oatmeal for dinner [ recipe ]

After being a crazy woman for the past 8 weeks, it feels SO weird to not be studying right now. I can sit back, relax, and not feel guilty about watching old America’s Next Top Model episodes.

Other things I don’t feel guilty about… eating oatmeal for dinner. Since I’m leaving the city Tuesday for vacation and haven’t had much time to plan out meals there’s very little food in my apartment…….

And sometimes you just want a comforting warm bowl of yummy oatmeal on a cold and rainy new york evening.

good enough for dinner apple cinnamon oatmeal

ingredients:

• 1 cup + 1/2 cup of almond milk (I used vanilla for extra flavor)
• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1 apple, cut up
• lots of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of honey

directions:

1. In a medium sized sauce pan heat 1 cup of almond milk, the oatmeal, chia seeds, the apple mix with a few shakes of cinnamon over medium heat.
2. Keep stirring the mixture until it starts to thicken (if you’re like me you will probably freak out that it’s soooo watery and you did something wrong. Don’t worry, it will thicken!)
3. Once the mixture thickens add the addition 1/2 cup of almond milk and honey.
4. Stir until the mixture becomes thick once again. Add additional cinnamon if desired.

I keep telling myself, “I’ll start going legit food shopping once I’m back from vacation”. Until then I’ll enjoy oatmeal for dinner instead 🙂

 

What’s your favorite way to enjoy oatmeal?

For me this is definitely my favorite hot oatmeal recipe I’ve ever made, but in the summer time I’m a huge fan of overnight oats

this is halloween

Disneyland Halloween was a huge success!

Our Moonrise Kingdom costumes were a hit:

ha aren’t we precious?

And we even found another Moonrise couple!

My friend David and I had an amazing day at Disneyland and California Adventure. If you ever have the chance to go to Disney Halloween I highly recommend it. The Haunted Mansion is COMPLETELY redone to incorporate Nightmare Before Christmas. Space Mountain has a new scary twist that got me screaming. There is candy everywhereeee. Fabulous firework display. Everyone is dressed up in ridiculous costumes. And best of all? The park isn’t very crowded since only a limited number of tickets are sold. There is nothing better than only waiting 10 minutes to ride Space Mountain!

 

Trick or Treating around Disneyland put me in the Halloween spirit!

 

I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with a can of pumpkin I got from Trader Joe’s a few weeks ago. I love all things pumpkin, but the 80 degree Cali weather doesn’t exactly scream pumpkin spice lattes…

Enter, almond pumpkin pancakes.

(I was only able to get one semi decent picture of my food before I gobbled it all up)

I decided to experiment with my old favorite almond pancakes and add a bit of pumpkin flavor

• 1/2 cup of almond flour
• 2 tablespoons almond butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin spice
• 1/4 cup of canned pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon honey

1. spray canola oil on pan and heat on a low-med setting

2. Whisk together the ingredients into pancake batter

3. use a laddle to pour out 3-4 pancakes onto the pan.

Flip once one side is golden-y brown.

 

the pumpkin flavor is subtle, but the overall pancake is much more moist than the original recipe. I couldn’t eat these ‘cakes fast enough.

I enjoyed dipping them into maple syrup mixed with pumpkin butter (thanks trader joe’s!). Delicious.

Now I gotta figure out what to do with the rest of my canned pumpkin….

What’s your favorite pumpkin recipe?

worth waking up for & breakfast veggies

There are very few exercise classes that will get my butt outta bed and to the fitness studio by 7:15AM.

That class is intenSati. Ever since my first  experience I’ve been hooked. Before I even moved to California I researched nearby classes, excited at the prospect of getting to practice regularly here. At first I was hesitant about the early early class time and trying out a fitness studio rather than my beloved Crunch Gym… but now I am hooked.

And as an added bonus my love of intenSati has led me to a new love, Swerve Studio.

