Beauty and The Beast Oats

Breakfast

I know it may be hard to believe but I am actually posting breakfast at breakfast time! It's been a while, I know. This morning I decided to make butternut squash oats.

• about 3/4 cup frozen butternut squash chunks
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup oats
• small handful raisins, I got a little excited with the raisins this morning
• 1 tsp. chia seeds
• 1 tsp. milled flaxseeds
• shake cinnamon
• splash vanilla
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• scoop peanut butter
• soy milk

I put just the frozen squash and the water in the pot first to cook the freeze out. Then I added all but the peanut butter and the soy milk on top and made oats as usual.

I like putting milk on top of my oats because it always makes me think of that scene in Beauty and The Beast where they sit down to eat breakfast together and the Beast just doesn't know what to do with himself. Hahahaha!

Half caff hazelnut coffee, water, and a Women's One a Day to go with my Beauty and The Beast oats.

I can't believe there are only two weeks left of school! I have some big plans this summer and it hasn't really hit me yet just how quickly it's all coming on. My cousin Lindsay is getting married next month (woohoo!!), school ends on June 11, the lease for my apartment ends June 17, and I leave for Isarel for six weeks on June 14! This translates into a few important things that you will be seeing soon:

• Initiation of the "Eat it So You Don't Have to Move It" operation
• Cramming for finals and writing a paper or two
• A trip to Arizona
• A visit from my Mamma
• Lots of long skirts, hummus, and Hebrew!

I have recently, um...last night, discovered online shopping!! I can see how it could become addicting but that is why I used my own credit card which is my own hard earned money that only gets replenished if I work. I think I spent wisely. The only think I couldn't seem to find any deals on is Rosetta Stone for Hebrew. I would really like to try and learn a little of the language while I'm in Israel and I have had good luck with Rosetta Stone in the past, it's just so darn expensive. Does anyone know of a way to find a discounted price? Or possibly other language programs that are equally as good? Anyways, all I should be focusing on right now are the papers and finals at hand and maybe also the Kilimanjaro of laundry that is taking over my closet.

Time to get ready for Baroque Music. I actually really like this class and I'm even going to remember to bring my anthology for once, yesss!

See ya later!

Double Breakfast

Making breakfast this morning I realized that somehow I completely forgot to post yesterday's breakfast! What the heck?! So that's why this is going to be a double breakfast post.

Breakfast (Sunday)

After completing Jillian's 30 Day Shred for Day 6 I simmered down and made myself a hot cup of java. I've been doing half-caff which is half full caffeine coffee half decaf. It's just the right amount of caffeine for me in the morning and the decaf stuff I have is hazelnut creme flavor. Incentive much? I used a little soy creamer and sweetened with stevia.

Breakfast

All through the workout I was fantasizing about having an oatmeal pancake for breakfast so I researched the recipes I could find online while sipping on my hazelnutty coffee. What I ended up making was a creation all of my own invention.

• 1 mashed banana
• 1/3 cup oats
• 1/3 cup cornmeal
• 1 tsp baking powder
• splash vanilla extract
• shake cinnamon
• 1 tsp milled flax seed
• 1/4 cup water

Can you tell this is a disaster waiting to happen? I scattered frozen blueberries over the massive pancake while it cooked which made it smell totally delicious and fruity.

It came out pretty good considering I had to use two spatulas to flip this bad boy. Next time I should just make three small ones.
I smeared that sucker with peanut butter and drizzled it with maple syrup.

Workout

This morning I was super tired but I forced myself to get up and do Jillian's 30 Day Shred anyways. Today was Day 7 and after only doing this 20 minute workout for seven days I can really feel the difference. My arms feel much stronger (and Savannah told me she could see my muscles more!). I can feel the muscles in my legs getting stronger and I am a little bit sore everyday but in the good workout kind of way. I am excited about sticking to this video because I think I will really see some changes.

Breakfast, Today!

Now on to today's breakfast! I rehydrated with a glass of water and made myself a very hazelnutty iced coffee. I used mostly unsweetened soy milk but also added a splash of hazelnut creamer and a little stevia. For the oats I went out on a limb and made Butternut Squash Oats!
The ingredients included:

• 1/2 cup frozen butternut squash
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1 banana, sliced
• small handful raisins, about 1/8 cup
• shake cinnamon
• splash vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp. chia seeds
• 1 tsp. milled flaxseed

I started by putting only the frozen squash and the soy milk in the pot to cook the squash. Next I added the bananas, raisins, cinnamon, and vanilla. When the milk started to lightly boil and I added the rest of the ingredients and proceeded to make oatmeal as usual.
It turned out great! I topped it all with a scoop of peanut butter and a drizzle of maple syrup. This is such a great way to get some veggies in the morning.

Wow I just realized what time it is and I am definitely going to be late for class. Gotta run!