Good morning friends! Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Good, I hope! As I mentioned on Friday we had a holiday filled weekend. After sitting in traffic for 2 hours on Friday night, I was more than happy to have a low key Friday night including wine and gingerbread house making!

The hub and I started out in a friendly gingerbread competition, but shortly after we began, he requested that we join forces and create a plantation village together instead of individual houses. He clearly saw that his competition was pretty fierce!

It was a mess indeed!

Our final product: the plantation house, dog house for Boss and Gunner and school/church for all of the town children! 

I started the day Saturday with this 15 Minute Fat Blaster that I shared a few weeks ago and an arm workout and then we had to run a few afternoon errands before making our way to a lovely Christmas party on Saturday night. Our friend hosts this party every year and after having to miss out for the past few years due to living out of town, we were super excited that we could finally make it this year!

Yesterday, we listened to church online, dealt with some fun 401 (k) stuff (I’m not to sure about this whole growing up thing), walked the pups and then prepped for another wonderful week ahead… which leads me into todays post topic!

When it comes to the morning, I am the type person that has to have everything planned, packed and ready to go the night before. Seriously everything: my water bottle filled and sitting in my car, my workout clothes packed and in my car, my work bag sitting beside my door so that all I have to do is throw in my laptop and it’s ready to go, my coffee cup sitting beside the coffee maker, my clothes laid out, my lunch packed, and my breakfast made. You name it, when it comes to an early morning, I do it the night before in order to ensure a smooth morning!

A few weeks ago, I shared with you how I prep my smoothies the night before and today I am going to share with you a delicious warm oatmeal breakfast that you can prep the night before too — just in case you are anything like me and like to have it all planned out!

During the summer months, I love to prep and eat cold overnight oats but when the cold weather rolls in, this warm breakfast hits the spot. Not to mention, waking up to the smell of these Crockpot Apple Pie Oats isn’t too terrible either! This would be a great dish to prep for Christmas morning too!

Crockpot Apple Pie Oats

Ingredients

• 1 cup steel-cut oats
• 1.3/4 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 organic Granny Smith apple, skin left on, diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 tbsp flax meal or chia seeds
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1 tbsp craisins (optional)
• 1 tbsp pure maple syrup (optional, if you like your oats a little bit sweeter!)
• dash salt

1. Combine all ingredients into a crockpot and place the lid on.
2. Place the heat on low (as low as possible) and cook for ~8 hours.
3. When you wake up, turn your crockpot off, give it a stir, serve and enjoy!

I like to top mine with a little bit of Greek yogurt and a small dab of peanut or almond butter just before walking out the door!

Step One: Combine all ingredients the night before.

Step 2: Wake up to this!

Step 3: Give it a stir, serve and enjoy!

Are you like me and have to prep everything the night before or do you do it all in the morning? Have you ever tried crockpot oats?

Have a great Monday!

Good health!

The post Weekend Recap + Crockpot Apple Pie Oats appeared first on The Gypsy Dietitian.

As most of you know, I like to start my day with veggies. Not as in I eat a salad for breakfast but in the form of a greens packed smoothie.

As of last week, I was able to take my time, explore different recipes and try out new ingredients each morning as I was preparing my daily green smoothie; however, since starting my new job this past week, my mornings have been jam packed without an extra minute to spare especially in the smoothie making department.

However, my smoothie drinking habit certainly hasn’t take a hit because of this… I’ve just had to be a better planner.

Certainly a perk of the Ninja – individual size cups that go right on the blender.

Perfect to take to-go!

If you, like me, have busy mornings but love your smoothies like I do, don’t give them up or save them for the weekends anymore! Simply prep them the night before…

Here’s how:

1. Grab your blender pitcher out the night before
2. Throw in a handful of your favorite greens – I prefer baby kale and spinach
3. Toss in any light ingredients like ginger, lemon juice, cinnamon, maca powder, chia seeds, flax meal, protein powder, nut butter, etc.
4. Throw in any heavy ingredients (besides the fruit) such as carrots, celery, peeled cucumbers, etc.
5. Place the fruit that you plan on using in a single ziplock bag and place it in the freezer overnight… a few if my favorites include bananas, berries, peeled kiwi, mangos, etc.
6. Place the cap on the blender and place it in the fridge overnight
7. Wake up the next morning and pull your blender out
8. Pour in 1-2 cups of unsweetened almond milk or water (depending on how many servings you are making)
9. Grab your frozen fruit out of the freezer and place it in the blender
10. Add a few cubes of ice
11. Place your pitcher on the blender and blend away!

Easy enough right!?

A perfectly healthy and delicious breakfast made in no time!

Have an awesome Thursday evening – almost Friday!

Good health!

The post The Great Smoothie Solution appeared first on The Gypsy Dietitian.

Hi friends! How are ya today!? Wednesday already? This week is flying. 

It may not seem like it to you, but this week is entirely different for me. 4am wake up calls when I’m used to waking up around 7am, meals prepped the night before when I’m used to spending hours a day playing around in the kitchen, and a solo workout before my body even realizes it’s awake. This might sound like pure misery to you, but it’s exactly what I crave and exactly what I needed in my life right now. 

