crunch on

Sometimes I don’t crave cake for breakfast.  Sometimes I crave eggs.

I love eggs.  If you didn’t know. ;)

3 scrambled eggs, eaten on a buttered + toasted bagel, was quite delicious this morning.  I’m still not eating gluten [will introduce Monday] so this is a gluten free Udi’s bagel.  They are delicious!! 

Today I ate green hummus and lots of it.  I was going to eat it with breakfast, but wasn’t digging the idea of a healthy dose of garlic in the AM.  However, in the next day or two, I will definitely be making egg salad with that green hummus.  Believe that!

Now onto something I did eat with hummus today. 

More crackers?  Yes!  New recipe?  Yes!

This photo was after the first bake and as you can see, I ate the entire first row and then some.  I couldn’t help myself before putting them back in the oven to crisp.

This version is savory and topped with sea salt.  They’re slightly cheesy, a little bit garlicky, and a lot bit delicious.

It’s a great basic cracker that is perfect for dipping or eating alone.  By alone I mean, in the kitchen, hovered over the stove, burning your tongue on hot crackers. 

Salty, Crunchy, Crackers

• 1/4c raw buckwheat flour [or oat/quinoa/millet flour – can grind in a blender at home]
• 1/4c + 2T garbanzo flour
• 1/2c + 2T water
• 3T nutritional yeast
• 1/2t salt
• 1/2t garlic powder
• 1/4t onion powder
• black pepper
• sea salt to top

1. Preheat your oven to 350*
2. Line a cookie sheet, about 8x12, with parchment paper.
3. Mix flours, nutritional yeast, and water together until there are no lumps.
4. Mix in other ingredients.
5. Pour onto pan making sure to spread evenly.  You can spread with a spatula and shake the pan around to even it out.
6. Sprinkle sea salt on top of crackers.
7. Bake for 20-24min until browned around the edges, and cracked all over the top.
8. Remove from oven, place cracker sheet on a cutting board and cut into desired size.
9. Place on a cookie sheet with a little room between each cracker for ~5min per side, flipping once.  Time will vary, watch so they don’t burn.  Mine took about 6min per side.  They should be golden brown and will firm up when they cool.  To avoid soft crackers, make sure to spread the batter from the center, evenly around the pan.

I tried my best to leave some for Chris. I only ate half of the pan, which was an accomplishment!

I hope you all have a fabulous Friday and happy weekend!!  Any good plans?  We’ll be staying in Ft. Collins.  No snowboarding this weekend.  Too much to do!! 

I didn’t even know this blog contest [from Women’s Health] was taking place, but received a few really sweet emails from people saying they nominated me.  I would love your nomination too!  Thankfully, you don’t have to sign up for an account to vote! :) Thanks guys!! 

Ashley

let the food speak

To say that things are busy around here, would be an understatement.  It’s all good busy though, so I can’t complain!  However, I can complain that my brain feels like a pile of mush right now. 

There are a lot of things I want to talk about soon, but currently don’t have the brainpower for…such as:

• my thoughts so far on the book, Eating Animals
• an article by Mark Bittman on McDonald’s oatmeal breakfast
• a new book I received to read + review, The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick
• photography posts!!
• my workouts
• etc.etc.etc.

For now, all I’ve got is breakfast.  And hummus.  But not together. 

I created a vanilla version of the fancified buckwheat bake.  Completely delicious, in a non-chocoately way.  However, it was still smothered in cocoa-nut almond butter and love grown foods cocoa goodness granola. 

The texture was very similar to the cocoa version.  It’s cake, meets muffin and definitely the healthiest breakfast I’ve ever consumed!  I’ve been digging this texture much more than oats lately.  I’ve been missing ground farro porridge terrrribly though.  It’s the most amazing texture ever!  I’m still not eating gluten, due to my detox, but will reintroduce it this coming Monday. 

Ba-nilla Buckwheat Breakfast Bake [serves 1]

• 1/4c ground raw buckwheat flour [grind raw groats into powder]
• 1T raw buckwheat groats
• 1T chia seeds
• 1 flax egg [1T ground flax meal + 2.5T warm water, whisked] or 1 egg white
• 1/2 banana
• 2T unsweetened almond milk
• 1T maple syrup
• 3T chopped almonds
• 1/2t cinnamon
• 1.5t vanilla extract
• 1/4t almond extract
• 1/4t baking powder

Toppings:

• unsweetened shredded coconut
• cocoa-nut almond butter
• Love Grown Foods cocoa goodness granola

1. Whisk flax egg and let sit for 5min.
2. In a bowl mash the banana until egg-like.
3. Whisk in milk, vanilla, almond extract and maple syrup.
4. Mix in buckwheat flour, groats, chia seeds, cinnamon, almonds, + baking powder until well combined.
5. Mix in flax egg until combined.
6. Grease a microwave safe bowl, or dessert cup.  I used a dab of coconut oil on my finger to grease.
7. Cover with a paper towel and microwave about 1min30sec – 1min45sec.
8. Eat out of the bowl with toppings, or flip out of the bowl onto a plate, top + scarf!

I haven’t made hummus in far too long and yesterday the idea struck me to make avocado hummus.  I was thinking the extra dose of healthy fats would be a great addition as well as hoping for a super creamy consistency. 

I added 2-3c spinach for a little extra green kick and for the nutrients, of course. ;)

When making hummus, or nut butter, etc. it’s extremely easy to make 2 variations at the same time.  Use all of the ingredients you want to include in both versions.  So, if you wanted 1/2 with avocado and 1/2 without, make the plain hummus, then scoop out half, add your avocado and make the 2nd version. 

2 options are better than one!

Avocado Hummus

• 1can garbanzo beans [or 1.5c cooked], reserve liquid
• 1/4-1/3c bean liquid [cooking liquid, or veggie stock]
• 2 medium cloves garlic
• 1/4c tahini
• 1/2t salt
• fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 1/4c fresh lemon juice
• 1 small/medium avocado
• 2-3c spinach

1. In a food processor, process garlic.
2. Add in beans, 1/4c bean liquid, tahini, salt, pepper, avocado and lemon juice.
3. Process, scraping when necessary, until almost fully smooth.
4. Add spinach and process until desired consistency is met.  Add more liquid if desired.

My lunch consisted of spoonful upon spoonful of hummus with a side of carrots….and cocoa crunch cereal.

A side of carrots, which more hummus.  For this smoked avocado hummus version, all I did was scoop out half the original hummus, then added 1t smoked paprika and processed until combined.

Smokey deliciousness!

A lot of hummus was consumed straight from the food processor and over half the batch of cereal was consumed before it made it to the bowl with milk. 

Time to turn my brain off, watch Modern Family, then crash into bed.

Niiight!

Ashley