Tasty Tuesday – 15 Ways to Eat Your Oats

Hey guys! Happy Tasty Tuesday!

Did you have something yummy for breakfast today? I had oatmeal πŸ™‚

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I LOVE oatmeal! I can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner and then through some in as a snack, too πŸ™‚

Anyway, I post a lot of pictures of oatmeal in my “What’s on my Plate Wednesday” posts, but I never really share the recipes for my “oatmeal adventures”. A lot of times you can see in the pictures what goes into my oatmeal, but I thought I’d share a more detailed post with you entirely dedicated to my oatmeal obsession πŸ™‚

So, here are my 15 ways to eat my oats!

Bake it!

Baked Oatmeal

This is my all time favorite. Usually every Sunday I make a whole new batch of baked oatmeal, then heat it up in the morning and have it for breakfast with some fruit and yogurt.

Baked oatmeal with bananas, blueberries and yogurt

Baked oatmeal with bananas, blueberries, sliced almonds and yogurt

I also eat it as a snack in the afternoon with some coconut butter on it.

IMG_2460

The beauty of the baked oatmeal recipe is in the fact that you can add whatever you want to it! Swap the dried cranberries for dried apricots, add chocolate chips, nuts or whatever your heart desires.

Check out the recipe here.

Hot Oatmeal with Toppings

cherries, cinnamon and chocolate chips

cherries, cinnamon and chocolate chips

Cinnamon, chocolate chips and pumpkin seeds

Cinnamon, chocolate chips and pumpkin seeds

Banana, blueberries and cinnamon

Banana, blueberries and cinnamon

banana, cinnamon and apple-quinoa crunch

banana, cinnamon and apple-quinoa crunch

pomegranate, chocolate chips and cinnamon

pomegranate, chocolate chips and cinnamon

strawberries, chia seeds and cinnamon

strawberries, chia seeds and cinnamon

chocolate chips, cinnamon and chocolate chips

apple chips, cinnamon and chocolate chips

Overnight Oats

If you know you’re going to have a super busy week when every minute of sleep counts, this is a great way to save time on making breakfast and still eat right and healthy.

On the weekend before a week like that I make my overnight oats for the whole week. Just combine oats and milk (I use almond milk) put into jars and refrigerate. I like adding 1 tsp of chia seed per jar into mine.

IMG_2819

During the week – just heat it up or eat cold – however you like it.

strawberries, chocolate chips, sliced almonds

strawberries, chocolate chips, sliced almonds

dried cranberries, bananas and sliced almonds

dried cranberries, bananas and sliced almonds

Make Granola!

One of the ways to eat your oats is make granola! That is such a great snack or part of your breakfast, too. Here’s the recipe for the homemade granola I use.

mix it with fresh fruit

mix it with fresh fruit

 

add some Greek yogurt

add some Greek yogurt

have it on top of some cottage cheese

have it on top of some cottage cheese

have it on top of chia seed pudding

have it on top of chia seed pudding

And those are my ways of eating oats, friends!

What is your favorite way to eat oats?

Tasty Tuesday: Delicata Squash with Orzo Recipe

Hey guys!

Tasty Tuesday is here!

Today I am sharing one of my all time favorite recipes I found in the Yoga Journal a while ago.

Ever since it has been my number one choice when it comes to cooking squash this time of year. Even though it is pretty easy to make, I usually make it on the weekends as it requires a little bit more time than I have/am willing to spend on a week night meal prep πŸ™‚

Delicata Squash with Orzo

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Delicata Squash with Orzo

Ingredients

  • 2 ea delicata squash, halved and seeded
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 fresh sage leaves
  • 6 ounces whole grain orzo pasta - cooked according to package instructions, drained
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds or chopped almonds, roasted
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries, halved
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs
  • Italian parsley, chopped
  • Handful of fresh pomegranate seeds
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375Β°F.
  2. Rub cut side of the squash with oil, and roast, cut side up, until tender when pierced (approximately 40 min).
  3. In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the remaining butter until it melts and develops light brown color, about 5 minutes.
  4. Remove from heat.
  5. Tear the sage leaves and add them to the saucepan.
  6. Strain the brown butter through a fine strainer, and toss the butter with the orzo and the lemon juice.
  7. Add the cranberries and roasted pepitas to the orzo.
  8. Mound the orzo into the squash.
  9. Sprinkle a layer of bread crumbs on top.
  10. Heat in a 250Β°F oven for about 20 minutes.
  11. Garnish with parsley, pomegranate seeds, salt, and black pepper.
  12. Enjoy!
https://leanlena.com/tasty-tuesday-delicata-squash-with-orzo-recipe/

The original recipe can beΒ found on the Yoga Journal website rightΒ here.

