Strawberry Vanilla Protein Oats (Slow Cooker Style)

So is it Spring or isn't it?! Mother Nature is seeming a little confused these days. One day it's warm and sunny and the next it's gray and frigid. We had some glimpses of Springtime weather on Tuesday morning and since then have pretty much been experiencing a monsoon.....okay, so maybe I'm being a wee bit dramatic, but we've had some crazy thunder, rainy downpours and the weatherman is calling for a chance of wet snow or freezing rain today today. AWESOME {enter sarcasm here} I think we can all agree that we are done with winter and want the snow to take a hike, but it just doesn't seem to want to let us go. I bought a couple {read: five} new pairs of flats that I'm dying to wear, but I made an attempt with them yesterday and my feet received a royal soaking. Today, I'm back to boots.

My cravings have been all over the board because of this weather too. One day I'm craving fresh green salads with lots of veggies and my favourite honey dijon dressing and the next day I'm thinking about making a crockpot full of veggie stew.

Last night, I decided that I needed to make a crockpot full of steel cut oatmeal for breakfast. I decided to try a new strawberry vanilla combo, so I could get a little Springtime with the berries while at the same time getting the warm and cozy comfort of the oatmeal. This combo turned out to be delicious!

I also decided to add some protein powder to my oats, which is something I've never done before. I recently became a member of Team Vega {an entire post dedicated to this amazing company and their equally amazing products will be coming very soon} and they provided me with a sample pack of products to try - I decided that their Vega One French Vanilla Nutritional Shake powder would be a perfect compliment to my strawberry oats. This flavour is the bomb-digity of protein powders!!!!!

What I ended up with was an amazing new oatmeal that I insist you've got to try. It's Springtime meets comfort food and it is SO.GOOD!!!!!

Strawberry Vanilla Slow Cooker Protein Oats

Serves 2

1/2 c steel cut oats

1 c unsweetened original almond milk (or milk of your choice)

3/4 c water

1 package vanilla-flavoured protein powder

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 c frozen sliced strawberries (fresh would probably work)

Optional Toppings: favourite nut butter, maple syrup, coconut or chopped pecans

Note: I used my small hot dip slow cooker for this recipe. It works perfectly or you could use Janetha's instructions here for using a larger sized slow cooker.

Grease your slow cooker with coconut oil or non-stick spray.

Add all of the ingredients to the slow cooker and stir well to combine.

Cook on low for 8 hours.

Serve and enjoy. Sometimes I like to add a spoonful of plain non-fat Greek yogourt to my oats and sometimes I eat them topped with chopped fruit, a drizzle of syrup (perfect way to add more sweetness for all you sweet lovers out there) or a big glob of melty nut butter. Either way will rock your socks off!

I prepare my oatmeal in the evening and let the slow cooker simmer away all night long. When I get up in the morning, I open my bedroom door to the mouthwatering aroma of freshly made oatmeal. It's such a nice way to start your day!

Are you craving fresh produce and all foods associated with Spring or are you still enjoy all the comfort foods of winter?

Have a great day!!

Andrea

xoxo

Baked Cinnamon Pear Steel Cut Oats

Oatmeal is quickly becoming my breakfast obsession for the winter of 2012-13. I really don't remember what I did before I discovered the awesomeness that is steel cut oats. They're so versatile and I've been finding myself making all sorts of oatmeal concoctions in the slow cooker, on the stove top and now baked up in a warm and delicious casserole.

This, my friends, is what comfort food for breakfast looks like.  I decided to change things up a bit because I've been obsessively cooking with pumpkins and apples since September, so pears were my fruit of choice this time 'round. I combined fresh pears with cinnamon and Sucanat and the result was an ooey gooey fruit explosion tucked away under a hearty oatmeal topper.

Baked Cinnamon Pear Steel Cut Oats
Serves 4 - 5

2 large pears, chopped
2 tsp cinnamon
1 c steel cut oats
2 c almond milk (or soy milk, coconut milk, dairy milk)
3 tbsp Sucanat (or brown sugar)
1 tsp vanilla
pinch sea salt

Preheat your oven to 400 and grease a medium-sized casserole dish.

Place the chopped pears in a bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon of the Sucanat and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon. Mix until the pears are well coated and pour into the bottom of the casserole dish.

Sprinkle the steel cut oats over the pears.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, the remaining cinnamon, Sucanat and vanilla. Pour over the oats and pears.

