Marvelous/Not So Marvelous… And an Oatmeal Recipe

Marvelous is… the fact that I found an old bag of black licorice cough drops in our medicine cabinet.

Not so marvelous is… the fact that I even NEED cough drops due to “the plague.” 😉

Marvelous is… watching the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with my mom.

Not so marvelous is… now I’m craving pizza.

Marvelous is… celebrating one of my friend’s birthdays tomorrow.

Not so marvelous is… if I don’t get over this cold/virus/whatever-it-is I won’t be able to go.

Marvelous is… making breakfast on an actual stove every morning for my parents.

Not so marvelous is… Okay, I can’t really find anything wrong with this oatmeal. Ha.

Banana and Maple Pecan Oatmeal

Gluten/Wheat-Free, Vegan, Nut-Free Option (in Notes below)

Makes 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 1 cup liquid (1/2 cup water + 1/2 cup milk)
• 1/2 cup quick oatmeal
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed (ground chia would work too)
• 1 tbsp sweetener
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• dash of salt
• “Maple pecans”: 3 tbsp pecans, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1/8 tsp cinnamon, dash of salt
• optional toppings (I used melted almond butter)

Directions:

1. Heat liquid on high until boiling. Add oatmeal and flaxseed. Reduce heat to medium and stir occasionally for about 5 minutes or until thickened.
2. Slice the 1/2 banana on top of the oatmeal. Stir and let sit for a minute until the banana gets soft. Using a fork whip the oatmeal incorporating the banana until smooth. Mix in the cinnamon and salt then pour into a bowl.
3. In the now empty pan put the pecans, maple syrup, cinnamon and salt. Heat on medium until the syrup begins to boil and thicken. Pour onto the oatmeal and top with optional toppings.

Notes: To make this vegan/dairy-free use a dairy-free milk like almond milk or coconut milk. You could also just use all water for the liquid to make it nut-free but it won’t be as creamy. For the nuts, feel free to omit or replace with a nut-free version like sunflower seeds, pepitas, a diced banana or apple.

Marvelous is… doubling the recipe to make it for two.

Not so marvelous is… not having the right-sized pan and the liquid spilling over causing your stove to smoke. My bad.

Marvelous is… the truckload of Christmas pictures that I have to share with you.

Not so marvelous is… having to upload and edit them all.

So while I get on that, make this oatmeal, pop in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and get to reading some of the other posts that are linking up to Katie’s Marvelous in my Monday.

Hopefully I will be feeling better and able to comment on some of your posts that I’ve missed in the past week or so. Time to return to the land of the living! 😉

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Questions for you:

Which Ninja Turtle is your favorite? I’m partial to the one in red, Raphael. 

According to Nickelodeon’s survey though, I’m DONATELLO!

Like Donatello, you are a brilliant inventor. You may not make all of the Turtles’ gadgets, weapons, and vehicles, like he does, but you’ve got the brains for it! But sometimes you and Donnie are too smart for your own good, like when you’re too busy admiring an enemy’s futuristic laser cannon to run for your lives. But when it comes down to it, it’s other people’s lives that really keep your head in a mission. You fight with your heart, and that makes you a very powerful warrior.

What’s your favorite cough drop flavor? Black licorice obviously.

Have you gotten all of your Christmas photos/recaps up yet? I’m pretty sure I’m the last one…

Marvelous Is… A Lot of Things (WIR)

Marvelous is…

An Accounting teacher who accidentally sends you the solutions to your take home quiz via e-mail.

My dear mother who decided that we were going to get festive and bake an entire turkey today for the fun of it.

The same dear mother who helped me package it all up to take to school with me for the week.

That my “week” only really consists of two days, Monday and Tuesday, and then I’m off for Thanksgiving Break!

Watching Catching Fire with my best friend.

Getting teary-eyed and goosebumps during my favorite parts of the book being reenacted in the movie.

The super deep conversations that I had with said friend on the 30 minute drives to/from the movie theater.

More thought-provoking conversations had later on with my dad over creationism and evolution.

Perhaps finding a new doctor to go see. Fingers crossed that it doesn’t take months to get in.

Christmas movies on the television.

Television. It’s kind of refreshing to watch TV shows on an actual TV vs. my laptop.

My dad finally turning the heat on in the house.

Adding even more puppy chow recipes to my ever-growing Pinterest board.

Strawberry Cupcake Puppy Chow

Apple Cinnamon Puppy Chow

Helping to set up the Christmas decorations at church today.

My aunt’s amazing care packages that she sends me at school (I’m planning on doing a vlog about these sometime soon!).

Hearing about my brother’s slam dunks in his recent basketball scrimmage.

My new Elf For Health partner Divya at Eat Teach Blog.

The #Elf4Health challenge that I joined! There are a ton of fun challenges to participate in starting tomorrow! I will NOT be participating in Day 1 because as you know I basically subsist on meat and vegetables so going MEATLESS would be a terrible terrible idea. But Day 2 is perfect for me and my inboxes stuffed with thousands of emails…

So…. Tell me! What is Marvelous about your Monday?

Linking up to Health Diva Eat’s MIMM

And what did YOU do over your weekend?

Also linking up to Clean Eats Fast Feet’s WIR (Week in Review)

Currently #3

Before getting into today’s post I just want to thank everyone for their kind thoughts on Friday’s post. It means a bunch to me.

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Right now I am riding a holiday high. Even though I am up to my eyeballs in tests, reports and presentations (3 in one class for example), the thought of Thanksgiving being only just over one week away is keeping me going. Then after that there’s only one month until Christmas. CHRISTMAS.

