Easy Make-Ahead Breakfast

I was reminded a few weeks ago that I have not posted in a while, and I had to admit that it was true.  Life is so much busier when I'm home.  I'm about 90% done scrapbooking my year in Australia, but that last 10% is taking a disproportionate amount of my time...  I did make a trip back to Juarez, Mexico last fall, but I didn't take a computer to blog while I was there.  Anyway, someone asked for this recipe, so I figured I'd post it here and kill two birds with one stone.  The beauty of the recipe is that it only takes 5 ingredients, minimal utensils and equipment, whips up in less than 5 minutes, and is ready to eat the next morning.

  I always mix mine up the night before so that the chia seeds have time to absorb the liquid in the yogurt.  If you forgot to prepare it the night before, just let it sit for about 10 minutes and you should be fine.  You can double the batch and eat it over a few days too!

The trick to this recipe is that most container base to most blender will fit the mouth of a mason jar (regular sized, not wide-mouth).

That's how I have minimal clean-up, it's all done in one container.  Since we use lots of mason jars at our house (my Mom does a ton of canning) we keep plastic mason jar lids around, they're quite handy.  As with most recipe you can change the proportions to suite your tastes.  I've made this with cherries, raspberries, papaya, lychees, just choose what your favorite fruit - the possibilities are endless.

Did you know?  Chia seeds are a great source of calcium, vitamin C, iron, potassium, and Omega-2.  Enjoy!


Un-Granola Peach Yogurt    Serves: 1  Calories: 336

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsweetened, plain, whole-fat yogurt*
1 whole peach (fresh or canned - if using canned, don't add any of the liquid)
2 TBSP chia seeds
1 TBSP ground flax seed
1 TBSP unsweetened coconut

Directions:

1. Pour the yogurt into your mason jar (mine have the ounces marked on the side so it doesn't require a measuring cup) and add a peach (or fruit of your choice).  
2. Add the blade and blender base to the mason jar and blend.  I prefer mine to be a bit more chunky, but feel free to completely puree the two.
3. Remove from the blender and toss the blade and blender based into the sink.  I recommend cleaning them right away so nothing gets stuck, but that's up to you.
4.  Add the remaining 3 ingredients and mix with a spoon.
5. Screw on the lid and place it in the fridge for you breakfast the next morning.

*I make my own yogurt, no sugar, no preservatives, just whole milk & cultures
**You can also substitute yogurt for keifer (same quantity)

Keywords: Grain-free, Gluten-free, Low-Carb, Breakfast, Noatmeal, Healthy

Recipe Analysis provided by SuperTracker.usda.gov - this is for yogurt, not keifer

Total Calories: 336; 11g Protein; 35g Carbs; 15g Fiber; 18g sugar; 0g Added Sugar; 7g Saturated Fat; 2 Monounsaturated Fat; 9g Polyunsaturated Fat

Health-Nut Oatmeal Muffins

I've been working with this recipe from Sugar-Free Mom (that I found on Pinterest) for quite a while now and decided I'd share my tweaks with you all.  She calls them Personal Sized Baked Oatmeal, but I only ever make them as muffins (they make a great snack at work).  Sadly, she takes much better photo's than I do....  The recipe is great as is, but I didn't really like the banana taste and wanted to make it a bit healthier so here's what I've got.  The original recipe is really easy to adapt - so go for it!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup of Chia Seeds
1/2 cup of water
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups of applesauce (unsweetened) *I used home-made
**you can add some shredded zucchini if you like, decrease the amount of milk if you do
1/2 cup of honey (I usually use a bit less)
2 cups of rolled oats
2 cups of cooked quinoa *I usually cook mine the night before or use leftovers
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup of flax meal
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 ¾ cups milk
1/2 cup chopped nuts (whatever kind you like)
10-12 oz. dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Mix your chia seeds and water together in a bowl and let sit (stir occasionally so they're evenly soaked).
2. Mix eggs, vanilla, applesauce, and honey together in a bowl (you would add your shredded zucchini now if you want - I've used frozen & fresh).
3. Add in oats, quinoa, chia seeds, salt, baking powder, flax and cinnamon  - mix well with wet ingredients.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. Pour in your milk and mix well to combine everything - don't worry, the batter will look runny.
6. Add in your chopped nuts & chocolate chips (you could also use fresh, frozen, or dried fruit too).
7. Put your cupcake liners in your muffin tin (spray with cooking spray if not using liners). This recipe usually makes about 24-30 muffins.
8. Use a 1/4 measuring cup to fill your muffin cups - they don't raise, so fill them full.
9. Bake for about 32 minutes or so.
10. Cool for about 5 minutes and take out of the pans (I've found that if you let them cool in the pan too much condensation builds up).

I make a batch and keep 5-6 in the fridge for the week (I take them to work for a healthy snack) and freeze the rest, taking out 5 more every Monday morning until they're gone.  Enjoy!  

Muffin (noun)

An individual cup-shaped quick bread made with wheat flour, cornmeal, or the like and baked in a pan (muffin pan) containing a series of cuplike forms