Flour-less Banana Bread

So if you've been reading my other posts you have noticed that I LOVE baking with oats. Why? Because not only are they inexpensive but they make a great flour substitute as well as adding delicious fiber into your baked goods. In my  Healthy Oat Pancakes recipe, I explained the difference between rolled and steel cut oats. For this recipe I recommend using rolled oats. You can buy them from the huge bins at the grocery store by weight much cheaper than buying pre-packaged brands but they are essentially the exact same. We are going to do something fun with our oats in this recipe-- we are going to put them in the blender to make oat flour! So lets get started!



Flour-less Banana Bread

3 cups Rolled Oats (after blending it should be 2 cups oat flour)
1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
3 Bananas, very ripe
1 tbsp Coconut Oil
1/3 cup Honey
1/3 cup Maple syrup
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
3 tbsp Rolled Oats (for on top)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon (optional, I did not add to mine)

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and get your loaf pan ready. You can either use cooking oil to coat the pan or line it with parchment paper. 

2. In a blender or food processor, put in the 3 cups of rolled oats and blend on high for 1-2 minutes. You might need to stop it and stir it a little to mix in the oats until they are all blended and it looks like flour. 


3. In a large bowl mix together the oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and optional cinnamon. 

4. Now in the blender you want to puree your bananas, money, maple syrup, and vanilla. Blend this for a minute or so until it is smooth. 

5. Pour the banana puree mixture into your dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Add your choice of nuts (chocolate chips also work if you want to make it sweeter) and stir in. 

6. Scoop your batter into your prepared pan and smooth the top a little. Add the additional rolled oats on top that we not blended into flour. 

7. Place bread in oven for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden brown. 

8. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes and then remove from pan and let cool for the remaining time on the cooking rack. (I skipped this step and cut right into it to taste it.) 

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Cauliflower Crust Pizza

One of America's favorite meals at (I think) ANY time of the day is... 

I googled pizza to see what came up. There was quite the variety: pizza with vegetables, pizza with meat, pizza with fruit, deep dish pizza, Chicago style pizza, taco pizza, dessert pizza, cheeseburger pizza, macaroni and cheese pizza, pizza with chocolate, the list goes on. 

But this also confirms that pizza = love. 

Fun Facts about pizza:

- October is National Pizza month here in the United States

- Modern pizza evolved from similar flat-bread dishes in Naples, Italy in the 18th or early 19th century. Prior to that time, flat-bread was often topped with ingredients such as garlic, salt, lard, cheese, and basil.

- The United State's first pizzeria, Lombardi's, opened in 1905.

- The world's largest pizza was at the Norwood Pick 'n Pay hypermarket in Johannesburg, South Africa. According to the Guinness Book of Records the pizza was 122 feet 8 inches in diameter and was made using 1,100 lb of flour, 1,800 lb of cheese and 2,000 lb of tomato puree. 

- Pizza can be high in salt, fat and food energy. The USDA reports an average sodium content of 5,101 mg per 14 in (36 cm) pizza in fast food chains.

So what better way to make a pizza than to make it ALL with vegetables! 

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

For the Crust:

2 1/2 cups Cauliflower (1/2 head) grated

1 Egg, slightly beaten

3/4 cup Mozzarella cheese, Shredded

2 Cloves of garlic minced

2 T Parmesan cheese, grated

Salt and Pepper to taste

Toppings:

1/4 cup Tomato sauce (we use homemade canned sauce from the garden)

1 cup Grape tomatoes, sliced in half

6 Basil leaves, cut into strips

3/4 cup Mozzarella cheese, Shredded

1. Make sure the cauliflower is chopped up super nice, I usually toss it in the food processor but if you don't have one just use a cheese grater. Put the cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl and cook on high for 7 minutes in the microwave.

2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

3. Once the cauliflower is done cooking in the microwave add the remaining ingredients for the crust to the bowl and mix it up very well. The cheese will melt and it will smell pretty good. 

4. Grease your pizza stone or pan you are going to use. Put the pizza dough on the pan and spread it out as best and evenly as you can. I recommend making it a 10" round pizza. Be careful not to make the edges too thin because they will cook faster and we don't want to burn them! 

5. Place the crust in the oven for 12 minutes.

6. CAREFULLY take the hot pan out of the oven so you can finish putting together your pizza.

7. Spread the sauce, tomatoes, basil leaves and cheese over the top. ( You can add or omit any ingredients you wish, this is just how I made my pizza. ) 

8. Put the pizza back in the oven and bake for an additional 12 minutes.

9. When the pizza is looking golden brown and smelling pretty amazing take it out and let it cool. 

10. Cut pizza into desired sizes and serve. 

* REMEMBER the crust is mostly cheese so if it is under cooked or really hot when you try to cut or eat your pizza, you will need to eat it with a fork. 

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