Another morning, another VOO!
Today was PB + J Vegan overnight oats. I don’t know about you, but I have loved the PB and J combo since I was a little girl. It never gets old.
Peanut Butter & Jam Vegan Overnight Oats
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1.25 cup almond milk
- 1/4 scoop Amazing Grass Chocolate Amazing Meal Powder (or sweetener)
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Peanut Butter Banana Soft Serve– for layering (1 tbsp peanut butter + 1 frozen banana, processed)
- Jam- for layering (I made my homemade cherry jam)
Directions: Mix dry ingredients together in a small bowl. Add wet ingredients and whisk. Place in fridge overnight or for 1-2 hours depending on how soon you need to FEED the VOO monsta! Layer the PB Soft Serve, jam, and the VOO in a glass and top with cacao nibs and cherries, or whatever tickles your fancy.
I made my homemade cherry jam for layering and made a thick layer of it in the middle.
Peanut Butter Banana Soft Serve is AMAZING!!! Thank you to all of you who suggested it…it truly is like some sort of peanut butter ice cream! Crazy.
I actually used whole flax seeds in replacement for the chia seeds in this batch because I didn’t have any chia nearby so I just threw the flax seeds in. You can see the flax seeds floating in the top of the dish. I did not like whole flax in the VOO…it made it really slimy (more slimier than usual!). I’m sure ground flax would be a much better consistency. However, I was surprised that the flax seed did seem to make it thick similar to the chia seeds. It was a different texture, but still quite thick. I will still be using chia seeds and I will probably also try ground flax too. I think ground flax would work much better than whole flax.
This was deeeeeeeeeeeeelish. Of course.
G20 Summit
As you have probably heard all over the news, the G20 Summit is this weekend in Toronto. In preparation for the summit, the government has poured over $1-billion into security provisions. Yes, $1-Billion with a BEE! :ermm:
The police have created a Yellow Zone or Security Zone surrounding the Metro Convention Centre where the meetings will take place. This week they will be putting up a huge $5.5 million fence around the perimeter of the security zone.
Eric works very close to the security zone and he said all week there have been tons of police on ATV’s, horseback, on bikes…just covering the city. There will be an estimated 10,000 uniformed officers and 1,000 private security guards around the area.
Each building has one or more security guards in front of each entrance. The police have also been going into parking garages and checking cars for bombs. It seems like it is going to be a pretty tense weekend in the city and many people fear for some type of attack during the summit.
All of this preparation for the summit has left many of us asking why the government didn’t hold the summit in a remote area of Canada (there are many to choose from!) where they would not have to protect millions of people as they have to in the downtown core of Toronto. It just seems like they are putting citizens at unwarranted risk, and spending a ton of tax payer’s money in the process.
Many workplaces downtown Toronto have asked their employees to work from home this week due to safety concerns. There are protests going on this week and traffic headaches as a result.
The 5-miler race that I want to run is tonight downtown Toronto along Lakeshore (West of the Security Zone though), so hopefully I won’t incur too much traffic when I drive into Toronto for the race, although they did warn us about delays. The weather channel has Southern Ontario under a severe thunderstorm watch, so if that is the case I won’t be making the drive into the city at all. I am just going to play it by ear and decide later this afternoon I guess.
Today’s questions: Do you keep up on local, national, and/or world news? Where do you go to get your news? Have you been following the G20-Summit news?
I am a huge news junkie…every day in the bakery I listen to my favourite talk radio station called Newstalk 1010 in Toronto and I get caught up on local and non-local news while I work. Eric always teases me because I listen to it everyday and I am always talking about it! I also check a few newspapers online like the Globe and Mail, Huffington Post, and occasionally the National Post.
Have a great day!
I like the Globe and Mail over the NP, although the NP seems a bit dumbed-down.
…NP’s also more right-wing than my own views.
(what does that say about conservatives, eh?)
We had the G20 in Pittsburgh a few months ago. My husband also works in town close to where it was, and it was just a nightmare, security and everything. I am not a news junkie but I do like to know whats happening – I get most of mine from websites. We don’t get a newspaper because neither of us has time to read it!
The PB&J combo just NEVER gets old… and I SO have to try the pb soft serve!
Wow, that’s intense! I get most of my new from all sorts of websites. I love morning talk radio too :-)
Your breakfasts always look so delicious, it’s amazing, where do you come up with all these combos? :)
I can’t wait to try and make this
oh my, how i love VOO! i’m making the pb&j version asap too!
