Banana Oat Breakfast Muffins

Happy Tuesday! 

So right when we got home from the hospital after Cam was born my girlfriend brought me over the most amazing muffins. Pretty sure I ate the whole container in a matter of a day...that good. They sparked my desire to bake again because really there isn't much not to love about muffins-they are such a great grab n' go breakfast choice and easy to make! 

These muffins have zero sugar and zero flour. Healthy but wait....still taste good and I promise they aren't dry at all! They are seriously delicious! You won't feel bad about eating these in the morning... (or after a workout-or with your lunch-etc!)

BANANA OAT BREAKFAST MUFFINS:

+2.5 cups old fashioned oats

+1 cup plain low fat greek yogurt

+2 eggs

+1/2 cup honey

+2 tsp baking powder

+1 tsp baking soda

+2 tbsp ground flax seed

+1 tsp vanilla

+2 ripe bananas

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray tin with non-stick cooking spray or line 12 muffin tins with liners.

2. Place the oats in the food processor and pulse for about 10 seconds. Add remaining ingredients to the food processor. 

3. Process until everything is mixed together and oats are smooth.

4. Add in any extras you want to the batter (blueberries, chocolate chips, anything!) 

5. Divide batter among cupcake liners and bake for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick comes clean. Let them cool on a wire rack.

ENJOY!! 

ACAI BREAKFAST BOWL

Back with another healthy recipe today!

Remember when we went to San Diego this past fall and I fell in love with acai bowls?! Well, ever since we got back the struggle of not having any places that sell them here has been very real. ;) Not only are they one of the most delicious breakfast foods out there, but acai is know for it's insane antioxidant levels, healthy fats, iron, calcium, and beta-carotene.  A place here finally opened last month that sells them, but I quickly realized that it might be cheaper for me to make them myself due to how often I really crave them and want them for breakfast!

These bowls are packed with nutrients, are so delicious, and actually very easy to make. A winning combination in my book! If you have ten minutes, you can put one of these together and make your stomach very happy.

Acai Breakfast Bowl

+1 frozen acai packet (I bought the Sambazon brand from Whole Foods)
+1 frozen banana cut into pieces
+1 large handful frozen blueberries (or strawberries, peaches, etc)
+1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
+1 large scoop peanut butter

Blend all ingredients together until thick and creamy. I used a food processor for this, but you can use a blender or Vitamix. If you use a blender, you may have to scrape the sides/mix it up a couple times. The frozen fruit helps give a better texture and you don't want to blend it too long because you still want it to be thick.

Top with sliced banana, your favorite granola, and any other fruit you'd like!

Enjoy! 
See my latest recipe, Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Salad (healthy vegetarian option) here!

Have you made an acai bowl before and if so what are your favorite toppings?

BREAKFAST EGG MUFFINS

It's about time I have a recipe post for you all! Can we say...slacker?

To be honest, I don't bake or experiment much in the kitchen in the summer. The nice weather always take precedence. Dinners are typically rotated a lot or we are grilling out, so there's not much to share recipe wise, but it seems like once fall rolls around I always want to try new things in the crock pot and bake up a storm. It's those crazy fall flavors that do it to me!

I made these egg muffins for the engagement party on Sunday, but they are truly perfect for those looking for a breakfast that is already prepared ahead of time and all you have to do is heat it up the morning of.

If your ideal breakfast description is quick, easy, or to-go then you will be a fan of these. You can make these in advance (still not very time consuming - very easy!), store in individual containers/bags, then pop in the microwave! It really is that easy, friends.

Breakfast Egg Muffins:
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients-
>>best part is you can add whatever you like, but this is what I used

+12 eggs (1 per muffin cup-so if you only want to make 6 muffins, you only need 6 eggs)
+1/2 cup white onion, chopped
+1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
+1/2 cup shredded cheese (since these were for the party I put cheese in all of them, but I did make some later with no cheese to make them healthier)
+Salt/pepper
+Cooking spray
+Muffin cups

Steps-

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place 2 paper muffin cups into each of the 6 holes in your muffin pan. Make sure you use 2 otherwise the egg can soak through. Spray the inside cups generously with cooking spray.

In a pan, saute the onion and peppers over medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Just long enough so the onions start to get soft.

Divide the veggies evenly between each muffin cup, then top with a little cheese.

Whisk all of the eggs together with salt and pepper in a bowl. Pour egg into each of the cups so they are about 3/4 full. Then, use a fork to carefully stir all the ingredients in the cups together.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until the muffins have risen and the tops just barely start to brown.

Yum, yum!

Like I said up top, I made these later with no cheese and also with egg whites and they are just as good. I actually prefer the egg whites because I have a little yolk allergy that most of the time I don't pay much attention to, but hey-life's short.

Have you made egg muffins before?

Healthy Tilapia Recipe / Visit to Sage

Thank you all for your comments yesterday. I'm always blown away by how sweet and caring you all are, and also how many of you have been in or are in the same shoes that I'm in! It makes my day to read all of your kind words.

If you follow me on the Insta (which I think you should-that is if you want to see pomeranian pictures, Chicago scenes starting tomorrow, and other things I find really interesting), then you may have seen this picture I posted one night about a delicious dinner I made...

 tilapia with grilled zucchini and squash

I guess I figured since I make it all the time and it's pretty simple that I shouldn't share how I make it, but then some of you sent me questions about how to make it, so I decided to share really quickly because it is a super healthy and my go-to when my nights are really busy.

