Power Seed Crackers

Ever since I decided that I wanted to try making more of our staple food from home (such as bread, granola, almond milk, etc.), crackers have been one of my favorite foods to experiment making from scratch. Since I made Whole Wheat Rosemary Wheat Thins, I've realized that crackers aren't as hard to make as I had thought. I love being able to change the seasonings and it's also a perk that I know exactly what went into each little crunchy morsel. 

Whole Wheat Rosemary Wheat Thins

Lately I've seen a lot of recipes for crackers made only with seeds and water so I decided to try some out. I didn't want my crackers to be made up entirely of larger seeds like sunflower and pumpkin seeds, but wanted the base to be something with a finer texture. Ground flaxseed for the win!

The best thing about these crackers is that you don't have to roll out a stiff dough with a rolling pin, but instead get to use your hands to spread out the seed mixture. There is also no oil or butter in these and they are held together entirely with water!

Power Seed Crackers

(Makes about 50 crackers)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 1/4 cup chia seeds
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup pepitas 
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, chopped (careful, it "jumps" everywhere!)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl mix together the flax, chia, sunflower and pepita seeds.
3. In a separate bowl whisk together the 1 cup of water and spices.
4. Pour the spiced water mixture into the bowl with the seeds and use a spoon to stir until combined.
5. Dump the seed mixture onto your baking sheet and use your hands to push down the mixture and spread it to be about 1/4-1/8 of an inch thick. My mixture spread all the way to the edges of my baking sheet.
6. Score the dough with a knife into whatever shape you like.
7. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until dry and firm. (It depends on how thick/thin you made them)
8. Break the crackers apart and let cool.

Eat Consciously,

Faith

Easy Fried Plantains

Right now my house slightly in chaos. Brett and I are packing up all of our belonging while trying to sell somethings in the process. We are also traveling to West Palm Beach for a week the day after we move out of our house. Then right after we get back from that West Palm we are going to China for five weeks! We have so many different trips we're trying to pack for in addition to moving that it's hard to keep things straight in my head. 

One thing that has made the packing process less painful is that I've been taking frequent breaks throughout the day to cook delicious food...like fried plantains! Seriously, yesterday when I was minutes away from finishing up the laundry, I stopped to fry some plantains. I just got hit with intense hunger so decided to run with it. Laundry can wait.

I've eaten fried plantains a lot when overseas and I've even bought plantains a few times in hopes that I'd do something with them, but never did. I was never sure when they were ripe or when I should bake them verses fry them. I saw a little recipe card at the grocery store the other day for Fried Plantains and decided to give it another go. The recipe said to look for black plantains when you are going to fry them. That means they are overly ripe and sweet, but still hold their shape. 

It only takes three ingredients to make this delicious snack: a plantain, coconut oil and sea salt. You can serves these as a side with dinner or eat them as a snack. The plantains themselves are sweet and then you get little hints of salty with the sea salt. Addicting I tell ya!

Fried Plantains

(Serves 1-2)

Ingredients:

• 1 plantain, black 
• 2 teaspoons coconut oil
• sea salt (optional, but so good!)

Directions:

1. Peel and slice your plantain on the diagonal into 1/2 inch slices.
2. Heat 2 teaspoons of coconut oil in a small skillet over medium heat. 
3. Fry the plantains on one side for about 4 minutes until browned. Flip them over and fry about 4 minutes more.
4. Pour them onto a paper towel lined plate to soak up any excess oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

Eat Consciously,

Faith

Homemade Vegan Graham Crackers

I know you're going to think I'm lying, but it's actually been quite chilly in Florida the past few days. I've started sleeping with our comforter at night for the first time ever! Seriously, we've never had to use it until this past week and it's been glorious. I have a hard time sleeping when I'm hot so being able to snuggle up in a fluffy comforter makes me sleep like a baby. 

Another thing that I love about colder weather, other than getting to use a comforter at night, is fires. Some of my favorite memories involve sitting around a camp fire with good friend while roasting a mallow. It always seems like the best conversations happen late at night around a camp fire--when most of the party has left and the fire has died but the coals are still hot.

My friend recently had a birthday party and I brought some chocolate, marshmallows and homemade graham crackers just in case a late night fire pit happened. It didn't, but the beautiful thing about s'mores is that you can make them in the microwave or oven if you don't have a fire nearby. And that's exactly what people did. The marshmallows expanded drastically in the 13 seconds that they were in the microwave so some people had to eat their s'mores with a fork and knife. That's definitely not a bad thing. Gooey, drippy, chocolaty s'mores. Delicious.