Cover your dish and bake for 45 to 55 minutes until the liquid is absorbed.

Ooey gooey goodness.

Top your oatmeal with your fave toppings such as maple syrup, chopped walnuts, coconut or raisins. My favourite way was to top it with some plain non-fat Greek yogourt drizzled with just a teeny weeny bit of maple syrup or honey.   

Store the leftovers in your refrigerator and re-heat in the microwave for a quick, CLEAN and healthy weekday breakfast.

What's your favourite oatmeal topping?

Have a great day,

Andrea

xoxo

What I Ate {on my birthday} Wednesday

Good morning! How are ya?!

Yesterday was my birthday and I had an absolutely great day. Derek and I celebrated over the weekend with a special dinner, some shopping and a movie, so yesterday was pretty much an ordinary day except for the fact that I received so many birthday wishes and lots of love from the people who mean the most to me in this world.

Birthday flowers:

I feel extremely blessed to have so many amazing people ~ friends & family ~ in my life!!

We went out to eat several times over the weekend, so all I wanted yesterday was some good, CLEAN homecookin'. You know that I started my 'clean eating' journey on Monday and I really wanted to stick to it! My plan is for clean eats to become my lifestyle, it's not just some temporary diet that I'm going to follow. I need to figure out how to maintain my clean eating habits over holidays and special occasions, so I decided that my birthday was a great way to challenge myself to make a healthy, clean and delicious birthday dinner.

Here's a recap of my meals from the big day!

  Birthday Breakfast   I made one of my faves: Pumpkin Pie Slow Cooked Steel Cut Oats   

   It's a decadent way to start any morning!   In order to clean the recipe up, I submitted honey for the brown sugar. The flavour was just as delish!     Lunch   Being the good girl that I am ;-), I brown bagged it and spent my lunch break walking around the downtown with my good friend, Lisa. Afterwards, I ate my lunch at the office.   Roasted Sweet Potato Salad Clementines Pumpkin Amazeballs  

    Birthday Dinner   Plant Power Pumpkin Alfredo with brown rice pasta and a Greek salad  

  Dessert: An Edible Arrangement that my parents had delivered to me at work!  

{oy, please excuse my very messy office!}

   Thank you, as always, to Miss Jenn for continuing to host our weekly Wednesday party.  

Do you like to go out or eat in on your birthday?

 

Enjoy your day!

 

Andrea

xoxo

 

 

   

Pumpkin Love + an Oatmeal Recipe

Hiya!

I know that we are completely flooded with all things pumpkin this time of year, but I hope you aren't quite sick of it yet!

I bought a sugar pumpkin a few weeks ago with the intention of making my own pumpkin puree and finally got around to doing just that on Sunday afternoon. For a great photo tutorial on how to roast a sugar pumpkin and make your own homemade pumpkin puree, check our Ange's post here. I spent $1 on the pumpkin and it ended up making about 2 1/2 cups of puree....not too shabby considering a can of pumpkin puree can cost up to $3.99 around here!

Not only do I luuuurrvvvee the flavour of pumpkin spice anything, I absolutely adore pumpkin for all of it's health benefits too:

 * 1 cup of pure pumpkin puree has over 200% of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin A
 * pumpkin is rich in carotenoids, including beta carotene (antioxidant!!)
 * pumpkin in a good source of fibre, packing 7g into each cup
 * pumpkin is packed with potassium (move over bananas)
 * pumpkin aids your pooch if he/she is having some trouble with *ahem* the scoots
 * the seeds are rich in calcium & zinc
 * pumpkin is low in fat and calories
 * every part of the pumpkin can be used in some form, so there is absolutely NO waste

- check out Gina's tips on how to use an entire pumpkin from seeds to skin here

As soon as the pumpkin puree was made, I gave each of my poochies a big ol' scoop with their dinners and got to work making myself a breakfast for Monday morning.

Um....I don't mean to toot my own horn here, but there is seriously no better way to start your morning than with this oatmeal. It takes 5 minutes to make and is absolutely delicious!

Pumpkin Pie Slow Cooked Steel Cut Oats
Serves 2

1/2 c steel cut oats
1 c unsweetened almond milk (or regular milk)
3/4 c water
1/2 c pumpkin puree
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp Earth Balance (or butter)

Place everything into your crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours.

I used my little dipper crockpot again, which is the perfect size for this oatmeal recipe.

I topped my bowl of oatmeal with chopped walnuts.

Hands down the best oatmeal recipe that I have ever made.