Why that sounds intense and I agree with you about having it in a remote area.
on flax seeds, i read that if u don’t grind them your body is unable to absorb any of nutrients because of the tough outer shell. thought you’d want to know….and confirm for yourself if its just crazy talk.
The G-20 was in Pittsburgh in the fall and I work and live near that area. There was lots of security, but I have to say it was fairly anticlimactic based on what they thought would happen and what did. I worked from home the first day and decided to go in the next and the city was a ghost town. Fastest commute I had all year, so I wouldn’t worry too much about the chaos. It might be different for your city, but I think so many people avoided the downtown area that if you did have to go it wasn’t bad at all!
Also I’ve been reading for awhile, but never post. Just want to say love the blog and I send it to anyone I know who is vegan or vegetarian when they need some new food ideas!
Wow, that is crazy…what a hassle! I can see why people would be pissed off about it.
I’m not a huge news junkie, but I do usually watch CNN at the gym.
The Globe & Mail website is my homepage! Ha!
Living in Toronto this G20 has been a HUGE pain and I have several friends who work downtown, one at Queen’s Park itself and it’s crazy! My one friends law office was told to dress in street clothes all week so that they’d “blend in” with the protestors as she works in a bank tower. I agree with you, this was needless, how much land does Canada have that we had to have it smack dab in the middle of Toronto wasting BILLIONS of dollars?!
Thankfully I have to leave the city this weekend for a wedding, I don’t want to be here at all!
LOVE your breakfast! I did a version of your chocolate VOO today – SO goood!!! And with banana soft serve…thankyou to introducing me to such an AMAZING thing!
I don’t really follow the G20 stuff – I read a national newspaper to get the world news, but that isn’t something in particular that I follow :s it sounds intense though!
Currently living outside my home country, I read a fair amount of news sites from there, from where my dad grew up, and from my current residence, the USA. I love it b/c I can keep up with things that are going on at home and not feel too left out (what happened before the internet??). Though my dad is great at sending clippings from my hometown newspaper. I also like NPR (they have a great iPhone app where you can read and/or listen to their reports). One thing I do notice is the timing and initial content of a major event. If something happens in the US and I read about it in a home country newspaper, there’s usually a difference in facts and when they are reported. Sometimes I read about something (usually minor) in a home newspaper, that I already read about 2 days ago on a US based site. It’s great that we have a lot of choice, but even with my fave sites I’m learning not to take things at face value.
I was not aware of the G20 summit, but just got off 36 hours of straight international and domestic travel, and am a bit out of it, so that’s my excuse! :) Thanks for keeping me updated . . maybe you should be running an OSG newswire! :)
Hi! :)
I’m Helena from Portugal. I follow your blog everyday but I never commented, you’re an inspiration for someone like me who wants to live healthily, really!
Today I made your 50 cent Hummus (I also add nutmeg, it was great) and I would like to know for how many days can I keep it in the fridge?
I made it with 260g (about 1,5 cup) of chickpeas, so I have hummus for like 15 times and as I am the only person in my house that eats these type of things (aka healthily) (I’m 20 so I still live with my parents), do you know any recipe that can integrate hummus in a way that my parents cannot really tell it is there?
Hi Ange,
My husband and I were just in Toronto this weekend for a baseball game and it was CRAZY downtown. Driving into Toronto was a mess as well as driving out of Toronto. Fortunately we walked everywhere we went, but the traffic and crowds were unbelievable. I’m from a small town and was blown away by the busyness of the city. It was interesting to see them preparing for the G20 Summit. By the time we left, they had most of the fences up and there were police everywhere. I agree with you that they should have chosen a more secluded area for the summit.
mmmm..this combo looks great!
I just tried your vegan overnight oats and your soft serve :) it was amazing !! check out my blog for pix :)
Love seeing my hard earned money wasted on this G20. Really with all the technology we have they could Skype from there offices. Save us all money and time. Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, 680 news, CP24 and City TV are my go to news sites. Love seeing who puts up news the fastest.
I listen to the morning news on television feed via internet each morning, even though much of it is not good :(
I love Huffington Post, it’s my homepage! :)
Great idea – have the G20 in a remote area!
That is absolutely nuts! Stay safe this weekend!!!
I use to listen to CFRB 1010 all the time!!! I wonder if I can get it online?
:)
Yup you can listen live here! http://www.newstalk1010.com/player/player
some of their comments crack me up.
I always use ground flax seed in my VOO since chia seeds are a little bit expensive for me and I stock ground flax seed for other things anyway. It does get really thick, and the flax doesn’t float to the top. This week has been the week of pumpkin pie voo.
