Overnight Oats

So I realize I am about 5 years late to the overnight oats fad. I have actually considered them multiple times. I first read about them on Oh She Glows way back when. I thought, "that sounds like a nifty thing to have for breakfast" but then thought it seemed weird to eat cold oats....and immediately forgot about them.

Years later, along came Pinterest, and, again, overnight oats resurfaced. People I know (and tons of people I don't know, because that is how Pinterest works) pinned multiple recipes for overnight oats. I dutifully re-pinned each recipe - slightly more open to the idea but still never quite committing.

As the mornings warmed to summer in Texas, I no longer wanted to bring my hot breakfast of eggs and kale. In my searching for something refreshing for breakfast I still ignored overnight oats and instead started bringing greek yogurt with granola and berries every morning. I LOVED it. It was delicious and filling and my new most favorite breakfast ever. 

And then I discovered I have a sensitivity of some sort - I assume to dairy. I noticed that I was having an issue with dry skin on my eyelids (which, luckily, according to my friend at work, looks like eyeshadow and not the freakish-mutant peeling skin that I thought it looked like). I also quickly deduced that this started around the time I fell in love with yogurt for breakfast. Even more damning was the fact that it would clear up on the weekends when I would typically have something aside from yogurt for breakfast. It was the only constant. So, on a very depressing Thursday, I brought eggs and kale to work for breakfast instead. 

After two mornings of eggs, and the temperatures nearing the 80s as early as 9am. I really wanted to find something refreshing for breakfast again. Which is when, in a moment of clarity, I remembered overnight oats. I decided to finally give them a try. It only took five years. And, let me tell you, I now regret that - because that is five years I could have been eating this amazing breakfast that I missed out on. What was I thinking?!?!?!

Overnight oats are easy. You make them the night before, with very minimal effort, and they are ready to go by the morning. They are full of vitamins, fiber, and good-for-you things. And they keep you full and happy until lunch. 

So far I have made two very basic recipes all based on the same concept: 1/4 cup oats, 1/2 - 1 tablespoon of chia seeds, and 1/2 - 1 cup liquid. 

The first was loosely based on this recipe I pinned from Leaf Parade - coconut almond and cocoa overnight oats. 

coconut almond and cocoa overnight oats 

1/4 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon chia seeds 

Add to jar or other container with a lid and shake contents well. Place in the fridge overnight to set.  

Add toppings of your choice in the morning, shake and eat! (I added shredded coconut, strawberries, sliced almonds, and some dark chocolate slivers.)

The first try was good. Good enough that I was willing to try a second recipe the next day. After doing some searching I found a recipe on Skinnytaste to base my next round of overnight oats on. 

blueberry pie overnight oats 

1/4 cup rolled (quick) oats
3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 tablespoon chia seeds
two handfuls of blueberries (or however many you would like)
1 teaspoon of dark brown sugar
pinch of cinnamon 

Add to jar or other container with a lid and shake contents well. Place in fridge overnight to set.  

Add toppings of your choice in the morning, shake and eat! (I added slivered almonds to this one.)

Delicious! I am excited to continue to experiment with combinations. The ratio of oats to liquid is fairly constant, and outside of that you can mix up flavors, sweeteners, seeds (add flaxseed instead of chia, for example), fruit, crunchy toppings -- only your imagination (and the available produce) can limit you!!!!

Yakitori (yum!)

I am pretty excited about today's Bento box. I feel like I am much more prepared this week to pack the boxes. Yesterday I made a big batch of broccoli and a batch of the quick pickled cucumbers and cabbage - so I have some quick things to throw into the box.

Over the weekend we had friends over and grilled some yakitori, which is basically just skewered, grilled chicken; we also grilled some steak on skewers. Yakitori was something we ate quite a few times while we were in Japan, often as an afternoon snack when we would pop in somewhere for beer and food. Along with the meat, I made a tare dipping sauce, which is actually what gives the yakitori it's flavor - it is basically mirin, sake, soy sauce and sugar, along with some garlic and ginger.

