I’ve eaten yogurt, granola and a sliced banana for more meals this past month than I’m willing to admit. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s so good or so easy; it’s probably a bit of both. I never knew if you could cook the banana flavor into the granola until I saw this recipe. That gave me all the confidence I needed to try it out.

This is the kind of granola I have no trouble eating all by itself. It has every flavor and texture in it you could possibly want. The clusters are slightly softer than normal granola because of the bananas; it reminds me of the crusty outside of slightly overcooked banana bread. It’s great to eat with just about any flavor of yogurt, too.

This granola tasted fresher than any I’ve tried before. It’s great to make for yourself if you will eat it over the course of a week but might not be the best to give as a gift to someone. Make sure to refrigerate this to keep it its freshest.

Peanut Butter Banana Granola

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 3 cups)

• 1 banana, mashed
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 Tablespoons peanut butter
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips(optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts(optional)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the banana, oats, syrup, peanut butter, oil, cinnamon, vanilla and salt until evenly mixed.
3. Spread the oats out in a thin layer on a non-stick baking surface.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes, breaking up the oats into clusters about 20 minutes into baking.
5. When the clusters are golden and firm, remove them from the oven and let them cool.
6. Once the granola has cooled, add chocolate chips or nuts if using. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator when not eating.  

Pancakes are always a good breakfast choice. I’ve never found a recipe though where the first one or two comes out as good as the last; mine are always misshapen and burnt. But by the 3rd pancake the pan is seasoned and magic starts happening and they come out the perfect color and texture every time. Maybe that’s just a feature of pancake recipes in general.

This recipe uses almond flour, which gives it a slightly nutty flavor. I prefer using almond flour here to most other gluten-free flours because it doesn’t have a strange flavor when you taste the raw batter(and somehow that always ends up happening). Besides that there’s just Greek yogurt and eggs; it couldn’t be much simpler.

Chobani sent me their newest flavors to taste and play around with in the kitchen: banana, pear, raspberry chocolate chunk and pineapple with caramel bits. I really couldn’t pick one that I preferred over the others; they were all amazing. I made this recipe with the raspberry chocolate chunk and it had a hint of those flavors. I could imagine that any of these would be good in the pancakes. It all depends what you’re in the mood for!

Gluten-Free Chobani Pancakes

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 serving):

• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 4oz flavored Chobani greek style yogurt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Method:

1. Heat a frying pan over low-medium heat with a little oil or non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, beat together all of the ingredients until mixed.
3. Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the center of the pan. Cook for about 30 seconds until the bottom is set and bubbles come through the center.
4. Flip the pancake and cook the other side until it’s cooked through. Remove from the pan.
5. Continue cooking until all of the batter is used up.
6. Serve hot with butter and maple syrup.

I would definitely recommend doubling or tripling the recipe for a crowd. You can substitute any nut flour for almond flour in a pinch but not coconut flour since that’s something different entirely.

This recipe is an oldie but a goodie.

If I had to recommend one dish for someone who wants to eat less animal products it would be scrambled tofu. It looks just like eggs and you can really flavor it however you like. Not to mention it only takes about 10 minutes from start to finish.

I started eating less scrambled eggs and more scrambled tofu after watching Vegucated on Netflix. I won’t go into personal ethics on why I made the switch but it’s a good documentary to watch on Netflix in between marathons of Being Human and United States of Tara.

You can easily change this recipe to make it more flavorful by adding herbs and sautéed vegetables into the mix. I usually use curry powder to make mine a little spicy.

Scrambled Tofu

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 2 servings):

• 1 block extra firm tofu
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Method:

1. In a large bowl, mash the tofu with a fork lightly until it’s textured to resemble scrambled eggs.
2. Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.
3. Mix the turmeric, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder in with the tofu until it’s evenly coated.
4. Sauté the tofu in the oil until it’s heated through and takes on a vibrant color.
5. Remove from the pan and serve hot.

Afterwards I put a big pile of ketchup on the side of the plate. What’re eggs and hash browns without ketchup?

This recipe has been a long time coming. I bought a can of pumpkin at the start of November and it’s been sitting in my pantry unused since then. Finally when I realized I didn’t have anything to cook for dinner one night I remembered I had the ingredients for these pancakes and whipped some up.

They were so good I made them again the next morning and took pictures. My only regret is that I didn’t have chocolate chips at the time to mix into the batter.  Add some of those and you’d have perfection.

If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice just add a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg to flavor these. You can also use almond extract in place of the vanilla extract for an interesting flavor.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pancakes

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 2 servings):

• 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons chickpea flour
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 large egg
• 3 Tablespoons cane sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• ~1/2 cup water

Method:

1. Heat a frying pan over a burner set to medium and grease it lightly.
2. In a large bowl whisk together the chickpea flour, egg, pumpkin, sugar, pumpkin spice, baking soda, and vanilla.
3. Slowly incorporate the water until the batter is somewhat runny and easy to pour. If the water doesn’t seem to be enough, slowly add more by the Tablespoon.
4. Pour about 3 Tablespoons of batter into the pan. Flip when the pancake is bubbly and the sides have set to cook the other side. Make sure to cook long enough so that it’s cooked through the center.
5. Move the cooked pancake to a serving plate and repeat until all the batter is used up.

Make sure to cook the center through even if it looks like they’re starting to burn a little on the outside. Nothing is less appealing than raw chickpea flour. The thinner the pancakes are the easier it is to get an evenly cooked consistency.