Vegan & Gluten-Free Pizza

I've never been a massive pizza fan, as far as I can remember. However, my little brother has been eating pizza non-stop, and I started to feel pretty left out. I tried a bit of his awhile ago, and felt extremely sick. Clearly, Pizza Hut or Dominos wasn't an option. 

Ultimately, I decided to try making my own. I'm pretty terrible at thinking up fun and healthy lunch ideas. So, I'm really thrilled that I ended up trying this. Not to mention, it tasted awesome. I actually liked it better than the Pizza Hut pizza. Their crust is all weird and sugary....like why? Plus, I didn't feel ill afterwards! #bonus

Vegan & Gluten-Free Pizza

Toppings of choice (I used onion, spinach, broccoli & pomegranate seeds)
Pasta/pizza sauce

For the crust:
2/3 cup gluten-free flour mix
1/3 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (bi-carb soda)
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegan butter substitute (e.g Nuttelex)
1/2 cup unsweetened Almond Breeze almond milk

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 fan forced. Mix dry ingredients, add butter and mix again. Add Almond Breeze slowly, until the dough just sticks together. Knead the dough on a floured surface 8 times. Then roll the dough out until it's about 1/4 inch thick. Bake for 10 minutes.

In the mean-time, prepare toppings (eg. sauté spinach and onion, boil broccoli, de-seed pomegranate). After ten minutes, spread a few spoonfuls of pasta sauce onto the pizza and add toppings. Bake for another 3-5 minutes, and enjoy!

PB & Acai Nice Cream Slice

Oh hai little abandoned blog, how've you been? Good? Not so good? I see. Well, even though the treats on here are healthier than their traditional counter-parts, it's still not good to eat them all the time. So, I've been trying to cool down on making like a billion healthier goodies, and just trying to eat in a healthy, balanced manner. As a result, I haven't been around.

Buuuut today was a special occasion! I got an eye exam and there were no signs of diabetic retinopathy (a complication of diabetes that results in swelling of the blood vessels in the retina, or in the final stage, the development of new blood vessels. anyway, it can result in blindness and it's super freaky). Plus, I now have 2,000 amazing followers on IG (which is seriously insane!!!). So, I figured I should make something to celebrate.

I haven't been eating much acai lately, but I had an acai bowl the other day and I was like "Umm...I've been missing OUT!" Additionally, I've gotten on the PB & Acai boat. As weird as it sounds (or at least sounded to me), IT IS BLOODY DELICIOUSSSS! And this Choc-Peanut Butter & Strawberry Nana Ice Cream Slice is probably my favourite recipe on here. So, naturally, I decided to make a PB & Acai Nice Cream Slice. And it definitely did not disappoint.

PB & Acai Nice Cream Slice

for the base: 1 cup oats
1/2 cup shredded coconut
8 (pitted) medjool dates
2 tablespoons coconut nectar

for the acai layer: 1 1/2 frozen bananas
1 cup frozen blueberries
1/4 cup cashews
4 heaped teaspoons acai

for the peanut butter layer: 2 1/2 frozen bananas
4 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons cashews

Soak the cashews in water for at least 2 hours. Line a pan with baking paper. Put all the ingredients for the base into the food processor (ensuring you have already pitted your dates), and blend it up until combined. If it isn't sticking together properly, add a little bit of water/more dates. Press the base mixture into the bottom of the lined pan, forming a crust.

Wash out your food processor. Toss all the ingredients for the acai layer into it, and blend. If the frozen bananas aren't combining, add a splash of almond milk or even water in a pinch. (If you don't have frozen bananas on hand, that's okay. But be careful when adding the peanut butter layer, it will try to sink beneath the acai layer, and you won't have an even distribution of both layers. Make sure you freeze it long enough that it's semi-solid, or that you spoon and spread the peanut butter layer on top VERY carefully.) Spread the acai layer on top of the base, and place in the freezer to set.

Wash your food processor again (sorry, I know it's annoying). Chuck the ingredients for the peanut butter layer into the food processor, whizz it up. If you didn't use frozen bananas, this is where you either need to make sure you've waited until the first layer has set, or keep waiting for it to set, or take your chances and carefully spoon and smooth the peanut butter layer on top of the acai layer. Otherwise, spread the peanut butter layer on top of the acai layer as recklessly as you please.

Top with your favourite granola (the recipe for my fave is here) and some fruit (I used raspberries). Put the pan in the freezer and enjoy in the morning.