I think our friends really enjoyed it - but we had way more food than we needed. So last night Mr. X and I grilled up the last few skewers. I also made a ridiculous amount of sauce, about five times more than we needed, so we were able to enjoy the yakitori all over again last night. Of course, I also packed the extra in my bento box today!

This one is pretty basic: the yakitori and dipping sauce (which I brought in a separate container), along with some broccoli, tomatoes, quick pickled cucumbers and cabbage, and soba noodles with dried seaweed.

I plan to bring soba at least one more time this week, and use more of the tare sauce....since we have so much of it. I am also making a lamb and noodle dish tonight that should transition perfectly to a bento box for a couple of lunches this week.

Since I have all my lunches planned out, and ingredients already prepped, it should be an easy week. In fact, I feel like it is extremely helpful to plan out all the weekly meals ahead of time. I am always surprised when I hear my friends don't do this (especially friends with kids). It is such a time and money saver! Basically every Sunday I sit down with my recipes, and think through what is in the fridge that will need to be used that week (veggies that will spoil, leftover ingredients, etc.) and plan out the meals for the week. Usually I think through what I will bring for breakfast and lunch, as well as what I will make for dinner. I try to pick recipes that compliment one another or that use all of what I will buy. For example, a few weeks ago I made the roasted romaine chicken caesar that Mr. X and I both love, but that meant I had romaine lettuce I needed to use, so I was certain to include side salads in a couple of dinners. Or the week we got back from Japan I made a dish that contained one chili in adobo sauce, which means half the container was stored in the fridge....so the following week I made black bean burgers that incorporated the other half of the pepper so as not to let it go to waste.

The meal plan really helps you buy the right amount of food at the store and not have things spoil and/or go to waste. Additionally, it lets you prep some things ahead of time and save time during the week! As I mentioned, yesterday I prepared a batch of broccoli and quick pickled cucumbers & cabbage for my lunches this week. I also roasted some parsnips and potatoes which I heated in a pan with some greens, and then added eggs for breakfasts. I also know that I will be bringing certain parts of our dinner leftovers with me for lunches each day, and that I will be out late Wednesday and Thursday, so Mr. X will be able to eat the leftovers from Tuesday's dinner. That means I am making more Tuesday night than I might normally.

Since this is all already planned, it is easier to stick to making a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner each day. Sometimes we stray from the plan - decide to see a movie, or go out to eat at the last minute. But typically we stick to our weekly meal plan. The weekends are much more flexible. I don't typically have a plan and often will stop at the store on my way home if we decide to stay in and cook (or grill). I always keep breakfast items in the house, so we can whip up a weekend breakfast if we decide to stay in. I think being super flexible on the weekend also helps motivate me to stick to the plan I laid out on the weekends.

If you don't already plan out your meal - I would really recommend you give it a shot for one month and see if it works for you. I think you will find that you waste a lot less food, spend less money at the store (as long as you stick to your shopping list), and it makes the weeks less stressful.

I use a small notebook for my planning - keeping my meal plan on one side and my shopping list on the other. Here are examples, some weeks I list out breakfast/lunch/dinner all separate, some weeks is a little messier and breakfast or lunch items are bunched together at the end:

There are a lot of sites that offer great printables (such as this one or these), or special notebooks you can buy. I would say just use whatever works for you! I find that all I really need is a plain old piece of paper and pen. Whatever you use, if you don't already have some sort of meal planning process in place - just grab pen, paper and give it a try!

Bento Boxes!!!!!

Mr. X and I recently took a trip to Japan. It was amazing. I fell in love with the country, the people, the food, the culture - if someone offered us a chance to move there, I would go in a split second. Honestly, I was hesitant about our trip, I originally wanted to go to France. But Mr. X convinced me on Japan and I am so grateful!

Unfortunately no one has offered us a free ticket back (yet), but I have brought one thing home (aside from amazing memories and pictures): the bento box.

We purchased a couple of bento boxes while we were there for quick meals on a train between cities. They were each very different, but very good. Convenient stores don't sell bento boxes here (although they should), but another thing that is popular in Japan is to bring your own packed bento box for lunch. When I got back I ordered a small bento box online (I kept forgetting to pick one up while we were there), and I packed a bento box for lunch a few times this week. Unfortunately I don't have access to tons of Japanese ingredients, although I can find a few at my local store, but between some ingenuity and the cookbook, The Just Bento Cookbook, that I found and ordered online - I have had some great lunches!

