Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats

Good morning Wednesday! And what a beautiful Wednesday it is. The weather is absolutely gorgeous! The sun is shining and nothing but blue skies. Puts a huge smile on my face!

I started my morning off with a bowl of apple cinnamon VOO (vegan overnight oats). OMG it was so yummy! The first time I've had it! I have a bunch of apples in my fridge, so last night, while I was putting together my VOO, I thought I'd put one to good use. I didn't add it to my VOO until this morning.

Instead of my usual honey and almond butter oats, I did cinnamon with apples aaaand just a small spoonful of almond butter. (I love the stuff, so I couldn't help myself.) Last night I prepared my VOO by adding the oats, almond milk, ground flax and cinnamon to a bowl. Whisked together, covered with saran wrap and popped it into the fridge. This morning I added the cut up apple and a small spoonful of almond butter. But first I popped it in the mircrowave for about 40 seconds to warm it up. Stirred it all together and ate! It was sooo delish!

Apple Cinnamon VOO

Ingredients:
1/4 cup oats
3/4 cup almond milk
1/2 tbs. cinnamon
1 tbs. ground flax or chia seeds
1 tbs. almond butter (optional)
1 apple cut up in bite sized pieces (I didn't use the whole apple, probably just half of it.)

Method:
The night before in a bowl, add the oats, almond milk, ground flax or chia seeds and cinnamon. Whisk together, cover and put in the refrigerator to sit over night. In the morning, remove from the refrigerator and pop into the microwave for about 40 seconds to heat up. This part is optional. I like mine just a tad bit warmed up. Next add the cut up apple to the VOO and a small spoonful of almond butter (optional). And viola! Apple cinnamon VOO.

*I added a little more cinnamon to mine, which is why it looks so dark in the picture. I love cinnamon.

I stirred mine all together once everything was added. Apple cinnamon VOO along with a cup of coffee and supplements. (Multi vitamin, fish oil, and B-12)

Love this mug! The penguin is too cute!

Beautiful Wednesday morning

Enjoy your Wednesday! I'm off to get ready for the day, run some errands then hit up the gym. Looking forward to happy hour later this evening with three of my best girlfriends. Can not wait!

xo Jen

Yummy *Chocolate* Green Monster

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make the "Green Monster" over the weekend, but I was able to this morning. And let me tell you... IT IS SO GOOOD!! Don't let the color of it discourage you from making it. You can't taste the spinach at all. It's delicious and filling. I added a 1/2 scoop of Amazing Grass Amazing Chocolate Meal to it for a little extra protein and it has a light chocolate taste. Yuuummm! It perked me right up this morning! Exactly what I needed. =)














Here's the Green Monster recipe as depicted from Angela's Oh She Glows blog.
**(In bold is what I added to the Green Monster, really not much of a difference.)

Classic Green Monster

Yield: 1 serving/2 cups

Ingredients:
1 cup almond milk, or milk of choice
1 ripe banana, preferably peeled + frozen
2 handfuls organic spinach
1 tbsp chia seeds OR 1 tbsp ground flax
1 tbsp nut butter (I used creamy unsalted almond butter)
1-3 Ice cubes

1/2 scoop of Amazing Grass Amazing Meal Chocolate

Directions: Starting with the liquid, add in 1 cup of milk of your choice. Now add in the chia or flax and nut butter. Next, add in the spinach followed by the banana on top. Blend until smooth. Add in your ice cubes and blend some more. Serves 1- about 2 cups.

*In my Green Monster I used Almond milk, creamy unsalted almond butter, chocolate Amazing Meal, ground flax, spinach, and a banana. (I forgot the ice, oops!)

*Added the powders and the almond butter first.

*Then the spinach, banana and vanilla almond milk. (Milk not shown, oh and I forgot to add the ice cubes, but it still came out fine!)

*Blended all up and it looks like this!

YUMMY!

 I then headed to campus feeling awake and energized! This kept me full till lunchtime around 12:30, which consisted of a small bowl of quinoa with raw almonds and a light drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette. I got my 40 minute elliptical cardio workout in today along with some core and strength training.

It's been an overall great Monday!

Healthy eating

It's Friday!! I've had an overall great week consisting of healthy eating, gym, great friends and family.

Today's meals started off with a piece of whole grain flax seed toast with some almond butter for breakfast. For lunch I had a berry protein shake and for dinner quinoa with shrimp, spinach, peas, onions and artichoke hearts. So yum! I got in some great gym time today as well.

My Berry Protein Shake:

Ingredients:
*Handful of blueberries
*4 strawberries
*1 scoop 100% Vanilla Whey Protein
*1/2 cup Almond Vanilla Milk
*1/2-3/4 cup water
*2 Tbs. ground flax seed.
(Feel free to add some ice)

Method:
*Blend it all up in a blender. Once it's all blended up, pour into a glass and enjoy!

After having my berry protein shake, I headed to the gym. Had an amazing workout, like always. =)

For dinner I had quinoa with some veggies and shrimp, simple and easy to make.


My Quinoa with veggies and shrimp:

Yummy breakfast: Easy Vegan Overnight Oats

Has anyone ever heard of 'Overnight Oats'? I never had until I came across a blog called OhSheGlows.com (http://ohsheglows.com/recipes) This is one of my favorite breakfasts to have in the morning. I absolutely love it, I eat it almost every morning! It fills me up and keeps me going! I've changed it up a little bit when I make it; I don't add the vanilla extract and instead of chia seeds, I use ground flax seed. Chia seeds are perfectly fine, I just prefer the ground flax. I also don't add the banana, instead, in the morning after the overnight oats have sat in the fridge overnight (hence the name), I add blueberries.

Here's the recipe as it appears on the website.

(What's listed in bold type are the things I changed or added)

Easy Vegan Overnight Oats

PM Ingredients:

•1/3 cup regular oats

•3/4 cup almond milk **(I use the sweetened vanilla almond milk as opposed to the unsweetened kind. Reason why I don't use the vanilla exact.)

•2 tablespoons chia seeds

•1 tiny ripe banana, peeled and smashed

•1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions: Mix together the above ingredients in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge overnight.

Here are my AM ingredients: toppings of your choice. (if you want) I usually do:

•One spoonful of almond butter or peanut butter. (Sometimes, depends on if I'm in the mood for it =) )

•A squeeze of honey.

•Blueberries

I also put the overnight oats in the microwave for about a minute to warm it up and to heat the almond butter or peanut butter to make it easier to mix. I add the honey after, along with the blueberries.

You can add what ever ingredients you like to the overnight oats. I usually do the oats, vanilla almond milk and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. Then in the AM I add the ground flax and almond butter, heat in microwave for a 1 min, mix it up and add the honey and blueberries. =)

Enjoy! <3