If you love pumpkin as much as I do, I'm pretty sure you're going to love these recipes too:

 - Jenna's Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
 - Angela's Vegan Pumpkin Mac N Cheeze
 - Jessica's Roasted Pecan Pumpkin Butter
 - Sommer's Southwest Spicy Pumpkin Soup
 - Sarah's Pumpkin Streusel Swirl Loaf

What's your favourite Fall flavour?

Have a great day!

Andrea
xoxo

Quick & Easy Breakfasts + an Oatmeal Recipe

Hi and Happy Friday!

You may have noticed that there's been a lot of talk about healthy and packable lunches recently due to the start of the new school year. I've loved checking out the ideas and I'll be trying out some new lunches for Derek and I just to mix things up a bit. I cannot eat the same thing day after day!!

For me, BREAKFAST is where it's at. Hands down it's my favourite meal of the day. I get up each day looking forward to a delicious and satisfying breakfast and on the weekends, there is nothing better than heading out with family and friends to a leisurely brunch. I just love, love, love it!

You've probably heard before that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. After a rest period of several hours during the night, our bodies need fuel, so that our muscles and brains are able to function at their best. Eating within the first hour of waking is a great way to give your body the energy it requires to start your day off on the right foot.

Breakfast doesn't have to be complicated. It doesn't have to be made up of some sugar-laden processed cereal, pastry or bar either. I've compiled a list of my favourite breakfasts that are quick, easy and healthy. I eat breakfast every single day and I am that girl who is always running 5 minutes late for work. If I can make time, then so can you!

Greek Yogourt with Fruit and Granola

Overnight Baked French Toast

Toasted Multigrain Bagel with Light Cream Cheese

Bananarama Protein Pancakes

Classic Green Smoothie

Toasted Egg and Cheese Sandwich

Egg White Scramble with Veggies

Breakfast Burritos

Toasted Tomato Sandwich

Breakfast Cookie

Peach Vanilla Chai Smoothie Bowl

Toast with Peanut Butter and Banana Slices

Overnight Oats in a Jar (OOIAJ)

Healthy Monkey Bread (this is a new one that I am SURE is awesome!)

Cottage Cheese with Chopped Fruit (I like peaches) & cinnamon

Breakfast Tostadas

Leftover Pizza ;)

Kashi Go Lean with Lowfat Milk or Almond Milk

Banana Coconut Slow Cooked Oats

*Some of these ideas are mine and some originally came from other bloggers who I respect and follow regularly. I have added the links wherever applicable.*

As you know, I've been loving oatmeal lately and cooking up a batch of steel cut oats in the slow cooker is such a great idea during the week. It takes about 5 minutes to throw your ingredients together before you go to bed and when you wake up, you have an a healthy and delicious breakfast ready and waiting.

Here is my latest oatmeal concoction ~

Zucchini Bread Slow Cooked Steel Cut Oats
Serves 2

This recipe was inspired by Janetha's Slow Cooked Apple Cinnamon Oats and Angela's Zucchini Bread Oatmeal. It is a perfect breakfast for a cold Fall morning. It's hearty and delicious and will keep you satisfied for hours.

1/2 c steel cut oats
1 c unsweetened original almond milk (you could use regular milk)
1 c water
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp Earth Balance (or butter)
1 c grated zucchini

*Note: I used a small hot dip crockpot for this recipe. If you don't have one, see Janetha's instructions here for using a larger crockpot*

Place all of the ingredients into your crockpot and stir to combine.

Turn your crockpot on low and cook for 8 - 9 hours.

Spoon into your bowls and top with chopped walnuts, cinnamon and an additional dab of Earth Balance (as per Angela's instructions). Serve and enjoy.

This is a 'stick to your ribs' kinda breakfast that will keep you satisfied for hours.

Sticky, sweet zucchini bread awesomeness in every bite!

What's your favourite breakfast for days when you are on the go?

Have a GREAT Friday!!

Andrea
xoxo

Blueberry Coconut Almond Ballz

Happy Tuesday ---- T-minus 3 days 'til I start a 4-day weekend {not that I'm counting or anything ;-)}

Do you ever find inspiration at the oddest times?? I was home alone Saturday night and as I sat watching the Olympics on TV, my stomach started grumbling for some munchies. I remembered a recipe I'd seen earlier in the week, so I pulled out my trusty lap top and decided it was the perfect time for some kitchen creativity. So what if it was 9:51 p.m. on Saturday night --- yes, the time did catch my eye lol --- don't hate me 'cuz I'm such a crazy-ass party animal!