The recipe I used was from Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen blog. Basically I just "veganized" her recipe. They turned out great!! The process takes a while, but they're easy to make. The dough needs to be chilled before it's rolled out and cut into squares and after each "roll-out" I would place the scraps back in the fridge to firm up again before I re-rolled the dough and cut more squares. Like I said, not hard, just a little tedious. 

Vegan Graham Crackers

(Makes 24-30 Squares)

 Ingredients:

· 2 cups all-purpose flour

· 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

· 1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed

· 1 teaspoon baking soda

· 3/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt

· 7 tablespoons earth balance spread

· 1/3 agave nectar

· 5 tablespoons almond milk

· 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

Cinnamon Sugar Topping:

· 3 tablespoons sugar

· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

   

Directions:

1. Place the flours, brown sugar, baking soda and salt in a food processor and pulse using the steel blade until well incorporated 

2. Add in the butter and pulse until the consistency becomes a course meal.

3. In a small bowl whisk together the agave, milk and vanilla.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the food processor and pulse on and off until the dough forms. Do not over mix!

5. Take the dough out and lay it on a piece of saran wrap. Flatten it into a rectangle about 1-inch thick and wrap all the dough in the saran wrap.

6. Place the dough in the fridge for 2 or more ours, even overnight.

7. After the dough has gotten firm, remove half from the fridge.

8. Flour a work space well and roll the dough out into a rectangle that is 1/8 inch thick and 4 inches wide. Trim the edges to be straight.

9. Cut the dough into squares 2 x 2 inches big and place on a parchment-line baking sheet.

10. Sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar topping and place the tray in the fridge for 30 –40 minutes to firm up (or in the freezer for 20 minutes).

11. Take the scraps and form them into a ball. Place the ball in the fridge to firm up.

12. Repeat this process with the remaining dough, making sure the dough is well-chilled before trying to roll it out.

13. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Adjust the oven rack to the upper and lower positions.

14. Once the squares have been in the fridge for 30-40 minutes, remove the sheets from the fridge and decorate the squares by making a vertical line down the middle of each square. Then use a fork to poke two rows of vertical dots.

15. Bake the squares for 15-25 minutes depending on your oven temperature. Rotate the crackers half way through baking.

16. Make sure you check them occasionally so that they don’t burn!

17. Let them cool and eat plain or with some chocolate and marshmallow sandwiched in between.

Eat Consciously,

     Faith

Sweet and Salty Protein Trail Mix

I'm currently in New York City and it's bliss! Brett and I are here to scope out locations for where we could possibly live when we move here in July. Since we got here on Friday it has been beautiful and warm and we've loved exploring the city. It's still surreal to me that I'm going to live here. 

When we arrived on Friday we went straight to Flushing and got some amazing Chinese food with a friend. I got a vegan dish with thick, chewy noodles, seitan, and veggies. It was delicious and a great way to kick off our trip. Yesterday we spent most of our time in Manhattan and today we walked all around Union Square. There is so much life in the city and you never run out of things to look at and do.

I knew coming into this week that we'd be walking a ton so I decided to prep some snacks to take with me. Food can be pretty expensive as you all know, so I figured I could save us some money by planning ahead. This isn't really a recipe that I'm sharing with you, but more of a concoction that popped into my head. And it's delicious.

First I roasted some chickpeas coated in agave nectar and sprinkled with cinnamon. I poured 1 tablespoon of agave nectar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon over 1 cup of cooked chickpeas and roasted them in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Every ten minutes or so I would use a spoon to move the chickpeas around so that they wouldn't burn.

These little nuggets are subtly sweet and crunchy once they cool.

I then used those roasted chickpeas to make this amazing Sweet and Salty Protein Trail Mix. Deliciousness.

Sweet and Salty Protein Trail Mix

(Makes 5 servings)

 Ingredients:

· 1/4 cup cashews

· 1/4 cup almonds

· 1/4 cup craisins

· 2 tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips

· 1 cup agave roasted chickpeas

Directions:

1. Roast 1 cup of chickpeas using the above directions.

2. Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl.

3. Get your fill of protein!

Notes: To be honest, you can use whatever nuts or dried fruit you like or have available. I just happen to be biased to this combination.

