Quinoa Oat Green Khakhra (Indian Thin Crackers) & First College Breakfast!

Before I headed out to college, my mom and I had made a Quinoa Oat Green Roti (Indian flatbread). There’s this other famous Indian snack called khakhra that is basically a thin Indian cracker – crunchy and savory! One morning, my mom tried roasting the green roti on the stovetop for a little bit longer than needed for roti and it become hard and crunchy, just like khakhra! It is a really thin cracker, which makes it ideal for any one to enjoy on-the-go as well. So, if you want a healthier version of a cracker with some hearty leafy greens added, check out this recipe for Quinoa Oat Green Roti here and simply roast the dough after rolling it for about 5-7 minutes longer till it becomes harder and crunchy. Enjoy with anything; culturally, this snack is enjoyed in the morning with tea or for a snack in the afternoon!

look how thin!

Next, for a yummy recipe! I just moved into college successfully – very tiring process and it rained thanks to that silly hurricane, but everything is good now thankfully! For breakfast this morning, I decided to try out Shiloh Farm’s Oat Bran that I had recently discovered in my local health food store. It’s a hearty breakfast since oat bran is filled with fiber and protein – one serving has a whooping 8g protein and 7g fiber! It’s a healthy and delicious way to start off your day and you can top the oat bran off with literally anything, just like oatmeal! I choose some apple slices, cinnamon powder, and flaxseeds. Feel free to play around with yours – you can add nuts, fruit, dried fruit, brown sugar, nut butters, milk, chocolate chips, etc!

—————————————————————————————————–

The Recipe

Yields 1 Serving

1/3 cup oat bran

1/2 cup almond milk (optional)

1 cup water

1 tsp cinnamon powder

1 tbsp flaxseed, ground

—————————————————————————————————–

Directions

1. On the stovetop, cook your oat bran in water till the water starts to evaporate and the oat bran becomes like porridge. Add your milk if you wish and let it cook for about another minute till the milk and oat bran start to bubble a little to the consistency you wish. Stir frequently.

2. Pour the oat bran into a bowl. Top with your desired add-ins and enjoy warm! If it is too hot for you to eat, place in the freezer for a few minutes and then enjoy.

Vegan Pina Colada Smoothie

—————————————————————————————————–
Yields 1 serving

Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups

1 1/2 cups pineapple chunks

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup water

1 tsp – 1 tbsp brown sugar (optional if you want more sweet)

6 – 7 ice cubes

—————————————————————————————————–

Directions

1. Blend everything together and drink up!

AH so many food recipes!

Leaving for college soon so today was a food adventure day with my mommy. First, we had a delicious lunch at a nearby cafe called Nuray’s Gourmet Cafe! I had a three bean salad that was magnificent – topped with a delicious blend of olive oil and vinegar – and my mom had a grilled vegetable sandwich on multi-grain toast. I loved it and wanted to share the pictures 🙂

Doesn’t it look delicious! Ah, definitely was. If you live anywhere near Bridgewater, NJ, I would highly recommend you go to Nuray’s and try something scrumptious out! Speaking of scrumptious, my mom and I had an amazing food adventure day today. Her best friend has a vegetable garden and grew a delicious and gigantic zucchini so we decided to make two different types of zucchini bread.

look how gigantic that is!

Moreover, my mom taught me how to make one of my favorite Indian dishes: moong dal dhokla (Indian steamed cakes); and then taught me how to also make her favorite Indian dish: squash handvo (Indian spice cake). All so yummmmy, hope you enjoy like always!

Vegan Moong Dal Dhokla (Indian Steamed Bite-sized Cakes)

Vegan Pumpkin Zucchini Chia Bread (No Oil & No Added Sugar!)

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Homemade Squash Handvo (Indian Spice Cake)

Today’s Yummy Food Adventures (Esp. New Indian Recipes!)

Vegan Raspberry “Cheesecake” (no added sugar, low-carb, delicious!!)

