Vegan Banana Crepes, Crepes and Nut Butter Wraps

Hi Friends!

From Yesterday…
Thanks to everyone who gave me info about the Heart Rate Monitorsyou have.

As I mentioned, I had to return my Garmin because the chest strap just wasn’t fitting me properly and there was no way I was going to keep something that wasn’t perfectfor that kind of money.

It sounds like tons of you have and really like the Polar F6 and many of you have the Polar F4.  There were other brands and models recommended but I’d say at least 20 of you told me you have the Polar F6 and are happy with the Chest Strap.  Sounds like ladies who are a 32 or 34 ribcage can rock out the Polar chest strap with no slippage.  Not true with the Garmin, in my experience at least.

And to everyone who has found Thrifty or On-Sale Produce, love it.  

Other than farmer’s market finds and about to close down and pack up for the day specials at the farmer’s market, I usually never see On Sale or Reduced Price produce.  I guess I need to shop where you all are shopping!

Maybe you can find yourself some Thrifty Bananas and whip up a batch of Vegan Mint Chocolate Chip Softserve

Truly the highlight of my 200 emails yesterday was everyone’s 5 Coming Clean Facts.  I really like to Keep It Real and there’s no sense lying to ourselves, or others, or putting on false airs.  Just be honest since most everyone has probably thought, or done, what you do anyway!  Here’s a few things that kept coming up:
I mentioned that I wear the same outfit to the gym all the time (I wash it daily) but I have a broken in, super comfy outfit that I live in.  Many of you do too it sounded like.

Splenda.  Lots of fans of it.  Me too.   Why? I just like the super-sweet taste of it.  I use sugar and stevia but I also use Splenda.  I also use Yacon Syrup, Agave, Maple, Dates, you name it, I am not afraid of sweeteners.   And really, who cares what someone else uses to sweeten their coffee with when there’s starving children in Africa and global warming.   I thing putting our collective energy towards bigger issues than Splenda is a good goal!

Off the Top of my Head here are a Few Other Good Honest Revelations I read in the comments:

I want to be a personal trainer but only want to train women
I hate people just “dropping by”
I have to walk on a certain side of my husband
I have no patience for my parents
I have no patience for people taking their time in crosswalks
I go for very long periods of time without showering
I go for a week without washing my hair
I will re-wear dirty socks that are favorites if I am going on a long run
I don’t answer my phone and let it go to voicemail because I don’t like talking
I watch marathon amounts of TV shows
I eat entire bags of chips before my boyfriend can have 1 chip
I am planning to have a heart-to-heart with a friend when the time is right
I drink Diet Soda (lots of you said this, at least 15 of you I’d say)
I walked out of Whole Foods accidentally without paying for my Hot Bar food once

 I hate people in my kitchen

So there you have it.  Some very good stuff.  However, I was a little bummed no one told me they want to sleep with their co-worker.   And no one told me they have one “friend” that drives them nuts.  Kidding! 

Moving On…
I have been thoroughly enjoying my new Ani book that I reviewed here

I’ve been inspired to take some of her ideas and tweak, change, and adapt some of her recipes to suit my own needs.  Her banana crepe recipe looked great, but I played around with it and added some things and changed the ratios.  I know Gena also recently made some vegan crepes.  And Gina has a crepes recipe, too.  As a high raw, gluten free vegan, it’s hard to find crepe recipes that don’t have eggs or gluten-containing flour.  So this recipe will hopefully keep all the GF Vegans happy!

[print_this]

Vegan Banana Crepes (adapted from Ani Phyo’s Raw Food Essentials)

1/2 C Ground Flax Meal (or 1/2 C Whole Flax Seeds that you grind)
3 Ripe Bananas
1/2 C Sugar (you can omit this, reduce/add.  Since I am making crepes, a dessert, I sugared it up)
1/2 C Water (start with 1/4 C but you will probably need 1/2 C.  Batter should be thick-ish, but not like sludge.  The flax seeds are going to “drink” lots of water and the batter will get thicker by the minute)
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
Optional: pinch of cinnamon, maca, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, ginger, cardamom or any other “warming” spice.  

[/print_this]

First, Grind Flax Seeds if using Whole Flax Seeds

To the Ground Flax Seeds/Flax Meal, add the rest of the ingredients and some of the water, and blend.  If you need more water, use your judgment, add a splash more and blendagain.

15 seconds after I started, 5 seconds to grind the seeds, 10 seconds to blend the rest, here’s the batter

Spread onto two lined Dehydrator Trays.

Dehydrate.  My comfort level with dehydrating is max temp (165F) so that’s what I used.   About 5 hours.   Raw Purist I am not.  Most raw purists eschew anything over 115 or so.

After 5 hours, I flipped it over and dehydrated another 2 hours.

A mere 7 hours later, finally done.  This is why I use max temp.  I don’t have the patience for the lower temps, i.e. 105 or 115F.

You could of course eat it like a Fruit-Roll-Up, a Vegan Banana Fruit Roll Up and it’s more than awesome tasting just like this!  Kids and grown ups alike clamor for these!

I filled some of them with Frozen Tru-Whip

 Rolled up and Garnished with Blueberries and Vanilla Agave

For something really easy and makes a great car-snack, I’ve been making banana crepe wraps.

Not these Fresh Vegan Spring Roll Wraps with 2-Minute Homemade Peanut Sauce Wraps

I’ve been making Vegan Banana Crepe and Peanut Butter Wraps

Schmear PB, Roll Up, Eat.

Repeat. Schmear PB, Roll Up, Eat.  Give to hungry kid in the backseat.  Silence ensues.  Golden, sweet, silence.  Use your favorite nut butter.  If you’re a sunflower seed butter fan, that would be awesome in them as would almond butter.

The Vegan Banana Crepes remind me in many ways of my 3-Ingredient Raw Vegan Caramels  Super good on their own…

…But Nut Butter Filled Caramel Bites are even better!

Do you like crepes?  Have you ever made them? 

Have you ever tried banana crepes or vegan/gluten free crepes?   What do you like to stuff them with?

I have memories from my childhood eating crepes on vacation with a ridiculous amount of strawberry sauce, blueberry sauce, maple syrup, whipped cream, and powdered sugar.  Sugar much?  And I still savor the memory so I took a stab at re-creating something that works for my dietary path now.