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No Bean, Watermelon Seed “Hummus”

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Ah hummus, one of the things I miss greatly about no longer eating beans/lentils. I tend to avoid beans and lentils because of their anti-nutrient properties, and also because they usually give me extreme stomach pain (not terribly uncommon for beans–they do tend to have that, ahem, reputation–but often times it is literally unbearable for me.) But I was missing the veggies dip aspect, so I did some tinkering to figure out what I could come up with. I’d seen hummus made from cauliflower, and cashews, but I chose to go a different route: Watermelon seeds. Say what? you ask. Yep. Let me give you a brief synopsis of watermelon seeds. They are a plant-protein powerhouse. We’re talking 11 grams of protein in 1 ounce. That’s 2 tablespoons. That’s about half of a handful. That’s A LOT of protein. Oh and 15% of your daily iron value in the same 1 ounce. Um yes please and thank you. You can learn more about these little bundles of nutritional joy in my Watermelon Seed ingredient post. So because not only do I use these watermelon seeds for this “hummus,” but also tahini (sesame seed paste), there are about 13 grams of protein in 2 tablespoons of this stuff. Compare this to 2 grams of protein in your traditional, chickpea hummus. (Um, was anyone else disillusioned by this? I was under the impression that hummus was a good source of protein for oh I don’t know, my entire life…) This makes this dip the perfect afternoon snack if you ask me! Now, don’t expect this to be the texture of your traditional hummus. Try as I did, it’s just not the creaminess you’re used to. But the flavor profile is hummus-y indeed, and if you ask me, for the added benefits, I would gladly take a difference in texture. Snack away!

No Bean, Watermelon Seed Hummus

  • 1 cup raw, sprouted watermelon seeds
  • 1/4 cup tahini
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1/4 tsp each of smoked paprika, onion powder, and dried yellow mustard powder
  • dash of cayenne, to taste
  1. Soak the watermelon seeds in filtered water for 3-4 hours. They will become slightly soft, like pumpkin seeds when gutting a pumpkin. Drain, and rinse.
  2. In a small food processor or blender, blend your soaked watermelon seeds until they start to form a paste.
  3. Add the rest of your ingredients, and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
  4. Store in the fridge. Hummus will separate, just stir with a fork to reincorporate.

Serving size: 2 Tbsp. Makes 8 servings.

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Three Ingredient Protein Pancakes (Grain-Free, Nut-Free)

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Today is our anniversary, so I made a favorite around these parts: pancakes! But these are no ordinary pancakes, no sir. With only 3 main ingredients and 21 grams of protein per serving (4 pancakes, yessss) these little guys will leave you full and happy without the sugar coma and hunger pangs an hour later. And can we mention the importance of potassium and the positives of sunflower seeds? Plus they’re simple to whip up! I mean, that’s a given with only having 3 ingredients, right? Bananas, sunbutter and eggs. I use green-tipped bananas (less sugar development), pasture-raised eggs, and I made my own sunbutter using sprouted sunflower seeds. Sprouted seeds are much easier to digest, and are more nutrient rich than regular old hulled seeds. Plus I actually much prefer the taste of freshly made sunbutter to the jarred stuff! Annnnd it takes about 3 minutes to make. This recipe calls for 1/2 cup of sunbutter, so to make this I used 1 cup of the sprouted sunflower seeds, and processed them in a small food processor until it was a consistency of damp sand. Then I added about 1 Tbsp of avocado oil and processed again. I scraped down the sides, added one more Tbsp of avocado oil, then let the processor run until it was a creamy, sunbuttery texture. Yes, sunbuttery. Fast-forward to that golden stack of deliciousness, and I’d say this anniversary was off to a good start!

Three Ingredient Protein Pancakes (Grain-Free, Nut-Free)

  • 1/2 cup of sunbutter (jarred or make your own as stated above) (can sub other nut butter)
  • 3 green-tipped bananas
  • 3 pastured-raised eggs
  • Coconut oil or avocado oil to grease the pan
  • Optional ingredients: vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, chocolate chips, blueberries etc!
  1. Mash your bananas into an almost smooth pulp.
  2. Add your eggs and sunbutter to the mashed bananas. Add vanilla or spices if desired.
  3. Using a hand mixer, mix at high speed until fully combined and mostly smooth (may have a few banana chunks).
  4. Add oil to a skillet, and turn to medium heat.
  5. Once the pan is heated, add 1/4 cup of batter. Cook like normal pancakes, flipping once the edges turn golden brown and bubbles have started to form on the top of your pancake. Cook until both sides are gold brown.
  6. Repeat with the rest of your batter, and serve with any topping you choose! (I like cinnamon and wild berry jam… and mimosas.)

