vegan goodness

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Maybe it’s not the best idea for me to swim for 40min 2hrs before heading into a full day of work.  Oops.  I am COMpletely exhausted!!!  My hunger is thru the roof!  Yikes!

Allright, let’s start with breakfast.  Well breakfast actually started yesterday [Sunday].  I wanted to try making my own version of Angela’s Vegan Overnight Oats.  I was really curious how the taste + texture would be without the yogurt.  If you add enough chia seeds…anything is possible ;)

Oats + Coconut Milk + Chia Seeds [recipe at the end] 

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vanilla + cinnamon + banana

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Saran that baby UP!

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Monday morning.  Would you look at that spoon…conclusion: yogurt is not needed in overnight oats :)

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I used So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk as the liquid and the chia seeds helped to glue it all together.  It was just as thick and dough-like as my normal batches.

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With a side of java….a little heavy on the cream…hehehe

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I made my melty pnut butter + Artisana Cacao Bliss waterfall and it was perfection as always.  What is even better on overnight oats is that the coconut oil in the Cacao Bliss hardens the mixture and it turns into a shell.  Kind of like that “magic shell” stuff you pour on ice cream..but without a ridiculous ingredient list ;)

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Thick + Crunchy Vegan Overnight Oats

  • 1/3c rolled oats
  • 2/3c unsweetened coconut milk
  • 1.5T chia seeds
  • ~1/2t vanilla
  • 1/2t cinnamon
  • 1/2 banana
  1. Mix everything together, cover with saran wrap and put in the fridge until morning.

Toppings:

  • 2T cranberries
  • sprinkling of chopped almonds
  • 1T unsweetened coconut
  • <1T pnut butter + 1t Cacao Bliss [melted]

These are perfect for summer!  I’m not a huge fan of overnight oats when it’s cold out and I do still prefer hot oats, although this is a nice change of pace.

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A large handful of almonds and I was off to the pool.  I swam non-stop for 30min with 2 short water breaks and a 5min warm up + cool down.  This was the hardest swim I’ve done yet.  I definitely got in a groove and it wasn’t too hard.  I probably did about 75% freestyle with a little breast stroke and back stroke thrown in too.  I completed 1,250 meters in that time.  I could have kept going but am glad that I didn’t or else I may have really fallen over/asleep at work! haha

Lunch: A new siggi’s flavor while it’s still on sale.  I love the nutritional info of these yogurts but honestly they are not my favorite.  They are actually almost a little too thick for my liking and the 3 I have tried are definitely all quite sour/tart.  This flavor seemed a bit strange to me.  Definitely edible….but I probably won’t be buying these again.  I do want to try the Vanilla though.  They are really low in sugar and super high in protein, which is why I have been trying them out.

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Parfait time.  Layers in order:

  1. yogurt
  2. Galaxy Granola – Raspberry
  3. yogurt
  4. hemp seeds
  5. kamut puffs
  6. yogurt
  7. Galaxy Granola
  8. Kiwi

= YUMMMM

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The organic kiwis I bought the other day are perfect.  I like them sweet but still a liiiittle firm.  I think I like them more with the skins on! 

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Freebie alert!  I got a sample of the Raspberry Galaxy Granola and wow is it good.  It has MAJOR crunch action which I love.  The ingredient list is also fabulous and the raspberry flavor is really noticeable.  Also, there are only 5g of sugar in 1 serving.  Sweeeet.

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Flava’ flaaav

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More companies keep coming up with Kombucha!  This brand was on sale so I thought I would buy a few.

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It had a lot of flavor and was low in sugar and calories but I didn’t really like it all that much.  Drinkable but wouldn’t buy again.  I still definitely like GT’s Kombucha THEE best!

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What else for lunch?  A ginormous sweet tater.

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Low + slow because that’s how I roll.  Instead of cutting the usual 1/4” thick disks I wanted to see how they would turn out cubed.  WHOA.  I think they were even MORE delicious.  Is this possible?  I tossed them with a light coating of olive oil and some coarse sea salt.  After they were done I put about 1/2t cinnamon on top as well.  I liked the cubed version because you still had the creamy inside but you had more of the crunchy outside.  mmmmm  I could eat these every day. 

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I forgot my camera [point n’ shoot] when I went to work so I took a few photos of my dinner on my phone…but it’s not a cool iPhone and I don’t know how to get the photos off of it..hehe Ooops!  I had some fresh veggie spring rolls with a pnut dipping sauce that were phenomenal!  I also had a few tiny scoops of carb/protein salads from the hot bar.  I also ate a banana during my last break and when I got home I ate a bowl of cereal, a pear, and a few bites of dark chocolate.  Swimming + crazy go go go at work left me FAMIshed!!!

Now I need to pass out…2:12am? Seriously? Ooooops.

G’niiiiiiiight!

~Ashley