Overnight Oats

Good morning! It has been so interesting having to keep a food diary for the past week and a half. It really helps me to balance out my meals and reminds me what else I need to eat that day. Not to mention it encourages me to add variety to my diet. Because I've been recording every meal, I'm now motivated to try to photograph and post here more often. We will see how that goes. :-)

This morning I had overnight swiss oats for breakfast. Last night I let soak in the fridge 1/2 cup oats with 1/2 cup soymilk, a couple tablespoons of walnuts, and some cinnamon. This morning I added about half a container of soy yogurt, 1/2 a banana, and a couple chopped Medjool dates.

It turned out to be so creamy and delicious! The dates really added the perfect chew and sweetness. I think other dried fruit like raisins or cranberries would have the same effect. Must remember that next time.

Breakfast Concoctions

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, and hence the one that I photograph most often. The only thing is that I keep taking pics in the morning but forget to upload them to my computer. So today I have a few to post.

At Whole Foods last week, I found these waffles and decided to give them a try.


Ever since I had to eliminate dairy from my diet, waffles and pancakes just haven't been the same to me. So this time, I tried to add a little more flavor excitement with yogurt, a pear, and walnuts. Sure enough, it hit the spot!


This is the yogurt I used - a new-to-me brand. Not bad! Next time I want to try their other flavors.


I finished it off with the rest of my pear and some walnuts.


Another day last week I had one of my new favorite oatmeal combinations: oats made on the stove with soy milk and cinnamon, topped with ground flax seeds, walnuts, banana, blueberries (SOUR ones, bleh), and almond butter. Trust me, there IS oatmeal under there!


And finally, another day I had overnight swiss oats with oatmeal, soymilk, soy yogurt, walnuts, and banana. For this bowl I don't think I added enough yogurt to drown out the uncooked oats taste, but it was still good. I added some agave nectar near the end to add some sweetness.

Oatmeal with Granola Plank = Yum

This was the last real breakfast I had before going to the dentist:

Oatmeal made with oats, soymilk, and ground flaxseed topped with a banana and part of a maple almond crunch granola plank

It was dee-licious! Since these granola planks are becoming so popular with food bloggers lately, I decided I just had to try them.

They pleasantly surprised me. They weren't too crunchy as in hard-crunchy. Instead they were more chewy-crunchy. Definitely a keeper. Once my mouth heals I want to try them with yogurt, and maybe even on soy ice cream.

Raw Food Cooking

I bought a new cookbook at Borders this past week: Ani's Raw Food Kitchen by Ani Phyo. I have to say, I'm intrigued by the idea of eating more raw foods for health, energy, and mental clarity. I've noticed that I feel most inspired with writing ideas after I've eaten healthy foods. So I'm excited to try some of the recipes in my new book.

This morning I made her almond cinnamon oatmeal. The only thing is, we don't have oat groats, so I used regular rolled oats instead. Yes, that means the recipe wasn't completely raw (because rolled oats are cooked while processed), but oh well. At least I got the taste! And never fear - I plan on making a grocery list soon. :-)

Here's how it turned out:

The taste of it was very sweet. I substituted agave nectar for dates (because of course, we don't have any dates - I'll put them on the list!), and next time I don't think I'll use as much.

At first, I tried adding some soymilk to tone down the sweetness:

Then I tried it with a bit of almond butter (sorry, no pic). That worked better.

One thing I liked about this recipe was the cinnamon. I loooove lots of cinnamon in my oatmeal, and this definitely had an intense cinnamony flavor. Yum. I'll be making this again - hopefully next time with completely raw ingredients!

Horseback Riding Day

This morning my alarm went off at 5:45, and I think I turned it off in my sleep. I've been prone to do that once or twice in my life. At 6:09 my eyes opened again, and I realized what day it was. Horseback riding day!

My sister takes horseback riding lessons every Saturday, and usually I don't get to go watch because I have to work. But today the lesson was an hour earlier due to the heat, so I got to go! We had to leave at 6:50.

For breakfast I had a warmed up gluten-free bun with some raspberry jam on top. I was going to have it with apple butter, but found some disgusting mold in the jar, so jam it was. Sorry, no pic.

