After a 1 week break from workouts, I finally felt like I had enough energy to get back into exercise yesterday. My body was literally craving a run! It was also a good excuse to take a much needed break from unpacking.
For some pre-run fuel, I tried out a Vega snack bar that I had in my purse since…well, that would be anyone’s guess.
I really enjoyed the Vega Vibrancy Chocolate Bar (top), but I didn’t care much for the chocolate Whole Food Energy bar. Somehow I managed to polish it off over the past week though.
This is the Vega Chocolate Vibrancy Bar below. It was quite good with a nice chocolate flavour and sprouted buckwheat groats for crunch. It tasted like dessert which is always a plus in my books.
I headed over to the beautiful Lakeshore for my run. This was my first official training run in Oakville. The only other time I think I’ve run in Oakville was the Oakville Labour Day 10km race that I ran in 2010.
It’s such a gorgeous trail, I felt like I was on vacation.
Do I have any readers who run around Lakeshore? I was thinking about starting up a running group at some point. Let me know if that would interest any of you!
I was quite delighted to see a bunch of long staircases throughout my run. That sounds so sick and twisted, I know.
Back in 2007-2008 when we lived in a condo in Toronto, I used to walk 28 flights of stairs every day (it took me about 4 minutes if I remember correctly) as a way to sneak in exercise since my job was so sedentary. I’m a big fan of stairs and will walk them whenever I get a chance.
This one just screams run up me!
I’m seeing some interval stair workouts in my future… :)
This little guy may seem innocent, but he tried to chase me when I got too close.
Some speed training ensued…bahah.
With all the craziness that’s been going on with the move, I completely forgot about all the races I have coming up back to back- and two of which are 10k’s:
- April 15th: Mercedes-Benz Oakville 10K
- April 22nd: Toronto Yonge Street 10k
- April 28th: 5k Ford Race to end Diabetes in Oakville
I guess I’m going to have to start getting back into a consistent training mode. I haven’t run over 6km in a dog’s age.
For my post-run breakfast, I had a rather GREEN bowl of vegan overnight oats. Much like Green Monsters, you don’t taste the greens in vegan overnight oats (when made with a banana or other sweetener).
A couple years ago, a few blog readers told me to try combining a Green Monster and vegan overnight oats. I thought they were crazy (in a good way, obviously) and finally got the nerve to try it…oh, two years later!
All you do is blend a Green Monster before bed and pour it into a bowl of rolled oats and stir it all up. In the morning you will have a Green Monster/vegan overnight oat hybrid waiting for you in the fridge. I’ve made it with spinach and also with kale and both were delicious. I’m telling you, I was kicking myself for waiting so long to try it out!
Just trust me on this one. Did the Green Monster ever steer you wrong?
I rest my case.
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Green Monster Vegan Overnight Oats
Yield
1 serving
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Total time
Ingredients
- 1 large handful fresh spinach or small handful of kale
- 1 large ripe banana
- 1.5 tbsp chia seeds (necessary for thickening)
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1/3 cup regular, rolled oats
Directions
- In a blender, blend together the spinach, banana, chia seeds, and almond milk until smooth.
- In a cereal bowl, add the oats and then pour the smoothie on top. Stir well until combined.
- Place in fridge (uncovered is fine) overnight. Give it a good stir in the morning and then enjoy it cold, straight from the fridge. Add desired toppings as you wish such as nut butter, granola, coconut, fruit, etc.
Will this work with a frozen banana or will the taste or texture be off?
I know this was posted a long time ago, but I’ve been hearing that you need to drink the smoothie within 20 minutes to get the full benefit. Wouldn’t soaking the oats in it overnight defeat the purpose of getting all the green monster’s nutrients?
Has anyone tried making this in bulk and eating it throughout the week?
I want to make this – I was wondering if I could sub Flaxseed for the Chia – if it’s a 1:1 if I do? Should I soak the flaxseed in water prior if I do? Still learning how to use Flax and Chia – at the moment I have a lot of flax – with limited cupboard space I try to use up what I have before buying something else.
Hi, I used to eat overnight oat with apple only, after try this one I have to say that I really love your Green Monster recipe, it tastes so good! I added 1/4 of lemon juice for extra taste and changed the almond milk to soy-milk/skimmed milk, it’s hard to find almond milk in Jakarta, so I substitute it with soy-milk, soy-milk makes the overnight oat taste better than skimmed milk.
Have you ever tried this as a hot oatmeal? If I were to just blend spinach and water and cook my oats in it, do you think it would work?
I have both your cookbooks, and I love them. Thanks for all the great recipes.
I didn’t love these overnight oats. I may need to experiment more, adding the vanilla and cinnamon and peanut butter that your regular green monster has. I could smell and taste the spinach.
By the way, I have been having a green monster for breakfast most days for about three years.
Whenever I’ve been eating too much processed food for too long and my body starts rioting, I go find this recipe in my bookmarks again. I’ve been making it since college and it’s still my absolute favorite healthy breakfast recipe! Thank you, eight years late, for posting. I hope all is well with your family!