Pumpkin Pie Baked Oats

You might know by now, based on my recent posts, that I have a bit of a problem (read: addiction) to baked oats.  I have to say, though, that with all the things out there in the universe that I can be addicted to, baked oats is probably a good thing.  Benefits:  it keeps my blood sugar stable for hours, it fuels my workouts and my busy days and I feel like I'm eating a treat most days (mini non-dairy chocolate chips...a tablespoon is like heaven.)

These Pumpkin Pie Baked Oats are one of the best I've ever made.  Seriously.  And, because I didn't make pumpkin pie yesterday for Thanksgiving, these totally filled that sad, little hole in my heart.  The best part - they are super easy to make!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup gluten free rolled oats, pulsed in food processor (I use Trader Joe's)
3/4 to 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
3T pumpkin puree (I used organic) *not pumpkin pie filling*
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1T mini non-dairy chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Pulse the oats in a food processor to grind them down a bit, but not too much.  I do larger batches of this each week and store it in an airtight container in my fridge so that I can alleviate this step each time I make oats during the week.  In a bowl mix the oats and coconut milk. Add the spices and stir.  Last, add the pumpkin puree to combine.  Transfer to an oven-safe crock or bowl and bake for 25 minutes.

This was such a nice treat and didn't feel like a breakfast at all.  Win!  Try it - it's REALLY good!

Peanut Butter, Banana, Chocolate Baked Oats, Oh My!

Peanut Butter, Banana, Chocolate Baked Oats

Here's another recipe for my Baked Oats!  I made it a little differently today so I thought I'd share what I did with the oats before I mixed & baked them.

Recipe:
~ 1/2 cup gluten free oats
~ 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
~ dash cinnamon
~ pinch Himalayan sea salt
~ 1T chia seeds
~ 3/4 small banana
~ 1.5T peanut butter
~ 1.5T mini chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients except banana & peanut butter in a bowl.  Pour into an oven safe bowl.  Slice the banana and layer the slices into the oat mixture.  Add the dollop of peanut butter right in the middle of the mixture.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes.  Let cool for about ten minutes before eating.

I like my oats to be somewhat smooth, so I ground them in the food processor.  I do this in big batches (maybe 3-4 cups) and store them in an airtight container in the fridge.   Pulsing the oats in the food processor doesn't make them into a flour (although it's easy to grind them into a flour for something like a mug cake) but rather gives a finer texture in the baked oats when they're ready to eat.

My favorite brand of gluten free rolled oats

Here's what the oats look like in the bag

Here's the oats after pulsing in the food processor

12 Days of Kindness in December

When I asked people on my Fit & Healthy Family Facebook page what they might like to see in my December Newsletter, I loved the response I received!  One of the suggestions, by my good friend Lauren, was to do a 12 Days/Acts of Kindness (like the 12 Days of Christmas).  

This resonated with me because I am always posting and sharing about the benefit of Random Acts of Kindness both by the recipients, but also by the people performing the acts.  Doing good deeds - genuinely, from the heart - for people has been proven to reduce stress, alleviate depression, improve energy and happiness and can also positively impact fitness & nutrition as the result of an elevated emotional state of awareness.

I plan on starting my 12 days on December 8th, my 37th birthday.  What better way to celebrate my birthday than by starting this Kindness Campaign?

I came up with a list of some kind deeds as a suggestion for anyone who'd like to participate.  What would you add to this list?

Please comment below and share your thoughts!

Are you signed up to receive my Fit & Healthy Family monthly newsletter?  if you haven't joined my mailing list, you can do so >>HERE<<

Random Acts of Kindness:

~ Hold doors for people when you're out and about.

~ Help an elderly person load their groceries into their car.

~ Greet everyone you see with eye contact and a genuine smile.

~ Make hot cocoa and bring it to people who work outside.

~ Pay for person behind you in the drive-thru or in line at the coffee shop.

~ Buy extra non-perishables and donate to your local food bank or church.

~ Make and deliver a meal for a friend who is sick or alone.

~ Send 3 handwritten thank you notes to people or businesses.