The thing I really like is the automatic portion control. With the size of the bento box it doesn't seem like it will hold much food, but you can pack quite a bit in there - and it is always the right portions, as opposed to our tendency to eat portions two or three times the right size.

I forgot to take a picture of my bento box before I left the house, so this is just a quick camera phone picture, but you get the idea...

The container on the right is black bean burgers. I had made them for dinner the night before, and simply made extra smaller slider-sized black bean burgers in addition to the two I made for Mr. X and I last night. They are resting on a bed of cabbage leaves, with a nice squeeze of sriracha.

The other container is some quick-steamed broccoli (with some pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice), along with some basic cherry tomatoes and a quick pickled cucumber and cabbage recipe from the Just Bento cookbook.

I was able to make everything the night before, and just had to pack it into a bento box this morning. In fact, if I plan better in future weeks I could make a large batch of things like the broccoli or the pickled cucumber and cabbage and use it for bentos throughout the week.

Earlier this week I made a cold soba noodle dish, which we ate while we were in Japan, along with some cabbage & crab salad. I forgot to snap a picture of that one, but I will definitely be making it again next week and give more details and pictures then!

I want to alternate between experimenting with some Japanese flavors and foods, and packing some more American-type food. But if this week is an example, I think that will be easy enough.

For now, my bento box will have to be my little daily piece of Japan....unless someone wants to send us back!!!!

Chickpea Tacos

Chickpea Tacos a.ka. Mr. X's "favorite" vegetarian "thing" that I make.

We had a friend over for dinner tonight, and I wasn't clear on what he could/couldn't eat (he is an occasional, more often than not, vegetarian). Chickpea tacos seemed like the easiest answer - they are quick to make, vegetarian, and even Mr. X loves them! The first time I made them I used the recipe found on Coffee and Quinoa, but since then I have altered it quite a bit to suite our tastes (of course).

I was lazy this time around and bought pre-made Wholly Guacamole. Mr. X and I are pretty picky about our guac, but this stuff will pass muster when we don't feel like making our own. If your store carries it (not sure if this is just a Texas thing), I would recommend it as a great substitute.

If not, guacamole is not that hard to pull together. Mix together avocado (as chunky or smooth as you like them), freshly diced tomatoes, onion (I prefer red onions) and cilantro. Then add garlic powder, salt and lime to taste. Some people like jalapeños in their guacamole, despite our love for spice we prefer ours without. But to each their own. Guacamole is very much a person-by-person endeavor, some like more lime, some more tomatoes....just play with it until you realize you ate the whole bowl. That means you got it right.

But for lazy weeknight dinners, Wholly Guacamole will suffice.

For the tacos I drain the chickpeas (I used two cans this time, but normally for just two of us, I would only use one can), and toss the beans in a taco seasoning. My personal taco seasoning includes chili powder, garlic, paprika, cumin, cayenne and salt - all to taste, but probably an average of 3/4 - 1 full teaspoon per seasoning (again for two cans). Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a pan, and saute one small diced red onion, one jalapeño and 2-3 cloves of garlic until the onion is soft and the garlic is fragrant. Add the chickpeas, about 1/4 cup of water and 1/4 tsp of cornstarch (or other thickener) and cook until the chickpeas are cooked through and the water has mostly evaporated. Then stir in the juice from half a lime (or a full lime if it is not very juicy).

Spoon the chickpea filling into a taco shell (I recommend the stand and stuff type), top with plenty of guacamole, cilantro and a sprinkling of lettuce and DONE!

SOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOODDDDDDD!!!!!!  And it is super quick, all told it is a 15 minute dinner. Maybe 20 minutes if you are making your own guacamole!

New toy!!!

I promise to post a recipe or two later this week....but for now, I wanted to tell everyone (or at least, my one faithful reader) about my new toy! Mr. X got me the Basis fitness band for my birthday!

