Pizza and Milkshakes!

Cam here!
I hope you are all well. Here in Anacortes I have heard rumblings that there is yet another round of the flu going around. We are doing our best to steer clear of it and I hope you are too!
I was blessed to be able to spend this last week with my sister in Arizona. I love getting together with her. We spent time relaxing in the sunshine (if you call entertaining babies by the pool, relaxing), shopping, enjoying Whole Foods, and of course, making lots of dirty dishes in the kitchen! She inspired me with some fun smoothie recipes, pampered me with some homemade orange blossom lotion (recipe here), and experimented with me on some homemade face powder (recipe here). We love the face powder! Made only with ingredients you can find in your kitchen, it makes my face glow! We're talking angelically bronzed!
With all the hard work we were doing, we needed some hard core sustenance and some major cravings satisfied. The solution? Pizza and chocolate milkshakes. Really. Ok, not your typical pizza and milkshakes. But yummy pizza and indulgent chocolate shakes.
As you know, we do our best to stay away from things like gluten, dairy, soy, and most grains. For a few articles on why, check these out by Dr. Mercola, here and here; and this one by Chris Kresser. One thing that is really important to note, is that with a clean diet, you should not expect that your new recipes will taste exactly like the "real" thing. They will be delicious and full of nutrition and help ease you in to a new "normal" food lifestyle, but are not an exact replacement for something you may be missing. Hopefully, over time, you will find, as I did, that your cravings will have changed to these more healthful and satisfying variations.
Enough about that, here's what we did.

Herbed Garbanzo Bean Flat bread and Arugula Pesto Pizza

For the flat bread, here's what you'll need.
2 cups warm water
1 1/2 cups garbanzo bean flour (Chickpea flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon your choice of herbs (we enjoy an Italian blend from the Market in Anacortes)
Freshly ground black pepper
Cast iron skillet

Pour water into a mixing bowl. Stir in the garbanzo bean flour. The batter will be very thin, but do not let that worry you. Cover the mixture with a paper towel or dish towel and let it sit for at least 2 hours or overnight. Stir in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbs. Heat oven to 425. Heat skillet in oven for 10 minutes. Remove the skillet from the oven and pour 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil in the skillet. Pour 2/3 cup of batter into the skillet, making sure that it spreads evenly. Bake until flat bread is crisp around the edges and golden on top. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Gently loosen flat bread and slide onto your pizza pan. Repeat until all batter is cooked.

Once your flat bread is ready, add on your toppings. We love to use arugula pesto for the sauce or base. You can find that recipe here. For toppings we added caramelized onions, Roma tomatoes, basil leaves, and goat cheese. Be flexible and creative and come up with your own delicious creation. Once your pizzas are assembled, bake at 425 for 10 minutes or until toppings are sizzling! Remove from oven and let cool for 2-3 minutes. Slice and enjoy!

The exciting thing about this flat bread recipe is how versatile it is. We have been known to use it not only for pizza, but for making yummy sausage breakfast sandwiches or as a great side to chicken salad.

On to desert!

Banana Chocolate Shake

Here's what you'll need.

1 ripe banana

1 Tablespoon cocoa powder

1/2 Teaspoon vanilla

1/2 Teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup almond milk

5 or 6 ice cubes.

Place all ingredients in your blender. Blend on high for about 30 seconds or until all ice is blended. Pour into your favorite big glass (we drank ours out of mason jars with a straw). Enjoy!

I was surprised at how much the texture of this was like a milkshake! And the flavor? Oh so yummy!

I hope you enjoy these