Almond Butter Banana Waffles

Ah, good morning!

I’m sharing a super simple, super nutritious, and super delicious waffle recipe with you today. Believe me, you’ll be begging for more before you’re even done.

These waffles have LESS carbs, MORE protein, and the same amount of fat as a serving of eggo waffles!! WITHOUT the sugar either (they have 6g)!

Ingredients (makes 1 waffle):

1 ripe banana
1 egg white (3 tbsp)
1/2 tbsp almond butter + more for serving
1/2 tbsp chia seeds
1/2 tbsp cinnamon (I personally like a lot)
1 tsp vanilla extract (if not on Paleo, Whole30, Sugar Free diet)

Method:

Mash your banana with a whisk. Mix in the egg white, chia seeds, cinnamon, and vanilla.

Once mixed, add in your almond butter.

Grease your waffle iron and spread the mixture. Cook as you normally would. I personally like mine on a darker setting. It takes a little longer for these ingredients to form together as there isn’t any flour.

Serve with melted almond butter and sliced bananas. Serve with syrup. Serve with jam. Regardless of how you serve it, you’ll love it.

The best part is…if you want, you can double, triple, or quadruple the recipe to make ahead and then store in your freezer. Wake up, toast a waffle, spread some almond butter on top, and breakfast is on the table in seconds!

Nutrition (per 1 serving):

223 calories
6g fat
27g net carbs
9g protein

I love that while you’re still getting carbs from the banana and chia seeds, they are low glycemic. Which is why we like those ingredients! Plus check out all the health benefits of chia seeds that I linked to above.

I’ve never known a single waffle to have 9g of protein…i’m all about it.

These waffles are high in fiber with 8g. Me oh my.

You’ll think you’re cheating with this recipe, but you’re really not. Make the waffles and let me know how they turn out!

Friday Favorites: Favorite Lactose Free Products

I’m coming at ya PUMPED this Friday morning because it is SPRING BREAK fo’ yo girl and I am headed out of town tomorrow.

But i’m still linking up with Andrea, Narci, (and Erika but not this week) for another Friday FAVORITES before.

I get asked alllllllllll the time what I eat with my food allergies. “Can you even eat?” Yeah, peeps. I DO EAT. I just have to make modifications.

A couple weeks ago, I promised posts on my FAVORITE lactose free and gluten free products. Many of you already are gluten and lactose intolerant, and many of you are just now being diagnosed with these intolerances. Seeing as it’s taken me about 4 years to finally find products that I enjoy, I thought I would share to spare y’all. Not only did it take a long time, but it took a lot of money and throwing foods away. I mean my poor tastebuds hate me by now too 😉

So when I say these are my FAVORITE products it’s because I have tried them and continue to buy them. There have been some that I have tried where I can say “oh, that’s not awful” but these are the products that I buy over and over again.

Cheese

Cheese was the hardest. There’s nothing like some good ol’ cheese and I missed it…for shredded cheese, Go Veggie is my FAVORITE.

They have Cheddar, and Cheddar + Monterey Jack as well. The Mexican style tastes different than the others but it doesn’t bother me anymore since i’ve gotten use to them. This grated parmesan isn’t bad either and it’s good for pasta dishes!

Sliced cheese is weird because they all taste different! Strangely I’m not a fan of Go Veggie’s sliced cheese but I found this Borden brand that is delicious for grilled cheese and sandwiches when the craving hits.

But this Finlandia brand is what I have been buying for turkey and swiss melts or whatever else i’m needing some sliced cheese for.

Cabot is lactose free. I liked it for wine and cheese nights with my parents, but we don’t do that often enough so this cheese goes bad way too fast. If you have a big family with lactose intolerance, totally get this!

I really don’t used sliced cheese that much. I only have it in the fridge on occasion. But I always have my FAVORITE Go Veggie shreds. And the best thing about each cheese that I mentioned is that they all melt!!! I’ve used some that don’t melt before and that’s awkward.

