Banana Split Oats (A Clean Eating Recipe)

Do you eat breakfast?  Of course you do, it's the most important meal of the day.  Right?  Ummmm....maybe not?  I mean, I know I eat breakfast, every single day, but I'll tell you right now it's not within the first hour of waking up in the morning.  I typically do my workout first thing in the morning, then I eat breakfast.  But I'm lucky, because I have the time to workout in the morning and then make a nice breakfast (but just so you know, I wake up at the crack of dawn so I do have the time to do those things in the morning!).

Does your breakfast include several different ingredients?

It doesn't have to.  I once had a client tell me that he "didn't have time for breakfast", and that all he ever eats in the morning before work is a piece of toast with peanut butter.  Um, hello, that's breakfast!  It doesn't have to be a gourmet meal, or even a meal at all, as long as it's something that will "break the fast".  A piece of toast and peanut butter is just fine.  But, if you have the extra time, why not get creative with your breakfast?!


I've tried many different oatmeal combinations in my time.  I love oatmeal, but lately I've been doing my Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberry combination, and leaving the oatmeal creations for Nick.  Here are some of my new and old favorite oatmeal creations (both for Nick and myself)....

Oatmeal, unsweetened almond milk, dark chocolate peanut butter, bananas, dry-roasted almonds

Oatmeal, pumpkin butter, and apples (I was very jealous as Nick ate this.....it's loaded with FODMAPs!)

One of my old favorite combinations (as in, I was addicted to this for two years.....); oatmeal, pumpkin puree, and peanut butter

Another addiction I used to have; Oatmeal, flavored Greek yogurt, almond butter, and cooked sweet potato.  Yes, it's true, I used to eat this all the time.  It is fantastic. I swear.

Anyway, after my addiction to oatmeal was over (I'm sure it will be back one day) and I handed it over to Nick, I thought I needed to come up with some new ideas so Nick could see that I haven't lost my talent for taking oatmeal to "the next level".  As I perused my latest issue of Clean Eating Magazine I was happy to find this recipe for Banana Split Oatmeal.  

Banana Split Oatmeal

Slightly modified from a Clean Eating Magazine recipe

Serves 1

Can be gluten free

Can be Vegan

Can be lower FODMAPs

Ingredients

1/2 cup Old-Fashioned rolled oats**

1-cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1/8 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup canned diced pineapple, in light syrup, rinsed

1/4 cup sliced strawberries, organic if possible

1/4 banana, diced

1/2 ounce dark chocolate, finely chopped **

1 Tbsp raw walnut pieces

OPTIONAL:  Vanilla protein powder

Directions

Follow the directions on the oat container to make the oatmeal (typically says to mix the liquid and the oats and microwave for ~3 minutes.  Or use the stove-top).  Once cooked, mix in the vanilla extract and the vanilla protein powder, if using.  Top with the pineapple, strawberries, banana, chocolate, and walnuts.  Serve warm.

** Use gluten free oats if you want this to be gluten free

** Be sure your dark chocolate has zero milk ingredients if you want this to be vegan

This was heavenly (I tried a few bites of Nick's.  He's so kind)

I even thought it would be even more heavenly with some unsweetened coconut flakes on top.  Nick agreed.

QUESTION:  What's your favorite oatmeal combination??  Come on, you know you have one!

Thanks for reading!

The Candid Rd

Fully Loaded Oatmeal

Oatmeal, chocolate peanut butter, 1/2 banana, and 1/4 cup almonds, 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Now this is a good way to start the morning!

I mean think about it....you've got your whole grain (oats), your protein (almonds and nut butter), your half cup of fruit (banana), your fiber (oats, almonds, banana), and your milk/dairy (extra almond milk). Not only that, but you've also got chocolate!

Next we've got oatmeal with banana, honey roasted nuts, and a bit of natural calorie-free sweetener. I had a cup of unsweetened almond milk, and coffee to drink (multiple cups of coffee, I might add).

This was another fabulous combination that was a great example of a "ChooseMyPlate" breakfast. Of course, more than one-quarter of my breakfast is grain....but oh well, close enough.

This was last year's obsession....

Oatmeal with pumpkin and peanut butter. Can you believe I haven't had this for an entire year?! I used to be obsessed!

