Breakfast Bites: Chocolate Oatmeal & Blueberry Muffins
I love cupcake wrappers. I love oatmeal. I love blueberries. I love chocolate. And I love these breakfast muffins which brings it all together. :D
My breakfasts are smoothies, oatmeal, or dippy eggs - so I decided to shake things up with some Chocolate Oatmeal and Blueberry Muffins.
These muffins are super tasty and filling and a perfect post-run food!
I avoid muffins because they upset my tummy - so I made these muffins gluten free by making my very own oatmeal flour. And instead of buying it pre-made, I used my trusty blender and made my own flour!
The flour was perfectly soft and cooked up beautifully.**
I’ve provided both vegan and vegetarian options below the fold!
Cooking with Chloe: Ginger Nutmeg Spice Oatmeal with Date Caramel Sauce
Chloe Coscarelli is my favorite vegan chef and I’m excited about my personal project to cook through her book, Chloe’s Kitchen.
When Chloe appeared on Cupcake Wars, her pretty personality and her charming cupcakes were captivating - I was cheering when she won!
I’m starting a series called “Cooking with Chloe” so you can follow along as I cook through her cookbook: I plan on cooking all 125 recipes and using some of them to enhance my usual meals.
Today’s oatmeal bowl was inspired her Ginger Nutmeg Spice Cupcake, her winning contribution on Cupcake Wars.
Spice Oatmeal
Rolled or Steel-Cut Oats
A pinch of nutmeg
A pinch of cloves
A pinch of ground ginger
A pinch of Cinnamon
A half-pinch of salt
{I define a pinch as the smallest amount of spice I can squeeze between my thumb and index finger.} :D
Date Caramel Sauce (Copyright Chloe Coscarelli)
6 Medjool dates
1/2 cup sugar-free maple syrup
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
To Make the Date Caramel:
Place dates in a small saucepan with water to cover, and bring to a gentle boil.
Let the dates boil for 10 minutes.
Drain and rinse with cold water until cool to the touch (you want to rinse with water so that the skin all pulls away from the fruit).
Peel the dates with fingers, and discard the skin and pits.
Coarsely chop and place in blender - add water, maple syrup, and cinnamon. Blend until smooth.
Cook the oatmeal to your desired consistency and drizzle with the date caramel sauce.
This oatmeal bowl is addictive and the only sugars in it come from the dates!
You will have a extra sauce that you can store in the refrigerator - and it makes a great drizzle for banana slices, carrots, or apples or a perfect topping for spice waffles and pancakes.
And if you have kids - give them a little cup for dippin’!
Happy Cinco De Mayo: Portabella Guacamole with Multigrain “Chips”
In honor of Cinco De Mayo, I decided to make a fun new guacamole.
{Recipe below the fold!}
I Make My Own Sunshine
My breakfast smoothie was perfect for a hot day! Make your own frozen blueberries and strawberries, Fage Greek yogurt, and almond milk.
Along with my smoothie, I give you this adorable song which will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.
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Blue Crush
We traveled to New Jersey for a weekend wedding for John’s childhood friend, Praveen and his new wife Kristin, and it was a lovely and elegant affair.
Since it was near the water, I wanted a blue dress. John found this dress when I sent him a few others to look at and he said that it was dramatic and he would love to see this deep blue colour on me. I love it!
Some weddings just work - and this wedding had an amazing buffet (with vegan choices - who does that??) and a great DJ.
It also had one of the most mortifying moments of my life. I attempted the limbo but WIPED OUT. I shot into the sweetheart table and knocked over a vase which didn’t break.
Even though I thought I thought I fell backwards, I was bleeding. And not a little scrape bleeding - like “where did I leave the skin on my knee, wow that’s a lot of blood-bleeding!”
You might be thinking - how many glasses of champagne did she have? Sadly, people, it wasn’t that.
This is just how graceful I am. I do things sober that might not happen to you drunk. :D
John said I gave the bride and groom a hilarious memory and they reassured me they would be combing the photos and videos to advertise my limbo skills.
I look forward to that.
Every Taste Brings Summer Closer
Your Breath is Your Guide and Compass
Workout of the Day: C2 Hot Yoga, where I got a little deeper into compass pose. My extended eg is a bit straighter and my head is closer to my shin!