What happens when it comes to pizza? Well, I don’t buy frozen pizzas because none of them are good to me…so either I just get it without cheese if we’re eating somewhere like Pie5, or we get Papa Murphy’s and i’ll put my own cheese on top before it goes in the oven! That’s mine without the cheese right there on top 😉

Ice-Cream

Ice-cream is by far my FAVORITE lactose filled product. I miss frozen custard so much. But this Lactaid is the absolute best. GET IT IF YOU HAVE NOT TRIED IT. Honestly, you’d like it even if you weren’t lactose intolerant…that’s how serious I am.

If I just want a plain ol’ ice-cream for a shake, Breyers is a great one.

I am way too excited about this coming out, i’m on the hunt right now. I have heard such good things.

And I just found out that this is lactose free, so as soon as I am done with my sugar detox it’s coming home with me.

I have gotten this before because chocolate chip cookie dough is always my favorite kind of ice-cream and it was good. But it’s not as good as the other ones i’ve mentioned.

Any other brand…don’t trust it. If you want some good lactose free ice-cream, you have to go with these name brands to get something remotely edible. I’m not kidding!

Mayo

Mayo is one of those things that you don’t need in your fridge all the time like cheese, but you need it for recipes. And you want a good one!

This is the best mayo brand that I have found…

…but I have also tried their salad dressings and don’t like them. It’s hard telling with some products.

I use it in my basil mayo.

And when I make my own Chick-Fil-A sauce.

I’d keep this on hand if I were you, it stays good for a while too.

Sour Cream

I have yet to find a sour cream that is lactose free. But I was at my local Sprouts the other day and saw this one, which I am pretty excited about because there are a lot of recipes that I have had to forgo due to sour cream.

Cream Cheese

Same goes with cream cheese. I have actually tried this one though, and it’s pretty good. So far i’m really liking the Green Valley brand.

But as I was googling that cream cheese, I found this bad boy and i’m over here like…”Where have you been all my life?!” It’s not in any of my stores!

Cottage Cheese

I ALWAYS have cottage cheese in my refrigerator. It’s a staple for me. A good source of protein,  calcium, and mine is low fat. You need it. I go through this container like a baby goes through diapers. Okay that was a bad comparison…but roll with it.

Butter

This is the only one that I know of that’s dairy free. I couldn’t tell a difference with this one, so I recommend! Shhh…don’t tell but I have used it on my brother’s FAVORITE english muffins and they couldn’t tell either.

Milk

So here’s the thing. I’ve never liked milk. When I was a kid I would only have with cereal in the mornings…but I never drank the milk at the bottom. Sometimes I would even eat my cereal dry. My mom said when I was younger I had a hard time with breast milk.

However, Lactaid is my absolute FAVORITE lactose free brand. I got the eggnog during the holidays, I get the fat free high calcium milk, the ice-cream, the cottage cheese, everything. It’s all good. I have yet to go wrong.

Sometimes we will get the big jug at Costco that i’ll use for recipes, or when i’m making this frozen coffee.

But most of the time I will just get the store’s name brand because #cheaper and #costeffective and #college.

But to be honest…I don’t buy dairy milk anymore. I now only use my FAVORITE unsweetened almond milk (the cheapest kind of course). I don’t eat cereal or drink it plain, so I just use this for my protein shakes or in recipes. Again, if you like dairy milk – Lactaid should be your go-to. Or even your grocery store’s name brand.

Yogurt/Kefir

If i’m craving some yogurt, Yoplait carries lactose free that is good.

And Green Valley is a great option too. Yogurt-wise, I just keep this plain kefir in my fridge. I use it for smoothies, or put it in a bowl with fresh fruit. Kefir is such a great way to  get your probiotic in as a snack! Always get plain because the flavored kinds have a ton of sugar.

So I will say that I have tried all of these Daiya products. Lots of lactose free people swear by this brand and use it all the time…

…but I do not like a single one of these. It is my LEAST FAVORITE. Except Daiya has a lactose free greek yogurt at the bottom of the picture that I recently figure out about, so I tried it and really enjoy it. But that’s it.

And when it comes to coffee…?

I just get some soy milk or coconut milk. But I totally prefer soy.

