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!
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?
I actually don’t follow any news at all. It is just way to depressing. I rather live my life pretending that the horrible things displayed every day on the news do not happen.
I am exactly like you. I get too depressed when I watch the news. Then I have nightmares and I just don’t need that in my life. I’m usually pretty clueless when it comes to happenings in the world.
Uhhh those overnight oats look absolutely amazing. Like mouth-wateringly good..
That does seem like a less than efficient plan… hmmmm. I hope your race isn’t affected by it.
I don’t get as much news as I should… I listen on the radio on the way to work and catch some stories that are posted on Twitter…
well, I of course will have to try the pb&j BSS VOO!! (now that’s a mouth full) all of the breakfasts I have made from what you have been writing about this past week have been absolutely delish :) I also made Ashley’s breakfast of cherry BSS on top of waffles this morning, SOOO good!
I use ground flax quite a bit in place of.with chia seeds in VOO and hot oats, and they work quite well. whole flax seed just doesn’t seem to do it for me.
I work right inside that super-security zone. It’s crazy! We’ve been fenced in for a week now, and there are police EVERYWHERE (especially right around us, since apparently they’re renting some space from us for a security headquarters). I worked overtime last week so that I won’t have to come in on Friday, but I fully expect the gates to shut down earlier than the predicted 8pm Friday.
PB & J will never ever get old!!! That looks absolutely fantabulous. Yes, it’s a word ;)
I live just outside the security zone, near King station. My condo building has 2 security guards on the front door for 24 hours a day (versus the usual 1) plus 1 additional roaming around the building. I walk my puppy in the park nearby, and have twice now had about 12 police officers come through and do a sweep in all the bushes. It’s crazy, it all makes me feel anxious and like I’m living in some sort of police state. I’m getting out of here for the week-end, I really wish they had just held it elsewhere.
We had a G8 Summit back in 1997 in Denver and it made a mess of downtown and all the surrounding areas because so many roads were closed, businesses were closed, the skyscrapers had to have added security details, etc. Also, 2 years ago the Democractic National Convention was held in Denver, and when Obama was in town they practically closed ALL the roads into downtown. It’s ridiculous. I don’t understand why in this global electronic age we live in today, why these world leaders can’t hold their conferences or whatnot via satellite and teleconferencing. It would ease up the mess these summits create in the city they’re held in, let alone all the waste the incurs with something this big (I’m thinking all of these leaders along with their associates don’t have to fly halfway around the world and create such a huge carbon footprint). It’s crazy. I don’t like politicians (on either side of the ticket) because I think most of them are not interested in what’s good for the people, but what’s really good for their image and pocketbooks.
I was wondering did the banana soft serve have a strong banana flavor?! I love peanut butter but HATE bananas and want to try it!
I was actually wondering the same thing but didn’t ask because I thought I was the only person that hated bananas!
hahah woo go us!!
No you’re not. I can’t stand bananas either. I actually made the VOO with mashed up blackberries once instead of bananas – much better :0)
hmmmm…I want to say NO it didnt have a strong banana flavour….all I remember is the peanut butter bliss! But that could also be because I am just used to the BSS taste. What I would do is probably only use 1/2-3/4 a banana, a bit of almond milk (or whatever kind) and 1-1.5 tbsp PB. Im sure that combo would mask the taste better.
thank you so muchh!!! I will try it with a little almond/soy milkl..I also have peanut powder maybe I willl try that :)
I don’t care for the news on television: it’s so slanted, biased and some of it is SO dumbed down I can’t stand it. I do like reading it though! But still only once a day or so to try and stay on top of things.