breakfast

These little oat filled treats are great to have around the house if you’re a snacker in need of a healthier option. They are also jam packed with fiber so just one (or two) will keep you feeling satisfied till your next meal. I have to be honest, they are definitely more along the lines of a granola bar kinda deal than they a cookie. You’ve been warned! That said, they are still very delicious. I love having them as a breakfast on the go, I can just throw 2 or 3 in a little zip lock and eat them on my way in the morning.

Vegan Pumpkin Balls
3 cups gluten free oats
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I use this liberally)
1 tbsp flax seed meal
1 cup of crushed cashews
1/2 cup vegan (or regular if you wish) dark chocolate chips

Mix it all together and then make baby balls and place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Put them in the oven at 350 for about 5 minutes. You just want them to set a little bit, you don’t need them to “bake”. Let them cool and enjoy! Super easy snack and you can sub out the chocolate chips for raisins or craisins or add in dried cherries and really have some fun with it!

 

Nothing is better than a GOOD green smoothie to start your week off in the right direction or get you back on track mid week! I love this particular one when I really want to feel nourished and full. It has lots of good for you fats so you won’t start getting the ‘hungries’ around 11am. It’s also fulling enough to drink post work out if you’ve had a really intense sweat session. Totally inspired by Kris Carr’s one in Crazy, Sexy, Diet, a book that I highly recommend to anyone wanting to be more mindful of what they put in their body and take better care of their ‘god-pod’ (body) as she would call it! I hope you give it a whirl for breakfast one day this week, I know it might sound a little funky for a smoothie but you’ll have to take my word, it’s pretty yummy and it will start your day off right and set the stage for making healthy choices all day long!

Green Guru

4 leaves of Romaine
1/2 avocado
1 cucumber
1 banana
whooping tbsp of almond butter
1 cup of coconut milk

Blend it all together and enjoy!

For those of you who watched The Taste last night, my #teamludo not only won the group VEGGIE CHALLENGE, but my girl Louise (aka. Weezy) won 2 gold stars for her veggie dish! Woot! Woot! Combine that with my man Lee saying that his gold star was for me and it’s safe to say I felt very happy with my friends stepping up there game and making some killer vegetarian dishes!
Naturally, I wanted to represent my veggie rockstar team mate Louise and asked her for a yummy recipe to share with you and I think you guys are going to LOVE this one!! Louise was kind enough to share this fabulous video with us of her making her “Green Machine Breakfast Shake” Check it out for a delicious and nutritious  way to get your greens in the AM and start your day off right. For those of you who are vegan watching, Louise does add some greek yogurt for protein, feel free to substitute that with a little more almond milk and scoop of almond butter OR if you like the yogurt-like consistency, they make some delicious almond and coconut ‘yogurts’ out there. Enjoy! Go #teamludo!

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You all know how much I love my quinoa and of course, how much I love FALL flavors, so it’s no surprise I whipped up this creation this morning! This vegan gluten free breakfast is packed with my perfect protein, quinoa and some delicious fall foods to keep you seasonally skinny and satisfied!

FALL QUINOA ‘OATMEAL’

1/2 cup quinoa
1/2 cup almond milk
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/3 cup organic pumpkin purée
Heat together in small saucepan on medium heat till quinoa has cooked and liquid has reduced.

Garnish:
3 tbsp crushed walnuts
2 tbsp of dried cranberries

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My amazing friend Katelyn whipped up this delicious breakfast for me this morning and I loved it so much I had to share! Quinoa can be a wonderful oat alternative for breakfast. Since it’s a perfect protein you get all the fiber from oatmeal but the added bonus of protein as well! As we head into the fall and colder months, I have a feeling this might become a morning go-to for me.