While my parents and I watched the lesson, I ate a Clif Nectar bar. I've never had one of these before, but saw them at the grocery store and decided to give them a try.


The verdict? I don't think I'll try this flavor again. For me the taste of the dates was too sweet. Normally I like a lot of cinnamon, but mixed with the dates it was just too overpowering. I will say that the bar definitely kept me full until we got home.

This is the horse my sister rides: Terra (short for Terracotta). She's so pretty!


We got back home from the equestrian academy at 9:30. I barely had time to whip up a bowl of oatmeal before heading to work.

Today's bowl featured: oats, soymilk, cinnamon, ground flaxseed, a cut up nectarine, blueberries, Bear Naked granola with freeze dried berries, and agave nectar. After I made it, I realized I forgot to add the pinch of salt that everyone says makes such a difference in flavor. There is always something I forget. Tomorrow.

All mixed up

2nd Breakfast

I already posted this on my other blog, but I'll post it here too. For breakfast yesterday I made a hot, bubbling pot of quinoa flakes and enjoyed that by myself on the couch before anyone else in my house was up. Yes, it's July 1st, but we're still having foggy cold mornings, so hot cereal works. It's cozy, and it reminds me of winter, which reminds me of Christmas!

By about 9:30, it was time for "2nd Breakfast!" (you have to say that phrase with an English accent just like Pippin - or was it Merry?) On Sunday I bought cherries at the farmers market, and I wanted to have them with oatmeal. So I made oatmeal with plain soymilk, ground flaxseed, cinnamon, and topped it with a cherry compote and a drizzle of agave nectar.

On the side of my plate in the pic below are some extra cherries that are kind of hidden by the bowl. I also have more compote in a bowl that's not pictured. I like being able to put it on when I want, so that not every bite is overloaded with fruit. Sometimes I like spoonfuls of plain oats in between bites of oats with fruit. It cleanses the palate!

Mmm, cherry goodness.

Jury Duty Day Breakfast

This bowl of oatmeal held me over well the first morning I had to go in for jury duty last week. Features oats, soymilk, cinnamon, fresh blueberries, banana, walnuts, and a drizzle of maple syrup. The weather was warm enough to eat outside!

A Pumpkin-ey Kind of Day

Last night I made vegan pumpkin scones based on this recipe at Love of Oats. To make it gluten-free, I varied the recipe a bit. As a substitute for the 3 cups of flour, I used 1 cup white rice flour, 1 cup tapioca flour, and 1 cup sorghum flour. I also added 1 tsp. xanthan gum for extra rising power (since I wasn't using wheat flour).

Instead of 6 tbsp. of vegan margarine, I only used 3 tbsp. Then I added 3 tbsp. of applesauce. Next time I'll probably use applesauce as a sub for all the margarine, instead of just half. I also left off the brown sugar topping.

These scones came out so good! Just like pumpkin pie! (Well, almost. :-)

Good to the last bite!


This morning for breakfast I made pumpkin oatmeal with a tbsp of my leftover pumpkin:


One tbsp was just enough to add flavor, yet didn't make it too overpowering. Delish.

My New Addiction

I think I might make oatmeal for breakfast every day for the rest of my life! Lol. This morning's "flavor" was apple cinnamon.

While my oatmeal stewed in its pot, I cooked half a cut up apple with 2 tbsp. water and a teaspoon or so of cinnamon.


The finished product:


I think the apples could've been cooked for a little longer than 10 minutes, but it was still good!

Oatie Goodness

Inspired by the blogger Jenna at Eat, Live, Run, I decided to make oatmeal on the stove for breakfast yesterday. Whenever I've made oatmeal in the past, I've made it in the microwave because it's quick. After yesterday though, I can't believe what I've been missing all these years! Oh the creamy, chewy goodness of oatmeal! I had no idea!

Here's how I made mine yesterday: I brought 1 cup of plain soymilk to a boil on the stove. Then I added 1/2 cup of oats and stirred occasionally for about ten minutes. Once almost all of the milk had reduced down, I added a teaspoon or so of cinnamon. That's it! Delicious.