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Peanut Butter, Banana, and Cinnamon Overnight Oats (With Chia Seeds!)

overnight oats

overnight oatsI am a firm believer in breakfast. Not only is it crucial to the rest of your day, but it is so delicious! I could honestly eat breakfast foods for every meal of the day.

A huge breakfast trend on Pinterest and blogs lately has been overnight oats, so I decided to give it a try. I found a great recipe to use as a guide from Domesticate Me here and tweaked it a bit to fit what I wanted. This recipe includes oats, chia seeds, peanut butter, banana, almonds, honey, cinnamon, almond milk, and  vanilla.

Overnight oats are an incredibly simple, fast, and healthy way to eat breakfast. They can be eaten on-the-go or as a delicious morning treat. I love how versatile they are as well – there’s  a million different variations!

This recipe seriously turned out amazing and I can’t wait to try variations on it. I was incredibly full after eating one serving – I ate at 7 a.m. and did not feel hungry again until around noon!

Ingredients (serves 2):

1 ripe banana
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup almond milk (unsweetened or vanilla – I used vanilla!)
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
1 teaspoon honey (or light agave)
1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional)

Instructions:

Slice banana and place slices in a medium sized bowl. Mash up banana with a fork. Pour the remaining ingredients in the bowl. Stir mixture until all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. This may require some extra effort as the peanut butter and bananas are harder to mix in. When mixed completely, pour into glass mason jar or air-tight container. Place in refrigerator overnight. Enjoy bright and early in the morning! I loved putting some sliced almonds on the top for an added crunch – so good!

Ingredients: chia seeds, almonds, cinnamon, vanilla, honey, peanut butter, banana, almond milk, and oats

Ingredients: chia seeds, almonds, cinnamon, vanilla, honey, peanut butter, banana, almond milk, and oats

Put sliced bananas in a bowl

Put sliced bananas in a bowl

Mush banana in bowl with fork

Mush banana in bowl with fork

Combine all ingredients with mushed bananas

Combine all ingredients with mushed bananas

Stir all ingredients together until fully incorporated. Make sure the peanut butter is completely integrated!

Stir all ingredients together until fully incorporated. Make sure the peanut butter is completely integrated!

Store overnight in a glass air-tight jar in refrigerator

Store overnight in a glass air-tight jar in refrigerator

Top with sliced almonds in the morning and enjoy!

Top with sliced almonds in the morning and enjoy!
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June 5, 2014 by
Lifestyle

Easy No-Bake Cookie Dough Truffle Balls

The Ghirardelli covered ones were my favorite! So rich and delicious

I’ve pinned this recipe about a hundred times, but never got around to making it. Finally, with a little bit more free time lately, I was able to whip this up today.

I’ve always been the one that asks to lick the spoon when my mom bakes cookies. I know there’s the risk of salmonella, but I just can’t resist the temptation of delicious, creamy, cookie dough. Luckily, these little marvelous truffle balls are egg-free, so I promise they are safe to eat! I’m not a good cook, so the best part about this recipe is that it’s incredibly easy and fast.

I mainly used the recipe from Food Network’s website as my guide – tweaking it just a little bit.

Don't they look great? The pink ones have the Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses candy and the dark ones have Ghirardelli milk chocolate on them.

Don’t they look great? The pink ones have the Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses candy and the dark ones have Ghirardelli milk chocolate on them.

 

Ingredients

1/2 cup softened butter

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1 (14oz) can of sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I didn’t have any mini ones when I made this, so I used regular sized chips)

(optional) 1 cup finely chopped walnuts

1 bag of Ghirardelli chocolate chips

1 bag of Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses

 

Instructions

Mix butter and brown sugar in a large bowl on medium. When creamy, add vanilla. When thoroughly integrated, gradually add flour and milk – alternating between the two. Mix on medium. Finally, add chocolate chips (and walnuts if desired). With a melon baller or spoon, scoop dough into 1-inch balls and place on wax paper. Put them into the fridge to chill for 1.5 hours. After 1.5 hours, place candy for coating into a microwave safe bowl and heat until fully melted. Every 30 seconds, stir. Roll the balls into the melted candy and then place back on wax paper. Let them sit in the fridge for 1 hour or until hardened.