Gujarati Puran Puri (Indian Sweet Flatbread)

Homemade 4-Ingredient Nut Chikki (Indian Brittle)

No-Cook Lemony & “Creamy” Quinoa Salad

Most Decadent Vegan Raspberry “Cheesecake”

I went to Hangawi with my family in New York City a week ago. I have to say, best vegan/vegetarian food ever. The portion sizes were really small, but the food was just phenomenal. Anyway, I’m not trying to write a restaurant review. The reason I am bringing this restaurant up is because that night, for dessert, I had a soy tofu cheesecake that was made in-house. Oh my god, I cannot even describe to you how delicious it was, especially for a vegan cake! I ended up having two despite the large dinner I had already had 😛 And, I’ve been craving to have another slice ever since so I decided to experiment with making my own version of a homemade tofu “cheesecake”! I wasn’t sure how this would come out, but man, was it delicious. I made a raspberry flavored “cheesecake” because I just love that fruit. Ah, this recipe is to die for honestly. I made this cake for a family dinner. Everyone loved it, which was surprising! And the guests didn’t even believe it was vegan and made out of tofu! When I told them, my mom’s friend first reacted with hesitation, afraid that it wouldn’t taste that good. She told me after eating it that she loved the crust, the creaminess, the texture, and the sweetness. Both her husband and her as well as my parents agreed that it wasn’t too sweet and just perfect that they wanted to surprise others with this cake without telling them first that it is vegan and made out of tofu. I couldn’t find a recipe online that I liked so I tried to make my own and used all natural sugars and increased the amount of cashews and tofu I used instead of using vegan cream cheeses or sour creams like most recipes. This way, the cake was healthier and more guilt-free – in fact, each slice is only ~ 200 calories, has a whooping 10g of protein, and only 2g of saturated fat, which is so low compared to your typical cakes or even store-bought vegan cakes! 🙂 Let me know if you like it! I was overjoyed when I had my slice and so were the guests so I really hope you are too.

** If you want to make a raw cake, follow steps 1 – 8 and then simply place your cake covered with some saran wrap into the fridge and it will harden and you can enjoy it in a few hours!

—————————————————————————————————– 

The Recipe

Yields 9 ” cake (~ 10 – 12 servings)

3/4 cup cashews, soaked either overnight or for about four hours till soft

3/4 block extra firm tofu (~12 oz)

1/2 – 3/4 cup agave nectar, honey, maple syrup, or barley malt syrup

1 cup fresh raspberries

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup almonds (you need a total of 1 cup nuts so I used half of almonds and half of walnuts, but you may choose to use your own blend of pecans, almonds, walnuts, etc.)

1/2 cup walnuts 

12 deglet noor dates or 8 medjool dates, pitted

1 tsp cinnamon powder

1/2 cup shredded coconut

—————————————————————————————————–

Directions

1. Soak the cashews overnight or for ~ 4 hours till they are expanded and soft.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Soak the dates in some water for a few minutes.

3. In the meantime, as the dates are soaking, grind your choice of one cup of nuts, cinnamon powder, and coconut together.

4. Throw in the dates and grind the entire mixture again. It should become sticky.

5. Spray a 9″ inch pan slightly and press the nut and date mixture onto the pan to form a nice crust layer.

6. Drain the cashews. Blend them together with the tofu, your choice of natural sugar sweetener (I used agave nectar), vanilla extract, and lemon juice.

   

7. Once you have a creamy texture, throw in your raspberries and blend together. 

8. Using a spatula, pour the blended “batter” into the pie crust and spread evenly, making a swirl pattern. 

9. Bake for ~ 20 minutes at 350 F and if you want to bake the crust some more (but be sure to periodically check to make sure it doesn’t get burnt), you can bake for an additional 10 – 15 minutes at a lower temperature – I used 250 F. 

10. Store in the refrigerator by covering with some saran wrap or in an air tight container.

11. The delicious raspberry “cheesecake” is ready to serve the next day! Just cut and yummmm!!

Homemade Cinnamon Applesauce (no added sugar)

My mom and I made some homemade applesauce for me to take to college next week! It’s so delicious – fresh and tastes just like cinnamon apples. We didn’t add any extra sugar, salt, or excess lemon juice. Each serving is ~ 90 calories, 0g fat, 22g carbs, 2g fiber, 17g sugar, 1g protein. I used it to bake some cookies too as a replacement to oil and butter and it worked perfectly! The applesauce has the perfect amount of natural sweetness, so delicious. You should make yourself a batch and freeze it for longterm use! It’s delicious to eat during the winter time or when you’re sick. It’s also a very delicious dessert!!

