I always wanted to have a good reason to name a post like that!
Early Rising Challenge Day 3:
- I was asleep by 11:15pm (in bed at 10:30pm) and naturally rose at 6:15am this morning! I found it very difficult to get into bed at a good time last night because I had work to do. My mind was swirling with thoughts for a long time when my head hit the pillow! Hate that. Any tips for quieting the mind??
- A space heater at my desk is crucial to tolerating the first 30 mins. until the house warms up.
This certainly helped me wake up…
Pumpkin Pie Baked Breakfast Cake
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup almonds
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
- 2 t pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 banana
- 1-1.5 Tbsp agave nectar or maple syrup (to taste)
- 2 t pumpkin pie spice (or a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger)
- Pinch fine sea salt
- 1-2 T scoop Manitoba Harvest Hemp Vanilla Protein Powder (optional)
- 1 and 1/4 cups unsweetened almond, soy, rice, or hemp milk
- Dark Chocolate or cacao nibs (to garnish)
- Graham crackers (to garnish)
Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 4-6 cup (1-1.5 L) casserole dish or three small oven safe dishes. Throw all ingredients except the toppings into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape sides if necessary. Evenly distribute the batter into the dishes and then garnish with chocolate chips, cacao nibs, and/or crushed graham crackers. Pop in the oven for about 35 minutes at 350F or until golden brown and firm. You can refrigerate for 4 days and they apparently freeze well too!
Makes 3 servings. [Breakfast cake is adapted from Ricki’s Breakfast Pudding.]
Tip: These cakes are great right out of the fridge for a quick snack or dessert!
The Manitoba Harvest Vanilla Hemp Protein Powder I used:
This was just a naked pumpkin pie! I think I will put a dollop of soy yogurt on top!
This was garnished with cacao nibs and delicious homemade vegan graham crackers that I whipped up (a new ingredient in my V-day Glo Bar!).
This one was made into a double layer pumpkin pie and I garnished with dark chocolate chips.
The nutritional information for one cake is below:
This nutritional information is for the basic cake (oats, almonds, unsweetened almond milk, spices, vanillas, banana, unsweetened applesauce, pumpkin, sea salt, agave nectar). without any toppings or protein powder.
As you can probably tell, I subbed out half of the nuts for oats in this recipe, as compared to the Baked Cherry Pie recipe. This is a ‘lighter’ version of the baked breakfast cake. Taste wise, I do prefer the original version (with more nuts), but this one was still nice too and it gives you a bit more wiggle room to play around with fun toppings!
The great thing about this recipe is that you can adapt it to how you want it. If you want it sweeter, add more sweetener. If you want it more filling, add some protein powder like I do. More healthy fats? Experiment with different nuts and chia seeds. The sky is the limit!
Earthquake in Haiti
The recent earth quake in Haiti has left approx. 3 million people – a third of Haiti’s population- in desperate need of emergency relief. After watching this video (note: some graphic scenes), I knew I had to contribute in any way possible.
Canadians:
CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada and Oxfam Quebec as well as Save the Children have banded together to form a central hub for donations called The Humanitarian Coalition, which is accepting donations online and by phone.
In the US or the UK? See here for a list of reputable charities that you can donate to.
Updates:
- All of my recipes are updated on my Recipes page, including reader’s favourite breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert recipes!
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I’m baking today for a donation I did for the Alberta Association of Services for Children and Families Conference. If you will be there, keep your eyes peeled for my Glo Bars at the registration table! :)
Make today GREAT!
Awake before the sun is risen, I call for my pen and papers and desk.
– Christopher Smart
This sounds so great. I’m definitely giving it a try. Nothing wrong with pumpkin pie for breakfast. :)
Wow – looks so yummy!
I too wish the sun rose earlier – all of my morning pictures look terrible because there just isn’t enough light! Looking forward to summer already! haha.
Diana
If you can figure out how to quiet the mind for a good night’s rest, please share with me too!
That looks amazing! I will be trying this one, for sure!
That looks FANTASTIC!!
Yum! As for quieting your mind, it may sound crazy, but I tend to just keep saying prayers over and over – the same one until I fall asleep. It really works for me.
you get so much done in a day it’s amazing! to quiet my mind at night, I recite bible verses to myself. It’s very comforting and the repetetiveness puts me to sleep :)
This one looks like a winner!
Are you using whole almonds or almond powder in the recipe?
YOU HAVE TO TRY THE COUNTING BACK FROM 300 BY 3’S tip. I swear it works – if it can make me fall asleep before the marathon, it can definitely help you.
I also count back from 100 until I fall asleep. It works!
My number one tip for quieting your mind at night is to read a chapter or two (or whatever you have time for) of FICTION. I prefer non-fiction and always read it before bed … but I discovered once I started reading the Twilight series before bed, and now any fiction book, I fall asleep much quicker because my mind isn’t thinking about real world things.
Delicious! When I have a lot of thoughts swirling through my head when I’m trying to sleep, I jot them all down on a notepad I keep next to the bed. That way, I know I won’t forget about any of them the next morning when I get up!
im loving your breakfast “cakes”. they look so decadent but are so healthy!
Hi!
I wanted to finally comment here. I’ve been reading your blog for a few weeks after running into the BLESSED, Green Monster over and over on blogs galore. I finally ran a search for said Monster and came to the movement site. Why I didn’t look it up sooner and just stayed in my curious state for quite a while, I do not know. The wait for Christmas (I asked for a blender as one of my gifts) was strenuous and seemed to go on forever as I was SO excited to try it. LOL Been drinking them a bunch!
On a side note, these “pies” look great and I’m going to probably give them a try this weekend. I really appreciate and love how you post the nutrional information. That’s GREATNESS! Also, I’ll be cruising on over to the GloBakery site soon to purchase some bars. Do you print the nutritional info on each bar or just online?
Have a great day! You inspire me!
I just love how you’re adapting this recipe! I’ve eaten actual pumpkin pie filling (well, my healthy version, anyway) for breakfast, but never mixed pumpkin with oats. This sounds divine!
This is such a great post for me. I’ve eaten oatmeal for breakfast for two years, and yesterday I decided I was so sick of it. I’m on the hunt for a good replacement breakfast. I will definitely have to try this. It looks so good! As for quieting the mind pre-sleep: I find reading a dry book helps. When I start glazing over words (or paragraphs), I know I’m ready for bed.
I know it sounds cliche, but when I can’t go to sleep because I have so many thoughts running through my mind, I count sheep! I also find that counting backwards from 100 works to lull me into sleep. Good luck, girl!
Thanks for posting ways to donate to the Haiti Earthquake victims. I work for CBS (the network who’s video you aired) and it gets really emotional gathering and delivering news like this.
Looks delicious! :)
Your breakfast cakes all look so good! I’ve tried hemp protein before and it wasn’t my favorite :? But maybe your brand is better
That looks so delicious!
To quiet my mind before bed, I do some basic deep breathing where I really try to pay attention to the sound, movements, etc. of my breath. I know some people discourage it, but I also read (something leisurely, not work related). But I definitely have to try that counting backwards, seems like it might work if I’m really keyed up ;)