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An Ode To Oatmeal
I am a cruel blogger, I know. Every Wednesday, I share delicious looking waffles with you knowing that many of you can’t make them yourselves. There is a shortage of waffle makers in kitchens across the globe. Where is the government lobby for this??
So this week, I am sharing another delicious breakfast that you can make at home! All you need is a microwave or a pot, a love for carbohydrates, and a little creativity ;)
My friends, today we are talking oatmeal. The following is an assortment of some of my most notable bowls to date. There is a vast array of combos you can do and I hope these only ignite ideas of your own! Be forewarned – I need protein in my oats to satisfy my belly.
As a side note, the above photo seems other-worldly to me. That majestic river and greenery used to be the view out my window in New Brunswick. Now I step out the door and am assaulted by noise and traffic. Ahhhh, city livin’ ;)
Onward to the hot creamy carbfest!
Birthday Oats
- 1 packet multi grain instant oats
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 sliced banana
- 1/2 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
- 1 tbsp peanut butter
- mini marshmallows
- sprinkles!!
I ate these on my birthday, hence the name ;)
Custard Oats
Oatmeal with a whole egg cooked in. Read the step by step guide here!
Candy Oats
M&Ms, peanut butter, coconut. Mini Eggs also welcome!
PB&J Oats
As a nod to the PB&J sandwich, I like to sandwich half the toppings in the middle.
Savoury Oats
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup water
- pinch salt
- 1 tsp Earth Balance
- 1 breakfast sausage,sliced and stirred into oats
- 1 fried egg
- lotsa saaaahlsa
Don’t Try This At Home Oats
When attempting to make steel cut oats overnight in your ginormous slow-cooker, I suggest making a LARGE batch. Smaller bathes apparently just get crusty. Unless you want oat crackers.
Sweet n’ Salty Oats
Rolled oats cooked on the stove top with water and protein powder, then topped with chocolate chips, peanut butter and pretzels.
Oat Bran
A much creamier version of oatmeal and quick cooking!
Fluffernutter Oats
Marshamallow fluff + peanut butter. Or in this case, made better with chocolate peanut butter.
Oats Topped With Oats
Creamy custard oats topped with crunchy granola and molasses. In this case, Beek’s coconut chia granola.
Frosted Oats
Instant oats zapped with water and frozen berries, topped with a sweet vanilla yogurt.
Mocha Oats
- 2/3 cup oat bran
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 2/3 scoop chocolate whey powder
- 1 package Via instant coffee
- chocolate chips
- roasted almonds
- coconut
Reduces morning sweats that may occur when attempting to eat hot oatmeal and drink hot coffee at the same time.
Scottish Oatmeal
Like a finer cut and faster cooking steel-cut oatmeal. This is Bob’s Red Mill.
Oats In A Jar
If you hate the hard bottom part of a nut butter jar like me, this solves your problem. Pouring hot oatmeal into a glass jar melts it and mixes it in!
Oatmeal & Yogurt Parfait
Top oatmeal with fresh or frozen fruit.
Add yogurt, cereal, nuts or nut butter.
Dig in to the layers!
Cream of Wheat
Okay, technically not oatmeal but a wonderful hot breakfast packed full of iron!
Welcome to autumn bloggie friends! It may not be waffles, but I hope you get to enjoy some warm breakfasts this week :)
Question of the Day: What’s your favourite way to eat oatmeal? I like it custard-style with rolled oats, cashew butter, maple syrup, dates and coconut!
~~~Thursday is your last day to vote for my Scottish-inspired Project Food Blog post! Click here to vote for me (and others!) $10,000 is up for grabs!~~~
Tim Tam Slam
Helloooo!! I feel like it’s been forever since I sat down to write a normal blog. Ohhhh and how normal I’ve been all week. After a long weekend filled with excitement, I’ve been thrown head first into a very busy work week. No complaints though. What else would I be doing with my time? Watching Teen Mom?? I came to Toronto to do things, so doing is what I’m… erm… doing ;)
Most of my breakfasts this week have been rushed and eaten on the go. Thankfully, near-empty nut butter jars make for excellent portable dishware ;)
This was my first crack at overnight oats/yogurt in a jar. It had about 2/3 cup yogurt with 1/4 cup raw oats, raisins, coconut, cinnamon, protein powder, and of course the >1 tbsp almond butter left on the sides of the jar.
I must say, I was not a fan of this. The best thing about oats in a jar is that it melts the leftovers stuck on the side of the jar, thus making it easier to get every last bit. Instead I was just left with chunks of hard almond butter in my yogurt.
This morning, I made sure to put a hot meal in that glass jar.
What?? Who said oats in a jar is only for nut butters?
I put a small scoop of PB on the bottom for good luck.
Then poured in my hot oatmeal and topped with another tiny scoop of PB and blueberry jam for more good luck. Muuuuch better. The fluff got all melty and gave me a sugar jolt with my morning caffeine buzz ;)
Speaking of Fluff, I got word they don’t have the marshmallow treat in Australia. A sin really. So I sent off a jar to Laura to make her life complete, and in return she sent me a package chock full of Australian goodies!! I must share.