Makes 2 servings of 4 pancakes.

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In case you were wondering, yes, yes I was taking pictures of my food throughout our anniversary breakfast. So romantic. Not sure if he knew what he was signing up for, but hey, at least he’s getting fed.

Also, a behind-the-scenes shot at how I cooked these dudes. More clean up, but less time before food is in my belly…

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Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins (Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Nut-Free)

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I am a self-admitted carboholic and sugar addict. Which makes cutting out gluten and refined sugar incredibly painful (however, even more necessary.) Now, while these are a better option, they are most certainly not without the sugar… I’ve just swapped the sucrose (“table sugar”) for fructose (“fruit sugar”) which tends to happen a lot in my life. Sugar addict, remember? I’m working on it… When I finally perfected these little beauties, I couldn’t make enough of them. Breakfast: definitely. Snacks: absolutely. Lunch and dinner: admittedly, yes. Birthday parties: gluten-free noms. Wins all around. Noooot that you should eat that many. But it may or may not happen, just fair warning. I seriously cannot say enough about these muffins! If you like banana bread, and are looking for gluten/grain/nut free deliciousness, look no further. Even gluten-loving friends have raved over these muffins, not knowing that they were actually eating goodies made without the bad stuff. Yep, I’ll take that as the highest praise. Moist, but not gooey. Fluffy and risen just like a traditional muffin. Sweet and spicy. The perfect balance between the fruity banana, slighty nutty taste of the sunbutter, spicy cinnamon, and sweet chocolate chip bites. BUT! Don’t take my word for it, whip some up for yourself! I promise they will not disappoint.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins

  • 1 cup mashed banana (approx 2 medium bananas)
  • 3/4 cup sunbutter (or other nut butter)
  • 1/4 cup coconut flour
  • 1/4 raw, unfiltered honey
  • 2 pasture-raised eggs
  • 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ground clove
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • chocolate chips to taste
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners, or coat the muffin tin with coconut oil.
  2. Mash your bananas to a almost smooth pulp (if you like chunks of banana in your banana bread, leave your pulp slightly lumpy.)
  3. Add the sunbutter, honey, eggs, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar to the mashed bananas. Combine until smooth and well-mixed.
  4. To the wet ingredients you just mixed, add the dry ingredients (coconut flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and salt.) Again, combine the mixture until smooth and well-mixed.
  5. Fold in your chocolate chips (as many or as few as you want!)
  6. Fill the muffins cups 3/4 full. (I usually get about 2 Tbsp in each cup)
  7. Place in the pre-heated oven, and bake for 18-21 minutes or until risen, golden, and slightly cracked on top. Be mindful to watch these, they can easily get overly-cooked on the bottoms. I get about 1 dozen muffins from this recipe.

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Creamy Avocado Lime Spinach Pesto

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THIS. This is the most versatile sauce I’ve ever made, and a staple in my fridge. I put it on everything. EVERYTHING. Okay maybe not desserts (but I’m not knockin’ it). But chicken, burgers, spaghetti squash, seafood, salads… yes, yes and yes. It’s creamy, garlicy, limey, a tad spicy, and nutrient dense. And it’s easy to whip up as well. Avocado makes this nice and smooth and creamy, fresh basil gives it a pesto taste, and spinach sneaks in extra nutrients. Plus garlic and lime, which obviously speaks for itself. Yum. I repeat. YUM. Once you try this, it’ll become a staple for you too! You won’t be able to help yourself.

Creamy Avocado Lime Spinach Pesto

  • 3/4 cup of olive oil
  • 10-12 fresh basil leaves
  • 1 ripe avocado, skin and pit removed
  • 1 handful of baby spinach
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • juice of 1 large lime
  • Salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste

Makes about 1 cup of sauce

  1. Place all ingredients into a blender or food processor (I use my Ninja Master Prep and it works like a charm), and combine.
  2. Scrape down the sides and continue to blend.
  3. Repeat until completely combined and smooth texture has been achieved.
  4. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. May need to stir to recombine.
  5. A little goes a long way, enjoy!