QUINOA BERRY BREAKFAST
1/4 cup quinoa
1/2 cup almond milk
1 banana
A handful of berries ( I use blueberries and raspberries for mine)
1 tbsp of coconut oil
1 tbsp of Chia seeds

Boil your almond milk in a saucepan with your quinoa constantly stirring. Add chopped up bananas and berries immediately as well as your chia seeds and coconut oil. This way everything is a nice hot gooey mush together! You can add more bananas and berries on top when it’s done or if you want to really spice it up sprinkle some chopped almonds or granola!

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You all know I’ve been on a smoothie bender this summer so I thought it only fair to share one of my go-to creations! This Good Morning Beautiful Smoothie was inspired by a concoction my friend got at our gym’s juice bar. Both of us enjoyed it so much that we ended up riffing up on our own late one night! Needless to say its become one of our morning staples! Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Good Morning Beautiful Smoothie
1/2 c almond milk
6 or so ice cubes
3 tbsps of gluten free oats
1 banana
1/2 c blueberries
1 tbsp almond butter
3 tsps of chia seeds

Blend till thoroughly mixed! 😉

          I don’t know about you but I’ve been on a HUGE smoothie kick all summer long. Seriously, when we got that crazy heat wave in NY I pretty much lived on smoothies because I couldn’t bare thinking of consuming anything that wasn’t cold and liquid. Smoothies are great for breakfast, I love making one after a workout or yoga sesh in the morning and taking it on the go with me as I start my day! I also confess that I do love smoothie pics on instagram. It’s so fun (for me atleast) to see what other people are concocting up. I mean, I’m sure we all enjoy a little of trial and error with our handy blender but sometimes it’s just nice to make something you KNOW is going to taste good! So when I saw my girl, Sarah, posting crazy yummy looking smoothie pictures and found out that they were made with some of my favorite super foods, well I just had to see if I could share them with all of you! Lucky for you, Sarah is a sweetheart and sent me over recipes and pictures right away! So get excited, this smoothie is total green gloriousness and amazingly good for you! Rev up those blenders…
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Sweet Summer Green Smoothie
– 1 layer of kale leaves
– 1 layer of spinach
– 1 in. chunk of ginger peeled and cut up
– 1 cup sliced strawberries
– half of a peach (cut up)
– 1 tsp. flaxseed
– 1 TBS Sunfood Maca Powder
– 1 scoop GNC Lean Shake Key Lime flavor
– 1.5 C almond milk (unsweetened)
And blended along with ice, of course.

 

bboatmealpancakes                  Weekends mean one thing to me, BRUNCH! So regardless of where I am or who’s kitchen I have access to, this lady always has some kick ass weekend brunch. This morning was no exception, although I was stuck at my parents with them gone for the weekend and me in total control of the fridge. So after scoping out my options I got a little crafty and whipped up these SUPER EASY to make, crazy delicious and incredibly filling Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes! I think they’re a super fun, hearty brunch treat with all the fiber, flaxseed and protein you are sure to be full till dinner time but they are a healthy alternative to regular breakfast any day of the week.

Blueberry Oatmeal Protein Pancakes

2 packs of Trader Joe’s instant  whole grain blueberry oatmeal with flaxseed + plant sterols

3 cage free organic eggs

4oz of fat free vanilla or plain yogurt (I used Activa because that’s what my mom had in the house but you can use whatever you prefer, greek yogurt might be even better!)

Mix it all together and spoon it on to a non stick frying pan! This recipe should make three pretty large pancakes or six small pancakes! If you’d like to make a smaller version, I’d use one packet of oatmeal, one egg and 2 tbsps of yogurt! Yum!! Enjoy!

 

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And by CRACK, I mean protein but these little suckers are so tasty that they should be considered crack! I literally had to hide them so that I would stop eating them. So bake these in a cookie sheet and then as soon as they cool immediately cut them and put them out of reach or give some to the neighbors, they’re that dangerous.

Okay, now that I’ve got your scared and excited, here’s the recipe!

VEGAN CRACK BARS
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and get your non stick cookie sheet ready on the stove. In a large bowl combine the following ingredients and then mix gently till they are all solidly stuck together and evenly distributed.