~ Donate a toy for a local children's Christmas gift collection or hospital.

~ Shovel snow for a neighbor.

~ Allow cars to merge or enter traffic in busy areas like shopping centers or give up the parking spot you were going to pull into.

~ Give 3 genuine compliments to people you see.

~ Call someone you haven't talked to in awhile and let them know you've been thinking about them.

~ Bake cookies for a friend or neighbor.

Random Acts of Kindness for Children:

(my daughters helped come up with some of these)

~ Have your child pick out a toy to purchase and donate to a holiday toy collection.

~ Bake & decorate cookies for friends or neighbors.

~ Color & decorate holiday cards for a local senior center.

~ Color pictures for family members.

~ Make crafts and give them to friends.

~ Help someone who has gotten hurt.

~ Say good morning to teachers, school staff and classmates.

~ Allow a friend to get in line in front of you.

~ Write a thank you note to someone who has positively impacted you (teacher, coach, neighbor, babysitter, etc).

~ Help with household chores without being asked.

~ Go through your toys and put aside anything that you can donate to children in need

~ Smile at people!

~ Say please and thank you to people who help you.

~ Tell your friends how much they mean to you.

~ Invite a friend over for a play date

~ If a child is sitting alone at lunch, invite them to sit with you and your friends.

~ Offer to help mom and dad wrap Christmas presents

Blueberry Chia Baked Oats - Easy Breakfast Bowl

As promised, or rather, as I committed to myself...I made my oats for breakfast today!  I'm working on more balanced breakfasts in place of a grab and go Larabar.  I do love my Larabars, don't get me wrong.  But, I need to reserve them for an occasional treat, not breakfast every day.  My commitment is to make time to eat a healthy, balanced breakfast every day, even if I am in a rush.

Today's baked oats were good.  I will tweak them next time because I made them too watery today.  Sometimes eyeballing the ingredients doesn't always pan out!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup gluten free Rolled Oats
• 1 cup coconut milk (start with 3/4 cup and add more if needed)
• 1T chia seeds
• 1/3 cup frozen organic blueberries (no need to thaw)
• pinch of sea salt
• dash of cinnamon
• optional: 1T mini chocolate chips (I added them today - Enjoy Life brand mini non-dairy chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix all ingredients in oven-safe bowl.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, depending on how much milk you used.  I needed the whole 30 minutes today.  Let it cool for a bit before eating.

When I stirred the oats before baking, they turned blue!

YUM!!

Drink Your Greens!

Drink Your Greens!

This is what I'm telling my kids.  They're picky.  One day they'll like a certain fruit or veggie and the next day...not so much.  I was pretty surprised when they asked my husband to make them edamame today.  Go girls!!

As they were eating their edamame, thoroughly enjoying popping the little beans out of the shells, I was in the kitchen prepping for and making green juices for today and tomorrow.  (Yes, I am fully aware that the best nutritional benefit comes when juice is consumed within hours, if not immediately after making it.  However, I figure it's still a better option tomorrow than some other things I could pull out of the fridge or pantry!)  When I was finished juicing, two of my three girls asked for their own glass of juice.  How could I not oblige?  Heck yeah girls, you can have some green juice!!!

I gave them some of the Kale, Apple, Orange.  Nearly as soon as I sat it down in front of them, I heard that super annoying noise that occurs when you sip through a straw into the bottom of an empty glass.  Yeah.  They inhaled that juice.  They asked me if they could start bringing juice to school to have with their lunch.  Again, HECK YES!!  If I can get them to have a green juice-a-day, I'm ALL FOR IT.  I'll happily make juices all the time if they will reap the nutritional benefits of that green goodness.

It took me an hour, but I got 4 x 24 ounce jars plus 3/4 jar (not pictured) for my husband plus the glass I gave to the girls.  Not bad!!  I used two small bags of baby spinach, one large bunch of kale, 5 oranges, 4 apples, 4 lemons, a small pre-cut container of pineapple, 6 mini cucumbers and a package of carrots.