QUESTION: Go ahead, tell me your favorite way to eat oatmeal, or any other hot cereal. And what do you normally eat for breakfast on weekends?? Speaking of weekends, have a great one! I'll be working :)

Overnight Oats and a Holiday Challenge!

My first experience with overnight oats was a disaster.

I typically like my oats hot, but on this particular evening I knew I would have no time in the morning to make my beloved oats, so I decided to try overnight oats so they'd be ready in the morning and I wouldn't have to do anything. I used a recipe from The Broccoli Hut <---- All of her overnight oat recipes. The recipe called for oats, water, Greek yogurt, pumpkin, and a few other not-so-important ingredients, which I didn't use. The next morning when I opened the fridge I was sad to see my oats had turned to glue. BLAH! I ate them anyway because I was in a hurry to get out the door to my 7am meeting. I added a bit of almond milk to make the texture more bearable.



As I was eating my oats, I thought to myself, "what went wrong?". I know there had been other "blogger fads" that had not been my favorite (oats in a jar....), but I figured overnight oats would not be one of them. As I thought more about it, I decided I made two fundamental errors.

1) I let them sit overnight for too long. I didn't wait long enough the night before to prepare my oats, therefore they sat for over 11 hours. Gross.


2) I used too much yogurt and not enough liquid. Although I followed the recipe, I think I like more of a runny texture to my oats, compared to most people's preferences.


So I tried again. This time I used; 1/2 cup oats, 3/4 cup soy milk, 2 T whole milk yogurt, 1/4 cup pureed pumpkin, and some vanilla flavoring.





I mixed up all of the ingredients at about 10 pm.


I woke up at 6am, then ate my oats around 7am (~ 9 hours after making them). The consistency was much better!! The addition of more liquid, and less yogurt, prevented the glue-like texture from forming.

I even added some cinnamon and nutmeg for extra flavor.

QUESTION: Have you tried overnight oats?!

HOLIDAY CHALLENGE!

As many of you know, I had an eating disorder in high school and part of college. While I have been better for several years, I was still under my desired weight just last year. After cutting out FODMAPs, and starting to absorb more nutrients, I have officially gained about 10 pounds! At this time I am within my ideal body weight and could not feel more amazing about myself and my new body. While I am very proud of myself for gaining my weight back, I have found that I am unable to control myself around food when I'm at parties lately. It's not as bad as it could be, but I'm sensing a small loss of control when I go to weddings or other social gatherings. I know some of it has to do with alcohol, which I tend to drink at these types of events/parties (although in reality I usually only have two drinks at most), but I still would like to work on this before it turns into a habit.

This brings me to my Holiday Challenge. This year I have created a challenge for all of the employees at the store where I work. The challenge is to not put on any weight over the holidays (**I'm actually going to do a modified version of this challenge by challenging myself to not binge on holiday foods and drinks during holiday parties, without the weight maintenance goal in mind, necessarily**). For those of you who read my blog and who are trying to put on weight, lets make this a challenge to put on weight, or you can be like me and make it a challenge to not lose control over holiday sweets and drinks. But if you are noticing an increase in your weight every year, and it's not a good thing, why not join the employees in the "No Weight Gain Challenge?!". For the store employees I have also added an incentive to lose weight over the holidays, so if you fit in the category where you are above the ideal body weight for your height, why don't you try it?!

The bottom line is that it's pointless to start your New Years resolution on January first. Weight loss and weight maintenance is not achieved by quick fixes, it's achieved by a change in lifestyle and a change in habits. What better time to practice eating well at parties and holiday functions than during the 2 month span of the holiday season?!

If you want to join me/us with this challenge, great! No need to tell me, but at the end I'd love to hear success stories! And meanwhile, leave some of your favorite tips for dodging holiday weight gain, or for simply staying healthy over the holidays, and I will post them along with some other tips on my next post!

Big City, Small Kitchen

I’m excited to be a guest blogger on The Candid RD. Gina is one of my dearest friends. Not only did we go to high school together, but we lived together in college. One of the best things about living with a Dietetics major? I got to taste test all of her creations.

