When I want oats... but not hot.

Yesterday morning I woke up (clap on the back Steph) jumped out of bed, checked the time.... and realised that it was only 5:30am.

Of course, any sane person would rug back up in the warmth of their bed and shut their eyes for another blissful hour or so and sometimes I would do just that.

But I was WIDE awake! Like buzzing with energy and there was no way my body was lying back down into the stillness of sleep.

So, naturally, I didn't. Instead I decided to burn off some energy on the treadmill (it was a lovely cold and rainy day yesterday... so I wasn't keen on running outside).

30 minutes later with legs like jelly after a little speed run, I could feel the stomach rumbling! I knew what I wanted; oats. I knew what I didn't want; something hot. I knew what I didn't do last night; prepare cold overnight oats. I knew that wasn't going to stop me.

Ingredients at the ready!

Into a bowl I mashed 3/4 of a banana (ate the other 1/4 because I was hungry)

I then added in a teaspoon of cinnamon and a heaped tablespoon of raw cacao powder:

Next into the bowl of goodies went three big spoons of greek yoghurt and a sprinkling of chia seeds:

Mix-y mix:

This here, my friends, is the ultimate 2-minute whip together chocolate mousse. Take a minute here and taste-test. Actually, maybe don't... one taste test may not be enough!

Seriously though, this mousse is the perfect texture, sweetness and it's chocolate so...
Ok, back to the oats!
Add em' in! (around 2 big handfuls)

Along with 1/4 cup almond milk (or any milk) and stir to combine:

Either leave to thicken in the bowl or tranfer to an almost empty jar of nut butter :)

This was my home-made cashew butter. It was a bit crumbling and because the oats are cold they wouldn't melt the nut butter, so instead I simply added it straight into the mix for even distribution:

Pop into jar:

And leave to sit in the fridge/ freezer (I chose freezer because I wanted mine extra chilly).

 Around 30 minutes later and your oats should be fairly thick and delicious (overnight is definitely preferable ;)

 Chocolate mousse-y goodness

 So I guess you could say these are over-30-min oats instead of over-night. Ahh well, they were tasty perfect fuel for the day!

Nom.

Your turn:
Do you ever wake up full of life way too early in the morning so just decide to get up?
Do you ever make overnight oats in the morning?
Favourite add-ins for overnight oats?

That's all from me this terrific Tuesday. Have yourself a wonderful day, acknowledge all the amazing things that happen (no matter how small) and as always, eat something delicious! Bye for now friends!!

When you don't have it for 3 weeks...

Happy Saturday everyone!!

I hope everyone has had a fabulous week and are just as excited to tackle the next one (and if you're not- pump yourself up so you become crazy positive and annoy absolutely everyone around you! ;)

Now, I'm one of those bloggers who scrolls through her recent pictures and decides on blog posts from there. This can get a bit redundant when you see the seventh photo of roasted veg (on several different occasions) and are thinking to yourself- 'Nope, there is no way I can work that into a post'

Not my pictures- but kind of what it ends up looking like to me anyway!

(If you're interested in posts where I have talked about roasted veg, see here, here, here and here and there's more!!)

So anyway, back to me scrolling through endless pictures of my food.

As I mentioned before recently, upon returning from Africa, I have definitely been craving all the foods that normally make up my diet (ie. VEG!) and so really, it shouldn't have come as a surprise when I came across picture after picture of...

OATS!

You and I both know I go through phases with oats. If I'm in an oats phase I'll eat them every second day. If I'm not, they will hang tight in the pantry for a good few weeks untouched (awesome that they last!)

So after 3 weeks of no oats (apart from the traditional plain soup-like ones they served us occasionally- which I still ate because, hey, I needed my energy!) I guess I'm going oat-of-my-mind with some cravings!

Second day back:

 Lemon blueberry steel cut oats with coconut butter:

 New favourite oats :)

Day after: My second favourite bowl of oats:

Creamy vanilla and cinnamon banana steel cut oats:

 Topped with all the almond butter (and some spread throughout :)

Few days later: Overnight oats!

 Or perhaps some super fresh, delicious and sweet watermelon with a side tub of peanut butter?

 Just kidding:

 Choc protein overnight oats

 With quite a lot of crunchy PB left in the jar. Problem? I don't think so! ;)

And finally this mornings- which I shall be naming Strawberry Shortcake!

Into the pot went 1/2 cup steel cut oats + 1 VERY ripe banana + 4-5 VERY ripe strawberries + sprinkle of chia seeds +fresh vanilla pod seeds (sub in a small dash of vanilla essence) + 1 cup almond milk + 1 cup water- bring to the boil, stirring occasionally until liquid has been absorbed (around 20 mins)

 Sweet, strawberry-y, lusciously swirled with smooth creamy almond butter and filling the house with  a warming smell that can only be likened to strawberry cake baking in the oven.

 There were also butterflies and rainbows and angels singing.

 Too far? Any who, it was delicious and has only made my hankering for oats even stronger!

 Happy days :)

What about you?
What's on your craving/ repeat-practically-daily list at the moment?
Do you find you go through oat phases?
Favourite way to use strawberries in cooking?

I hope you have a lovely rest of your weekend, make the most of it, smile, laugh and eat delicious food! Bye for now friendly friends!! :D

Oats-sorta oats + smoothies!

If I had to ask myself what my favourite breakfast was I couldn't answer it with just one... well I could but I don't think this one counts- it's a million-gazillion times better than any other breakfast ;)

My favourite breakfasts however, is a tie between smoothies and oats, which is exactly what I've been enjoying lately!
Kicking things off with CHOCOLATE!

I made some simple chocolate oats (oats+rice milk+ raw cacao powder+ cocoa nibs+ dash of cinnamon+sprinkle of chia seeds) then I remembered this ice-cream- where I added greek yoghurt and it tasted just.like.cheesecake!
So I wanted to make some chocolate cheesecake oats :)

blob, blob, blob

Stir, stir, stir
and bubble away until thickened.

Plopped in a mug and covered in almond butter... mmm

Never had cheesecake (oats) for breakfast. T'was good :)
Especially with a nudie :)

Then I made...
A tropical dough boy smoothie- inspired by Kath from Kath Eats Real Food!
I made some overnight oats the night before:

Then in the morning got out the rest of the stuff:

Overnight oats, 1 frozen banana, 1 handful of frozen mango, (didn't end up using the greek yoghurt- too much of a good thing, right? Nah!) 1 tablespoon almond butter and about 1 cup of rice milk (depending on desired thickness)
All placed in a blender and whazzed!

Deeee-lishhh!
All natural sweetners, vegan, cake-y(?) yum!

 Lastly was this mornings breakfast of oats in the form of granola and smoothie in the form of PB+J
Inspired by this recipe.
I made the granola by preheating oven to 180 degrees and melting some coconut butter with rice milk in the microwave for about 25 seconds:

Bit hard to see, but there was about 1 tablespoon coconut butter and 1/4 cup rice milk.
Then, with your hands you rub it in to some oats and dried fruit and nuts (as much as you want)

Place on baking tray:

Bake for around 15 mins:

and cool while you make the smoothie.
The smoothie was just 1 banana + chia seeds + 2 dollops greek yoghurt + 3/4 cup frozen blueberries+ 1 1/2 tablespoons almond butter+ 1/2 cup rice milk, whazzed:

Pour into mug (mugs are cool)

Top with coconut granola and any leftover banana:

Enjoy!

I sure did (my favourite part was the colour.. but then I ate some... my favourite part is the taste :)

I hope everyone has a fantabulous weekend, enjoys the extra time and maybe make a delicious breakfast! :D