits like hemp hearts and chia seeds to sip up create a healthy sprinkles vibe that works in every sense.

Now to keep it cold and full of flavor I will use a combination of frozen banana and frozen butternut squash! This allows me to add a few more frozen aspects without having to add a ton of ice which will make your smoothie icy and watery rather than creamy like a milkshake!

If you need to feel free to use a different protein powder but I like pea protein because it’s not chalky and adds thickness!

The sea salt and cocoa powder are a power combo as cocoa powder makes it the best flavor in the world, Chocolate, and the sea salt amplifies the chocolate flavor! If you would like feel free to add in some honey or stevia to adjust the sweetness as sometimes with the addition of cocoa powder the smoothie may be a little bit on the bitter side for some. For me, I love dark chocolate so it suits me perfectly!

Ingredients

  • 1/4th cup frozen butternut squash

  • 1 frozen banana

  • 3/4th cup nut milk

  • 1 tbsp sunflower seed butter

  • 1 heaping Tbsp cocoa powder

  • 1 scoop pea protein

  • pinch of sea salt

  • 1 Tbsp chia seeds or Hemp hearts

Instructions

  1. In a blender combine all of your ingredients.

  2. Blend until smooth,. If you don’t have a tamper you might have to stop the blender halfway through and scrape down the sides with a spatula.

  3. pour into a glass, sprinkle in some chia seeds or hemp hearts, and enjoy!

Apple Crisp // Gluten-free & Dairy-free

After living in FL for many years I have concluded that there is no reason you can’t bundle up in cozy sweatshirts, bake some apple crisp and pretend like it’s a cozy fall day outside. Not to say that all it takes is a state of mind, it also takes a lot of hard work and I will give you the rundown right here, right now.

Step #1 Make sure you have a cool house.

n Connecticut we didn’t have AC so my mom was constantly opening and closing windows and blinds according to the time of day and the sun. Our apartment is basically a rectangle that is all windows so I take the same approach! I open shades and windows according to the heat of the day and never open shades when the sun is directly hitting them. This way I can get a glimpse of the Green palm trees that always have a few browning leaves and I pretend it’s the beginning of the leaves changing!

Ceiling fans are also a must! Night and day they are on, this keeps the house cool but also makes it feel like I have the windows open and there’s a nice breeze coming through!

We have 2 smaller AC units because we live in a 600 sq ft apartment and I make sure to do my work in the section of the house that’s the coolest. This means working on a couch with the AC blowing right on me. This way I can sport my favorite jeans and cozy sweatshirt without having to worry about it being 90 degrees out!

Step #2 Make sure your ambiance is right in the house.

So we have a large TV with a great sound system because I live with my husband who makes sure we have these types of things. Similarly to me making sure our bedspread goes great with the decor but that’s not my main point here. My main point is our TV is well huge and our sound system is loud. If I didn’t use this monster of a system to make my house cozy for fall I would be missing out and here’s why.

There is a YouTube channel that I recently found called Cozy Feels and it is basically a computer-generated cozy cafe space complete with elements of soft rain, crackling fires, quiet cafe noises, and sometimes the hum of people talking, all while you listen to a smooth jazz playlist that lasts for about 3 hours. I am telling you, if you are cleaning, cooking, chilling, etc. and you want to relax and feel cozy this is your answer!

Now if your not into having that much hustle and bustle in the background you can look online for different simulators like a cozy fire, rainstorm, or a lo-fi music list that will add an element of calmness and cozy to your day!

Step #3 Have the smell of baked Apple Crisp throughout the whole house!

Now that you have your house cooled off and the cozy music/background noises on point it is time to preheat that oven and get moving on your apple crisp!

Ingredient

Apple Filling

  • 3 medium apples

  • 2 tsp Cinnamon

  • 2 Tbsp coconut sugar

Crispy Top

  • 1/3rd cup oat flour

  • 1 cup oats

  • 1 tsp cinnamon

  • 2 Tbsp Coconut Sugar

  • 2 Tbsp. coconut oil

Directions

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 350F

Apple Filling

  1. Chop up your apples and place them in a large bowl.

  2. Add in cinnamon, coconut sugar, and mix together.

  3. Pour into a 3 cup rectangle pyrex dish or an 8x8 glass dish and set aside.

Crisp top

  1. in a blender, pour in a packed 1/3rd cup of oats, and blend on high until flour forms.

  2. Combine oat flour, oats, cinnamon, coconut sugar, and melted coconut oil together.

  3. When mixed pour evenly on top of your apple filling.

  4. Put your Apple crisp in your pre-heated oven for 30-40 minutes until the top is crispy and your apples are cooked through.

  5. Serve with ice cream if you like and enjoy it!