I haven’t been posting my food as much because I’ve been eating the same things - dippy eggs, salads, tofu and roasted veggies for dinner (and many cups of coffee!). :)
I made these perfect green beans for last night’s dinner by adding a tablespoon of water and low-sodium soy sauce to a skillet, letting them “steam,” and then tossed them with roasted red onion and garlic slivers.
They were hot, had a great raw crunch, and we have flavorful leftovers for dinner tonight!
I get into food routines easily so I wanted to try for some variety today.
I walked on the wild side with a peanut butter and raspberry preserves sammie on toast for a mid-day snack since I only had a yogurt for lunch. :)
Dinner was toast and two dippy eggs with a ton of cayenne pepper and some extra wilted spinach on the side!
Chilly Day, Warm Tummy
{Plate One, Roasted baby portabellas with red onion, sea salt, and cayenne pepper; Plate Two, Baby spinach leaves, Campari tomatoes, miniature bell-peppers, two tablespoons of olive muffaletta from That Pickle Guy, no dressing.}
Workout of the Day: Hot Power Fusion Yoga class, 60 minutes.
On My Nightstand: A Harry Potter Nerdette is Born
For March, I finished The Sorcerer’s Stone! I’m so glad I gave the books another chance - this is the fifth time I’ve tried to read the series.
Something clicked and I got swept up in the phenomenon - I wonder if Nigel could be my familiar with his magical powers of napping all day and snorfling all night.
Speaking of Nigel, this will be happening to him this Halloween. That’s my only complaint about the book: not enough English Bulldogs. That’s my complaint about everything though:)
I’m also obsessed with Harry Potter goods like this awesome key chain that can hopefully bring back my keys to me when I end up losing them.
And check out this lovely apron for my Harry Potter themed parties! I heart Etsy!
And how the hell do they stay healthy at Hogwarts eating all of this?
Roast beef, roast chicken, fried sausages, stew, casserole, tripe (which McGonagall ironically offers Trelawney in PA), pork chops, shepherd’s pie, steak, Cornish pasties, lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, steak and kidney pudding, steak and kidney pie, black pudding, sandwiches (chicken and ham, for Harry and Ron in CS5); bread, marshmallows and crumpets (Harry and Ron roast them over the common room fire during the Christmas holidays in PS12), baked pumpkin (at Halloween), roast potatoes, jacket potatoes, boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, sprouts, carrots, gravy, ketchup, custard tart, mint humbugs, ice cream, apple pies, treacle tart, spotted dick, chocolate éclairs, chocolate gateau, jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, jelly, and rice pudding. (Source)
HOLY PAULA DEEN’S PANTRY! Wizarding metabolism is awesome!
Even ridiculously photogenic runner guy is in on the Harry Potter! :)
Today was a full day - our power was cut off at 8am because they have been installing new electric poles and our morning routines had to be completed in the dark - it was pretty neat.
Breakfast was a bowl of simple cold oats with almond milk and a teaspoon of brown sugar!
Lunch was a sammie from Cosi: fire-roasted sammie with roasted peppers, eggplant, mushrooms, artichokes, romaine, and feta!
I had to brush my teeth because I was off to the dentist for a very successful exam and cleaning - YAY! Walking away with a whiter smile makes me feel like I went to the spa. :)
Late-afternoon, I enjoyed an iced coffee and a Kind Bar so I could be ready for my workouts once I got hone in the evening.
Dinner was a PERFECT sunny-side up egg that was dippy but well-cooked with a generous pinch of Andy Roo’s Cajun garlic seasoning. The secret is covering the eggs in the pan so that the whites set firmly.
Asparagus is in season and the organic bunches are a steal - I roasted up a new batch for us with sea salt and pepper!
See ya later, pretty peeps!
Veggies in the Morning, Veggies in the Evening
Veggies All Day! Happy Wednesday folks, hope it’s not too humpy!
From top to bottom:
I started my day with a breakfast salad with arugula, spring mix, and a small carrot dressed with Wasabi-Dijon dressing.
We got an amazing Fresh Picks order today which included two different kinds of parsley plants!
And because of our order, I had a veggie feast for lunch: Ezekiel toast with pine nut hummus, Portabella mushrooms dressed and roasted with balsamic vinegar, and roasted zucchini dusted with coriander.
Today just feels good for some reason…here’s hoping you feel it to!