My stash of goodies for the week:

 Eat Consciously,

     Faith

Homemade Lara Bars: Cashew Cookie (Three Ingredients)

I recently found out about Lara bars when I was looking for vegan granola bars at the grocery store. I saw "vegan" on the packaging and when I looked at the ingredient label I couldn't believe most of the different flavors used only two or three ingredients. I doubted how good they could be, but ended up loving them. Unfortunately they are pretty pricey, but no worries, you can easily make them by yourself at home. To make at home it cost me $2.54 for four bars. When I buy them at the store it averages out to about $4.80 for four bars. So you save over $2 to make them at home. Not bad!

And here's how you do it:

Cashew Cookie Lara Bars

(Makes 4 bars)

 Ingredients:

· 1/2 cup whole, unsalted cashews

· 3/4 cup pitted dates

· Pinch of sea salt

  Directions:

1. Start by roughly chopping the dates. Place them in a food processor and process until they turn into a sticky ball of dough. Remove from the processor and set aside.

2. Next place the cashews and a pinch of sea salt in the processor and process until they are a course meal. Don’t over process or they will start to make nut butter!

3. In a bowl, combine the date dough and cashew crumbs. Using your hands mash the nuts and dates together until they are fully incorporated and all the cashew crumbs are stuck to the dates and a dough has formed.

4. Place the date/cashew dough on some wax paper and form it into a 4 x 6 inch rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Cut the rectangle into fourths and wrap individually. Store in the fridge or eat right away!

I was so pleased with the result! I felt like I was having a cookie.

Nutrition: Cals: 163; Fat: 6.5g; Carbs: 26.5g; Fiber: 3g; Sugars: 16.25g; Protein: 3.25g

Eat Consciously,

     Faith

Baked Banana Chips

I love pretzels. No, I LOVE pretzels. Actually, anything relatively bland and crunchy is delicious to me. But the longer I've been vegan, the more I've realized that I need to find a new snack that is more nutritious than processed white flour and salt. I never thought I'd try to eliminate pretzels from my diet, but they're now just not as appealing to me. Crazy. I can't believe I just typed that.

Anyways. In attempts to find a better snack that is still crunchy and has some salt, I decided to try out some banana chips the other day. While these take a long time to bake, they are really simple and don't require many ingredients. They're a great thing to make while you're cleaning the house or meal planning for the week.

Banana Chips
(serves 2)

2 ripe bananas
lemon juice
water
cinnamon
sea salt

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Slice your bananas into 1/4 inch slices and lay them on the baking sheet.

Put some lemon juice and a little water into a small bowl and use a basting brush to brush the lemon water over each banana slice. Then sprinkle with cinnamon and sea salt.

Bake in the oven for and 1.5-2 hours, flipping the bananas over half way through. They will shrink up and start to turn brown as they bake. After baking, let the chips cool some so that they can harden even more.

That's it!

I estimate about one banana per serving, so if you want to make more just do a banana per person!

Eat Consciously,

     Faith

Homemade Almond Butter

I've always known that peanut butter is made from peanuts and almond butter is made from almonds. Duh. But who knew that with a little patience it could be so easy to make on your own AND that by making your own nut butter at home you can control what goes into your nut butter. Beautiful revelation.

The other day I wanted to make Cranberry Orange Biscotti, but the recipe called for almond butter, which I didn't have. Then I realized that this would be the perfect time to try to make my own almond butter. Thankfully I had some roasted almonds in my cupboard and the time to make it. I don't know if I'll ever buy nut butter from the store again.

Homemade Almond Butter

1 1/2 - 2 cups almonds (roasted or plain)
Sea Salt (optional)

To make your own nut butter you'll need a good food processor...and some patience.
Place all the almonds in your food processor and process on high. (Make sure you process on high, or otherwise this process will take an hour instead of 15 minutes. I learned the hard way and my food processor even died for a couple of minutes because I had been working it so hard!)

After a couple of minutes, your almonds will turn into a course meal and will eventually get finer after a few more minutes.

 

As you continue processing the almonds, stop your processor every couple of minutes or so to push down the sides and make sure that all of the almonds are getting processed. Soon you'll be able to see a subtle paste begin to form on the bottom of your processor. But keep going!



After about 15 minutes or high processing and the occasional pushing down of the sides, you'll start to get almond butter! At this time you can add your seas salt if you desire, which is so delicious.



Ah, pure almond butter. Made a home. No added ingredients. Mmmmm.



I used a little less than 1 1/2 cups of almonds and it almost filled a small mason jar. I hope you try it out. It's so easy and pure, you won't regret it!

Eat Consciously,

     Faith