Just the word evokes a smile and the image of a million twinkling bulbs on a tall green tree. You know that feeling, don’t you?

Well, right now I am kind of in a positive mood, very unusual for a Sunday night, so I decided to skip any serious posts for the moment and instead update you all on some of my favorite things currently. Edition #3.

Current Book: Bitter Kingdom. The third book in Rae Carson’s series that I mentioned a few weeks ago. I actually went to a book fair recently and got to meet her in person so that she could sign my copy!

Current Music: All things Christmas. All the time. Scotty McCreery’s album in particular though. He has such an amazing low voice.

Current Guilty Pleasure: Facebook and Blog stalking. So thrilling, I know.

Current Nail Color: Does orange and yellow count from where my squash stained them? 😉

Current Drink: Water from my Brita Pitcher. No nasty city water for me.

Current Food: Same old, same old.

Current TV Show: Arrow, and Nashville.

Current Wish List: So many things… Right now though I’ve been looking for some local doctors as I’m getting the courage to visit one again and see if a different perspective has any new insights.

Time travelling is NOT on my list of requirements though for potential picks…

Current Need: Thanksgiving break.

Current Triumph: Making a dent in my homework. I didn’t finish as much as I would have wished, but certainly more than I expected being that my weekend was full of tempting distractions.

Current Bane of my Existence: Teachers who think we only have one class.

Current Celebrity Crush: Leonardo DiCaprio will always remain #1 for me, however I should probably diversify some. I’m kind of crushing on Josh Hutcherson right now. Watching his interviews he just seems tp have his act together. Pretty refreshing.

Current Indulgence: Cinnamon. Ya. I bought some at the grocery store this week and kind of have been sprinkling insane amounts on my food. I probably should stop because my stomach doesn’t seem to be dealing well. It’s just so good though!

Current Blessing: My parents for giving the gentle (and sometimes not so gentle) nudges to do things that I know I need, but do not want, to do.

Current Slang: Oh goodness. Not really slang. Almost the opposite of slang in that it makes me sound like an old granny.

Current Outfit: Blue Adidas athletic pants and a Minions t-shirt. (Remind me to take a picture and show you!)

Current Excitement: Catching Fire this weekend with my best friend!

Current Mood: Worn out.

Current Link: Recipe Redux. Among many.

And today I’m linking up with Katie at Healthy Diva Eats for Marvelous in my Monday!

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Questions for you:

What have you been loving currently? Answer some (or all!) of the subjects above!

Are you part of Recipe Redux? Ready for Thursday?

Who is ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas?!

Three Things for Monday

I have just three quick things to share on this Monday morning. Then I’m off to classes!

First, one final call for any questions that you all would like to know about Lindsay Nixon and her new cookbook Happy Herbivore Light and Lean. I already have a list of interview question ideas to send but if anyone has suggestions they are welcomed!

Second, a quick recipe to share 🙂

Pumpkin Bread Bake with Pumpkin Frosting

Adapted from my Banana Bread Bake – Makes 2 servings

Wheat/Gluten/Grain-Free, Vegetarian, Nut-Free, Paleo/GAPS-Friendly

Bread ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ginger
• dash of salt
• 1 tsp baking soda

Frosting ingredients:

• 1/4 cup plain yogurt (use coconut yogurt to make dairy-free)
• 2 tbsp pumpkin puree
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• dash of salt
• 1 tbsp coconut flour (more or less as needed)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Oil/grease two large ramekins (I used a Pyrex 4-cup round bowl like this one that is around 6 inches in diameter).
2. Crack the eggs into a food processor and blend until it is one solid color. When the eggs are blended add the pumpkin puree and blend until smooth.
3. Then add in the coconut flour, spices and salt. Blend again until fully incorporated.
4. Now you should add the baking soda, but wait to do this until the oven is fully heated and right before you are ready to pour the batter and bake. You don’t want the baking soda to react and then the mixture to sit for too long. So, once the oven reaches 375 degrees, add the baking soda and blend again for a few seconds.
5. Pour the batter into the ramekins and place them directly into the oven. Bake for about 40 minutes until golden brown. The top should spring back to the touch and the edges should begin to look barely darkened.
6. Meanwhile mix up the frosting in a small bowl. Add coconut flour as necessary to thicken it up. Place in the fridge until ready to use.
7. Let the breads cool for a few minutes when done, remove onto a plate and top with frosting to serve.

Recipe notes: I made this a two-serving recipe but it can easily be a single-serving. The bread would be 3 eggs, 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, 1 tbsp honey, 2 tbsp coconut flour, 1 tbsp cinnamon, dash of nutmeg/ginger, dash of salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda. And the frosting would be 2 tbsp yogurt, 1 tbsp pumpkin puree, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tbsp honey, dash of salt, 1 1/2 tsp coconut flour. For half of the recipe you should check the bread at 30 minutes as it will probably take less time than the 40 minutes for two ramekins.

Third… the winner of The China Study Cookbook!

Using the True Random Number Generator the winner of the giveaway is:

Congratulations Sarah from Slices of Sarah Pie! Please e-mail me at alleyhays [dot] gmail [dot] com with your address so that BenBella Books can get you the cbook right away 🙂

Thank you for all who entered. If you didn’t win the cookbook and would still like a copy, you can purchase both the kindle and paperback editions on Amazon.

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I’d say all three of these things are pretty marvellous, wouldn’t you? That’s why I’m linking up to Katie at Healthy Diva Eat’s MIMM.