2 cups of oats
1 cup of goji berries
2 tbsp of cashews
3/4 cup all natural peanut butter
3 tbsp of hemp seed
1 tbsp of chia oil
4 tbsp of vanilla hemp protein powder
3 tbsp of maple syrup
1/4 cup almond milk
1/2 cup mini vegan choc chips (I Love ENJOYLIFE! brand)

Next spread the whole mixture the size of the pan so it covers all corners. It should be relatively thin, maybe a 1/2 inch – an inch thick. Bake for 5-10 minutes or until the edges get toasty brown. Let cool, and you’ve been warned what to do once they’re all cooled. 😉

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It’s a scorching 90 degrees in New York City today and I was itching for something light and cold for lunch after running around to meetings all morning so I whipped up this delicious and refreshing protein and fiber packed concoction! Give it a whirl this summer!

Raspberry Key Lime Protein Smoothie
1 cup coconut milk
6 ice cubes
1 lime, chopped and skinned
1/2 cup frozen or fresh raspberries
4 scoops of Adonia Key Lime Pie fat free frozen yogurt
4 tbsps of vanilla hemp protein powder (Manitoba Harvest)

Blend it all together and top it off with a lime for a little added festiveness! This delicious smoothie has 10 grams of protein and 10 grams of fiber!

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For those of you that follow me on Instagram (@gosweetandskinny), you have already seen this yummy delight and for those of you who don’t, what are you waiting for?! I post healthy food porn all the time and inspirational sayings! Haha Anyways, back to business, this post is about my new breakfast obsession, avocado toast ! All I do is toast some of my favorite bread ( which happens to be one degree organic’s lentil whole wheat) and then top it off with half of an avocado that I’ve skinned and chopped. Then I drizzle a little olive oil and sprinkle some salt. It’s just as easy as making cereal but is packed with lots of healthy filling fats to start your day off right. Plus as an added bonus, it just happens to be vegan! Double win! I have grown to love this so much that I now prefer it to almost any other breakfast, which is why I just had to write about it for you guys! Give it a whirl this week and you just might develop a seriously healthy addiction! 😉

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I almost didn’t think this worthy of a post, and then I realized this is EXACTLY the kind of post you guys want!! Sure, recipes are fun and I’m sure those cupcake pictures get your tummy grumbling but the best way to start yourself on the road to healthy, happy, hotness is to make small changes to your normal routine everyday! So if we can all get honest a second, who has time to make an elaborate breakfast every morning?! Don’t get me wrong, I do love my quinoa or chia seed pancakes but on the average day that’s just not realistic for me. Cereal is so easy! However, talk to me on the norm and you will know I’m not a huge cereal fan. This is because MOST but not all cereals are loaded with sugar and refined carbs and have very little nutritional value. However, the lovely folks at Barbara’s (who make the cinnamon puffin cereal I’m seriously in love with) gave me a sample of their new healthy kiddie cereals! Yeah, their pretty awesome and I totally love that their helping children eat better and not even realize it. So this morning I gave their “snackimals” a whirl with some almond milk and made it in to an adult protein, omega and antioxidant packed breakfast by sprinkling on some of my favorite super foods! Hemp hearts and goji berries are both delicious and great for you and best of all, they take no time to prepare! Great stuff to have around the house to kick any meal a notch up.

Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts
Just one serving of these in your cereal (oatmeal, yogurt, etc) has 10 grams of Omegas 3 & 6 and 10g of protein! That’s one hell of a pump up if you ask me!

Sunfood Organic Goji Berries
These raw super fruits are loaded with antioxidants to keep you healthy and beautiful! Not to mention they contain 18 amino acids and all 8 essential amino acids! Can you say vegetarian gold mine?

So there you have it. Literally took me two extra minutes if that to sprinkle these delicious goodies on my cereal and give it a healthy super punch to start my day off right!