Healthy breakfast Archives

Brownie Batter Peanut Butter Swirl Oatmeal

March 9, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

Brownie Batter Peanut Butter Swirl Oatmeal

There was this one time, back in like 2012…when I made some brownie batter oats. I decided to reinvent this recipe for 2 reasons. #1- peanut butter completes chocolate and #2- the photos do not do the recipe justice! Nope, not at all.

I still can’t believe how far I have come in just 2 years with my food photography. Lots of practice, amazing technology, the will to learn, and amazing mentors.

Brownie Batter Oatmeal with Peanut Butter Swirl

You may think this looks like dessert oatmeal- but it’s definitely healthy enough to eat for breakfast!

Whole Grains
Healthy Fats
Vegan
Heaven on Earth

I seriously can’t stop looking at that peanut butter swirl. So perfect.

I say explore with toppings- unsweetened coconut, muesli, banana, almond milk, coconut milk, nuts, you name it! I ate this for dinner last night (yeah I did!) and have left overs for today. I am thinking a mid-morning snack with a big dollop of vanilla Greek yogurt!

If you’re not big into stevia or organic cane sugar…try using mashed banana! I would use about a half a medium mashed nanner, which will bring out the sweetness of the cocoa powder and give you that rich brownie batter flavor 😀

Basic Ingredients

1 cup rolled oats, gluten free
2 cups vanilla almond milk, unsweetened (If y|ou use sweetened, omit stevia/sugar/banana)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder, unsweetened
1 tablespoons peanut butter + 1 tablespoon peanut butter
pinch of salt
2 dashes of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon liquid stevia or 1 tablespoon organic cane sugar or ½ mashed banana
tablespoon of chocolate chips (optional)

How to make Brownie Batter Peanut Butter Swirl Oatmeal

Place all ingredients (leave out 1 tablespoon peanut butter for drizzle) in a medium size pot and turn heat to medium/high. Bring to a rolling boil, then turn heat down to medium and cook for about 5 minutes, or until oatmeal thickens. Stir often! Pour oatmeal into two bowls. Then, drizzle on some peanut butter and add a few chocolate chips.

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If you HAD to choose—-peanut butter or chocolate? I say peanut butter all the way!

Brownie Batter Peanut Butter Swirl Oatmeal

Author: Sandra
Total Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 2

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Ingredients

-1 cup rolled oats, gluten free

-2 cups vanilla almond milk, unsweetened (If y|ou use sweetened, omit stevia/sugar/banana)

-2 tablespoons cocoa powder, unsweetened

-1 tablespoons peanut butter + 1 tablespoon peanut butter

-pinch of salt

-2 dashes of cinnamon

-1/2 teaspoon vanilla

-1/8 teaspoon liquid stevia or 1 tablespoon organic cane sugar or ½ mashed banana

-tablespoon of chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions

Place all ingredients (leave out 1 tablespoon peanut butter for drizzle) in a medium size pot and turn heat to medium/high. Bring to a rolling boil, then turn heat down to medium and cook for about 5 minutes, or until oatmeal thickens. Stir often! Pour oatmeal into two bowls. Then, drizzle on some peanut butter and add a few chocolate chips.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Nutrition

Calories: 286
Sugar: 2.6g
Fat: 14g
Fiber: 7.7g
Protein: 11g

Strawberry Vanilla Overnight Oatmeal

March 9, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

Strawberry Vanilla Overnight Oatmeal

If I could give one piece of advice to any blogger it would be to NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK. Network with other bloggers, network with brands, network with friends and family, etc. Over the past 6 months, I have made some incredible friends, mentors, and soundboards online and close to home. I can’t tell you how important it is to have those people in your life cheering you on.

To this rant….scroll to the end of the post.

APRIL = OVERNIGHT OATS.

Anyone else with me?

You may not know this, but I eat oatmeal EVERY SINGLE MORNING (unless it’s the weekend). Oats + Banana + PB is my favorite combination. During the warmer months, I like to mix it up and eat Overnight Oats, but soaking my oats in a liquid such as almond milk, Greek yogurt, etc.

Well friends- it’s time for you to jump on the bandwagon too!

Strawberry Vanilla Overnight Oats #glutenfree #vegan

There are a few must have ingredients when making Strawberry Vanilla Overnight Oatmeal.

Liquid
Rolled Oats
Chia Seeds
Sweetener (optional)

I like to mix Greek yogurt and almond milk for my liquid. I have found that using rolled oats gives it a much better texture. Chia seeds make everything better and add a healthy dose of Omegas to your meal. If you don’t use sweet almond milk or a flavored yogurt, I suggested a few teaspoons of honey, but that’s just my preference!

This time around. I decided to bring strawberries center stage and puree them with Greek yogurt and almond milk. Almost like a smoothie.

