A Quickie Breakfast

I used to eat breakfast at home in the morning before work, but now that I get up at the crack of dawn I would rather get an extra 20 minutes of sleep, so I eat my breakfast at work. I’m lucky enough that we have a pretty decent lunchroom at my work, equipped with a toaster, microwave and fridge, but toast can get a little boring which is why I like to change it up once in a while.

This morning I had the ultimate quickie breakfast.

Chocolate Almond milk and 1 packet of instant quaker oats. Instant oatmeal is great but I don’t really like the artificially flavoured ones and it tastes quite bland all on its own, so what I like to do is pour some chocolate almond milk over the oats and pop them in the microwave for 45 seconds.

It’s not too sweet  and overwhelming with chocolate which I love and the warmth of the oats in my belly are so comforting and filling. This is a great start to any day and so easy and quick to make!

Now you have no excuse not to eat breakfast in the morning! another great thing about this is, you don’t have to worry about it getting all mushy and cold because the longer it sits the better it tastes, I often end up eating it between calls.

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I spoiled myself today…..

I was fortunate enough to have the day off today, so I decided to start it off right, and since I don’t normally have time to cook breakfast I wanted to make pancakes. Not just any pancakes though, Toneitup Protein Pancakes! Have you been to www.toneitup.com? You need to go there if you haven’t already, they have tons of awesome healthy recipes and tips about staying fit and healthy.

Click here if you want to watch their video on how to make this deliciousness!

My pancakes were a little chocolatey because our protein powder is chocolate flavoured.

As you can see, patience is not one of my strengths. I flipped one of the pancakes too early and it broke up with me. One tip, these pancakes can really piss you off if you don’t have a good pan, so please spray some oil on your best pancake pan, and have a little more patience then I did. At least I learn from my mistakes, the second flipped just beautifully!

To make the pancakes extra special, I topped them with the rest of the banana and drizzled on some Agave Syrup as well. I prefer Agave syrup to maple syrup because it has a really low glycemic index. You see? Treating yourself doesn’t mean you have to sabotage your blood sugar first thing in the morning.

I gave the pretty one to my husband, because I love him and I couldn’t bare serving him the broken and deformed one.

I recommend enjoying these pancakes with a cup of Goji Berry Green Tea and Christmas themed pajama pants. Yes, I change my pajamas according to the holiday.

So after breakfast I continued to treat myself with a little shopping trip, and stumbled upon this beautiful cast iron skillet/pan/grill thing by Old Mountain. I am so excited to use this you have no idea!

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Shouldn’t she be shopping for presents to give to family and friends? Normally this time of year I would be, but this year my family decided it was best if we didn’t buy each other presents since we are all financially strained this year (except for my nephews of course, that would just be too cruel). I have to say I have enjoyed this season so much more knowing that I don’t have to stress over what to buy everyone and how much money I am spending. The truth is, I’m willing to spend way more money on other people than myself, so I figured for once I am not going to feel guilty about buying myself something that makes me happy. This was probably one of the best presents my family would’ve given me for christmas in a sense, we gave each other the chance to think about ourselves for once. So I wanted to take this opportunity to thank my family for letting me keep my sanity during this holiday season and allowing me to gift myself. I hope that they enjoy this Christmas as much as I have so far!

Homemade Protein Bars

Why homemade protein bars? Well you can put your favourite ingredients in one convenient snack along with the protein powder you are already using. I make a batch almost every week and store them in my fridge, then I just grab them and go. I wake up at 4:30 AM for work everyday and I don’t always have time to  make something to eat before I go so I just take one of these and eat it with my coffee. Now, I’m sure that’s not the most beneficial way to eat them but I figure a protein packed breakfast can’t be all bad for giving you a jumpstart on the day.

Ingredients shown above: Quick oats, Max Essentials-chocolate flavoured protein powder, unsweetened shredded coconut, dark chocolate chips, pitted honey dates, Agave syrup, No-stir organic peanut butter, no-sugar-added applesauce, vanilla extract, and unsweetened chocolate almond breeze.

Mix your dry ingredients together in a large bowl: 1 cup of quick oats, 1 cup of protein powder, 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut(or you can simply out 2 cups of quick oats if you don’t like coconut), 1/2 cup chopped roasted almonds

Note: If you want to add any dried fruit like raisins, cranberries, apricot etc. mix them in with your dry ingredients as well.

Now for your wet ingredients, mix together in a small microwaveable-safe bowl: 1/4 cup Agave Syrup (or you can us honey), 1/4 cup Apple Sauce, 1/4 cup Almond milk(you can pretty much use any type of milk;Soya milk, rice milk, cows milk etc.), 1/4 cup chopped dates(optional), 1/2 Tsp of Vanilla extract, 1/4 cup of Peanut Butter (Again, you can substitute with any kind of nut butter), and 1/2 cup of dark chocolate.

Microwave for about 45 seconds….

Stir until the mixture is relatively smooth and the chocolate has melted.

Then add your mixture to your dry ingredients and mix. Make sure there are no chunks of dry ingredients left, the mixture should sticky and clumpy.

Prepare a 9″ x 9″ baking pan by lining it with some parchment paper or aluminum foil. This will make it easier for you to remove the bars once they have cooled.

Wet your hands with some warm water and press your mixture into the pan in an even layer. The water helps keep the mix from sticking to your fingers. (please excuse my chipped nail polish….lol)

Place the pan in your fridge and allow the bars to set for about 25 minutes…

After 25 minutes….take your pan out from the fridge. Grab onto the parchment paper and lift from the pan. Then you can simply slice up your bars and eat!

I wrapped mine in some parchment paper so that they’re easy to throw in my purse or lunch bag for snacking later!

For the printable recipe click here!

breakfast or dessert?

This is the perfect treat to bring to work! I first discovered this combination while watching a video for beach snacks by the “tone it up” girls on youtube. If you haven’t seen their videos you should check them out. They are super positive, fun and have great recipe ideas and health tips. I just love watching their videos. Anyway, back to the food, I wasn’t sure if I would like the combination of apples and plain yogurt, but I’m telling you it doesn’t even taste like yogurt with the cinnamon in there! It almost tastes like apples with cinnamon-whipped cream, so yummy! Well I geuss I should probably get back to work, so I will leave you with this recipe:
1/2 cup balkan style plain yogurt(which is almost like greek yogurt but not as thick)
1 apple, diced
1 Tsp of cinnamon
Just mix all together and enjoy!