PLAY.WITH.YOUR.FOOD.

I’m not talking about mixing mashed potatoes with corn + peas and then flattening it into a pancake before consuming. And I’m not talking about emptying packets of sweet n’ low, salt, pepper and the leftovers from your plate into a cup of water, then stirring vigorously with a straw to leave a surprise for the wait staff. [i’m guilty! but not since i was like 8]

I’m more referring to having fun in the kitchen and not just going through the motion of getting food on a plate.

This is my grown up version of playing with food! I had more fun than usual today making my morning oats and my lunch. I just kept thinking of other things I could add or do next time. I was giddy and it was hard to not dig into either meal before photographing!

Strawberries peaking out from inside :)

I wanted to incorporate Banana Soft Serve into my oats today, but I didn’t have overnight oats waiting in the fridge. I thought it would be fun to layer them into my normal cooked oats. However, I didn’t have a frozen banana. It’s not quite as dessert-ish but if you whip a banana it still gets super creamy, which was perfectly find for today.

I whipped up 1 banana in the food processor along with 1 large strawberry.

What else is in this crazy mix?

Layers in order from the bottom up:

strawberry banana fluff

1/2 sliced strawberry

cinnamon Scottish oats

strawberry banana fluff

cinnamon Scottish oats

1/2 sliced strawberry

cinnamon Scottish oats

strawberry banana fluff

Topped with:

cinnamon Scottish oats

cocoa-coco-pnat butter

maple cinnamon almond butter

strawberry slice

But now how to eat it? With a shovel-spoon of course! This was one of the top 3 oat concoctions I’ve ever made. It was super creamy and I loved all of the layers. Not to mention the melty nut butters.

I tried to eat slowly + savor the goodness.

I snacked on a handful of almonds/walnuts/pecans before leaving for a bike ride. This was the perfect snack to hold me over while riding.

After a 19+ mile bike ride I was staving. It was finally a little bit sunny out for the first 5 laps at the park. I managed to squeeze in a total of 8 laps and made it home just before it started hailing. Lovely.

Then I did some lifting + ab work. Time to EAT!

Lunch was something new + fun + I played even more :) Jessica posted a recipe this morning for a cinnamon fruit filled omelet. Sign me up. As soon as I laid eyes on it, I knew it had to be mine. I know cinnamon eggs might sound kind of odd, but trust me [and Jessica] it is good…better than good!

I’ve actually had cinnamon eggs before as a result of leftover french toast batter. I never like dumping the batter so I always just pour it in the pan and scramble up cinnamon eggs. Don’t judge!

This is the cinnamon egg omelet part of the meal. It looks like a pancake! No flour here! I only made a few very minor changes.

Da-da-da-daaaaaaaaaaaa BEHOLD.

Not only was this cinnamon omelet a GENIOUS idea [we’re talking Mensa level here], the yogurt topping, was nothing short of spectacular.

I have added cinnamon to Greek yogurt before but never have I added a touch of maple syrup.

You should have seen my face when I sat down to eat this. It definitely reminded me of a French toast or pancakes. I kept forgetting I was eating eggs.

Cinnamon Fruit Filled Omelet

2 eggs

2T milk [any kind – Jessica used heavy cream, but I only had 2%]

small pinch of salt

1t vanilla

1/2t cinnamon

1/3 banana

1 champagne mango

2 strawberries

1 pineapple ring

Cut up all fruit.

Heat a small greased pan over medium/low heat.

Whisk eggs, milk, vanilla, + cinnamon in a bowl.

Pour into pan and cover with lid or foil, until the eggs are set. You do not have to stir!

Slide the omelet out with a spatula.

Top with fruit + fold over.

I’m sure if you use heavy cream as your milk, it will lead to a bit richer and fluffier omelet. I felt it was important to add a tiny pinch of salt to bring out the flavors. I loved the texture of the creamy banana and would probably add more next time and maybe ditch the pineapple. I love pineapple but it was a little too wet in this.

More playing ensued. I toasted 1/2 of a sprouted wheat bagel [delicious, will give you the brand soon!] and topped it with the following.

at least 1T homemade peanut butter

~1/4c yogurt crack

fruit

Messy but so so so delicious. The peanut butter was melty + warm and the yogurt was nice and cold. Loved the contrast of that with the crunchy bagel.

I know it seems weird to put yogurt + fruit on bread, but trust me [and Allie], it’s not weird, it’s delicious.

Cinnamon Maple Yogurt [also from Jessica]

1/2c plain Greek yogurt

1/4-1/2t cinnamon

1-2t maple syrup

I doubled the amount of yogurt but kept the amount of cinnamon about the same. Add 1-2t maple depending on your sweet tooth. I didn’t measure mine but just put a dollop in the mix.

I already made another serving of this for my nighttime snack along with a pile of cereal on top.

It is THAT good.

And this is THAT bad. Wow, I was expecting more. This has a great ingredient list and I thought it might be fun when I want something warm to drink at night other than loose leaf tea. You actually brew this in a coffee pot. Well, this was TERRible. It tasted like chemicals. I was really excited about it but I hated it. I’m not sure if it was just this flavor or what. It doesn’t taste like tea in any way shape or form. The name is deceiving but I guess it is called “herbal coffee” and that is exactly how it tastes. Two sips and I was done.

On the other hand this was deelicious! Definitely check out the Tea Dojo website. They are a local Boulder company and hooked me up with 6 bags of their tea. I have been completely impressed so far. Not to mention the packaging is great and each bag is descriptively labeled with brew time, etc. on the back. They have a huge variety and are only $3/bag for very high quality loose leaf tea. [I was not paid to say this! I love a good hearty tea and have definitely been happy with these!!]

Love the red berries in the mix.

Thursday climbing action. So there was a problem I was stuck on the last time we were there. It was 1 move in particular we were both having a hard time with. Chris completed it on Thursday and I got much closer. Even grabbing 1 or 2 more holds is success in my mind. It shows improvement from the last visit. It might not mean you’re stronger but it does mean you’re learning to move your body a little differently to be able to boost up higher or twist harder for a difficult reach.

Here was one of my attempts. Basically I’m holding onto those 2 holds and you can see my right foot up high next to my right hand. Here was the issue. You basically had to hold on and swing both feet from the right side to where my left foot is headed. It takes a LOT of ab strength to control yourself to move the bottom half of your body over there without swinging out of control and falling.

I never realized how much of ab workout climbing would be, before we started into it!

Another attempt. Apologies for the blurriness, but the flash just looks SO bad. So this is 1 step before the image that is above.

And there I go swinging my legs over with my right foot not touching the ground.

I got both my feet around and now the next step was taking my right hand to a hold about 1.5’ above my left hand. You basically have to tuck your body up into the wall to the right and use your abs to pull up so you can make the reach.

I got it this time!!! Finallllly!! And then I got about 2 holds further before needing a break. Some of the routes are SO exhausting.