To me, veggies & dip or chopped fruit don't always cut it when I'm looking for some snackage. I want something that says 'sinful' to my brain but is easy on my waistline. I originally saw a recipe for Banana Berry Snack Balls on The Lean Green Bean and they instantly caught my eye because I love me some balls......

{insert smirk}

Seriously though, these little morsels are healthy, clean and satisfying. They definitely met my criteria for a sin-less sweet treat. I did some tweaking and personalized the recipe to include some of my must-have ingredients (hello coconut!). The result was pretty darn fabulous.

Blueberry Coconut Almond Ballz

Recipe adapted from Lindsay's Banana Berry Snack Balls

Makes 12 balls

1 banana, mashed

1 c oats

1/2 c blueberries

4 tbsp all natural almond butter

1/3 unsweetened shredded coconut

1 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 - 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl and gently combine without squishing the blueberries. I used frozen berries which makes it a little easier to fold in.

Spoon out 12 balls (approximately 1.5" in diameter) and place onto a plate lined with parchment paper. Freeze the balls and then transfer them to a resealable freezer bag. Store in the freezer.

Remove from freezer when you are ready to snack and let them thaw for at least 15 minutes before chowing down.

YUMMMMMY!

These are also really tasty when crumbled into some plain non-fat Greek yogourt.

What's your favourite late night snack?

Have a great day!

Andrea

xoxo

The 21 Day Crazy Sexy Diet Cleanse

Happy Tuesday everyone - yayyy for short weeks (anyone who had a holiday yesterday knows what I'm talkin' about)!

Before I get all deep and thoughtful, I want to give a shout out to Angela at Oh She Glows --- I just finished downing a bowl of her Sweet Potato Oatmeal <Breakfast> Casserole it was sooooo good!! There are days when I just love having breakfast for dinner. I followed her recipe exactly, so I'm not going to reiterate it here. All I am going to say is if you love sweet potato casserole, duh ~ who doesn't?? and you love oatmeal, this casserole is for you.

....and now on to deeper more pressing issues:

Do you have any idea what it’s like to feel blissfully whole and comfortable in your skin? Do you know what it’s like to be centered and grounded yet filled with an abundant supply of zippy energy?

These are two questions that are asked by author Kris Carr on her website http://www.crazysexydiet.com/.

My answer: No!! I don't know what it would be like to feel blissfully whole & comfortable in my skin and No! I don't know what it's like to be centered and grounded nor have I ever felt full of "zippy energy (except when I was maybe like 5 years old)!!"

Do I want these things: Hell Yes!!

This weekend my sweet mom drove me around to 3 different Chapters bookstores so I could buy Kris Carr's book, Crazy Sexy Diet. I am just finishing Chapter 2 and already I am feeling really excited about the possibilities should I be able to follow the principles set out in this book.

My plan right now is to finish reading the book this week and then embark on the 21 day cleanse. I've never tried stuck to this type of plan, but I'm feeling ready and motivated and this time I am going to do it fully, completely and with an open heart and mind.

Body image has always been a sensitive issue for me. I have to work really hard and be very careful about what I eat in order to maintain a figure that I am happy with. I just have to look at a Boston Cream Donut and I swear that an inch is added to my bum.

I had a lot of success with Weight Watchers a few years back, but in order to shed the pounds, I primarily ate grilled cheese sandwiches using Weight Watchers bread, butter flavoured Pam instead of butter and light cheese slices. Healthy?? I think not. 

A few years have now passed since shedding the pounds and here I am a few pounds heavier finding all my pants to be just a little bit snugger. My dilemma now is that I am much more aware about what I am putting in my mouth and the long-term impact of the food choices that I make, so a Weight Watchers grilled cheese just isn't going to cut it. 

So, I am going to try to stick to eating healthy, whole, organic when possible foods to see if I can get myself and my body back on track. I really want to know, does this change in eating really give you the healthy glow I've been reading about from all my favourite bloggers? ~  because if it does I wanna get me some of that!!

There are no more "diets" for this chickie-poo - only healthy eating and conscious habits like less TV and more exercise!! I'm going to create a new page on my blog that is going to chronicle my 21 day journey - so check back often and chime in with your thoughts and encouragement...& appropriate recipes if you have some!

I'm looking forward to taking this journey with you!!

Andrea