Gluten Free Runners Banana Bread

This banana bread is so awesome. It's made with the healthiest possible ingredients, and is perfect to eat before a long run. I and used brown rice flour to make it gluten free, but you could still use wheat flour. This banana bread is thick, rich, moist, and naturally sweetened just a bit. This bread doesn't last long at all in my house, and a warm batch fresh out of the oven is usually gone within about 30 minutes.

Ingredients:
2 Flax eggs (2 Tablespoons ground flax seeds, and 6 Tablespoons water)
3 Large, very ripe bananas
1/2 Cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 Cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 Cup dates
1/4 Cup agave nectar
4 Cups brown rice flour
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Combine flax seeds and water in small bowl and set aside. Combine almond milk and dates in a food processor or blender (use the smallest container you can) and blend until dates are completely blended and the mixture is light brown and smooth. Pour your date paste mixture into a large mixing bowl, then add in bananas and applesauce and blend. I threw all of this into my kitchen aid mixer and let it do the work for me. You could also use a hand mixer to blend everything together. Once everything is blended, add in the flax eggs and blend completely.

In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients and mix together. Once mixed, slowly spoon dry ingredients into wet ingredients bowl and mix completely until everything is in one bowl and the dough is ready. I used two standard sized bread pans to bake all of my bread. You can fill them up fairly high because the bread doesn't rise very much, but I would still suggest leaving a little room at the top of the pan.

Note: For a sweeter bread you can also add a Tablespoon of Stevia.

Bake bread for 35-45 minutes, let cool, and enjoy!

Pumpkin Crock Pot Chili

This recipe if perfect in the fall, although I will make whenever I feel like throwing a bunch of stuff into a crock pot for an easy warm meal later that evening. I also like this recipe because it's a nice change of pace from typical chili recipes, and the sweet and saltiness go together so well to balance each other out. Plus with the brown rice, beans, and different vegetables, you are getting a complete protein meal along with vitamin A from the pumpkin, carrots, or sweet potatoes, and lycopene from the fresh tomatoes!

Ingredients

4 large tomatoes chopped finely
2 cups chopped carrots or sweet potatoes
1 large finely diced onion
1 cup of brown rice
2 cans of cooked pinto beans
1 can of cooked black beans
1 can of 100% pumpkin puree
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 Tablespoon cumin powder
1 Tablespoon chili powder
2 Tablespoons cinnamon powder
salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast to taste


Throw everything into a slow cooker and set heat to high for 8-10 hours, then enjoy at the end of a long day! You can really change this recipe up however you want. I almost never make the exact same thing twice. I usually just combine things from my kitchen until I end up with something I like.

Crispy Tempeh Salad

I love tempeh! It has a nice solid texture, so it wont fall apart on you like tofu or sietan will. Plus, tempeh is loaded with protein, and has a less fat when compared to tofu. You can do practically anything with tempeh, from making temeph bacon, to tempeh sandwiches, to just straight up seasoning and grilling it. Like tofu it's practically flavorless, so you can really make it taste like whatever you want. One of my personal favorite ways to enjoy tempeh, is by pan frying it, and enjoying it over fresh greens!

All you need is:

A package of tempeh
1 Tablespoon Tahini (a sesame seed butter)
2 Tablespoons water
Fresh lettuce
Your favorite salad dressing (I usually use Annie's Organic salad dressings)

Once you manage to get the tempeh out of the package(and believe me, this can be pretty tricky. They seal it in air tight!)Cut it up into small cubes, and toss it in a frying pan set to medium heat. in a small container, mix tahini and water, then pour mixture over tempeh. (The tahini is what will give your tempeh it's flavor and crispiness.) Mix and fry tahini until it is lightly browned. Then serve over a bed of fresh lettuce, and top with your favorite dressing (I also chose to add hemp seeds to my salad) and wala, a protein packed salad!

Easy Tomato Penne Pasta

All you need is:

-Half a box of whole wheat penne pasta boiled
-One package of firm fortified tofu
-3 large crowns of fresh broccoli
-A small can of tomato paste and seasonings OR vegan pasta sauce

Start off by boiling penne pasta in a large pan. Then drain and cut tofu into small cubes and fry in a pan over medium. While pasta and tofu are cooking, chop up and wash fresh broccoli crowns. Throw broccoli in on top of cooked boiling noodles, and cover with the lid for about 5 minutes to steam the broccoli. When tofu is lightly browned and slightly crispy on the outside, remove from heat and set aside. If you are making your pasta sauce, just mix the can of tomato paste with water, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and any other desired spices until you reach the consistency and flavor desired. Now just drain the broccoli and pasta, and separate if desired. Otherwise, mix all ingredients together in one large bowl or pan and enjoy.

You could also top this penne off with some shredded vegan mozzarella cheese, or sprinkle on some nutritional yeast flakes for a little extra cheesy flavor.

Chocolate Banana Coconut Muffins

I tried to come up with a recipe that was simple, quick, and nutritious. Coconut oil is full of healthy fats that increase good cholesterol, can help restore normal thyroid function, and help our bodies build resistance to bacteria, parasites, and fungi. Coconut oil also helps the liver break down healthy fats to use for energy, which is why coconut oil is perfect for runners to consume before a race because it helps their body burn fat for energy instead of mainly depleting their glycogen stores in their muscles. Natural unprocessed cocoa powder is full of natural antioxidants, and, well... bananas have always been amazing.


-1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
-1/2 Teaspoon baking powder
-2 Tablespoons 100% Cocoa Powder
-1/2 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
-2 Mashed Bananas
-1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil
-1/2 Tablespoon Stevia/or two packets (optional)
-1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
-Pinch of salt

(Makes 6 muffins)

Mix together dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside. Then in a small bowl mash bananas until pureed. add milk, oil, and the rest of the ingredients into bowl and blend. Then add wet mixture to dry mixture and mix until completely blended. Spray muffin pan, divide batter, and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

I made this recipe very basic so that you can add/change whatever you would like. You could always add nuts, vegan chocolate chips, shreds of coconut... whatever. I really enjoyed these muffins, they have a nice dense texture like banana bread, and a subtle hint of coconut and chocolate.

Side Note: Make sure to refrigerate muffins in a sealed container after they cool, otherwise they wont keep because of the bananas.