 

***Tip: After the balls have chilled in the fridge and before dipping them into the melted candy, roll them in your palms to make them perfect balls.

The Ghirardelli covered ones were my favorite! So rich and delicious

The Ghirardelli covered ones were my favorite! So rich and delicious

I love how these ended up pink! They would be great for a holiday themed bridal shower or baby shower.

I love how these ended up pink! They would be great for a holiday themed bridal shower or baby shower.
3 Comments
January 13, 2014 by
Lifestyle

Meal Prep: Salad Jars

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Eating healthy while in college or having a hectic schedule is extremely difficult. One of the ways to avoid fast food, snacking, and starving is to plan out your meals for the week. As a busy college student, my class and work schedule doesn’t allow for me to make it to the cafeteria for lunch during the week. Because of this, I have to pack my lunch for the day. I could easily just pack peanut butter sandwiches or Easy Mac. But after living off those freshman year (and gaining the typical freshman 15), I have no desire to continue this unhealthy lifestyle. Yes, planning out your meals for the week requires extra time and thought. But I promise it’s worth it.

One of the easiest meals to prep for the week is mason jar salads! These are really popular on Pinterest and one of my coworkers makes them regularly. So I decided to try it out for myself and have been pleased to find that it is a life-saver! Not only are they super quick to prepare, they are extremely healthy and convenient.

What you need:
– a mason jar or any kind of air-tight jar
– salad ingredients of your choice

How to pack your mason jar salad

Step 1: dressing
– add one or two tablespoons of your choice of dressing first to the bottom of the jar

Step 2: non-soluble (non-absorbent) veggies
– add any kind of non-absorbent veggies such as corn, carrots, etc.

Step 3: beans, grains, pasta, seeds
– pour in your source of carbs or vegetarian protein by adding beans (rinsed and drained), grains, pasta, whatever you choose

Step 4: cheese, eggs, meat, protein
– add in whatever cheese or hard boiled eggs, chicken, meat, or tofu you’d like

Step 5: absorbent veggies and fruit
– add your fruit or more soluble veggies such at tomatoes
– if you are prepping these for the week, add these ingredients the morning you plan to eat the salad just so they stay as fresh as possible

Step 6: absorbent grains, nuts, and seeds
– this is where you can add more absorbent products such as quinoa and flaxseed

Step 7: salad greens
– now you can add your fresh spinach or lettuce
– this should fill your jar to the brim. Pack it fairly tightly

Ta-da! You’re done! Now seal the jars and store them in the fridge. You can make these on Sunday night and they will remain fresh until Friday afternoon! Keep in mind, although they are stored in air-tight containers, they will only stay fresh for 5 days. When you are ready to eat your salad, pour the contents into a bowl, toss, and enjoy!
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November 4, 2013 by
Lifestyle

Dr. Oz 3-Day Detox Cleanse!

dr. oz detox groceries

This past summer, I tried my first ever detox cleanse. People do detoxes or cleanses for many different reasons, but for me it was all about re-setting my body to how it is supposed to function and ridding my body of all the harmful toxins it had accumulated.

After freshman year and not really taking care of my body, I felt this was the most appropriate time. So I did my research and of course, I ADORE Oprah, so I had to check out if Dr. Oz had any program. It turned out that he does! Dr. Oz designed a 3 day detox cleanse that is incredibly simple so somebody like me (not exactly an expert) could follow along easily and successfully.

Basically, this detox consists of drinking four smoothies a day. There are three recipes – one for each meal. You are allowed to repeat your favorite smoothie as a snack between dinner and lunch. You take vitamins throughout the day and have green tea with lemon and Stevia in the morning. At night, you reward yourself with an Epsom salt bath with lavender extract. Pretty simple, right? Every single vitamin, ingredient, and sip of tea has been scientifically designed to provide your body with the nourishment it needs and to effectively flush out harmful toxins.