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Double Chocolate Chip Banana “Ice Cream” (Dairy-Free)

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This lactose-intolerant girl has a new best friend, and her name is banana faux-yo. See what I did there? Because it’s not really ice cream, or frozen yogurt, but it kind of is…. Right. When I first saw this idea, I was completely skeptical. Ice cream that literally only has 1 ingredient? Nope. Can’t be. BUT IT IS, IT REALLY IS. Let me just say that I LOVE ice cream. Growing up I ate it every day. That would be my easy go-to snack after soccer practice. Healthy, right? Well then in college I finally realized that a lot of my misery was derived from dairy, and it broke my poor little ice cream lovin’ heart. But now everything has changed. The wrongs have been righted. Victory is mine. Because I have made ice cream from a banana. JUST. A. BANANA. And some cocoa powder and chocolate chips because my name is Morgan, and I am a chocoholic. Seriously guys, this is so easy and delicious and you know… actually good for you. I will give you a warning though; please in all seriousness heed my words. DON’T KILL YOUR BLENDER/FOOD PROCESSOR. Mine conked out on me when doing a particularly hefty load (8 bananas) and I felt like I had accidentally killed my puppy. Luckily, after letting it cool down for a while it revived itself. I literally squealed with joy when I realized it wasn’t gone forever. Yes, I am that attached. (Thank youuuu Ninja Master Prep )So, my friends, let’s ditch the inflammatory dairy for something more beneficial: a healthy dose of Potassium… and happiness.

Double Chocolate Chip Banana “Ice Cream”

  • 5 medium bananas, sliced
  • 2-4 tbsp of 100% cocoa powder
  • Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

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First, slice those bad boys up.

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Next, put them into a large bowl (or you could use a baking sheet) that is lined with plastic wrap. Trust me on the plastic wrap, your hands will greatly appreciate the gesture when they are not forced to pry frozen pieces of banana out of the bowl. Place your banana slices in the freezer until frozen through. Once they are frozen, remove them from the freezer and place them in your blender/food processor. I have found that it is helpful to let them sit out for 10-20 minutes and have them soften just slightly. It may just save a good blender’s life.

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Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!

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Pause and scrape down the sides every so often to keep it a consistent texture, and also push the pieces down closer to the blades. This also gives your appliance a much-needed break. At this point you can also add your cocoa powder.

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Just when all seems nearly hopeless, and that your ice cream will never be more than just a sandy bowl of banana gravel, have faith. Your journey it not yet over, keep blending and BEHOLD:

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This little beauty is ready to be choco-chipped.

Transfer into a bowl, and fold in your chocolate chips.

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Just see how long you can make this last. I dare you.

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Clean Eating Breadsticks (Gluten-Free, Grain-Free)

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In my humblest o’ opinions, these are the ULTIMATE clean eating breadsticks. Have I mentioned I’m a carboholic? Right. So breadsticks were my friend. Or so I thought, until I realized that all of the crap in them, like so many of my other favorite “friends,” was making me miserable. So with some tinkering, I’ve managed to come up with a dough that is bready, fluffy, and versatile. I’ve used this base as a pizza dough, as a bun for sloppy joes, and even attempted modifying it to create cinnamon rolls (fail, terrible fail, but I will persevere). Best part about this hearty dough is that it isn’t loaded with expensive nut flour. The base is sunflower seeds (a favorite of mine), which when bought already hulled and unroasted are on the cheaper end of the clean eating budget. In the following pictures, I’ve shown how you can create your own sunflower meal. I actually used a combination of sprouted sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds simply because that’s what I had on hand, but you can easily use just sunflower seeds, or another nut meal (ie almond flour, or cashew meal) as a 1:1 replacement. As I already mentioned, the versatility of this dough is amazing, and I can guarantee that this will not be the last time this recipe shows up in a post! It holds together pretty well (considering it’s a gluten-free recipe, I can only do so much people!), is definitely hearty enough to dunk, and is protein-packed enough that it will leave you completely satisfied–unlike its high-glycemic, white flour counterpart. Oh, not to mention all of the good fats and oils packed into these little babies, which not only makes them healthy, but most definitely keeps them moist and fluffy. If you’re like me and NEED a clean bread replacement, or maybe are just looking for a more filling alternative to the yeasty, sugary white bread we’ve gotten so accustomed to, look no further, this stuff was made for you!

