Raw Almond and Flax Butter!

today was nothing but activities for me! I had a wonderful day with Bill and my brother. It is finally starting to hit me that I am doing a half marathon in November and I want to do as best as I can- so I better start training while the weather is pretty! 

I have this new way of running to motivate me- and that is to run to places with water... aka gas stations, lake naomi cafe lodge, and probably work soon! It's been a lot of fun and makes running more enjoyable. Honestly, I love to run...I will run however long I want to; sometimes though, it can be a struggle to motivate myself, especially when I don't start my mornings early. If my mornings do not go as I hope they do, I get all messed up! I love working out early; I found it much harder to work out later on in the day, so if I don't work out in the morning, I have a pretty terrible afternoon workout (if at all), and I feel like a turd. 

Today was a totally different story- not only did I have an awesome run in this beautiful weather, I played some tennis with my two boys and walked my dog. PHEW, I am beat let me tell ya! For days like these, I always have to make sure to keep my protein up so I don't wear and tear my muscles and I can lift weights tomorrow. My go-to thing is Almond Butter. Yup, I am obsessed with this stuff like no other. I love it because it is the best protein fix after an intense work out. And not only that, but I make my own little concoction to not only get my protein fix, but also fiber as well! I love making homemade almond butter and I usually make it when my bulk foods section in my grocery store has a good price on almonds. That way, I can eat almonds on the go, or I can make almond milk, or just make more almond butter!

Almond butter is a great recipe that every gluten free veghead should know how to make- so here's mine!

Almond Butter 

3 cups Almonds

2T Chia Seeds

2T Flax Seeds

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend for 15 minutes

This is what it should look like after 2-3 minutes- still a fine flour texture but you have to scrape the sides

After 5 minutes, your mixture starts to be crumbly

After Another 5 minutes (10 minutes total) has gone buy, a little ball starts flying around (it's the most exciting part!)

This is after a total of 12-15 minutes- the most glorious part: when you have your buttery, silky texture.

Variations

• If you want "crunchy" texture, scoop out your almond butter and place in a cup of almonds and chop them up. Fold them into your almond butter
• Other butters you can try at home: Peanut, Cashew, Sunflower Seed, maybe hazelnut or walnut- the possibilities are endless!
• Mix and match seeds with other variations- I'm going to try a peanut butter banana butter, and see if pecan butter works

What are some butters you have made, or would like to see on here? Lemme know!

Maple Quinoa Granola Crunch

Early morning, early breakfast! Iggy has a very strict morning schedule (trust me- I didn't make this one up), which includes

9AM- Iggy wakes up and is all sweet and nice, grabs a bite for breakfast, and takes his morning dump

9:30AM- Iggy wants to play, so I have to wake up and play

10 or 10:30AM- Iggy goes back to sleep

Then he sleeps until probably 12ish and is back at the normal ritual of play, sleep, play, sleep. But this morning, Iggy was all about playing by 9AM. He woke up and did his morning rituals in 10 minutes and was ready to play by 9:15! So at 10AM I put on some Will&Grace and was ready to start my day of studying...after my morning rituals of watching Will&Grace, blogging, looking up recipes, and make a mental schedule of what lies ahead for my day (this is while Iggy is taking his nap). I sound like a crazy cat lady mother, but I love my Iggy Smalls!

annywayyyssss, back to being normal: I LOVE granola crunch on my yogurt, but unfortunately my stomach cannot handle oats very well and I've had to cut out yummy, delicious oatmeal and granola :[. But just last Thursday, I was watching Sweet Genius on TV and they had Quinoa as the secret ingredient. Personally, I don't like eating cooked Quinoa. It's taste is too grainy and awkward on the palette. But, on Sweet Genius they baked their Quinoa and sprinkled it on top of their cakes so it gave a crunch and made it look so beautiful! Therefore, I decided to take up the challenge and zazzy it up a bit. So friends, I give you and awesome alternative to Granola that is AWESOMER than the real thang. 

Maple Quinoa Granola Crunch

Yields about 1/2 Jar

1 Cup Quinoa (I used Rainbow Quinoa)

1/2 Cup Walnuts

2 Tablespoons Chia Seeds, or Flax Seeds (I used chia so they go with the Quinoa)

2 Tablespoons of Maple Syrup, Agave Nectar, or Honey (I used Maple!)

1/2 Tablespoon Canola Oil or Coconut Oil

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F and spray a baking sheet with cooking spray
2. Rinse your Quinoa in a fine mesh strainer several times! (It really makes a difference, it'll taste too grainy if you don't)
3. Drain and pat dry with a paper towel
4. In a medium bowl, mix together all the ingredients
5. Spread your mixture over the baking sheet and make sure it is rather even
6. Bake for 13-15 minutes, shaking the baking sheet every 5 minutes. 
7. Top it on yogurt, or if you have any other ideas post them on here!

Also, if you have any recipes you want to be gluten-free, vegan, or just want a recipe that you havent seen on here, let me know- shoot me an e-mail (aml5503@psu.edu) or just comment on my blog!