Dr. Oz compiled everything (even the shopping list!) into this one page super handy sheet. 4_055_3DayDetox

That was my Bible for the three days.

If you’re interested in doing this at some point, I would HIGHLY recommend it. It’s so easy to do and the best part is that you can prep everything in advance. It’s great for people on the go with busy schedules. Spend maybe an hour the first day prepping everything for each smoothie. Put all of the dry ingredients into freezer bags and when you want that smoothie, just grab it and add the liquids and blend! Super quick, super easy.

Each step of the detox is critical right down to soaking in the bath. Do not skip any steps! Everything has been chosen deliberately and carefully for the best results possible.

My experience:

I went into this detox with an open mind and heart. I had no idea what I was about to do, but I was determined to DO it. I committed myself 150% to sticking it out all three days. I’m not going to sugarcoat it – the first two days are extremely difficult. In the case of this detox, it is ABSOLUTELY mind-over-matter. The third day is not as bad because it becomes more of a habit at that point.

Here’s my groceries for the three days:

dr. oz detox groceriesBreakfast was AMAZING! I love it and still drink it all the time.

breakfast smoothieLunch was good too. I really enjoyed it when I added 1/2 cup more pineapple. You’re really not supposed to alter the recipes at all, but it just needed to be a bit sweeter. Also, a few tips to make the texture better – cut up everything TINY! And blend one ingredient at a time. There’s a lot of course veggies going into this smoothie. You want to make sure it’s smooth, otherwise you’re going to hate it. In the picture below, that was my first time making it and I blended everything together at once and did not cut things up small. It was a very gross texture. So don’t do that! But I also still drink this one!

smoothie3 I did not like dinner one bit. Perhaps it’s because of the cayenne pepper. A lot of people posted online and seemed to really enjoy dinner, but I absolutely HATED it! I really had to just grin and bear it by gulping it down fast. That’s why I didn’t take a picture. Because I was mad at that smoothie. Because it was evil.

Make sure you treat yourself to the bath and the morning tea! Those were the highlights of my day.

My results:

I felt lighter and I had much more energy. I never was hungry on this detox – I simply missed solid food and crunching. It’s definitely one of the easiest and best things you can do for your overall health and body. I lost three pounds total and a LOT of bloat. I would HIGHLY recommend this to anybody. But beware – do NOT go back to eating terrible foods after this. Continue eating a clean and healthy diet and you will be golden. This is supposed to reset your system. It is NOT a miracle weight loss diet. The weight I lost was purely a bonus.

Anyways, if anybody has ANY questions at all, do not hesitate to ask me. I could talk about this detox forever! Happy cleansing y’all!
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August 30, 2013 by
Lifestyle

DORM RECIPE: Quinoa in College!

meal prep

meal prepHere’s a SUPER simple and quick quinoa recipe that I absolutely adore. It should take about 20 minutes and this will provide 4-5 servings – enough for lunches for a whole work week!! (ps – the picture says meal prep Sunday because I made it then. I know it’s Thursday today haha)

What you’ll need:

  • An electric water heater/hot pot that you can cook food in like this guy here that I have from Target
  • Measuring cups and spoons

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup rinsed quinoa
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 can whole kernal unsweetened corn rinsed and trained
  • 1 can black beans rinsed and trained
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 tomato (or canned & diced tomatoes)
  • 1 zucchini
  • 2 tbsp. lime juice
  • 1 tbsp. olive (or grape) oil
  • 1/2 tsp. cumin
  • pinch of salt

Instructions:

Boil water in kettle. Rinse quinoa in room temperature water. Add rinsed quinoa to boiling water. Let simmer for 15 minutes (or until fluffy and cooked). Mix together corn, beans, avocado, tomato, zucchini, lime juice, olive oil, cumin, and salt together in a big bowl. When quinoa is cooked, fluff with a fork. Add quinoa to large mixture of the other ingredients. Serve hot or cold!

SO EASY! I promise you’ll love this recipe. A lot of people add a bit of hot pepper to theirs, so feel free to do that if you want a little kick. Have fun and happy cooking!!!!
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August 30, 2013 by