When making over night oats, I try and keep the 2:1 ratio of liquid to oats. The above photo is of my magic bullet and inside was about 3 cups of liquid. This is why I added 1.5 cups of rolled oats!

I am a toppings girl. I love mixing textures. On top of this guy I added sliced banana, strawberries, and chopped pistachios.

Oh and a giant scoop of dark chocolate almond butter. What’s oatmeal without nut butter?

I’d say that this recipe serves 3 IF you plan on loading the toppings like I do. If you aren’t a toppings person (do they exist?! That’s the best part)- you could probably just split this recipe down the middle.

Breakfast. Do you eat the same thing every day or do you switch it up? Are you a fan of Overnight Oats?

Rant Continued———-

What I mean by network is MEET PEOPLE! Learn about them, tell them about you, learn from each other! I’ve play both a mentor and and metee in a relationship and every single time I learn something. You learn that you are not alone in this blogosphere and that there are more people out there that can relate to your probz.

You learn that should probably configure your blog to your Google+ Page so that your pretty face shows up when people search for you. This is something called Google Authorship. Say wahhhh. (Thank you Davida). You learn that you are paying way too much for your site’s server and web hosting (Thank youuuu Brittany). You learn that there are services out there to let people subscribe to your blog via email. It also let’s you send them emails when you have cool/interesting updates. Uh duhhhh. (Thank you Lexi). And finally- you get to learn the whole entire process of writing an cookbook (which I am going to start here pretty soon…mine will be an ebook though) because one of your blogger besties just went through it and you went on the ride with her from start to almost finish (Thank you KELL).

Rant. Done.

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Strawberry Vanilla Overnight Oatmeal

Author: Sandra
Total Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 2-3 servings

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Ingredients

-1 cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt
-1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk (or any kind of milk)
-1 cup Strawberries, sliced
-1 1/2 cup Rolled Oats
-3 Tablespoons Chia Seeds
-1 teaspoon Vanilla
-Toppings: Crushed pistachios, dark chocolate almond butter, sliced banana, and sliced strawberries.

Instructions

First, in a blender, magic bullet, or food processor, process Greek yogurt, almond milk, and strawberries together. It will look like a strawberry milk shake!
After this,place the mixture into a medium size bowl and then mix in 3 tablespoons chia seeds and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Then, mix in rolled oatmeal.
Place in refrigerator over night or for at least 2 hours. Top with sliced banana, sliced strawberries, crushed pistachios, and dark chocolate almond butter.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

The Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pancakes

March 8, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pancakes

The other day Davida decided to make her own gluten free flour blend….and told me about it 100 times. I got a little jealous because it’s sort of a pain to constantly have to make your own and we (Vida and I) both haven’t had the best of luck with Bob’s Red Mill.

I decided I wanted to make oatmeal pancakes…so I did.

Then I thought it would be genius to mix together all of the dry ingredients and store it in a mason jar for easy access just like Davida!

Gluten Free Oatmeal Pancake Mix #GlutenFree

Gluten Free Oatmeal Pancake Mix (8 servings)

4 and 1/2 cup ground oat flour
1 and 2/3 cup cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup coconut sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon baking soda

To make a batch (or 2 servings = 4 medium size pancakes) of NORMAL gluten free oatmeal pancakes you’ll need:

1 cup of gluten free oatmeal pancake mix
1 egg
1 tablespoon of coconut oil, partially melted
1/2 cup non dairy milk

All you need are 5 dry ingredients and 3 wet ingredients and you’ve got yourself a gluten free oatmeal pancake.

That has ENDLESS variations.

This time around i added some vanilla extract and chocolate chips for THE BEST panqueques ever.

I was in the mood for honey instead of maple syrup, so that’s what I did. HONAY.

The Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pancakes

These pancakes aren’t SUPER sweet because I assumed you would douse them in honey or some sort of syrup. No need to overdo it on the sugar. Am I right or am I right?

Is it weird that I eat the leftovers cold?

I love slapping some almond butter on top and eating one for an afternoon snack. All for me, none for Blake.

To make THIS chocolate chip version add-

a teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 cup chocolate chips

And because everyone loves pancakes. Here are some of my favs from the FFF archives.

How to make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pancakes

First, spray a pan with nonstick cooking spray and turn burner to medium heat. Then, in a medium size bowl, whisk together 1 egg. Add in milk, coconut oil, and vanilla.
Next, add in 1 cup of gluten free oatmeal pancake mix and mix until combined.
Using a ¼ measuring cup. Spoon ¼ of the batter onto the pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Cook for about a minute on each side.

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BYE!

The Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Author: Sandra
Total Time: 5 minutes

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Ingredients

Scale

1 cup of gluten free oatmeal pancake mix
1 egg, large
1 tablespoon of coconut oil, partially melted
½ cup non dairy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup chocolate chips

Instructions

First, spray a pan with nonstick cooking spray and turn burner to medium heat. Then, in a medium size bowl, whisk together 1 egg. Add in milk, coconut oil, and vanilla.
Next, add in 1 cup of gluten free oatmeal pancake mix and mix until combined.
Using a ¼ measuring cup. Spoon ¼ of the batter onto the pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Cook for about a minute on each side.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Grilled Apricot Quinoa Parfaits

March 8, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

Grilled Apricot Quinoa Parfaits

Sweet and salty? Hot and cold? GIMME!

Lately I have been cooking big batches of quinoa and eating it straight out of the pot with some cold Greek yogurt. It is the best snack ever and satisfies my hot/cold craving! Today’s recipe is inspired by just that.

Ever grilled apricots before?

It’s so easy!

Slice em
De-Pit em
Heat your grill to 400F.
Place a piece of tinfoil on grill and spray with coconut oil spray
Slap em on their face down for just a few minutes until they get gorgeous grill marks
Drizzle with honey

Gahhhhh!

Gotta love warm fruit. The flavors intensify and everything is SO JUICY!

I layered my grilled apricots with chilled quinoa and Vanilla Fage Greek Yogurt (and a few raspberries!). This is the most absolute perfect breakfast, snack, lunch, or dinner a girl could ask for! I was eatin’ parfaits for days.

I was also lucky enough to have a hand model that day, my girlfriend BROOKE! Let me tell you a little bit about Brooke. She is a nurse, works nights and weekends, and has random days off in the middle of the week. It’s been great to find a friend with an odd schedule just like me…who just so happens to love to workout and photography. We are a match made in heaven!

Plus she always has the most perfectly manicured nails. Hand model career? YES.

Don’t like apricots? Give this a try with nectarines, peaches, pears, etc.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Basic Ingredients

4 apricots
2 tablespoons honey
4 cups vanilla Greek yogurt
1 cup quinoa, uncooked (+ 2 cups water)
Raspberries

How to make Grilled Apricot Quinoa Parfaits

First, place 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of water in a medium size pot. Bring to a boil. Then, reduce to low and cover. Let simmer for about 15 minutes or until all water is evaporated. Place in a tupperware and let chill.
Then, preheat grill to around 400 degrees F.
Wash and pat dry apricots. Then slice down the middle and remove pit.
Place a piece of tin foil on grill and spray with non-stick cooking spray (such as coconut oil spray). Place apricots on grill face down and cover. Let cook for about 5 minutes. I suggest checking after 5 minutes to see how intense the grill marks are. You may need to let them stay on a little longer.
Drizzle apricots with honey, and thinly slice.
Then, in a glass, layer grilled apricots with Greek yogurt, cooked quinoa, and raspberries. Repeat 3 more times.

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5 Ingredient Grilled Apricot Quinoa Parfaits

Author: Sandra
Total Time: 1 hours 30 minutes

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Instructions

First, place 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of water in a medium size pot. Bring to a boil. Then, reduce to low and cover. Let simmer for about 15 minutes or until all water is evaporated. Place in a tupperware and let chill.
Then, preheat grill to around 400 degrees F.
Wash and pat dry apricots. Then slice down the middle and remove pit.
Place a piece of tin foil on grill and spray with non-stick cooking spray (such as coconut oil spray). Place apricots on grill face down and cover. Let cook for about 5 minutes. I suggest checking after 5 minutes to see how intense the grill marks are. You may need to let them stay on a little longer.
Drizzle apricots with honey, and thinly slice.
Then, in a glass, layer grilled apricots with Greek yogurt, cooked quinoa, and raspberries. Repeat 3 more times.

Blueberry Flax Superfood Smoothie

March 8, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

Blueberry Flax Superfood Smoothie

Is it weird that I went to bed last night oober excited to get to work this morning?

I got to spend the entire weekend with one of my dearest friends, Davida from The Healthy Maven. She is me. I am her. We do the same thing for a living. We take pictures of food and put them on the internets. We also about 100 other things. It was really nice to spend good quality girl time with her because she can relate to who I am as a blogger, entrepreneur, and e-cookbook author, sister, daughter, and girlfriend.

We have an interesting love story. It turns out that her man candy grew up less than a mile from my house in Minnesota…we’re talking the same neighborhood…like I could walk to his house. His parents still live in his childhood home, so when they go back for a weekend visit….I pretty much end up crashing their Minnesota party. Small world, eh?

But for real, I remember a year ago getting an email (or was it a tweet) from some blogger chick named Davida asking if I knew where Edina was. Uhhh why yes I do. We met for coffee and it was history after that.

Davida and Curt were back for the past 4 days. AKA best 4 days of my life.

Side note: this smoothie, though!

A powerhouse superfood smoothie made with blueberries, flax seed, spinach, and coconut milk.