The longest part of the process is washing and prepping the veggies.  Because I have an Omega juicer, I have to chop everything smaller to fit it through the hole on the juicer.  No worries...I know it's worth it.  

The juice combinations I made today were:

• Kale, Apple, Orange
• Kale, Carrot, Cucumber, Lemon
• Spinach, Pineapple, Carrot

Prepped fruits & veggies (washed & cut)

Washed kale, I juice the stems too.

Washed and cut apples - 2 Gala, 2 Granny Smith

R to L
*Spinach, Pineapple, Carrot
*Carrot, Kale, Lemon, Cucumber
*Kale, Apple, Orange (x2)

Baked Quinoa Flakes - Gluten Free, Vegan Breakfast

Baked Quinoa Flakes Breakfast Bowl

Gluten Free & Vegan Breakfast

Baked Quinoa Flakes Breakfast Bowl

It's finally that time of year when I want warmer breakfasts.  Too cold to have a shake first thing in the morning, I have been being super lazy and having some kind of bar in the morning, and usually not until around 10 or 10:30.  Gasp!!  I know, right??  The girl who encourages people to eat within an hour of waking - a good, balanced meal that will stabilize blood sugar for the whole morning.  Yeah, I surely have NOT been taking my own advice.  And I *feel* it.  It's not a great feeling.

Therefore - it's baked oats season, friends!!  I am committing to having a balanced breakfast every morning going forward.  I know that it will set me up for a good nutritional day, AND will also keep my mood more stable without those emotional dips that go hand-in-hand with blood sugar dips.

Back to my pantry raid this morning.  I searched all over for my gluten free rolled oats from Trader Joe's and - AHHHHHH - there were NONE!  Yikes, add that to the list, ASAP.  I did, however, find a box of Ancient Harvest quinoa flakes hiding in there with my other gluten free pastas and such.  I figured, hey, it's a hot cereal like oats, so WHEEEE let's do it!

You might know enough about me to know that I create recipes all the time...but I rarely measure anything.  I'm big on eyeballing my ingredients.  Therefore, the following is an approximation.  My advice is to make it according to how I have it noted, then adjust as necessary.  It will most definitely thicken during baking time, so it needs to look watery when you put it in the oven.  I didn't take pictures during my prep today, but you can check my Baked Oats recipe for step by step pictures where it shows what the bowl looks like when it goes into the oven.

Baked Quinoa Flakes Breakfast Bowl:

• 1/3 cup quinoa flakes
• 3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla coconut milk (or water, your choice!)
• dash of sea salt
• generous pinch of cinnamon
• 3 strawberries, sliced
• 1/2 banana, sliced
• 1T natural peanut butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Whisk quinoa flakes, coconut milk, salt & cinnamon in a bowl.  Add to a non-stick ceramic crock or bowl.  Layer in the bananas and strawberries.  Add the peanut butter in the center (it gets gooey and it's perfect to get a little bit with each bite!)  Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned and firm.  Let it cool a bit before serving.  It WILL be super hot!

If you make this, leave me a comment and tell me what you substituted to make it your own!

• Also, I just launched my NEW website!!  Please check it out here >>Fit & Healthy Family<<

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Very Veggie Scramble with Sweet Potatoes Recipe

Very Veggie Scramble with Sweet Potatoes

I like making my Very Veggie Scramble because, well, I'm still not a big fan of eggs and this scramble is great for masking the eggy flavor.  Whatever works, right??

I grabbed the handful of veggies I had on hand for today's scramble.  This time of year it's easy to find prepped sweet potatoes at most grocery stores.  Sometimes I pick these up when I know I can use them quickly and easily in my recipes.  Today was a good day for it because my kids are all home from school.  I couldn't spend too much time doing prep work in the kitchen.

