I discovered the wonder of overnight oats a few years ago when my mom described a cold oatmeal dish she’d had for breakfast while on a cruise. It sounded right up my alley so I recreated it at home and life has never been the same. I love overnight oats for their ease and the fact that when you use the right ingredients and toppings, oatmeal doesn’t have to taste like wallpaper paste.
Overnight Oats, the basics:
1/2 c rolled oats
1/2 c milk
1/4 c LF vanilla yogurt
Thanks to some warm air and the fact that it’s Saturday and no one is rushing off to work at 8 AM, I got to head out for my run well after the sun was up this morning. Some where around the 9 o’clock hour I hit the pavement and had a glorious 54 minutes and 6.25 miles to all myself. Well, good old Jillian was with me too, but she doesn’t count.
Before I left I put together some pumpkin overnight oats knowing they’d be ready to eat by the time I got back. Given I put them together this morning, I guess I should technically call these Over Run Pumpkin Pie Oats.
I started today with a big glass of green lemonade and an article from the Nature’s Market newsletter from Wegmans. This sure put a spring in my juicy step this morning.
Check it out: Younger Buyers Opting for Organic
That’s right! Be young! Buy organic! To think I pierced my nose on my 30th birthday to prove to myself and the world that I’m still young. Well then let me just pull this sucker out and head to the organic section. Anyone want a used nose screw?
I enjoyed a pre-run peach waiting for my bud Shawn to show up to run long this morning. I had my mind on 10 miles but was up for going with the flow and running less if necessary.
We set out to do a 6 mile loop and as soon as we started I was feeling pretty tired. We took it easy and maintained 9 minute or so pace and I started settling in and feeling better after we had a couple miles behind us.
I set the alarm for 5:30 this morning so I could get out early and beat the heat. It was still dark I ended up tinkering around and didn’t get my butt out the door until 7.
I spent what felt like an hour sawing my slightly more ripe peach off it’s pit.
A muggy but not-too-hot run this morning for 6.24 miles in 53 minutes – just a nice and easy pace considering the distance and air thickness today.
Back home, Zak asked if I was going to make juice. I think he’s hooked.
I’ve been on a muesli kick for the last two weeks or so.
And just in time, because pumpkin seeds are on the list of healthy, affordable foods – and pumpkin seeds go great in muesli!
If you aren’t in the know, muesli is a cereal combo (usually) made with oats, nuts, seeds and dried or fresh fruit. Bananas have been my fresh fruit of choice lately, but frozen, thawed strawberries have been known to make an appearance in my bowl too.
(It’s Friday night and I’m writing about oatmeal. See –> “this post is random.”)
With all the reading and blogging I’ve done about eating less grains and cutting down on carbs, I have a confession to make.
I still love oatmeal.
I know, I know, who cares! It’s just oatmeal. The world has much bigger problems than this. But it sort of feels like a dirty carb secret. I READ GRAIN BRAIN! I’VE READ THE PALEO BOOKS! I’m not supposed to like oatmeal anymore!
But I do. I admit it. Sometime I eat oatmeal. Love me.
Yogurt is on the list of affordable healthy foods, but I have a good feeling that you’re not sitting there thinking “Oh Alison, please tell us more about this curious food item that I’ve never heard of before!”
Yes, yogurt is good for us – this is not news. But it’s also worth saying that not all yogurt is created equal. There are plenty of yogurt items in the dairy section that are not what I would call “healthy” by any stretch of the word. I recommend taking a close look at the label if you’re eating yogurt for the health benefits and put back anything that has an especially long list of ingredients or additives like coloring or flavors.
I’ve had a number of conversations with some friends and family about breakfast recently, and so I decided to put together a collection of morning food photos from the past few months. Once upon a time I ate overnight oats for breakfast every day! As I’ve mentioned more than once lately, I’m going the grain free route most of the time and don’t even miss my beloved oats, cold cereal or cinnamon raisin Ezekiel toast with almond butter and banana.
(This [sorta scary] blog post is a good but lengthy explanation of why I’ve chosen to follow a mostly grain free lifestyle. The Paleo Solution, Wheat Belly and The Primal Blueprint are loaded with convincing info and studies too.)
Project Weight Loss rolls on! Today marks the end of Week 3.
If you recall, last week I hooted and hollered when I saw I was down to 144.8 from 146.0 the week before.
This week instead of shouting “Hooray!” I said “Really?!” because when the scale said 143.8 this morning, I had a hard time believing it.
All week I hung out at 145 and even saw 146 flashing back at me one day despite staying within my weight loss calorie allowance just about every day of the week. I was especially bummed to see 146 and threw myself a Poor Me Pity Party while I stood on the scale, wondering why am I doing any of this?
More Mama’s Weeds
