Today was the first snowfall of the season!
It was the perfect day to embrace my inner Project Snow Strength and get shoveling! The snow today was soooo wet and difficult to lift. My abs got in a killer workout which is perfect because Whittle My Middle ends tomorrow!
Here I am in my duds:
I am so cool it hurts!
A sure sign you need new boots? You go to lace up your boots and the shoe lace falls off in your hand. hahaha. I’ve had these since I was 15 yrs old!!! I’m pretty sure they are going to poof into thin air one day.
Here are some great tips for shoveling snow without hurting yourself.
The snow day was also perfect for a Glo Bar shipping day…
With Eric’s help (he took the day off), we hit a new shipping record for one day- 80 orders went out!!!!! We went craaazy all day, but it flew by. I feel so good. My stack of orders is now much more manageable.
It was also the perfect day for…
OATMEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you can believe it, I have only made homemade oatmeal twice in my life and it made me feel sick after eating it! In university I lived off instant oatmeal. I know, I know, it’s not real oatmeal, but I didn’t even know where to start with a homemade bowl. I LOVE oats so I always knew I needed to give it another shot!
I used Kath’s classic oatmeal recipe using Bob’s Red Mill organic oats. Oh Bob, you make amazing oats. Glo Bakery is switching over to Bob’s oats- I am super pumped as I am a HUGE fan of Bob’s Red Mill products!!!!!
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup organic oats
- 1/3 cup Almond Milk
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/2 very, very brown banana (ooey and gooey and ewww)
- 1/2 t organic vanilla
Directions: Throw in above ingredients into pot and simmer on medium, stirring very fast until desired consistency is achieved after about 10 mins. or so. (Note: Kath’s directions are more detailed, but I was in a huge rush today and just dumped it all in!)
My toppings included:
- 1 Tbsp gogi berries
- drizzle organic raw blue agave (soooo good)
- Organic chia seeds
- unsweetened coconut
- Organic crunchy peanut butter
The toppings were out of this world delightful!!!! I loved the raw agave drizzled over top.
The only thing I was surprised with was how SMALL of a portion it made!!! It was tiny! Any suggestions? What amounts do you guys use when you make oatmeal? 1/2 cup oats vs. 1/3 cup? More liquid???
Even though it was tiny, it still kept me full for about 2 hours which was more than I expected it to.
I might try adding some hemp powder to my next batch for protein.
With Christmas tea.
What did I think of the oatmeal this time around?
I can’t wait to make my next batch already! I now think I am crazy for waiting this long to try it again. I think the problem with my first batch was that I made it too thick and too large of a portion. Consider me a homemade oatmeal fan for life!
When will I eat it?
I see myself eating oatmeal for lunch more so than breakfast! I know I can’t give up my morning Green Monster, but I can totally see myself making kick butt oats for lunch. Mmmm.
What does your PERFECT bowl of oatmeal look like?
Please share!
Does anyone have any savoury oats that would be great for lunch (and vegan)?
~~~~
OSGMOM arrives tomorrow. I am sooooo excited to see my mom! Wish the whole family was coming…
Peace out homies!
Yummy! I LOVE oatmeal! Especially on a winter morning. Mmm! My favorite bowl of oatmeal is slightly watery, but with a few chunks made with vanilla rice milk and topped with bananas, shredded coconut, and a few spoonfuls of almond butter but you have to make sure to add the almond butter in right after the oatmeal gets poured into the bowl and is nice and warm! Melted peanut butter in oatmeal is the bomb!
I love oatmeal too – I use a 1/2 cup of oats, with water, then I add a tiny bit of brown sugar, ground flax, shredded coconut, tons of ground cinnamon, and a whole chopped apple (which I heat in the microwave for 1 minute to soften). It tastes like apple crisp! I LOVE it and it really fills me up.
I always do 1/2 cup of oats, but adding more liquid will give it more volume if you don’t want to add more calories by upping the actual oats.
I love oats! I usually do 1/2 cup but I use less liquid (like 3/4 cup instead of 1 cup or more) because I like mine thick and not runny. My favorite toppings are banana and peanut butter but I also like making it with canned pumpkin, topping it with raisins, chocolate chips and peanut butter.
I think protein powder would help you! Heather (HEAB) used to make this green blended oats you might want to check out for lunch. I think she used spinach, steamed broccoli, etc.