Very Veggie Scramble:

• 2 cage-free eggs
• 1/3 cup chopped bell pepper (I used orange - opt for Organic)
• 1/2 cup chopped white mushrooms
• 1/3 cup chopped vidalia onion
• 1/2 cup chopped broccoli
• 1/2 cup chopped baby spinach (opt for Organic)
• 1T coconut oil
• Spices (I used garlic salt, cumin & Mexican Fiesta seasoning)
• Optional: goat cheese, chopped avocado, chili sauce

Beat eggs in a bowl with your spices, then add all veggies.  Mix to coat veggies evenly.  In a shallow pan over medium heat, add coconut oil and let it warm.  Add your veggie & egg mixture and scramble it until your desired doneness.  I like mine to brown up, so I cook it for several minutes.  Serve hot, sprinkled with goat cheese, avocado, chili sauce or whatever floats your Very Veggie Scramble boat!  I added goat cheese to mine.

Pan Roasted Sweet Potato Cubes:

• 1 and 1/2 cups cubed sweet potato, peeled.  (I bought mine pre-prepped)
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1T coconut oil
• Spices to your liking (optional - I did not use any)

Heat a shallow pan over medium heat and add coconut oil.  Once it melts, add the sweet potato and onion.  Stir to coat evenly and allow it to cook for ten minutes or so.  I covered mine during cooking so it would cook a bit faster.

All veggies - washed, cut & ready to go!

I love this Artisana coconut oil!

Opt for cage-free eggs (and local!) whenever possible

My favorite spices - I use them in everything

I have WAY more veggies than egg in this scramble.

KK approved!

She liked the goat cheese and mushrooms the most

Very Veggie Scramble with Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Meal Prep Monday...or, Tuesday

In an ongoing effort to simplify my day and eliminate time wasting (which, for the record, I am pretty fabulous at doing), I made a commitment that once I got back from vacation, I would start doing some batch meal prepping.  When I did this before and created entire meals (grilled chicken breast, half of a sweet potato, steamed broccoli, sliced peppers), I got bored and let some of the meals go to waste.  

Today I decided I would prep specific foods, but not combine into set meals.  This gives me the time benefit of having foods already cooked and prepared, but still allows me the flexibility to create a few different meals with the same base ingredients.

I browned two packages of ground bison meat.  Have you ever tried it?  It taste just like ground beef (no gamey taste like you might get from venison or other such meats) but it's leaner and buffalo are raised more humanely than cows - there are no anti-biotics or hormones used and in many cases, the buffalo are pasture raised.  Do your research on the brands your store carries.  If you happen to live near a farm that sells buffalo meat, check that out and support your local agriculture.

I also cleaned and prepped two packages of Brussels sprouts.  I'm not a big fan of steamed Brussels sprouts, but I still want the health benefit of eating them, so I lightly tossed in extra virgin olive oil and organic garlic sea salt, then baked in a single layer on a baking sheet at 450 degrees for about 25 minutes.  Tip:  if your sprouts are of varying size, slice the larger ones in half to ensure even cooking.

Lastly, I simply steamed two washed & prepped bags of organic Broccoli.

Today's lunch, post-gym, was chopped raw baby spinach with the broccoli & Brussels sprouts topped with 1/2 cup cooked ground bison meat.  I then added 1/2 sliced avocado and topped with a little drizzle of Organicville Gluten-free chili sauce.  It was a fabulous lunch!  Stay tuned tomorrow to see what I make with my prepped food.

Pork Tenderloin Crockpot Meal

Really?  I haven't blogged since...gasp...JULY?!?  Let's just try to skip over that little tidbit of information and hop right over to this awesome dinner I made yesterday.

Although it's been unseasonably warm in the Mid-Atlantic area recently, yesterday we welcomed FALL temps.  Happy Dance!!!  When the weather gets cooler, I always feel compelled to pull out my Crockpot more often.  Since we just got back from Disney on Sunday, I found myself staring into an empty fridge yesterday morning.  A quick ($300) trip to the grocery store solved that problem.

I picked up a fresh, hormone-free pork tenderloin and a slew of veggies - then decided I'd figure out the rest when I got home.  I chose small red potatoes, sliced white mushrooms, asparagus and a large vidalia onion along with the spices.

This is the super easy part...

I washed my produce, sliced the potatoes in half, chopped the onion into 1" chunks, cut the asparagus spears into thirds and - nice - the mushrooms were already cleaned and sliced for me.  Win!  I only rinsed the tenderloin.  I didn't season or pan sear it.

I tossed the potatoes & onions into the bottom of the crockpot and added the tenderloin on top.  Here's where I added the spices.  I simply sprinkled cumin, organic garlic sea salt and a Mexican Fiesta blend directly onto the tenderloin (when it was done cooking, it looked like a rub, without the effort!)  I then added the free range chicken broth around the sides of the tenderloin (it was about 1 cup of broth) and topped the tenderloin with the mushrooms & asparagus.

That was it!!  I just covered it and set it to low for 7.5 hours.  When it was done, it smelled amazing and the pork fell apart with a spoon.  My five year old inhaled a full plate.  Her favorite part?  The mushrooms.  I just love her and her desire to try new foods!

You can really make this any way you feel inclined.  I loved the way it turned out.  Let me know if you try it and what you end up adding.  

Glass Dharma Glass Straw Giveaway WINNERS!

Thank you to everyone who supported Fit & Healthy Mommy and Glass Dharma in our giveaway of three beautiful, eco-friendly glass straws.  I am excited to announce the winners (chosen via a random drawing)

And the winners are...

* Audrey Chen *

* Jill Rhodes *

* Emily Meyers *

Congrats ladies!!!  I will be contacting each of you on Facebook tomorrow to get your mailing information.

Glass Dharma Glass Straws Review & Giveaway - Sweet!

Oh my word, friends.  This is one awesome giveaway!!  My friends at Glass Dharma: The Original Glass Straw have gifted me four amazing glass straws - one for me to use and review and THREE to give away to my followers.  What?!?  Yes, I said it.  THREE straws - which means YOU have three chances to grab one!

First, I'd really like you to check out my review.    I opted to keep the Amber Decorative Dots 9.5mm x 9" straw because the length works well in my 24 ounce Ball mason jars and I like the design.  The straw is thick - therefore it's super resilient as long as I take care of it.  I dropped it in the sink the other day when I was cleaning it and it withstood the drop!  I always wash it soon after using it...with dish soap and a cleaning brush.  (No dishwasher!!)  This handmade (in the USA!) straw is perfect for my juices, smoothies and infused waters.  The design is eye catching but it also serves a great purpose.  If I place my straw on the counter or another flat surface, the amber dots keep the straw from rolling.

We are in a time where plastic is used in EVERYTHING.  Yes, it's great that so many of us recycle.  But there's actually a lot of plastic that either doesn't get recycled at all - or is "down-cycled" (see >> THIS LINK << on Glass Dharma's site for more info on how plastic bags, straws & bottles make up the bulk of our plastic recycling in the US and are the prime culprits in beach cleanups).  There are so many unnecessary items made of plastic that are overloading our landfills, polluting our planet and endangering our environment.

Why not make a few small changes and reduce your carbon footprint?  That's just what I started to do a few years ago.  I started using reusable grocery bags at the store - then worked my way up to large tote bags and insulated bags for grocery trips and other store visits, such as Target, Old Navy, and pretty much anywhere else I shop.  I also swapped my old plastic water bottles for glass Ball mason jars.  I use them for water, smoothies, green juices and even oatmeal.  I found a great company, EcoJarz, that makes lids and metal straws for the jars and I use them often.  When I was contacted by Glass Dharma, I was really excited to give glass straws a try so that I could eliminate the long plastic straws I would grab from Starbucks.

What I love about the glass straws is that first, they're eco friendly.  They're also strong, easy to clean, and they look pretty sweet in my jars.  The edges are rounded and smooth so I have never had an issue with sharp edges on my tongue or lips.  I love the metal straws I have, but on occasion I have experiences a slight tinny feel to them.  With the glass straws, It's a very easy pull with no taste other than what's in my glass.

Cleaning my straw is simple and quick!

I use my Amber Decorative Dots straw pretty much every day!  I love it so much that I want to share these three with YOU - and yeah, maybe purchase a few extra for myself too!

Giveaway:
1 x Simple Elegance 12mm x 9" straw
1 x Beautiful Bends 9.5mm x 9" straw
1 x Decorative Dots Sipper 7mm x 6.5"

Here are two ways you can grab one of >>these amazing straws<< ~ You can choose one or both options.  If you do both, you have a greater chance of being selected!

Facebook:
1. Like their page on Facebook:  click here >> Glass Dharma
2. Like my page on Facebook:  click here >> Fit & Healthy Mommy
3. Share the photo from my Facebook page on your personal page - tag my page and Glass Dharma's page AND tell me why you'd like to have one of these glass straws!  If you're so inclined, tell your friends to check it out too.  If they tag you in their repost/share - you will get an extra entry into the number generator!


Instagram:
1. Follow their page on Instagram >> @GlassDharma
2. Follow my page on Instagram >> @FitHealthyMommy
3. Repost the giveaway photo on my IG page (use InstaRepost app or take a screen shot pic and share) - tag me @FitHealthyMommy and hash tag #FitHealthyMommyGiveaway AND tell me why you'd like to have one of these glass straws!  Ditto if your friends repost and tag you - you'll get an extra entry for each friend that tags you.  Don't forget the hashtag #FitHealthyMommyGiveaway.

That's it - Easy Peasy!

**Three winners will be chosen by random number generator on Sunday, July 28th on or around 7 PM EST**  Shipping only to winners in the United States. Good Luck!!

Batch Meal Prep - Clean Eating

Hey friends!!  I haven't blogged in awhile - yikes!  Summer's here and all of my little princesses are home with me.  It probably goes without saying that my days are pretty busy and these kids are wearing me OUT!  Phew!

Today's post recaps my very first Batch Meal Prep!

6 portioned meals for the rest of this week & weekend

I'll save a lot of what I want to share for another post and keep it simple today.  In short, I am feeling unbalanced and not entirely healthy these days.  My stress levels are a bit higher with my girls home (more fighting, whining, crying, etc) and my adrenal fatigue is wearing on me.  I had been upping my cardio the past few weeks and it really did me in.  It put my adrenals into hibernation for a bit. Therefore, I decided that trying meal prepping & portioning might be in my best interest in order to keep my food intake on track...and also eliminate the stresses of making meals for myself and my kids, three times a day.

After some great inspiration from Instagram and a few Google searches, I came up with a quick (okay, it took me a few hours) and easy plan for the next 4 days or so.  I learned a bit and will plan better and more accordingly next week.  But this works for me right now!

My awesomesauce husband, Josh, picked up 3 organic, hormone-free chicken breasts from The Fresh Market the other day.  I rinsed and patted them dry, laid them on non-stick foil on a baking sheet and sprinkled them with salt-free Mrs. Dash.  Tossed them in the oven and baked at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes.  They were thick, hence the baking duration.

While the chicken was baking, I added a dish with 5 really small sweet potatoes and let those bake for about 50 minutes.  Halfway through the sweet potato baking time, I also put in a baking dish with asparagus.  I left it plain - no oil, no seasonings.  I left that in there for about 25 minutes.

I really liked being able to time out these three foods and use the oven for all of them at the same time.  It reduced energy used, and also cut down on my cooking times.

While the chicken, sweet potatoes and asparagus were in the oven, I steamed 2 heads of broccoli (plain) and a package of pre-washed green beans.  For a snack, I sliced up three bell peppers (yellow, red & orange).  I portioned these out into 6 containers - each had half of a chicken breast (sliced), asparagus, broccoli and sweet potato (some whole, some halved, depending on size).  I left the green beans & peppers in separate containers for snacks or meal additions.

Pictures follow - they show how I portioned everything out.  Hope this is helpful for anyone else who might want to start food prepping & portioning!

So pretty!  Lots of health benefits in different colored produce!

Seasoned chicken, prior to baking

Baked sweet potatoes 

I fully admit that I totally cheated and steamed these right in the bag!

Steamed broccoli

Chicken - after baking

Asparagus - baked plain, no oil or seasoning 

Here's a look at the 6 portions plus green beans & bell peppers

close-up of one of my portioned meals