I made it this last weekend and every member of my family had their plates empty before my first spoonful reached my mouth. πŸ™‚

Enjoy the rest of your week and stay fit!

Last Week’s Exercise Recap as part of the Motivation Monday

Hey hey, my fitness friends πŸ™‚

Happy (?) Monday to you! Are you ready for another week of work and fun? I feel pretty good today – I think it is going to be a very-very fun week…and – this weekend is our second wedding anniversary. It’s been very happy two years – with ups and downs like in any family in general and a step-family in particular.

But not for once did I ever regret that “I do” I said to the most wonderful guy in this world!

So we are keeping the tradition of going to NYC for our anniversary! I am so excited about another opportunity to discover more of this great city!!!

Anywho, back to our Monday. I am back here with my exercise recap of the past week.Continue Reading

Foods of the Week – What’s on my Plate Wednesday

Hello and happy Wednesday to you, my friends!

Let’s talk healthy (and not so much) food, shall we? I am changing the format of my weekly “What’s on my Plate Wednesday” blog post today – just because I get bored if things don’t change for a while πŸ™‚

Hope you like it!Continue Reading

What’s on My Plate Wednesday

Happy hump day, my friends!

To me, it’s pretty much Friday, close enough anyway πŸ™‚

It’s been a very hectic week so far (just like the one before) – lots of running around, exercising, PT sessions, etc. etc..

With all this I am honestly struggling with fitting simple things like getting gas and grocery shopping into my schedule….and fail a lot of times πŸ™‚

You will see the signs of my busy schedule in today’s post – “What’s on My Plate Wednesday” is featuring not as many eats as usual – not because I am a lazy photographer, but because a lot of times I am eating “on the go” – still eating good stuff, though. No fast food for this body πŸ™‚

Ok, here we go – eating highlights from the past week.Continue Reading

Tasty Tuesday – Orzo Salad Recipe with Coconut-Lime Shrimp + A Hell of a Monday

Hey, folks! Happy Tasty Tuesday to you!

Today we’re making an orzo salad with coconut-lime shrimp. Ready?Β Continue Reading

Motivation Monday – Weekly Exercise Recap, WW Weigh In Results

Hey my dears! Happy Motivation Monday to you!

Let’s see what I did in the past week exercise-wise, shall we? πŸ™‚

Continue Reading

Belated “What’s on my Plate Wednesday” and Weekly Exercise Recap

Hey hey, my fitness friends!

I bet you didn’t expect a “What’s on my Plate” Wednesday post from me on Thursday! Well, guess what? It is happening. And since I missed the exercise recap post this week, I am combining the two!

Here we go, eating highlights and exercise recap of the past week or so!Continue Reading

Beets Salad Recipe and Motivation Monday

Hey, my fitfam!

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I know… Last week was crazy busy – between work, physical therapy and exercise I hardly had any time at all to sit down and breathe.

All better now, seems like, so let’s go into the new week starting with Motivation Monday!Continue Reading

What’s on My Plate Wednesday – Eats of the Past Week

Good morning, my fit and getting fit friends!

I hope you are having a short and sweet work week πŸ™‚

As usual, I am here today to tell you what I ate this past week – Wednesday to Wednesday πŸ™‚

So here are the highlights of Β what’s been on my plate lately.Continue Reading

What’s New or What I Did in the Past Couple Weeks

Hello, my fit friends!

I have been totally neglecting my blog in the past 2 weeks, and I am very sorry about that. I missed writing so much!

I have had a couple weeks from hell at work, and with my exercise routine and family I had absolutely no time or energy for blogging. I did try to keep you up-to-date with other social media (Instagram, Twitter and Facebook), though. I hope you didn’t miss me too much and I will try not to take such long breaks from blogging any more πŸ™‚

So, here I am with the highlights of the past 2 weeks or so.Continue Reading