So I haven’t blogged in FOREVER, and that’s because I’ve been so overwhelmed with my life, basically. I’ve just started my senior year of high school, which has proved to be nothing but STRESSFUL!
But…. I decided I wanted to get back into it, and so I present to you my new & improved blog!!! I am so excited to share this with you all.
The url is: http://www.itsalwaysbikiniseason.blogspot.ca/ :)
I’ve already put up a recipe (for protein pancakes, go check it out! It’s a good one ;) and I will be putting up many more, plus workouts, progress, and anything you’d like to see. I’d love for you to check it out ♥
Love love love
Jade <3
Quite possibly the most delicious bowl of oats I’ve ever made.
Or, it could be that I haven’t had oatmeal for 5 days and this was my first bowl since.
Still, I can see myself eating this for breakfast, and lunch, and dinner….
Oatmeal never looks as appealing in pictures than it does in real life. Actually, it doesn’t look all that appealing in person either…. but the taste is what really matters.
And the taste is really, really good.
Really good.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup unsweetened Vanilla almond milk (I used Almond Breeze almond milk)
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 a banana (the riper, the better!)
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Sweetener, such as 2 packets stevia (I have a huge sweet tooth. Also, if your banana is very ripe, it will very sweet already.)
- 2 tsp chopped walnuts
Directions:
- Bring the almond milk to a boil. If you’d like, you can cook your oats in water or regular milk, or a combination, or whatever you’d wish. You can also reduce the amount of almond milk, but I like my oats to have a little more milk, kind of like cereal.
- While your almond milk is heating up, slice your banana and microwave in 15 second intervals, being careful not to burn them. Continue microwaving until your banana is gooey! This will bring out a little of the sweetness. If your banana is very ripe, you can skip this step if you’d like, but it will make your oatmeal sweeter!
- Lower the heat to medium-low and stir in your bananas. Add your oats and cook, continuing to stir. Keep cooking until the majority of the almond milk has been soaked up by the oats.
- Stir in the vanilla extract and sweetener, and continue to stir until your oats are done cooking.
- Top with 2 teaspoons of chopped walnuts and serve!
- Optional: because I looooove carob… I added a tablespoon of carob chips to my oatmeal this morning. Yeah. It was great.
I took pictures without the carob, because it was an after thought. A very, very delicious after thought.
Nutritional Info: (without the carob)
223.6 calories
9.4g fat
1.1g sugar (none added)
1801.mg sodium
6.8g protein
We all love nut butters.
Unless you are allergic (and even if so), you can’t deny it.
They are just too darn good.
And correct me if I am wrong, but all-natural nut butters are much better than the chemical-filled, sugar-added kind. I was never really one for Skippy’s peanut butter, although my cousins absolutely adored the stuff. One of my cousins would eat it out of the jar with a spoon as her after school snack every day.
But as fun-packaged as Skippy was, he just wasn’t healthy. At all. Added sugars, canola oil… It didn’t take much for me to understand why all natural nut butters are so much better for you. And it opened my eyes to all the nut butters out there.
Wait, what?! It’s not just peanut butter?!
And can you believe it? These all-natural nut butters are made from just a few ingredients.
Well, you can make your own nut butters at home. And in my opinion, homemade nut butters taste even better.
The best part? They are so simple to make, and a cheaper alternative than buying the all-natural organic stuff. And you can customize your nut butter to satisfy your taste buds!
So deliciously creamy.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups whole, unsalted nuts of choice
- Optional: add-ins (see list below)
Directions:
- Place nuts into a food processor and blend, stopping occasionally to scrape the sides. This takes patience, as you’ll begin to see the nuts form a powder. Keep going! You’ll then notice your nut butter will begin to clump. Continue to blend until you get your desired consistency – the longer you blend, the creamier it will be as the natural oils of the nuts come out.
- Store in a jar, in your fridge!
Variations:
- For a chunky nut butter, follow the process above. Once you’ve got a pretty creamy consistency, add in more nuts, about 1/2 a cup (or more or less, depending on what you prefer) and blend so that the nuts are chopped, but not to the point where they become creamy as well. Or, simply chop up some nuts (in your food processor or otherwise) and stir in!
- Add in some extra ingredients to switch up your nut butters! Use sea salt for saltier nut butters or honey for something sweeter (honey almond butter. Does that not sound amazing?), or maybe cocoa powder and stevia for something a little more decadent and to set that chocolate craving straight. (Chocolate peanut butter? Yes, please!) There are so many ways to change up your typical nut butter. Get creative!
- Combine different nuts! Try cashew almond, or peanut and hazelnut butter! Find your favourite combination!
- For a roasted nut butter, place your nuts on a parchment or foil lined cookie sheet and roast for anywhere from 5-15 minutes at 350 degrees F. Play around to find your favourite time. The almond butter I have pictured is raw.
Some nut butters to try at home: peanut butter (an obvious choice!), almond butter (pictured in this blog post), hazelnut butter (maybe try a healthy take on nutella? Note to self: try this one out!!), cashew butter… walnut butter?! The options are endless!
because abs are made in the kitchen 