While I love my gym, Swerve is quickly becoming my new fitness home. The studio has thoroughly impressed me with their classes, instructors and vibrant community. For a gal like me who is particularly fond of dance-y fitness classes, this place is heaven. On top of that this place is incredibly welcoming and friendly, something I haven’t felt much being the new girl in town. While it might not be for everyone, this studio offers some great and unique classes and I highly recommend checking it out.

—

One of my favorite things about working out early in the morning is that it leaves me the rest of the day to do whatever else I need to do. Obviously last year that was going to my college classes all day, and during the summer it was going to work… but right now it’s great to have the rest of the day to run errands and of course course NASM

An early morning trip to Target to pick up some costume pieces for the awesome halloween costumes my friend David and I will be wearing at Disneyland tomorrow….

[source]

and time to make a delicious breakfast.

I have a few confessions to make: 1) I’m guilty of buying lots of food that I never end up consuming before it goes bad 2) I am terribleee at eating my veggies.

The solution: green monster over night oats. 

I’m not a fan of drinking a smoothie for breakfast– too much liquid with my morning caffeine, but I’ve always been intrigued by the spinach in a smoothie phenomenon. Really, you don’t taste it when you blend it up?

This delicious recipe confirmed that no, you don’t taste the spinach, you just taste awesomeness.

recipe courtesy of oh she glows

• 1 handful of baby spinach
• 1 large ripe banana
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of chia seeds
• 1 cup almond milk (vanilla in my case)
• 1/3 cup of oats
• and I added a spoonful of honey

>>Blend all the ingredients minus the oats. You will freak out and wonder if you will be able to taste the spinach, I assure you, it will all taste yummy in the end 🙂

>> mix the smoothie + oats in a bowl, stick in the freezer over night (or in my case about an hour…)

Top with whatever sounds good and enjoy.

My toppings of choice were a spoonful almond butter (or 3) & a handful of granola.

perfect yummy breakfast post workout AND got me to eat some veggies! My mama will be so proud.

good to the last drop.

Ah now it’s time to quit pracrastinating and head to the library for more studying. I swear, the first 2 chapters were easy peasy and then suddenly WHAM lots of science-y things to learn!

any suggestions for sneaky ways to eat my veggies?

what fitness class is worth waking up super early for?

cooking in cali

Today was all about eating cleaner (and not spending so much money eating out)

After a butt kicking workout this morning I had cool and refreshing over night oats waiting for me in the fridge.

I topped the oats off with a spoonful of peanut butter and a handful of peanut butter puffins and enjoyed them while soaking up the beautiful weather.

overnight oats are always a great meal post workout.

And then I got adventurous for dinner. Meet my new bff, the food processor. How I have been deprived of this awesome gadget all these years? This thing is awesome and super easy to use.

First up in the food processor was a strawberry salad dressing courtesy of Oh She Glows

mix up 1 cup of strawberries (washed and cut), 1/4 cup fresh basil, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1-2 teaspoons maple sugar and some salt and pepper in the food processor then voila, you’ve got a delicious strawberry dressing.

My salad consisted of spinach, strawberries, almonds and pumpkin seeds.

In addition to the salad a put a new spin on my favorite simple chicken salad. Instead of using mayo, I made a macadamia nut garlic paste instead.

in the food processor goes 1 cup macadamia nuts, 2 garlic cloves, 1/2  teaspoon salt. Mix it up before adding 2/3 cup of olive oil.

My chicken salad was plain and simple, just chicken, grapes, and yummy macadamia nut paste.

The chicken I used in it from trader joe’s was a bit meh. With better chicken this dish will be perfect. Good thing my boyfriend is on the other side of the country because I loveee a good garlicky meal 🙂

My favorite way to eat chicken salad is with carr’s crackers

of course I had to call my mom after to brag about successfully making a delicious nutritious meal. Hey this is a big deal for a gal who’s afraid of the kitchen!

Day 27 Do you use any meal replacements or shakes?

I’m not big on liquid meals and the feeling of having all that liquid in mah belly. I sometimes make protein smoothies as a mid day snack / pick me up.

Anyone have a favorite food processor recipe? I’m obsessed!