If you don't like fish, then you may want to skip to the bottom of this post. :)

Tilapia "With A Kick":
-2 tilapia fillets 
-cherry tomatoes, 3/4 cup
-half an avocado
-fresh basil, chopped 
-onion (red or white), 1/4 cup
-paprika, cayenne pepper (very little!), lemon juice, pinch of sea salt, and pepper (to taste)

Here is what I do: thaw out the tilapia fillets, place on a baking sheet, season tilapia with paprika, a pinch of sea salt and cayenne pepper, and then squeeze a lot of lemon juice on top of the fillets. I also cut up slices of lemon and place them on top of the fish and leave it on them to cook while in the oven. I bake the tilapia in the oven for about 10-12 minutes, at 375 degrees.

Tilapia can taste pretty bland to me, so I like to add a little something something for on top. While the fish is cooking in the oven, combine the cherry tomatoes, onion, basil, and avocado in a small bowl. I like to add some red wine vinegar to this mixture and a little bit of EVOO...just a tad. I like to keep my recipes really simple so I don't add many ingredients or seasonings to keep them as healthy as possible.

Once the fish is done cooking (it will be flaky when you cut into it), I top the fillets with the veggie mixture.

As for the grilled zucchini and squash....I only season them with pepper normally and cook them in lemon juice and water until they get a little brown on both sides. Yummy and really healthy!

_

Over the weekend, my girlfriend Angela and I crossed another brunch spot off of our list of finding the best brunch in Columbus.

We went to Sage American Bistro, which is actually off High St. on Ohio State's north campus.

Our verdict? We loved it.

The service was fantastic, there was no wait, the restaurant was clean and really cute and trendy on the inside (exposed brick!), and the food was delicious.

I got what they call their Chorizo, Black Bean and Sweet Potato Hash, but I didn't get the chorizo. It came with two eggs, green peppers, yellow peppers, red peppers, and onions. The salsa it comes with on the side has a HUGE kick to it and is really flavorful. Absolutely loved this dish and would go back to get it!

Angela got their Sausage Frittata and really liked it. She said the arugula on top was really tasty and she would get this again. The only complaint she had was that they charged her $5 for her orange juice and you didn't get very much and it wasn't that good, ha.

The prices are on the higher side ($10-13 per dish), but we were really happy with the food so we didn't mind. Sage also has lunch and dinner that we mentioned wanting to check out sometime!

Overall, it has been one of our favorite stops so far on our journey. So far, we have visited: Katalina's Cafe Corner (our favorite so far), Knead, Skillet, and now Sage. If you are ever in the Columbus area, I would recommend all of these places, except Knead! :)


 
 

Oatmeal Yogurt Breakfast Blend

Phew. We've made it to hump day!

Rocky wanted me to first tell you all thank you for the birthday messages. He says he had a fantastic day and has the best parents in the world (this is an already well known fact). We bought him some new toys and bones, took him for a long walk and car ride, and I made him these peanut butter and oatmeal cookies in the oven....

It's safe to say he loved them.

Anyways, today I have a new favorite breakfast recipe to share!

Just like most of my other recipes, this is SO simple but tastes really yummy. I don't eat dairy that much anymore, but sometimes I want a yogurt every now and again, so this is my special treat for when I do have it. 

If you want an easy, healthy breakfast to add to your morning routine-this is it!

What You Need:

+1/2 cup oats, uncooked

+1/2 cup yogurt

+1 peach (cut into small pieces), or you can use any fruit you'd like!

 

 What You Do:

Combine oats and yogurt in mason jar. 

Mix well so all the oats are fully coated in yogurt. 

Add your peaches. 

Refrigerate for 8 hours.

The yogurt softens the oats overnight and in the morning you wake up with a delicious, already prepared breakfast!

note: if you aren't an oatmeal fan, make a parfait and use granola!

Easy peasy.

Has anyone made this for breakfast before? 

Give it a try!

My Subjects, WILW, and {Healthy} Breakfast Cookie!

So, what happens when you get a big girl DSLR camera?
Naturally, you take pictures of everything in sight...

aka what I call, my loyal subjects. ;)

Take these for example: 

Rocky
{a no brainer}

Food

{healthy dinners}

{tilapia and butternut squash}

{spinach salad}

hubby + Rocky
{again, no brainer here. they are too cute to pass up, don't you think?}

 

when all else fails?

my wine.
{see how the glass is in focus and the bottle out of focus? fancy pants I tell ya' ;)}

The trick to good photography that I'm struggling with is actually having the time to LEARN the camera and different settings! I haven't had much time to explore the camera and play around with it, but I'm hoping I will get to this weekend.
 Cool pictures to come peeps :)


Now for the good stuff...


It's time to share the infamous healthy breakfast cookie with you all. I cannot and will not take credit for this genius recipe as it's from the ever so awesome Fitnessista's blog. She has wonderful healthy recipes {eats very similar to myself} and shares awesome workouts.

I've been making variations of this breakfast cookie recipe for a while now, but never got around to sharing. It must be your lucky day if you haven't seen this recipe yet.

Breakfast Cookie

*1/3 cup oats

*1 tbs nut butter of choice (typically I use almond)

*1/2 scoop protein powder (you can use white or chocolate. I like chocolate best)

*Stir to combine in a small bowl. Use a spoon to break up the nut butter.

*Add 1/8 cup milk (I use unsweetened vanilla almond milk) and mix.

*Add any mixins: 1/2 mashed banana, chocolate chips, raisins, dried berries, the list goes on. Get creative with it!

*Stir. Sweeten with Stevia or cinnamon.

 I almost ALWAYS use cinnamon..delish.

*Put mixture on a small appetizer sized plate and flatten with a spoon

*Refrigerate overnight and then enjoy in the morning with a spoon!

Super easy and soo good!

Are you hungry now?!

*if you're interested in seeing food pictures and posts of what I eat, leave me a comment
or shoot me an email, so I know it's something you want to see.


Make it a great day, everyone :)