I could see the sky starting to get brighter when I woke up this morning! It was not pitch black like it has been for the past few months. I loved it. I loved running in the daylight during the week again! After my last big speedwork session of this training program (yahoo!), I whipped up my usual morning bowl of oats. I don’t have this breakfast everyday, but most days I do. It is delicious and keeps me full for hours. I used to use instant oats, but recently switched over to thick rolled oats. They actually still cook fairly quickly and taste so much better. I vary the amount of oats that I eat, but after a tough speedwork session like today, I needed to refuel, so here was my recipe:
Oats cooking on the stove
Delicious Banana Oatmeal
- 1/2 cup thick cut oats
- 1 tbsp. flax seed
- 1 ripe banana
- 1 cup water
Mix everything together in a pot and simmer until cooked to desired consistency. After the oats are cooked and ready to eat, I love to add a variety of toppings, which usually include some type of peanut/almond butter. Today I added:
- 1 tbsp. natural peanut butter
- 1 tbsp of a new fun spread that I got – MaraNatha Dark Chocolate Almond Spread.
It was tasty. A little bit thicker consistency than peanut butter, but it got all melty over my oats :-).
- Oats ready to eat!
This new chocolaty almond spread is delicious! It is all natural, but has a few more ingredients than I like to see in my peanut butter, but this is what happens when it’s chocolate! It is not something I would eat everyday, but it is a perfect treat.
Lunch
Lunch today was another delicious treat – leftovers from dinner last night! We made a favorite simple recipe from 101Cookbook.com, Double Broccoli Quinoa. This website is a favorite of mine. Heidi Swanson does an excellent job of creating all natural, whole food recipes. I have made numerous recipes from her site, and usually more than once. It’s awesome! My pictures below is missing lots of broccoli!
Broccoli Quinoa
Double Broccoli Quinoa (from 101cookbooks.com)
Serves 4-6 for an entree, more for a side
Ingredients:
- 3 cups cooked quinoa
- 5 cups raw broccoli, cut into small florets and stems
- 3 medium garlic cloves
- 2/3 cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted
- 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 2 big pinches salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil (I only used about 1/8)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream (I used 1% milk)
- Optional toppings: slivered basil, fire oil, sliced avocado
- crumbled feta or goat cheese ( we only used feta this time, but it is delicious with avocado and fire oil!)
Directions:
- Heat the quinoa and set aside.
- Barely cook the broccoli by pouring 3/4 cup water into a large pot and bringing it to a simmer. Add a big pinch of salt and stir in the broccoli. Cover and cook for a minute, just long enough to take the raw edge off. Transfer the broccoli to a strainer and run under cold water until it stops cooking. Set aside.
- To make the broccoli pesto puree two cups of the cooked broccoli, the garlic, 1/2 cup of the almonds, Parmesan, salt, and lemon juice in a food processor. Drizzle in the olive oil and cream and pulse until smooth.
- Just before serving, toss the quinoa and remaining broccoli florets with about 1/2 of the broccoli pesto. Taste and adjust if needed, you might want to add more of the pest a bit at a time, or you might want a bit more salt or an added squeeze of lemon juice.
- Turn out onto a serving platter and top with the remaining almonds, a drizzle of the chile oil, and some sliced avocado or any of the other optional toppings.
Heidi Swanson of 101cookbooks.com also has a great cookbook, Super Natural Cooking. It is split into sections, and reads more like a book than a cookbook. She explains the good and bad oils, sweeteners, and tells you which vegetables and grains are best for you. It is my cooking bible. I love it!
Off to make a simple dinner!
Filed under: Cookbooks, Eating Laps, Recipes | Tagged: almond butter, Cookbooks, Eating Laps, oatmeal, peanut butter, Recipes | 3 Comments »
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