I have had a FitBit Flex for awhile now, and while I liked it there were a few frustrating things about it. First off, the Flex had a very limited display and I would continually be looking at my wrist for the time. It also really only tracks steps. So each CrossFit class I would take off the FitBit, put on my heart rate monitor, then switch back at the end of class and manually enter the calorie burn. Not the end of the world, but kind of silly.

I started researching other fitness bands - debating moving up to the new FitBit Force, or getting something different - when I came across the Basis. The Basis counts steps, monitors sleep and estimates calorie burn just like the other trackers, but additionally it has sensors to capture your heart rate, perspiration and skin temperatures. This should lead to a more detailed level of information about your lifestyle.

The watch syncs directly with most Android and all iPhones, and the phone interface is pretty quick and easy to use. You can also access your stats online, and the statistics you can see are pretty mind-blowing.

You can see throughout the day when your heart rate changes, the steps you take, the calories you are burning, skin temperature and perspiration changes. Additionally the Basis can sense when you are walking, running or biking and keeps track of the amount of time you have done each activity.

The Basis also automatically detects when you are sleeping and can monitor the difference between light sleep, REM and deep sleep - and gives you a sleep score based on the amount of time you spend on each sleep cycle.

As opposed to goals, which is how the FitBit interface works, the Basis focuses on habits. You can chose from a variety of habits depending on what works for you. As you succeed in one habit you earn points that allows you to unlock your next habit. It starts out just having you wear the Basis for 12 hours at a time, this was really easy for me since I was used to wearing the FitBit. I also added an afternoon lap, because I know I tend to sit too long at work in the afternoon. Once I succeed at both of these habits I will be able to add more.  

I kind of like the habits - it is a bit more motivating to complete a habit if I am able to unlock more, as opposed to the goal of the FitBit. Although I will miss the excitement of my FitBit lighting up and vibrating when I made my calorie burn goal for the day! 

I wore the Basis to CrossFit for the first time tonight, since the Basis does not constantly monitor your heart rate in the same way a training Garmin watch would (for example), it definitely was slightly off on my measurements during my workout. So far, this would be my only complaint about the product. I did find that if I wore it slightly higher up on my wrist it seems to get better measurements. I also emailed their customer support and suggested they allow you to force a heart rate check by pushing a button. I know it never picked up my max heart rate during my workout because it just didn't happen to check at that point....it would have been nice to force it to check here and there during my workout. But it still gave me some great readings, and a better overall view of my activity during the day than the FitBit ever did. 

The Basis is also lacking a silent alarm feature, which I really liked in the FitBit. It also does not currently sync with sites such as My Fitness Pal, which is a little disappointing. Hopefully this is something that can add eventually. Then again, it is easy enough, if I decide to count calories again, to do the math in my head based on the calorie burn the Basis has for the day...

Overall I am excited to continue to use my new toy....and see if it pushes me to make slight improvements to my lifestyle. 

All or nothing?

Some weeks I really feel like I am on top of it....I cook the meals I planned, make us healthy & homemade snacks, hit the gym every day....

Then some weeks, I just really don't have my shit together. 

This week was the latter.

It started out great - I went shopping on Sunday like always with the best intentions of making us homemade pistachio cranberry energy bites for snacks, and getting everything for healthy meals for the week.

Mr. X and I then enjoyed the beautiful day by heading to a local pub for a pint and some sunshine....and to plan our upcoming trip to Japan. It was a great afternoon! But we probably had one drink or so more than we should have....

But no biggie - I didn't get around to making the pistachio cranberry energy bites, but I still made us a super delicious shrimp pasta (gluten-free) with avocado pesto from my super awesome Absolutely Avocado cookbook (which Mr. X got me for Christmas). It didn't even really phase me that I accidentally dumped the first batch of pasta right down the drain when attempting to strain it. And I still managed to put together a batch of steel cut apple cinnamon oats in the slow cooker for breakfasts this week.

Monday went ok - CrossFit, then made a super delicious black bean & chorizo soup for dinner. Things started to go downhill on Tuesday. First, I realized that I had totally forgotten that I had a girls happy hour Thursday night. But not a huge deal - I decided to go to CrossFit Monday, Tuesday AND Wednesday to get in my three times a week. And I thought I would just shift meals around a bit.

