Oatmeal To-Go!

I love to eat oatmeal in the morning, it's one of the only foods that keep me going until lunch. Sometimes I don't have the time to make it in the morning, so I decided to try making some baked oatmeal banana muffins. They are perfect to grab on the go in the morning. 

Ingredients: 

3 ripe bananas 

1 egg 

1 cup coconut milk 

1/4 cup maple syrup 

3 cups oats 

1 tsp baking powder 

Chia seeds 

Directions: 

Blend all wet ingredients in the blender, add to dry ingredients. Let the combination sit for 20-30 minutes. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees. Enjoy! 

-M

Dark Chocolate Cashew Cookies

Since Im really trying my best to stay away from refined sugars this month, I adapted this recipe from one I tried a few months ago here. I tried the actual recipe the first time I made them and they were delicious, but I didn't have any almonds when I made them on the weekend, so I improvised. These cookies are flour free, and made with ground up nuts and coconut! I made these with cashews, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and some dark chocolate chunks and they were delicious! If you love cookies and are looking for a healthier alternative, give these a try! They are vegan and can be made gluten free too! 

Here's the recipe:
1 cup of cashews
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup coconut
1/4 dark chocolate chunks
1/4 coconut oil
1/4 maple syrup
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grind/blend cahews, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and coconut in a blender or food processor. Melt the coconut oil in the microwave and combine with the maple syrup and vanilla. Combine nut flour with wet ingredients, then mix in the oats and the chocolate. Form balls, flatten and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Enjoy!

-M

Quinoa Breakfast Oatmeal

Quinoa for breakfast? Why not? I was thinking about new ways to incorporate quinoa into my day and I decided to try it for breakfast! Since it's a grain, I instantly thought about my staple breakfast, oats. I didn't want to completely substitute my oats for the quinoa, but I combined the two together. Quinoa is not only a great source of fibre, and a complex carbohydrate that fills you up and keeps you feeling full for a long time, but it'a also a great source of protein. I made my breakfast with half rolled oats and half red quinoa and it tasted great. The quinoa adds a little texture to the oats which was nice. 

What you need: 

1/2 cup of rolled or steel cut oats 

1/2 cup of quinoa 

2 cups of water 

Fruit to top - fresh or frozen 

Maple syrup 

Milk- almond, coconut, whatever you prefer 

Directions

Bring water to a boil, add oats and quinoa and turn temp down to low and cover pot with lid. Allow oats and quinoa to cook/steam in the pot for about 15-20 minutes. Tops with fruit, maple syrup and mil. Enjoy! 

-M 

Healthy Oat and Banana Pancakes

I really love pancakes, all sweet breakfast foods actually, but I don't love how sweet and full of sugar they usually are. Although, I did cover these pancakes in maple syrup, they have no added sugar whatsoever. They are made from ground rolled oats, bananas and almond milk, and that's it! The oats are a complex carbohydrate full of fibre that keep you full, and the bananas add the perfect amount flavour and sweetness. They are really easy to make, taste just like a regular pancake, and best of all, they are a not so guilty pleasure you can eat every day if you like. 

Here's the pancake recipe 
2 cups oats blended into oat flour (could substitute with whole wheat flour, quinoa flour ) 
1 tablespoon baking powder 
1 cup almond milk (any liquid will work) 
2 ripe bananas (easily substitute with 1 cup of other fruit or veggie - apples, pears, sweet potato, squash)  Water (to your desired consistency, depending on how thick you like your pancakes) 
Coconut oil 

Directions 
Blend the oats until flour consistency, place in mixing bowl and mix in baking powder. Blend your banana or fruit with milk and mix with dry ingredients. Whisk all ingredients together and add water until you reach the consistency you like (the oats tend to absorb the water and bulk up so I sometimes need to add water half way through cooking the whole batch).  Heat a pan and use a small amount of coconut oil to oil the pan. Fry the pancakes the same way you would a regular pancake, they are ready to flip when you see bubbles. 

Strawberry Sauce 
10-15 frozen strawberries (can use any fresh or frozen berry)
a little water 
1 tablespoon of chia seeds (great fibre!)

Directions
Heat the frozen berries over medium heat with the water until they are soft and warm. Since the strawberries were pretty big, I threw them into the blender to make a smoother sauce, but this is up to you. Then take off the heat and add the chia seeds and allow the sauce to sit for a few minutes. The chia seeds will absorb some of the liquid and firm up the sauce (this is a great way to make chia seed jam!) 

**Since I knew I would be topping these pancakes with maple syrup I didn't add any sugar to the pancakes or the strawberries. This is a great way to control the sugar content, and a great alternative to the sugary jams you can buy at the grocery store, or the traditional pancake recipes.**

^^ this is what the oats will look like once you have blended them up, a food processor would work too ^^

^^ blend the bananas and almond milk together ^^

^^ whisk it all up and add water to get your desired consistency ^^

^^ all you need to make the strawberry sauce ^^

^^ I eat mine with maple syrup and little plain yogourt ^^

**I'm going to post again about how to make a Valentines Day variation of these! ** 

Enjoy 

-M 

Early Morning Granola

To anyone that knows me, this won't be a surprise, but I am not a morning person...I never have been, and, sadly, I probably never will be. I have always wanted to be one of those people that can spring out of bed in the morning, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (like Ali), but it's just not me; I need coffee for that! Eating breakfast is really important to me, but sometimes it's hard to fit in when I have 8:00 am class... and after I've hit snooze for the fourth time. I decided that if I didn't have time to eat breakfast before leaving the house, I should take it with me. 

I like to eat oatmeal for breakfast; oats are full of fibre, vitamins, minerals, and are a complex carbohydrate so they keep you full for a really long time, but I needed an easy way to bring them to school. I decided to try out this great granola recipe and pair it with some yogourt. I wanted to make my own granola because most store bought granolas are full of extra sugar, which is often refined.

^^ this granola is full of healthy whole grains, nuts and seeds; a great way to start off your day ^^

^^ cinnamon and ground ginger give this granola extra flavour ^^ 

^^ I baked the whole batch at once, but remember to alternate pans so the bottom one doesn't burn ^^

^^ it smells delicious ^^ 

Here's the recipe: 

5 cups large flake rolled-oats 

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup chopped almonds (or any nut combination of your choice - may omit for allergies) 

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup sesame seeds

4 tablespoons of chia seeds 

1 1/2 cups of unsweetened applesauce 

1/2 cup maple syrup (could use honey as well) 

1/4 cup olive oil 

2 tablespoons cinnamon 

2 tablespoons ground ginger 

20 dried apricots chopped into small pieces

1/2 cup raisins (or any dried fruit) whole or chopped 

* I decreased the amount of sugar from the original recipe quite a bit, so if you prefer a sweet granola you may need to add a little more maple syrup or honey to your preference. I eat mine with plain yogourt and top it all with a little extra maple syrup. If you like sweetened or flavoured yogourt, this amount of sugar would probably be perfect as those yogourts are already quite sweet*  

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Combine all dry ingredients and mix. Add applesauce, maple syrup and oil and mix until all ingredients are combined. Spread mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (I needed two baking sheets). Bake for about an hour (I baked mine for 1 hour and 10 minutes), but this will depend on your oven and how golden you like your granola, and remember to turn the mixture over a few times while baking. Allow the granola to cool and store in an airtight container. 

I adapted this granola recipe from the Whitewater Cooks at home cookbook. 

^^ I eat mine with plain yogourt and a drizzle of maple syrup - this allows me to control the sugar content ^^ 

Enjoy!

-M