Tag Archives: gluten-free

A New Favorite Breakfast

Posted on October 2, 2009 | 24 Comments

Okay, maybe one of my favorites. I’m a big breakfast girl, so them’s fightin’ words. But this is really good and perfect when you want to start your day with something both satisfying and refreshing: Katie’s Banana Blender Cereal!

I’ve made this a few times, and have deviated from her recipe by various degrees. I mean, it’s really only an adaptation of her recipe to the extent that it’s blended cereal, banana, and soy milk, but still. It always turns out great regardless of the cereal, nuts, or other mix-ins I decide to add, but my one this morning was by far the best: made with (gluten-free) Nature’s Path Peanut Butter and Chocolate Leapin’ Lemurs puffs!

If I had to guesstimate, I’d say this was a cup of cereal, one frozen sliced banana (okay, that‘s not a guess), 1/2 cup soy milk, a teaspoon vanilla, a dash of nutmeg, a shit ton of cinnamon, a couple teaspoons of carob powder (to boost the chocolately flavor!), and about a tablespoon of ground flax seeds (because I put flax seeds in everything I blend for brekkie…) If you don’t have a frozen banana, definitely add some ice, though I think it would turn out a lot less creamy without one, so just don’t go there.

It came out extremely rich and creamy and ice cold from the frozen banana. I seriously felt like I was eating a decadent milkshake for breakfast–even more decadent than my usual PB/Carob/Banana smoothie! I think it’s the cereal that does it. Anyways, make this.

Please don’t let my consecutive posting fool you! I’m NOT doing Vegan MoFo–seriously! Just wanted to share a simple yet delightful breakfast.

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MoFo Consolation

Posted on October 1, 2009 | 19 Comments

Sadly, I will NOT be participating in Vegan MoFo 2009. Honestly, I would love to, but in addition to the fact that I don’t have access to a well-stocked kitchen at school, my thesis completely precludes the possibility. I have approximately 30 pages due mid-October, so although there will undoubtedly be a mofo in my life, it will be a paper, and not a series of culinary creations.

To make up for my non-participation, I decided, at the very least, to kick off the month of October with a fun post, so here’s my midnight contribution to Vegan Mofo 2009!

1-2-3 Peanut Butter Cookies from Bittersweet Blog!

I made these at the behest of a friend in our school’s climate group. They’re doing a dorm energy-saving challenge, and those who sign up will receive one of these little gems! They’re hoping for a lot of sign-ups, so I tripled the recipe, using over 3 jars of PB. ;)

I chose this recipe because it was simple (just peanut butter, sugar, and ground flaxseeds!) so that they could easily pick up the ingredients, and get them organic, at that, from Trader Joe’s at a good price.

Wait, I lied. My friend Steph and I added chocolate chips, so I guess these were 1-2-3-4 Peanut Butter Cookies. But hey, either way, they ended up as delicious “buttery,” melt-in-your-mouth, crumbly domes of caramelized peanut butter lovin’.

I definitely recommend adding a mix-in. Next time, however, I might go for something a little less sweet, or if not that, slightly tart or sour, like dried cranberries or cherries, just because the cookies are so sweet themselves (given the fact that their volume is about 50% sugah!)

Something that’s so obvious that it might not be obvious at all is that these are gluten-free–by virtue of the fact that there’s no flour at all. :)

MoFo 2010, I will own you.

But until then, I’ll be eating cookies and reading others’ MoPosts!

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Gluten-Free Sunrise

Posted on September 12, 2009 | 13 Comments

Two gluten-free sunrises, actually! I’m sure most of you are familiar with Nature’s Path. Not only are they an exclusively organic company, but, as far as I’m concerned, they have yet to make a bad cereal – well, I’ve only tried the vegan ones, but I’d guess that 90% of their cereals are vegan anyways, the main non-vegan offender being the occasional inclusion of honey. I lurrrve their Peanut Butter Granola and my family adores their Flax Plus, especially my dad. He has a bowl of Flax Plus with raisins and bananas every single morning of his life unless I happen to be whipping up some pancakes or muffins, in which case he can usually be prevailed on to leave the Flax Plus in the pantry. He even uses 1/2 soy milk in it! Someday I’ll get him to 100% soy milk – funny story: when I was little, my dad had read that soy is especially beneficial for young girls in early stages of development, so he started diluting my cow’s milk with soy milk, gradually upping the concentration until my little five-year-old self eventually caught on and called him out on it!

Anyways, Nature’s Path makes an insane amount of gluten-free cereals. I tried my first one - Mesa Sunrise - this summer when, with my stomach problems, I was afraid I might have a gluten-sensitivity. It turned out not to be a gluten-allergy (I still don’t know what it was!), but the “scare” got me more interested in gluten-free, or at least wheat-free, alternatives because I, like most of you, eat a lot of wheat, and too much of anything isn’t a good thing. A large percentage of wheat is genetically-modified too. Finally, even if wheat isn’t unhealthy per se, it’s not as nutrient-packed as other grains like quinoa.

So, you can imagine how excited I was when, at work at the Weil Lifestyle office this summer, one of my coworkers announced a shipment of Nature’s Path cereal samples had arrived. The chance to sample unreleased cereal from one of my favorite health food companies in the world? And gluten-free cereal? And one of them is MAPLE flavored? Um, hello!

I present to you Crunchy Maple Sunrise and Crunchy Vanilla Sunrise, Nature’s Path’s two new gluten-free options. Maple Sunrise:

As you can see, it has a great texture. Although I enjoyed the Mesa Sunrise I tried over the summer, the flakes were a little monotonous. These new cereals have flakes and various sizes of puffs. Yummy, and keeps you on your toes!

Here’s the Vanilla Sunrise, served with Trader Joe’s new Whole Grain Milk (which is also really good – have any of you guys tried it?):

I really liked both cereals, but as I’m a bit of a maple fanatic, it was obviously my favorite of the two. And yes, they are sweeter than something like Flax Plus, but sometimes that’s okay! I’d say they’re on the sweeter side of healthy. That’s a nice way to put it, isn’t it?

According to this article, they should be on sale next week (September 13th!), so go get ‘em!

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