Davida and I skype almost every day. Why? Well- she’s the only one home during the day.

We call each other co-workers. Even though we run different blogs, we use each other as a support system and soundboard. She tells it how it is, so it’s nice having an honest opinion in my back pocket!

This is only the second time we’ve seen each other in real life and the first time we barely knew each other. It was nice to have my real live bestie in real life. Don’t leave me. Blake and I took Davida and Curt fishing on Lake Harriet and last night we did a couples dinner date with D and C an C’s parentals (who I adore) at Cafe Lurcat in Loring Park.

Last year I froze a crap ton of berries after receiving about 10,000 cartons from Driscoll’s at the Healthy Living Summit. I just wanted to make a note that THEY ARE STILL GOOD! No frost bite. Still perfect.

I wanted to use chia for this smoothie, but just finally finished off my 1 lb. bag last week…so flax it was!

Flax in smoothies is the best ever. I love me some grit in my smoothie.

This thing is jam packed with superfoods

Blueberries
Ground Flax Seed
Spinach
Greek yogurt
Coconut milk

Perfeccion. <—did you know I’m almost fluent in Espanol?

I thought I was going to need to add some honey, but these blueberries were on the sweeter side, so no need for extra sweets in this bad boy.

So, tell me. Have you met anyone online that you’ve become besties with in real life

Basic Ingredients

1 cup blueberries, frozen
1 Tablespoon flax seed, ground
Handful of spinach
¼ cup full-fat Greek yogurt, I used vanilla
1 cup coconut milk or any kind of milk

How to make Blueberry Flax Superfood Smoothie

Place all ingredients in a blender or magic bullet. Mix until smooth.

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Blueberry Flax Superfood Smoothie

Author: Sandra
Total Time: 5 minutes

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Ingredients

Scale

1 cup blueberries, frozen
1 Tablespoon flax seed, ground
Handful of spinach
¼ cup full-fat Greek yogurt, I used vanilla
1 cup coconut milk or any kind of milk

Instructions

Place all ingredients in a blender or magic bullet. Mix until smooth.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Nutrition

Calories: 238
Sugar: 22g
Fat: 12g
Carbohydrates: 32g
Protein: 4g

Silver Dollar Pumpkin Crunch Pancakes

March 8, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

Silver Dollar Pumpkin Crunch Pancakes

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of LIBBY’S Pumpkin for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Vegetables for breakfast?

Yes! Especially when you can get in a serving during the most important meal of the day. I’ve been on a pancake kick lately. Today’s recipe was inspired by my trip to the Oregon coast (which is where I am right now!). Sand dollars from the beach turned into silver dollar pancakes for breakfast.

We are staying in the cutest little condo in Seaside, OR and have a full kitchen. A girl’s dream.

^^More pics of the trip to come next week!

LIBBY’S Pumpkin is the best ever because you can get it year round and use it in so many different kinds of recipes! LIBBY’S PUMPKIN is…

A good source of fiber
Loaded with Vitamin A
Versatile
A whole food- no added, sugar or salt, just pumpkin!

So about these pancakes.

I am obsessed. I love that they are orange! When you bite into them they are crunch because I threw a handful of pecans into the batter.

Texture fiend

Guys-100% whole grains, serving of vegetables, no refined sugar, pure deliciousness!

Basic Ingredients

2 cups ground oat flour
2 tablespoons coconut palm sugar
1 teaspoon baking baking powder
¼ cup pecans, chopped
3 tablespoons coconut oil, slightly melted
½ cup LIBBY’S 100% Pure Pumpkin
2 eggs, large
¾ cup almond milk, any kind will work

How to make Silver Dollar Pumpkin Crunch Pancakes

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Set aside. Then, in a medium size bowl, mix together the wet ingredients.
Slowly add wet to dry and mix until smooth.
Preheat a pan to low/medium heat. Spray with coconut oil cooking spray. Spoon in about 2 tablespoons of batter per pancake. Let cook for about a minute to a minute and a half and flip. Cook the second side for another minute or so. Repeat.

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Silver Dollar Pumpkin Crunch Pancakes

Author: Sandra
Total Time: 25 minutes

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Ingredients

Scale

2 cups ground oat flour
2 tablespoons coconut palm sugar
1 teaspoon baking baking powder
¼ cup pecans, chopped

3 tablespoons coconut oil, slightly melted
½ cup LIBBY’S 100% Pure Pumpkin
2 eggs, large
¾ cup almond milk, any kind will work

Instructions

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Set aside. Then, in a medium size bowl, mix together the wet ingredients.
Slowly add wet to dry and mix until smooth.
Preheat a pan to low/medium heat. Spray with coconut oil cooking spray. Spoon in about 2 tablespoons of batter per pancake. Let cook for about a minute to a minute and a half and flip. Cook the second side for another minute or so. Repeat.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes