(No-Cook) Swiss Oatmeal

Warmer weather makes me want to eat cooler food - as in chilled like salads & smoothies. If you follow me on Instagram you probably have noticed that I was on a smoothie bowl kick for a while. Then I had the Swiss oatmeal at Gregory’s Coffee (by way of recommendation from my team at work) & I knew I would have to work this into my morning routine at home.

Swiss oatmeal is served chilled, which makes it more appealing (to me) to eat during the spring & summer than a hot bowl of oatmeal (or anything for the matter).  Oh & you don’t have to cook it- that’s right a no-cook oatmeal. You only need to know how to cut up some fruit & stir & then get your beauty rest while it does it's thing in the fridge overnight.

It’s super simple to make & it’s another recipe you can use for that yogurt in your fridge too! This recipe makes enough for about 4 breakfasts. I stored mine in an airtight jar & portioned some out each morning during the week.

Raisin, Coconut & Oat Scones with a Maple Glaze

Scones will always remind me of the coffee house that I worked at in college. We always had them & they always sold out. I would always bring some to my mom when I could - she was (& still is) a huge fan of the scones at Immaculate Consumption. I of course ate them but I never made them.

This past weekend I decided I would finally give it a try. I combined a bunch of recipes to come up with mine which I can say I’m proud of. If you’ve never had a scone it’s like the love child of a biscuit and muffin. They can be sweet or savory. The ones I opted to make were sweet with raisins, coconut & a maple glaze. 

Have a great weekend! I hope you make these for breakfast :)

Vegan Chocolate Chip Banana Oat Muffins

Lately, I haven’t been able to read my favorite blogs as regularly as I like, so it’s a real treat to catch up on the posts that I’ve missed.  I adore withfoodandlove.com.  Sherrie Scaglione Castellano, a life coach & fabulous blogger, always has really great recipes made with whole foods & they just taste really good & are good for you. Sherrie even makes you feel good about infusing your own vodka & mixing up spicy bloody marys (like I did here).

The one recipe that I found most recently that spoke to the ingredients that I had on hand & my sweet tooth was this one for chocolate chip banana oat muffins.  These muffins are so delicious that Chris compared them to his favorite chocolate banana bread from Starbucks. They are that good but these are much more healthful. For one, they’re vegan - which just sounds better right? It means they they’re made without animal products (like milk, eggs, butter).  I had never baked anything vegan before so I was a little hesitant - but don't be they don't taste "vegan".  Plus, they have chia seeds which are a popular super food amongst my healthy friends (Jennifer, Natalie & Rose - I’m looking at you!).  These bitty little seeds can help combat diabetes, are packed with fiber & omega3s plus lots of other great health benefits.

Ok, so these muffins have chocolate chips - but hey chocolate has antioxidants right?  I will definitely be making these again.

Quick Homemade Breakfast Oatmeal

We saw some family this weekend. Lucky for me, my family members are my biggest fans & they notice when things aren’t up to par - & usually tell me (thanks for calling me out Melissa Donnelly - I needed to hear it).  Lately, I haven’t been blogging a whole lot & that is going to change. Truth is I was sidetracked but other projects that I thought I wanted to try my hand at - & while they taught me new life lessons what I really learned is that this is where I want & need to be right now at this point in my life - here blogging about what I love on a daily basis.  So without further adieu, I’m posting more recipes & other things that lift me up more regularly. Will there be days where I don’t - probably - I’m human after all - but I will do my very best to bring you more of my original posts here. Thanks for sticking with me.

Today, I’m talking about breakfast - a meal that I can usually do without, but I’m trying to be better about eating it as it has been deemed the most important meal of the day.  The one person that I know who eats breakfast on a regular basis (for the past 87+ years!!!) is my Grandpa Paul.  He eats oatmeal everyday for breakfast, except for Sundays when he eats bacon & eggs.

Granted my oatmeal isn’t Grandpa’s - because I like more toppings (he just eats his plain). In the past I’ve eaten oatmeal - mostly instant. You know the package that you tear open & it has oatmeal & other dried counterparts in it - usually semi-identifiable.  Well guess, what Grandpa doesn’t eat that powdery stuff in the package - so I’m going back to basics & making mine from  scratch - well kind of - I’m using the microwave. Instead of taking 2 minutes in the morning to make your instant oatmeal this heartier & healthier way will take you about 5. I think the 3 extra minutes in the morning are worthy of knowing what exactly you’re putting in your body. Plus, it tastes better.

Apple Crisp

Apple season is upon us. We embraced it in our house by eating an early September Apple Crisp.  I basically adapted this recipe that I made at the beach with blueberries this summer to make it with apples instead.  Find the complete recipe after the jump!

Blueberry Cobbler

After our shrimp boil we finished off the night with some fresh blueberry cobbler & ice cream (read: yum).  I came across this recipe that makes the basic cobbler a bit more figure friendly using a base of butter, greek yogurt, oats, sugar & whole wheat flour for the crumbly delicious topping (as opposed to the butter & sugar combo usually found in a cobbler recipe). I added some vanilla extract to the berry mixture & sprinkled some cinnamon on top of the crumbles.

You really can't go wrong with this recipe, be sure to check out SproutedKitchen.com for more yummy healthful recipes or better yet order the cookbook that's what I plan to do.

A Natural Choice: African Black Soap

8 great reasons why I ditched my body wash for this soap:

1. It has ingredients I can pronounce & are so natural there's nothing but good stuff in here! (ingredients: African Black Soap Base, Shea butter, Oats, Aloe, Plantain Extract, Vitamin E, Essential Oil Blend, Vegetable Glycerin, Palm Ash, Rosemary Extract, Iron Oxides.)
2. The smell is subtle but fruity & far from the overpowering scented body lotion days of my collegiate years.
3. It lathers so well & it's sulfate-free.
4. It fights acne while moisturizing & is safe for you face & body!
5. It lasts longer in my soap case than any other body wash I've spilled all over my shower floor.
6. It doesn't irritate my skin after shaving.
7. Its TSA friendly.
8. You can purchase it for under $5! (I purchased mine at WholeFoods for $3.99!)