Healthy Oat-Bran Protein Pancakes!

Pancakes are by far my favorite breakfast food, but while being on a heath kick it may be hard to satisfy all of your cravings -- this recipe puts a new twist on pancakes, and makes a satisfying breakfast.

What You'll Need:
1/2 Cup of "Oat flour" (I used a mixture of whole grain rye, barley, oats and wheat.)
1 teaspoon Chia Seeds
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Egg
2 tablespoons Greek Yogurt
1 teaspoon of Baking Soda (Don't confuse this with baking powder haha)
1/4 cup Water

FIY: Greek yogurt can be GREAT for you, it has many benefits but make sure you check the sugar content in it there are some Greek yogurts with up to 24g of sugar per serving! I also recommend buying plain Greek yogurt and adding in the flavoring yourself, because that is where a lot of the sugar comes from

Directions:
Make your "Oat Flour" -- This is simple just place your Oats into a food processor and blend them until they have a flour-like consistency.
Mix together your DRYS: oat flour, chia seeds, and baking soda.
Mix together your WETS: egg, water, Greek yogurt, vanilla
Lastly, mix together your drys and wets!
Your mixture is going to be thick, not like regular pancake batter -- but this is fine! They should still come out fluffy.
Spoon out your mixture onto a non-stick pan, and fry them until golden.

How to serve:
I layered my pancakes with greek yogurt, it gives them more of a taste, and makes them moister!
I also sliced up some banana and they were deeeeelish!

Dig in!
-- Your foodie, Gabriella Anatra

Baked Mini Falafels!

A healthy twist on a Mediterranean favorite!

What You'll Need:
1 can (15 oz) of chickpeas, drained and rinsed. (I used the "Goya" brand.)
3 cloves of pressed garlic
2 teaspoons garlic
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons coriander 
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 of an onion *minced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1/4 cup fresh parsley

Optional:
Crimini mushrooms
Cucumber

FIY: Adding baking soda to the falafel makes them airier!
Why are my falafels green? The more coriander you add, the greener the falafels will become.

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

After rinsing and draining your chickpeas, you want to place them in a food processor with all of your other ingredients. You going to want to mix them together until they are nicely blended and you have a soft mixture.

You then want to shape the mixture into small balls, on a baking sheet covered in wax paper.
To give the falafels a nice crust, you can brush some olive oil on top.

You're now ready to place them in the oven. After the first fifteen minutes of baking you're going to want to take them out turn them over and place them back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

How to serve:
Traditionally falafels are served in a pita bread with various vegetables and smoothered in tziki sauce.
Going the healthier route, I decided to just serve my falafels atop a bed of lettuce and julienned cucumbers and also sauteed some crimini mushrooms on the side.

Of course, I had to make the tziki sauce for dipping because it pairs fabulously with the falafel!
All you'll need is 3 tablespoons of lemon juice, 5 tablespoons of water and 1/2 cup of Tahini paste.
*Tahini paste is sold at Whole Foods, and also available at many Middle Eastern Stores. 

Voila!
Your foodie,
Gabriella Anatra

Easy Vegan Banana Ice Cream

An easy and quick lactose free summer treat!

What you'll need:
Ripe Frozen Bananas -You should freeze these for at least two hours!
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Almonds
Vanilla
Peanut Butter
A blender

Basically you're free to run wild with this ice cream, feel free to throw in some frozen blueberries, honey, carob chips -- anything goes!

Healthy hint: The brown patches on your bananas produce a substance called TNF, or Tumor Necrosis Factor. This substance has the ability to combat abnormal cells! The riper or browner your bananas are the better their "anti-cancer" quality is!

Healthy hint: Peanut butter can be your best friend or your worst enemy! When buying your peanut butter make sure there are NO additives! The only ingredient should be peanuts! It's just as tasty, and can cut out so many calories from your day. (In addition to it being MUCH healthier.)

The brown patches also serve as an indication to how sweet the banana will be, the browner - the sweeter and the better for this ice cream treat!


 First step: Slice your banana(s) and toss them into your blender! I used the "Magic Bullet" and it worked great. Then you can proceed to add in all of your other ingredients.

What's next?
Blend it up! It took about 10 seconds in my blender - but you can continue blending until your mixture looks well mixed and smooth and creamy. (This shouldn't take long, considering the texture of the banana)

Finito! You're done! Top with a dollop of peanut butter, some nuts or dried berries - whatever suits your fancy!

-- Your foodie, Gabriella Anatra