Thanks for verifying about the ground flax! Will try this soon :) I know what you mean about chia seeds being $$$ thankfully I buy chia seeds by the 50 pound pails so it works out to being cheaper haha.
Oh, yes!! I follow CNN, MSN and Yahoo news on-line while I work during the day. I cannot stand being ignorant of what’s hapening.
Although, I do admit to having read 0 about the gulf oil spill, mainly because I truly cannot tolerate the horrible photos of the animals.
I know what you mean…I was following the oil spill at the beginning and it got to be so upsetting to read about.
My sister said things are crazy in Toronto right now. My mom went up on the train yesterday; she had to go a few days earlier than she planned due to the summit and rerouting of trains. My brother-in-law works downtown and may not be able to go in on Friday. He (like other small business owners) is pretty pissed about the impact this will have on his business.
I’m also a news junkie. It’s one reason I finally got a BlackBerry: We were no longer able to use the Internet at work, and I hate not knowing what’s going on in the world! (That and for blog reading, of course!)
Those VOO look especially delicious! I love cherries so much so I am sure it was delicious with the jam and pb soft serve too.
News-wise I mostly read the NY Times (print when I visit my family and online other times). I do read other sources online sometimes but we don’t watch tv at all..so I rarely watch news on it. I love NPR though.
I’m more of a celebrity news junkie (E! News anyone?) but in the morning I always watch the Today Show while eating breakfast…just to “catch up” with the world.
sometimes i am…but i’d rather read blogs and be inspired…:)
My sister is heading into TO today to do some condo shopping for a week, hopefully she doesnt have too many issues. Good luck on your race :)
I am definitely a news junkie. I always have CBC Radio 1 going in the background. My sister was a journalist for a time and my parents have always been huge advocates of education and awareness about world/social issues, so the news (NYTimes, The Guardian, etc) is a very regular part of everyday life for us! I also second Claire’s mention of NPR. I love “Wait wait don’t tell me” and I do catch Charlie Rose for great, current interviews whenever possible.
As for the summit, I just hope that the focus on security detail doesn’t overshadow the action/inaction that results from the summit itself.
I do watch the news and try to keep up on it, but my husband usually watches and reads EVERYTHING in the morning so if I ever want to know what’s going on, I just ask him!
I wish my body could handle and digest flax and chia seeds! They seem to make your VOO better and pretty! But I have had too many painful experiences with both that I’m staying away!
I can’t believe I still haven’t tried banana soft serve. I do have a freezer full of bananas…
I used to live in DC and worked in the “hot zone”, right across the street from the White House. The motorcades would go right past my office window everyday. If you got caught outside the building when the president’s motorcade was coming/going, you had to freeze! Can’t even walk down the sidewalk when it’s going past.
I’m an NPR junkie. I get teased for that too :)
Holy cow! Talk about inconvenient for residents :)
Hey Angela!
Just wanted to let you know that I use ground flaxseed in my VOO and it is incredible! It really thickens them up and adds a nutty flavour :)
Thank you for all the great posts and recipes! I really enjoy your website :)
-Sam
The ground flax meal works SO well. I made scottish overnight oats the other day with 1T of the ground flax and whoa, was it thick! Definitely obsessed with the peanut butter banana soft serve too! Dang those photos of the VOO are good!! Can I come over for a lesson!? I have natural light in my house, where I take all of my b-fast photos…but forget to actually go OUTside! They always turn out even better!
As Toronto news is so readily avaiable I enjoy listening to the local Oshawa country radio station. They offer a lot of Eastern Durham news on the radio. However because of a certain someone close to me’s involvement in the G20, as of this AM I am no longer even listening to the radio news. No news for me during the G20. Any music is coming in from my Ipod. I am in a current state of News Oblivion until at least the 29th. Not even checking out anything from the Internet say yahoo. Nadda.
So this has nothing to do with your post today but thought that this would make you smile…I go to a spin class on Tuesdays and my spin instructor tells us half way through every class, “You are stronger than you think.” and each and every time it makes me think of you and push!
Hi Angela,
As I read your post I am currently in my office tower in the middle of Toronto’s downtown core. Its been quite a day so far. I usually take the subway to my office but the subway was shut down due to a “suspicious package”that was found at one of the subway stations. So instead I walked to work through the “fortress” that has become the downtown core. High fences, security and police EVERYWHERE!! We now have to show ID and our pass cards before we are allowed in the building. Let’s hope I get out of here in one piece today :)
I’m a news addict! I listen to NPR constantly, my boyfriend kinda hates it. And I feel bad for him a little bit because if he tries to bring up a subject to discuss in a “did you hear about this?” sort of way, I always HAVE and know MORE about it than he does so he’s never got the upper hand! lol
I’m a news junkie too…before I go to work I have to watch the morning news and check out the weather channel. I usually read my local newspaper and also the Globe and Mail or Toronto Star every day as well. If I don’t, I feel like I might miss something!