Then Tuesday during my lunch break I started doing research on hotels in Japan, and panic set in as I realized that EVERYTHING was booked for the time we planned to spend in Kyoto. The rest of our schedule wasn't looking to peachy either. I emailed Mr. X frantically and told him we would HAVE to book our hotels TONIGHT!!!!! We decided it made more sense to pick up sushi after the gym, so we could concentrate on trip planning and not cooking. It was delicious, not the worst meal. But we were up late, although we did get our entire trip planned and booked.

I groggily got out of bed Wednesday and it hit me that I had NOTHING to take for lunch since I hadn't cooked dinner the night before. Sigh. So I ended up with a turkey panini from the campus cafe. I also realized I had forgotten the potatoes for the Chicken, Potato and Leek pot pie that I had planned to make for dinner (since potatoes are kinda a key ingredient in a pot pie that is called "chicken, potato and leek pot pit" I remedied this by stopped at the store on the way to the gym), then messed up the crust (saved by a rolling pin)....

Let's just say the week has gone downhill since then: Culminating in a late happy hour last night, followed by breakfast tacos for breakfast this morning and a salad along with some chicken tortilla soup from the campus cafe for lunch. (Oh, and an afternoon brownie....but it was delicious and homemade, so I don't feel that bad...)

Needless to say, this week didn't quite work out like I had planned. And weeks like this one make me feel like I really don't have my life together.

And it totally reminds me of this awesome Hyperbole and a Half comic....

But I also need to be easier on myself. I remind myself that no one can have their shit together 100% of the time. It is just impossible. Because you cannot schedule life. Things happen, things come up and the plans change. And that is ok.

Also, even when I feel like I have gone totally off the rails -- I really am not doing THAT badly. A turkey sandwich and soup & salad may not be homemade lunches....but they aren't the worst thing in the world to eat. I could have done a lot worse. I still made it to CrossFit three times this week. Additionally, I hope to get a workout in this weekend. That is more active than some people.

I think I am often too hard on myself. I think that it is all or nothing. Either my week is perfect, I eat 100% right and workout every day. Or else I fail. And that is not true. This is about finding balance, slipping at times and climbing up further other times. It is about creating an overall healthy lifestyle that can be maintained. And it is about living life.

Easiest Crock Pot Dinner....ever.

I actually made this dish last week, and just never got around to posting it. I am loving substituting vegetables for noodles and after the success of the sweet potato noodles, I made "spaghetti" and turkey meatballs with spaghetti squash. I got the idea to do it in the slow cooker from this recipe that I pinned on Pinterest. It was pretty quick to throw together, but I did do most of the prep the night before.

The spaghetti sauce I made using parsley, onion and lots of garlic; along with a can of crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, crushed red pepper, oregano and basil. I threw all the ingredients in a large ziplock bag and put that in the fridge overnight.

The meatballs I made from ground turkey, with one egg (I then threw in some panko, because the egg made the meat too wet...), and spices (oregano, basil, crushed red pepper, garlic). Once I shaped the meatballs I put them in a flat layer in a ziplock bag and also put that in the freezer overnight.

Originally I planned to cook the entire squash in the slow cooker....but either I had a mutant squash that was huge, or my slow cooker is smaller because the entire squash wouldn't fit. I attempted to cut the squash into fours, but it still wouldn't fit. So I opted to just cook one half in the slow cooker with the meatballs and tomato sauce - and cooked the other half in the microwave. Honestly, spaghetti squash is pretty quick and easy to make in the microwave...so the slow cooker is a bit unnecessary. In fact, if I were to make this again, I think I would just do the sauce and meatballs in the slow cooker and cook the squash in the microwave. There was not really any benefit to doing it in the slow cooker, and, it actually fell apart a little -- we each had one bite that had some of the tough squash skin.

Once everything was cooked, I scraped out all the "spaghetti" from the squash, and threw some of the sauce and meatballs on top. Super healthy. Super yummy. And ready to go as soon as I walk into the door after the gym - yay!!