I definitely need at least 1/2 cup of oats and 3/4 – 1 cup of liquids (some water, milk combo) for oats to fill me up for HOURS – POM seeds are delightful on oats this time of year – I add them cold and its like little crunchy present in your oats…yummmm!
wow it looks cold there in canada!! i cant believe how many orders you are doing, you go girl! or should i say, you glo girl?!?
My perfect oatmeal has bananas in it. I tend to be simple with my oatmeal. That’s exciting about the orders!
I bet one of those boxes shipped was mine:-) I can’t wait to try present!!My family loves glo bars,too.cc
Check out Keen footwear, specifically their ladies boot called Blackcomb. It is amazing and desigened for -25 to -30 degree weather and have a wool footbed (keeps feet dry and warm). They have 2 types of lugs on the sole of the boot which work great on snow and ice (except on wind blown ice which is what Calgary has plenty of these days). They also have Keen Dry technology for keeping your feet dry. (Many Canada Post employees ask for these boots). Just be sure to get a size that allows your toes to move around, you need air to flow – so your toes don’t “pinch” and then get cold.
I have a pair and love them.
Keep warm !!
you def need a 1/2 cup oats, I tried the whole 1/3 cup oats thing, but it didn’t keep me full for very long!
oats for lunch??? now that sounds good =)
my perfect oatmeal always contains PUMKPIN! ;)
I have a love affair with oatmeal every morning! I usually use between 1/2-2/3 cups oats, then either all water or 1/2 water, 1/2 almond milk.
This morning I had 2/3 cup oats with the water/almond milk combo, 1/2 banana, couple tablespoons of pumpkin, cinnamon, maple syrup and a spoonful of Peanut Butter Co.’s Bee’s Knees peanut butter melted in.
soooo gooooood, and satisfying!
Oats are wonderful!
I do 1/3 cup oats with about 1 cup of rice milk and put it on the stove for about 8 minutes or so. It seems to make more a larger portion and then I put my toppings on- usually pumpkin seeds/sunflower seeds, cinnamon and a bit more rice milk- I like my oats “mushy” I don’t like them too thick and I don’t like them too runny.
Now I’m craving oats!
Mmmmm, I LOVE oatmeal. My current favorite is oats cooked in milk and topped with diced, fresh pear, flax meal, and natural peanut or almond butter. I usually only use 1/4 cup oats and 1/2 cup liquid because for some reason, I can’t tolerate a lot of volume first thing in the morning. I make up for the small portion of oats with all the fruit and nut butter I add, though!
Today I actually had oatmeal AND a green monster for breakfast. I make steel cut oats in the crockpot (amazing and sooo easy) but I only have a mini serving. Today it was with chopped up apple, cinnamon, and a little PB. The mini serving is so I can also get in some veggies with my green monster. I spread these out a little too so it lasts me to lunch with no problem.
I love Bob’s Red Mill too!! I’ve been eating the Scottish oats lately. I make mine in the microwave and follow the directions on the bag – 1/4 cup oats with 3/4 cup water. Once it has cooked I add in a splash of milk and bulk it up with 1/2 a diced apple. Throw some pomegranate on top with some coconut…yum!
I also like to stir in some canned pumpkin too and that also helps to bulk it up.
I’ll have to give Bobs a try. I’m just used to the occassional Quaker instant cinnamon; since usually I just grab something before running out the door to work. Or getting something quick @ work.
LOVED the banana oatmeal! I needed something quick, warm and filling this morning before my husband ran out the door to work, and considering I need to go grocery shopping today, I didn’t have much on hand! I saw your oatmeal recipe this morning and knew I had a ripe banana, oats, milk, vanilla and I was out of agave but had maple syrup, not as healthy but it didn’t take much to sweeten it! It was GREAT!! and the hubby loved it… You saved my morning ;)
I too have only made homemade oats a few times and it NEVER came out good…..until I made this recipe! Thanks ;)
I feel like I could live off of oatmeal. Love it!! Glad you enjoyed yours. I almost always do a 1/2 cup dry oatmeal and that’s just about right for me as far as portion size goes.
I shoveled for the first time yesterday too! It IS a great workout. Especially if you have a big/long driveway. I wore my heart rate monitor a few times last winter just to see, and if I remember right, it was comparable to a brisk walk or easy jog for the same amount of time.
Oatmeal is my go-to weekend warmth breakfast :)