As someone who lives and works in downtown Toronto, I am despising this whole G20 thing, which is basically a billion dollar photo op where the leaders will stand around, talk a bit, and generally solve nothing…bah.
IMAGINE, what other things that money could have been used for…don’t get me started on that “fake lake” business :-)
Oh, and I finally had VOO for the first time this morning with raspberry puree, agave syrup, tons of cinnamon, fresh blueberries, ground flax (no slime) and a huge glob of almond butter and it was the SHIZZY. Thank you for brining VOO into my life! Haha..
I’ve never tried flaxseed OR chia seeds! :( I suspect they’d be expensive though, here in China, and probably only available in health stores :( Ah well, I can always use yogurt? :P
Being a teenager, I’m probably one of the majority – I’m pretty much clueless about world news. I want to change that, though… would you have any ideas for a “training” program to “get to know” the world? ;)
Wei-Wei
lol, I grew up with my parents constantly listening to NewsTalk 1010 and I definitely have a secret love for it now! My boyfriend thinks I am a big dork.
I work at the University of Toronto and the school is basically locked down for the next 4 days (access cards that normally work on weekends will not work and you need special permission to access buildings). It’s pretty frustrating because we are not even close to the actual convention site but we are right next to the official protest site. I have access because my research is time sensitive so we will see how crazy things are!
Are those Canadian police?? Shouldn’t they be on horses and wearing fancy hats??? ;p
My M.A. is in political science, so keeping up with the news comes with the territory. I much prefer newspapers to any other source. It’s the least sensationalist.
I find that the National Post and the Globe and Mail are nearly indistinguishable, aside from the editorial page. I like the New York Times for international news and I also read the Financial Times from the UK.
I work in midtown Toronto and I’m curious what my commute will be like tomorrow and Friday (I take the subway from the east end). I am hoping everything will be empty and I’ll score a seat! In all likelihood, it will probably me more annoying and crowded than usual. I’m also driving on the 404 on Saturday and am worried about these “rolling closures” I have heard about. I hate traffic, I hate summer traffic, and I especially hate summer traffic caused by a ruckus! Yes, that’s right, I said ruckus! ;)
All of this is to say that I agree with you — who chose Toronto for this event?
I haven’t been following the summit but I’ll have to check it out online. And BTW, due to your gorgeous VOO photos, I must buy cocoa nibs. They just look amazing!
That’s what they’ve turned my beloved Toronto into!?!?!?!? :( That breaks my heart.
I’ll admit it, I’m terrible at staying on top of news. Between school, friends, working out, and blogging, there just doesn’t seem to be time! I should start watching the news at the gym in the mornings instead of the Tyra Show. :P
The daily show! Im kidding- I do watch it, but no, CNN, NPR, BBC, the huffington post.
On another note, Im so happy for your success with the glow bars!!! Im going to order a case and send them out to my friend before her cross country drive/ move.
Im starting to get more interested in the news as I get older. I read the paper every day, and even have it as one of the feeds in my email. I like knowing whats going on, and being able to actually contribute to the conversations other people are having.
I work at a law firm in Toronto in one of the big bank buildings… but so far I’ve had NO issues. We were told to dress casual this week and the office is closed Friday, but that’s pretty much it. Other then the police everywhere and the fences I haven’t noticed it being any more crazy down here then it is usually, at least in my area.
I did however start a fire in my office kitchen this morning, which will probably be the most excitement I’ll have all week!
That is interesting to hear about your experiences downtown! I have heard a few mixed things from ppl working downtown…I guess it just depends on your perspective more than anything.
ur kitchen experiences sound like me! I am always having catastrophes in the kitchen. Have you ever spilled a bag of chia seeds? I do not wish that on my worst enemy…lol.
I had the pleasure of actually staying in the same hotel as the G8 summit ( two years after). It was at the Gleneagles resort in Scotland. It was fascinating walking around the hotel and grounds and imagining all of the diplomats that were there. (By the way, if you ever get a chance to stay there, grab it. The hotel feels as though you are in the middle of a movie!) As to staying abreast of all of the local, national and world news I stick to local TV and newspaper (the real paper kind).
Keep up your fantastic work. By the way, do you know the nutritional value of your VOO?