Carrot Cake Oatmeal

Today I woke up c-razy late, 11:23 a.m. But I didn't fall asleep until after 3 last night so I guess it's really not that bad :) When I woke up I had a big hunk of pumpkin bread. I've just been slowly working through it all weekend. I have about a half of a loaf left. I haven't even been using any of the spreads I planned, the bread has just been so delicious on it's own.

Then my friends invited me over for pancakes and eggs, but I had my heart set on some oatmeal this morning so I decided to wait it out. Unfortunately though I kept drinking coffee the whole time I was there and now I am on complete fried out overload. I hate it when this happens but I know it won't last long.


My oatmeal was well worth the wait! I made Kath's Carrot Cake Oatmeal today. It was sooo good! I toyed around with the recipe a little, adding some traditional carrot cake spices, mashed banana instead of the mango, and no nuts or coconut as I am out of them.

This is my roommate Anna's cute mug that I sometimes drink too much coffee out of!


This afternoon I have work, I am a muffin baker/cake writer-on-er at a grocery store bakery. It's not my ideal job, and I hate that I sell such processed foods, but the hours are great and baked goods do make people happy. Yesterday I informed my boss that I would need to cut down on my availability (ie. move towards quitting) as I just got a new job babysitting! I'm excited and eager to be moving away from the bakery, though I will definitely miss my co-workers. Work always seems to take a lot out of me so my roommate Anna offered to cook me a delicious dinner tonight. I'll be home too late for us to eat together but she'll be saving me some of her Moroccan Chicken Stew. I'm going to ask for/post the recipe tonight. It's delicious and I'm sure you might be able to try substituting: chik'n strips, seitan, tempeh, or tofu. I hope someone will get adventurous and try it! and for all you omnis there is just no excuse, it is that good!

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! My first post with actual food woo hoo!

I could not get out of bed this morning. I spent some quality time hitting snooze and thinking about what I could make for breakfast as an incentive to get up.

Usually I like to have banana oatmeal for breakfast, I use McCann's Quick Cooking Irish Oatmeal cooked with 1/2 c. of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1/2 c. of water and a pinch of salt. THen when my oats are almost done I add half of a mashed banana. I eat my oatmeal with a 1/2 T. of natural peanut butter, a la Kath of KathEats, that I leave on the spoon so I get a little peanut butter with each bite. Sometimes I add a teaspoon of raw sugar on top for crunch and sweetness.

But today I was out of bananas so I decided to try something new. To my usual oatmeal I added:

-1/2 T. of cocoa powder
- a good dash of cinnamon
-a pinch of nutmeg
- a tiny pinch of chili powder

Voila, Spicy Mole Cocoatmeal!

The cocoa powder changed the mouth feel of the oats somewhat and they needed a splash more of milk, which you see in the picture. This recipe also needs to be sweetened. I used 1 1/2 t. of raw sugar but I think that this would be great made with my usual mashed banana! I still kept my usual spoonful of peanut butter because I need it to fuel my mornings but I'm sure you could enjoy these oats without it.




With Breakfast I also had my favorite coffee, Trader Joe's Peaberry. The peaberry is supposedly a very rare, prized bean and this coffee is amazing! The canister says Limited Edition and they don't always carry it so go buy some now! I take my coffee with 1 T. of half and half and no sugar. I used to take it with Fat Free half and half and Splenda but I stopped in an effort to cut down on chemicals in my diet.

For lunch today I decide to have a baked sweet potato in honor of St. Patrick's Day. I used one of those plastic wrapped potatoes made especially for the microwave. Not as good as oven baked but an awesome time saver! Using this recipe as inspiration I scooped out the inside of my potato and mashed them with a little lowfat plain yogurt, cinnamon, chili powder and cayenne. Then I drizzled a tiny bit of maple syrup on top. On the side I had a half a broiled grapefruit and some sliced kiwi with a delicious mug of chamomile tea! Right before work I snacked on a few Honey Sesame TLC Crackers.

Dinner tonight was avocado quesadillas made with mashed avocado seasoned with lemon juice, cumin, and garlic powder and reduced fat four cheese blend and splashed with hot sauce. On the side I had Trader Joe's Spicy Peach Salsa and some spiced yogurt. I also had a side salad made with field greens, tomatoes, scallions and the other half of my grapefruit dressed with honey mustard and vinegar.

Tonight I'll probably have a snack while studying and preparing a paper due Wednesday!