Clean Eating Breadsticks

  • 1 cup ground sunflower seeds
  • 1 Tbsp almond flour (to make these nut-free, use an extra Tbsp of flax meal instead)
  • 1 Tbsp flax meal
  • 1/4 cup coconut flour
  • 2 pastured-raised eggs
  • 3 Tbsp water
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp oregano or Italian seasoning mix
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper

Makes four 2″ x 6″ breadsticks.

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, and line a baking sheet with a piece of oiled parchment paper.
  2. Grind your sunflower seeds in a small food processor until in a medium-fine meal (as pictured below).
  3. Combine your dry ingredients in a large bowl (ground sunflower seeds, almond flour, flax, coconut flour, baking powder, and spices).
  4. Add the rest of the ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix by hand until thoroughly combined. Your mixture should stick together in a loose dough ball shape.
  5. Divide your dough into 4 even sections, and mold into breadstick shapes. This dough will not roll out like a traditional bread does, so what I usually do is start to form the breadstick shape in my hands, then place on the baking sheet and continue to mold the dough until I have obtained my desired size and shape. The dough should hold its shape, but still feel slightly loose and watery. Place the breadsticks 1-2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
  6. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until they are golden brown in color, browned on the bottoms, and cracked on the tops.

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Snickerdoodle Bites (Gluten-Free, Grain-Free)

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Snickerdoodles are one of my all-time favorite cookies, reason being that I absolutely love cinnamon. When I was younger (okay… maybe even now on occasion) I would sprinkle it straight onto my pancakes and waffles. No cinnamon-sugar combo here. Give me the straight up, real deal stuff and I will put it on just about anything. That being said, I do appreciate the cinnamon-sugar partnership and run with it whenever possible. Enter: Snickerdoodles. In bite form. Chewy on the inside, with that perfect sugar-shell on the outside. “But sugar?” You say, “But, but, I thought no sugar…?” Ah, but you are correct! There is no white sugar in these glorious little nuggets. How is that possible? Coconut palm sugar my friends. Coconut palm sugar comes from coconut flower blossom nectar. This stuff not only makes a perfect 1:1 replacement for white sugar, but is packed with nutrients and is claimed to be low-glycemic, which means it does not spike your blood sugar and leave you in a sugar crash later. According to the back of my specific bag, it has 16 vital amino acids and the nutrients include magnesium, nitrogen, zinc, potassium and calcium. Uh yeah… coconut palm sugar kicks white sugar’s booty. Pair that with the anti-inflammatory effects of cinnamon, and these cookies are a power-packed goldmine. Plus they’re completely addictive in their bite-sized form. I say win-win, right?

Snickerdoodle Bites

  • 1 cup Sunbutter (or any nut butter)
  • 1/3 cup raw, unfiltered honey
  • 2 Tbsp coconut flour
  • 1 Tbsp + 1/4 cup coconut palm sugar
  • 1 Tbsp almond flour (use flax meal to make nut-free)
  • 1 egg (free-range is best)
  • 1/2 Tbsp + 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Combine all ingredients, minus the 1/4 cup coconut palm sugar and 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon, in a bowl and mix thoroughly. It may be helpful to first mix dry ingredients, and then add wet ingredients (however, I am lazy and just threw them all in the bowl at once and they worked out fine).
  3. Combine the 1/4 cup coconut palm sugar and 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon in a separate bowl.
  4. Scoop out the dough in 1/2 Tbsp balls. Roll the ball in your hands to create an even shape. I got about 30 dough balls from this recipe.
  5. Place the dough ball into your separate bowl filled with the coconut palm sugar and cinnamon. Roll the ball of dough around in the cinnamon-sugar mixture until evenly and thoroughly covered.
  6. Repeat this process with the rest of your dough.
  7. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper (or grease with coconut oil). Place your dough balls about 1-2 inches apart on your cookie sheets.
  8. Place in your pre-heated oven and let bake for 8-10 minutes, or until cracks form on the tops of the cookies and the bottoms become slightly caramelized and golden brown. Note that these cookies will not spread out much, and will instead stay in bite-sized nuggets.

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