Really and truly if you can, get the name brand “lactose free” products. I have found that if you try some sort of off brand it’s just not as good.

OKAY FELLOW LACTOSE FREE PEEPS…does that help? Do you have any questions? If you’ve tried some of these what are your opinions?

Have a great Friday. Hopefully you’re writing your grocery list right now and these products are making the cut 😉

#FoodieToosdy Week 5

Yummmm…I like Tuesday’s because I like being a foodie. Earlier on my July goals post, I decided that I wanted to make 8 new recipes for the month of August, you know the 8th month of the year. So, I had already started on that. This weeks #FoodieToosdy is going to feature three of those new recipes. Yay!

Before we left for vacation, my new recipe book came in the mail, and I was so excited about it I read it on the car ride up to my grandpa’s. Total foodie nerd, I know. So my recipes this week are all three out of my new cookbook. Y’ALL. Gluten-freers, Lactose-freers, Paleo-diet. Whoever you are, PURCHASE. THIS. BOOK.

Recipe #1: Pastry Crust

First of all, I just want to say how much I loooooove Danielle Walker and her cookbook. I loved her story because I felt it resembled my health story so much. And who doesn’t love when they can relate to someone? With this cookbook you have to invest in some new ingredients but seriously it is so worth it.

Get:
2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1 tablespoon coconut flour
1 large cold egg
5 teaspoons ice water
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
3 1/2 tablespoons palm shortening

How to:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Place the first 5 ingredients in a food processor and process for 30 seconds. Add the shortening (we used crisco) in small spoonfuls, spacing them out around the bowl. Pulse 4-5 times, just enough for the shortening to be mixed in and the dough to come together.

3. Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Created fluted edges.

4. Cut a circle of parchment and fit into the bottom of the pie shell. Fill with pie weights and dried beans. Bake until the edges begin to turn gold, about 10 minutes. Remove the pie weights and parchment paper and bake 5 more minutes. Transfer to wire rack and cool.

Consensus: Buttery crust, not good used for a pinwheel, it works but came out as a crumble the first time.

 Recipe #2: French Vanilla Coffee Creamer

This recipe was not very good in my opinion. However, I would try and make my own changes next time. I thought it tasted a little burnt. I would add less coconut milk and more almond milk, because i’m not too much of a coconut milk fan. I didn’t get much vanilla flavor, so I might add a little vanilla extract because vanilla beans are pretty expensive. Maybe adding cinnamon or nutmeg the next go-around. I’ll let you know how it turns out next time.

Get:
1 cup almond milk
1 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 vanilla bean

How to:
1. Place first 4 ingredients in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to low boil, and remove from heat.

2. Split vanilla bean down the middle and scrape out the seeds. Place seeds and bean in milk, cover and let steep for 30 minutes.

3. Strain and bring to room temperature before covering and storing in the refrigerator for later use.

Recipe #3: Fried Brussels Sprouts and Cauliflower

If you hate Brussels Sprouts and Cauliflower, then you won’t like this dish. If you are open with you food options, try it!

Get:
3 cups macadamia oil (use butter)
3 springs fresh rosemary
1 pound cauliflower, trimmed and cut into florets
1 pound brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
1 1/2 teaspoons garum fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

How to:

1. Place the oil in a deep skillet and heat to 350 degrees.

2. Drop rosemary in the hot oil, add cauliflower and brussels sprouts in batches, frying each batch for 3-4 minutes or until browned and crispy.

3. Remove each batch to a pan lined with paper towels and drain while the next batch cooks.

4. Transfer the vegetables to a mixing bowl. Sprinkle with the fried rosemary and discard the stems.

5. Pour in the fish sauce (like worcestershire), lemon juice, and salt. Stir gently.

Consesus: Mom says it’s not worth the effort. Grandpa doesn’t like. Not a vegetable person. I really liked with the rosemary. The first time I used peanut oil…no! I’d use butter next time.

Danielle’s recipes don’t have a long process involved with them, and I think that is what I like so much about her. Danielle, thanks for being you!! Check out her page, y’all! And get her book for yourself! Less than $20! I can’t wait until I get her next one, too.