Mint Chocolate Oatmeal

Lately just plain oatmeal is just so boring, so in celebration of oatmeal sensation week I had to post this one as my favorite. I only ate my oatmeal parfait twice this week. I have been eating mint chocolate oatmeal almost every day this week!!! It’s so delicious it curbs my appetite for chocolate. I love it just so much :). If there was a way I could make this into a snack and eat it all day I probably would. This is so tasty and who doesn’t love chocolate and mint; please don’t skip on the almond milk it makes it so creamy.
If I could find away to make this in to a snack and take it every where I would 🙂

Not the finished product but I had to make sure all the coco was stir in well.

Mint Chocolate Oatmeal

Ingredients:
½ cup of oatmeal
1 cup of almond milk (any liquid of your choice)
1 Tbsp. of powder coco
2 tsp. of peppermint extract
1 Tbsp. of honey
Directions: Add the oatmeal and coco together in a bowl; once you have done that add the almond milk and the peppermint extract stir it really well. Place it in the microwave for three minutes add the honey and enjoy :).

Finish product!!! In my belly you go :). Yum, Yum 🙂

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Couldn’t Wait

I got up extra early to get ready for work that’s a first because most of the time I dread going, but today was different for me. I just couldn’t wait until Monday so I decided to ride my bike to work today and boy oh boy was it great! I did get a comfortable bike to ride to work. It has a cute little bell although when I do use it no one ever hears it :). I think it’s a guy’s bike but it was affordable so I got it. I am happy I rode it to work it was amazing and not as bad as I thought it would be. I am excited to overcome my fear. I guess from now on I can do this every day and know I am burning more calories.

Red Lentils and English Cucumbers 🙂

This is my yummy lunch I ate for today and it was yummy. I also brought some of my mint tea that I love drinking so much. It kept me full all day I was pretty shock, but my goal is not to go back for seconds especially since I end up going back for thirds. I am watching my portions so it has been helping me by not packing extras for lunch.

Altenative to Water

I have never been a big soda drinker as a matter of fact the last time I had a pop was about six months ago. I do love fruit punch as well as juices from concentrate. I love ocean sprays cranberry blend it’s my favorite :). Lately I have been learning that they have a lot of empty calories, and I just want to save as many calories as I can for other foods are a treat on the weekend. Like the carrot, zucchini breakfast cookies I made for the week. They have butter but no eggs. I decided that if I was going to have butter in my cookies, I sure didn’t need eggs so I used cornstarch. With only ten calories per table-spoon you can’t beat that :).

I have been drinking a lot of water lately and I love water, but sometimes I just want something else to drink without all the calories and still has flavor. I have found that teas have been the solution to my problem and I give it thumbs up. I make my tea at night and it’s nice and cold all day long, and the plus is it is zero calories yay go tea!!! I call it my zero calorie flavor water with no added sweetener :). The only favors I have tried so far are mint and orange spice… I am looking for more flavors so I can have a nice variety. I have been giving it a lot of thought and I have decided to ride my bicycle to work its only four miles there and back. If there is any way I can burn more calories I am up for the challenge :). The heat is what scares me it’s been about 112 degrees lately and I have been sweating like crazy. What I know about the temperatures they rise later in the day, and I am home by then so I think eight miles will be perfect :)!

Sensational Oatmeal Creation Week!

So as you may know I have an obsession with oatmeal that cannot be explained, and since I eat it almost every day it’s been getting kind of bland lately. I have decided to come up with new ways to spice up my “best friend”. So I call this my week of…. Sensational Oatmeal Creations!! Yum! Yum! So each day I will post one of my approved sensational creations that I find to be oh so delicious 🙂 . Monday’s creation is oatmeal parfait. Oatmeal parfait is so simple, quick, and very versatile, you can also use it for a morning breakfast or midday snack to curb those cravings. I had my parfait for a snack today it kept me full until dinner, so I didn’t have to look for anything to munch on throughout my day.

Kiwi, banana, and papaya. I was going for a tropical parfait it is summer and I love tropical fruits this time of year; they always seem to be so sweet and keep me cool :). I also didn’t need to use any added sweeteners it was already sweet.