—————————————————————————————————–

The Recipe

Yields ~ 5 cups of sauce (~ 8 – 10 servings)

Serving Size: 1/2 cup

7 large apples (I used large Gala apples)

6 large cinnamon sticks

7 tbsp lemon juice

—————————————————————————————————–

Directions

1. Slice all of the apples and remove the cores.

2. Blend together all of the apples with about 1/4 cup water. You definitely don’t want to use more or your sauce will become very thin so try to use a very strong blender.

3. Heat the apple puree on the stove top in a large pot. Throw in the cinnamon sticks (I broke mine in halves) and the lemon juice. Heat for about 15 – 20 minutes till all of the water has boiled. You will see the apple puree bubble and the applesauce will get thicker. Stir frequently.

stir!

finished applesauce – yum

4. Let the applesauce cool then store into an air tight container. It will remain fresh for a while actually – you can refrigerate it for about a week or freeze it for about a year!

DOLE Challenge: Very Berry Cookie Crumble Banana Split

For TasteSpotting’s DOLE challenge, my sister and I decided to make a very berry, chocolate chip cookie crumble, banana split. Now, that’s a handful to say haha. We used the homemade whole wheat chocolate chip cookies we baked just yesterday. The challenge guidelines recommends you make a dessert that is less than 350 calories so when I looked back at past submissions, individuals used less servings of ice cream and chocolate to reduce the calorie count. Well, my sister had a bright idea to make it healthier and less calories by using greek yogurt instead of ice cream! She personally doesn’t like greek yogurt alone (whereas I do but I know other individuals may not), so we decided to use the strawberry goji fruit flavoring as well and make the banana split a berry flavored one! It’s the perfect recipe to enjoy as a breakfast or as a dessert any time of the day since it has a healthy dose of protein, carbohydrates, and delicious chocolate that you cannot feel guilty eating because its (1) homemade, (2) made with healthy carbohydrates and (3) the cookies are low-fat since they are made with no butter!! Enjoy 🙂 We encourage you to celebrate National Banana Split Day next week as well by making your own banana split recipe or enjoying ours! 

—————————————————————————————————–

The Recipe

Yields 1 Serving

1 medium or large very ripe DOLE banana

3 walnut halves, broken into pieces

10 fresh blueberries

1 container of Strawberry Goji Flavored Greek Yogurt 

1 homemade whole wheat chocolate chip cookie – recipe is here

1 tbsp chocolate syrup (optional)

—————————————————————————————————–

Directions

1. Slice the banana in half and place on a plate or in a bowl.

2. Scoop out the greek yogurt and top the center of the two bananas with it.

3. Drizzle with the strawberry goji fruit flavoring.

4. Crumble the cookie with your hand and drizzle over the yogurt and bananas.

5. Top with the walnuts and blueberries.

bon appetit!

6. Enjoy right away. If you want, drizzle a little chocolate syrup on top as well (just be warned that that would add ~ 40 more calories depending on which syrup you use so you would just be hitting the 350 calorie mark).

banana split w/ chocolate drizzle

my sister gobbling up our creation

Protein Powdered Trail Mix Granola

First off, I would like to thank Kylie for nominating me for the Beautiful Lipstick Award! I’m really honored that she and other fellow bloggers appreciate the recipes I post, and I hope I can continue to blog when I go back to college in two weeks! On that note, foodwithmalvi also had its Vegan Double Chocolate Chip Muffins and its No-Cook Chickpea Salad posted on FindingVegan.com so go check that out!

Now, today’s morning recipe. Well, I was reading Peas and Thank You and came across the recipe for Protein Trail Mix Cookies so I decided to make my own version of that recipe and convert it into a Protein Trail Mix Granola! I have to say, it turned out really delicious. While I was making it, I was worried that the protein powder would just be shifted to the bottom of the container and not stick to anything. Boy was I wrong. It turned out pretty perfectly and tasted even better! I had some with coconut yogurt for breakfast this morning and it was phenomenal. There’s a very nice blend of sweetness and crunchiness in the trial mix. And, the oats aren’t baked to the point of granola crunchiness so there’s sort of a cookie texture to the whole trail mix since the oats are in-between a crunchy and a soft texture. Also, you’ll see in the original recipe that raisins were used, but I decided to use a more antioxidant-rich option and threw in some delicious goji berries instead! Moreover, it’s so healthy! There’s no added sugar at all and the trail mix is full of healthy unsaturated fats and a great serving of protein, perfect for a pre or post workout snack or an on-the-go trail mix! I hope you like it.