For me, one of the biggest challenges living in New York is to not eat out all of the time. There are so many good restaurants and everyone delivers, but that's certainly not the most healthy or economical way to eat. Another disadvantage of living in New York City -- I don’t get to see my favorite RD very often, but she continues to inspire me with her blog.

Here are two great recipes: Butternut Squash and Duxelles Casserole and Tempeh Meatloaf. Both recipes came from “Vegetarian Times”. Even though I’m not a vegetarian I love this magazine! It’s a great resource for healthy recipes and they always feature vegetables that are in season.

Butternut Squash and Duxelles* Casserole

*Duxelle is a paste of finely chopped mushrooms and shallots – who knew?

Ingredients

8 oz. Fresh mushrooms (I used white button)

2 shallots, coarsely chopped (1/4 cup)

1 ½ tsp. Butter

1 Tbs. Finely chopped parsley

¼ tsp. Ground black pepper

1 cup 1% low-fat milk

2 Tbs. All purpose flour

1 clove garlic, minced

¾ cup shredded Gruyere cheese (3 oz.), divided

¼ tsp. Nutmeg

1 (2.5 lb) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/8 inch slices

Directions

1. In food processor, pulse mushrooms 20 times or until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl. Place shallots in food processor and pulse 20 times or until finely chopped. Transfer to same bowl.

2. Melt butter in skillet. Add mushrooms and shallots. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and stir in parsley and pepper.



3. Preheat oven to 350 and coat baking dish with cooking spray.

4. Bring milk, flour and garlic to a simmer in saucepan. Whisk constantly. Cook for 2 minutes or until sauce is thick enough to coat the pack of a spoon, whisking frequently. Whisk in 1/2 cup of cheese and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Spread 1/3 of squash in prepared dish. Top with 1/3 cup cheese sauce and 1/2 mushroom mixture. Repeat layers ending with cheese sauce. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Bake 45 minutes or until squash is tender and top is brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.




Nutritional Facts per 1 cup serving: 134 cal.; 7 g protein; 5 g total fat (3 g sat fat); 19 g carb; 15 mg chol; 60 mg sod; 3 g fiber; 5 g sugars

Afterthoughts

This dish was amazing! It’s not hard to make, but there was a lot of prep. I’ll admit, I enlisted some help from my roommate, Kate, who made the Duxelle while I hacked away at the squash. Next time I make this dish, I'll make sure to do all of my chopping before I begin.

Tempeh-Oatmeal Meatloaf

Ingredients

2 cups old-fashioned oats, divided

2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp), divided

1 bay leaf

1 small onion, chopped ( 1 cup)

1 Tbs. herbes de Provence

1 15-oz. Can chopped tomatoes

1 8-oz. Pkg. Tempeh

¾ tsp. vinegar

1/4 tsp. sugar

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 cups prepared marinara sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Coat large loaf pan with olive oil cooking spray. Bring 1/2 cup oats, 1 tsp. garlic, bay leaf, and 1 cup water to a boil in saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook 10 minutes or until oatmeal is thick, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, remove bay leaf and set aside.

2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, and sauté 3-5 minutes or until translucent. Add Herbs de Provence and remaining 1 tsp. garlic and sauté 1 minute more. Add chopped tomatoes and juice. Crumble tempeh into mixture and stir in vinegar and sugar. Season with salt and pepper.



3. Transfer tempeh mixture to food processor, add cooked oatmeal, and blend until combined. Add remaining 1 1/2 cup of oats and baking powder and pulse until combined. 4. Spread oat mixture in prepared loaf pan. Spray top with olive oil cooking spray and pour marinara sauce over top. Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour or until top begins to brown.

Nutrition Facts per serving: 289 cal; 14 g protein; 10g total fat (2g sat fat); 38g carb; 1mg chol; 449 mg sod; 6g fiber; 10g sugars.

Afterthoughts

I really liked this recipe, but there was something missing, and I think it was a texture issue. I might add celery next time to give it a nice crunch, and although I’m not a big salt user, this could have definitely used a little more, but I never know how much to add when it says ‘to taste’! Finally, I'd make sure to get a nice and tasty prepared marinara sauce, it makes a difference.

I LOVE YOU GINA!