First up – Tim Tams. I’ve heard of the name, but never knew what they were. Until now.
They’re like a chocolate covered chocolate wafer cookies with a chocolate cream in the centre. Dreeeammy. Laura instructed me to You Tube “Tim Tam Slam.” I did. It was awesome. You can watch it here.
You will have to excuse the crinkled and open packages. My grubby hands got to them before my camera did!
Next up are Jaffas.
They’re kind of like a cross between a Smartie and an orange Skittle. Chocolate with a thick orange flavoured candy coating. Verrrry interesting!
And who can forget…
Dude, I didn’t know you could get this stuff in a tube!! Or that Kraft made it!
As the package suggests, Vegemite is a concentrated yeast extract. It smells pretty gross… and squeezes out thick.
Laura said to use it sparingly as it has a very strong flavour. I put some on my beer bread to pair up yeast flavours. It’s much more salty than I was expecting, but with a sweet undertone? I guess the only thing I could compare it to is soy sauce. We can buy Marmite in Canada, which is similar, but I’ve never had the guts to buy it! I think I might actually acquire a taste for this stuff :)
Thank you for the goodies Laura!! I <3 you too :)
September Goal Check-In
It’s been just over a week since we set our goals for September, now time to check in and see how we’re doing! Keeping you (and me!) in check ;)
1. Get organized. I’m religiously writing everything down in my agenda. It’s hard balancing out the schedules of nearly 20 clients, with a new part-time job, e-mails, blogging, getting a new certification, side projects, workouts, volunteering and a social life! I’m still dropping the ball on a few things though. There are a few items that keep getting pushed over on my to-do list, it’s time to finally cross them off!
2. Professional development. Lookie what I got this week!
My Nutrition & Wellness Specialist certification manual. This couldn’t have come at a better time for me. I’ve been in my new training job for two months now and studying about health and wellness again is injecting more life into my work. Not to mention, teaching me valuable and useful information that I can use in my job.
3. Turn on the oven. I did it once this week with the above beer bread. This week was a bit of a wash with meal planning because of the short week. Next week I’m kicking it into high gear.
4. Love my workouts. Ooohhh Nelly. Yes, I have been totally loving my workouts this week. But my body sure hasn’t been liking them! :P I took Sat/Sun off because of travel. Worked my back/biceps on Monday, then my legs on Tuesday. I was feeling a little sore on Wednesday, so stuck to an (amazing) Ashtanga Yoga class at my gym. Then I got sore. Real sore. For the sake of muscle repair, I took an unplanned rest day today while hobbling around training clients. This new workout split is fun, but kinda killing me. I may have to take it a bit slower!
Question of the Day: How are you doing on your monthly goals? Don’t have any yet? Make some!
See ya tomorrow for Fitness Friday!
Chocolate Tooth
You know how some people classify themselves as having either a sweet or a salty tooth?
Well I have a chocolate tooth.
I love most sweets, and am typically down for a salty snack, but chocolate is my one and only.
I’ve been waiting to pour hot oatmeal into this jar since the day I bought it. I specifically saved the near-empty jar for a treat upon my return from Chicago. Made better only by the addition of even more chocolate in the form of dark chocolate covered edamame from Trader Joe’s.
If you think this is enough to satisfy my raging chocolate tooth, you are unfortunately mistaken. I tear through any and all chocolate at an astonishing rate. I have a piece after every single meal (sometimes even after a chocolate breakfast!).
There’s been an abnormal amount of chocolate in my house these past few days as a result of the stellar swag bag I received at the Healthy Living Summit. These Adora disks are calcium infused hunks of the good stuff. Texture is not quite up to snuff, but I’ll still take it!
When I was a kid, my mom always used to separate my Halloween candy into three bags: chips, chocolate bars, and the rest of the candy. Guess which bag always emptied first?
Adding healthy stuff is really not helping the cause either. As if I need another excuse to eat chocolate!
These Attune bars have priobiotic in them. When chatting with the Attune rep at the Healthy Living Summit, I told her we didn’t get them in Canada and she proceeded to give me a handful of free bars. I think my eyes glazed over.
Of all the food pairings in world, I would have to say chocolate + coffee is my favourite. Yes, even more than banana + peanut butter, or even chocolate + peanut butter. My favourite time to eat chocolate is with my morning coffee. I take a nibble, then let the coffee melt it in my mouth. It’s a near religious experience.
Angela totally got it right with this chocolate and coffee Glo Bar. Of the flavours I’ve tasted, this is so far my favourite.
As a side note, this ode to chocolate was in no way planned. When uploading my photos tonight, I realized that it’s the only food I deemed worthy to photograph over the past few days. Go figure!
I guess we all have a little Homer Simpson in us ;)
Question of the Day: What is that one food you eat over and over and never get sick of??