 

 

My very first layer I love the green.

I love yellow one of my favorite colors. Where is the oatmeal? I forgot to take a picture 🙂 Banana was my third and last layer as well.

Papaya has been my favorite fruit this summer gosh I love it so much.. Its so sweet although this one was not as sweet as I would have liked!

The final product 🙂 Where is the oatmeal? Oh there it goes!! In the final product lol :0

Oatmeal Parfait

Ingredients:

½ cup of oatmeal

1 cup of water (any liquid should do)

1 kiwi

1Banana

1 cup of papaya

Directions: Put ½ cup of oatmeal in a microwave safe bowl and heat it for 3 minutes or less. Layer the kiwi first, the oatmeal second, banana, oatmeal, papaya, and banana. Place in the fridge overnight or an hour before you go to work that’s what I did kept me cool.Depending on the cup you use you should get about seven layers or more. I had seven layers 🙂 .

Tonight dinner is yummy as well red cabbage that I made and tortilla soup left over from Sunday dinner.

Can anyone Taste the Rainbow?? 🙂

I may have seconds since its cabbage and I didn’t add to much oil about ½ a table spoon of olive oil.

 

 

New Best Friend, and Bicycle Progress

Oh how I love you oatmeal… You have gotten me through some tough times these few months. When I am hungry I turn to you when I am baking a sweet treat you are always there… How can you ever get boring? Well as you may know oatmeal is my new BFF 🙂 . However my early morning favorite meal sometimes my lunch, snack, and dinner can be kind of bland. What’s a girl to do with her favorite low calorie filling treat. Over the next few weeks in order for me to stay on the right track I am going to find new and delicious ways to spice up my best friend. Oatmeal has been a wonderful way for me to stay full during the day and curb my cravings; especially when I am starving and looking in the cabinets for a snack and there is nothing I want to eat, so I just grab my handy dandy oatmeal. 🙂

     Well enough about me and my best friend. I have been riding my bicycle almost every day this week and I am in love. I am thinking about riding my bike almost everywhere I go now. It will become my new form of transportation to run errands; I am also thinking about riding my bike to work as well. The ride won’t be so bad if I do decide to ride to work. The only problem is the weather would be so unbearable at almost 110 degrees every day, but I am determine so like the old saying goes when there’s a will there’s a way and I will find away. 🙂 !

Sunny, Burning Calorie, Weekend

This weekend was amazing weekend to take a ride aside from it being eighty degrees at seven in the morning. It was still a nice day to go for a ride, so that’s what I did I rode my bicycle. My goal is to do at least eight miles every weekend for a month. Once I have mastered eight miles; I want to move up to fifteen then twenty and so on. The ride was so much fun however I did struggle in the beginning the weather was getting warmer and I was sweating like a pig!!! I had only ridden six miles and I did want to give up, but something just kept pushing me and I kept going until I made it to the eighth mile :). I guess I could do a few more miles every weekend but this is something new for me, so I am taken it one step at a time. However I am enjoying a new way to exercise. Sometimes running and aerobics in the house can get so boring looking at the walls that never move. I am so happy to find a fun and new way to burn more calories and check out the lovely scenery.

Showing off my weight lifting progress.. 🙂

Sun is so blinding me but off I go for my ride. Capturing the scenery while riding love it when its sunny 🙂

Nuts for Nuts and Weights

I have decided to limit my intake of nuts however maybe as a treat and when I am drinking nut milks. Nuts are very high in calories and fat. So far from what I have learn in my nutrition class 1 gram of fat is equal to 9 calories, and since nuts are consider mostly fats I think I will stick to just nut milks. I am trying to stay under 1600 calories a day. It will be tough however because I have a bad addiction to cashews. Beware of the nuts!!!! On a brighter note I recently bought a weight set 12.5 pounds!!! I am killing myself trying to lift gosh I didn’t know it would be so hard. Here is my weight set I would have lifted it but I just couldn’t lift it for the pic. My goal is to be at 20 pounds my next month. I am determine.. 🙂