—————————————————————————————————–

The Recipe

Yields 12 Servings

Serving Size: 1/2 cup

3 tbsp flaxseed, ground

3/4 cup non-diary milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)

1/4 cup almonds, silvered

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or carob chips

1/4 cup goji berries

2 cups gluten-free oats

4 scoops SunWarrior Chocolate Warrior Protein Powder

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp raw honey

—————————————————————————————————–

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

2. In a bowl, mix together the flaxseeds and the milk. Let it sit to the side.

3. In a large mixing bowl, measure out all of the rest of the ingredients and chop the almonds.

4. Your flaxseed and milk mixture should now look like this:

5. If it does, mix it into the bowl of ingredients and stir thoroughly to spread the honey and the flaxseed mixture around. You should start to see clusters forming and the protein powder sticking to the ingredients. It will still seem a little dry to you, but don’t worry because it still will bake perfectly and taste amazing. If you want it to be more cluster-like, add some oil or nut butter, but I honestly can say that this recipe tastes just perfect as a trail mix more than your typical granola.

5. Spray a pan with some PAM or line with some oil.

6. Spread out the trail mix evenly and pat it down.

7. Bake for ~15 – 20 minutes. Check frequently to make sure your nuts are not getting burnt.

8. Let the trail mix cool and then store in an airtight container for several days. Enjoy alone or as a topping to any snack or breakfast dish! I had some with yogurt this morning. 

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

—————————————————————————————————–

The Recipe

Yields 12 servings

Serving Size: 1 cookie

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (you can use all-purpose flour if you want)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

—————————————————————————————————–

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Mix together all of the ingredients except the flour.

3. After the sugar has dissolved, throw in the flour. Mix everything thoroughly and then fold in the chocolate chips.

4. Spoon 12 even lemon-sized balls and roll into a perfect ball.

5. Push slightly to flatten the balls into cookies.

6. Spray a pan with a little PAM and then place each of the cookies 2 inches apart.

7. Bake for ~ 10 minutes and check to see if the cookies are done. Let them cool down before you enjoy! My sister said they taste delicious with some milk or just alone!

On-the-Go Antioxidant Trail Mix & Hearty Green Stew “Chili”

For my snack today, I made a delicious trail mix that was quick to put together. I threw in some goji berries to make it high in antioxidants and the blend of almonds and walnuts made the trail mix high in polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat! It’s a perfect pre or post workout snack or even just when you are a little hungry.

—————————————————————————————————–

The Recipe: Antioxidant Trail Mix

Yields 1 serving

10 almonds

30 semisweet chocolate chips (~ 1 tbsp)

5 walnut halves, cut into smaller pieces if you want

1 tbsp goji berries

On a side note, the green roti that I posted a few hours ago ended up getting accepted by Tastespotting.com! I was so excited and happy 🙂 Check it out if you get a chance. Also, for dinner, we made a hearty green stew “chili”! 

—————————————————————————————————–

The Recipe: Green Stew “Chili”

Yields 4 – 6 servings

2 cups cooked kidney beans

2 cups kale

3 large celery stalks

2 carrots

2 medium tomatoes

1 tbsp seaweed kelp

1 cup broccoli

1/2 bell pepper any color

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tsp black pepper

—————————————————————————————————–

Directions: Green Stew “Chili”

1. Blend together the bell pepper, kale, and broccoli to make a heavy stew gravy. 

2. Pour the kidney beans in with the gravy in a large pot. Let it bubble for a while and cook.

3. Cut all of the other vegetables and throw them into the pot when you start to see the bubbling occur. Sprinkle in all the spices as well and mix thoroughly. Allow the stew “chili” to cook for about 10 minutes. Serve warm! Enjoy alone, with some bread, or tortilla chips.