Anyway, to catch you up on a few things…

So far so good on the new job front! I will be working with three other dietitians who all have 15+ years of experience as a registered dietitian, so I am incredibly excited and humbled to be able to continue my learning from these well-knowledged ladies. I will be in training for the next six weeks and then move into my role as a nutrition consultant right around Christmas time. The people here are wonderful, the location is great and building are beautiful! I couldn’t feel more blessed to have been offered this opportunity. 

Also, you might have already seen over on IG or FB that my first (of many!) article was published on over on All Women Stalk (www.allwomenstalk.com.) and you can check it out here! If you are new to AWS and are interested in easy reads covering everything from health and fitness to money and fashion you really should check out and DL the free app. It is seriously awesome!

But on to other (yummy!) things…

I talk about my love/hate relationship with Greek yogurt quite often over here. While I love that it is an easy, quick and lean source of protein and provides super nutritious probiotics, many of you know that I am not a fan of dairy in general and eat a majority vegan diet. Because of this, I am always searching for ways to amp up my breakfast (and protein intake) without Greek yogurt (which is pretty infrequent).

Enter this delicious dairy-free blueberry vanilla yogurt.

A little bit sweeter and a little less sour than Greek yogurt, this dairy-free yogurt is definitely comparable in texture and satisfaction. This version doesn’t have the same probiotic content of that of Greek yogurt (or any probiotics at all for that matter), but I’ve been doing a little bit of research on how to add them in and will share that recipe once I get it just right! 

Enjoy this dairy-free yogurt along with a bowl of oats or even as a late night snack… in our house, it goes both ways!

Or on top of pink oats! Whatever works, right?!

Dairy-Free Blueberry Vanilla Yogurt

This made two servings for us because we enjoyed it as an accompaniment to our oats. If eating alone, it might only be enough for one (depending on your appetite!)

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup  hemp seeds
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 1/4 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 dates
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp water

1. In a high speed blender combine all ingredients and blend until smooth.
2. Place in the freezer for about 30 minutes to allow texture to firm before serving and enjoying.

–

I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday! And also, if you haven’t already, don’t forget to join in on the giveaway for a free AquaTally reusable cup that ends on Friday at midnight.

 

Good health!

The post Dairy-free Blueberry Vanilla Yogurt appeared first on The Gypsy Dietitian.

Good morning! Happy Friday from the beach! I thought I was in Destin, FL but apparently I’m not. A friend and local to the area informed me that I’m actually about thrity minutes from Destin. Oops! Where ever I am, it’s gorgeous (Grayton Beach actually)!

So far the trip has been awesome. Lots of yoga, sprints, healthy eats and much, much more. My kind of paradise!

My sister-in-law and I rode down together and thankfully have the same foodie and fitness taste! She is such a blessing to me.

On to even more delicious things, today I want to share with you a perfect weekday or weekend pancake recipe to start you weekend off right!

Growing up, in our house, we ate pancakes pretty often: mostly weekend mornings and always with blueberry syrup. When friends would come over and ask for maple syrup to go with their pancakes, we would have to dig deep back in the pantry or refrigerator to satisfy their request. Although the type of pancakes I eat now might be a little different, my love for pancakes has certainly not disappeared. Even though I don’t live with my fellow pancake loving siblings anymore, I luckily found a pancake loving husband too. When we lived in Jacksonville, since we always watched our hometown church online rather than attending a local church, Sunday morning pancakes became a pretty normal, delicious routine.

It wasn’t until I married and began cooking for Dustin that my idea of the perfect pancake changed. I used to love them incredibly sweet and covered in syrup. All jokes a side, as a teen, I would request that extra sugar was added to my pancake or waffle batter when ever ordering at restaurants. Hello 8:00 a.m. sugar rush and crash! This is proof that if you think you can’t ever eat healthy, you can! While I no longer add “extra sugar” to my pancake batter, I still want them to be slightly sweet and perfectly brown.

The only problem with pancakes it that they seem to take so long to make. A few mornings ago, however, I made them in record time. Now, pancakes are no longer reserved for weekend mornings only.

Easy Yet Delicious Blueberry Pancakes

Makes ~ 12 medium sized pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup flour (I used a rice/flax flour mixture; whole wheat would work too)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 3/4 cup vanilla unsweetened almond milk
• 1 ripe banana
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Directions

1. Lightly coat griddle/pan with olive oil/coconut oil and heat on medium-high.
2. Place all ingredients except banana and blueberries into a blender and blend for about 30 seconds.
3. Add banana and blueberries and continue to blend until the fruit is smooth.
4. Pour pancakes to desired size and cook. Once the pancake bubbles on one side, flip to the other side and cook until even on both sides.
5. Serve with you favorite toppings and enjoy! This morning we enjoyed them with almond butter and a small squeeze of agave. Perfectly delicious even to this former sugar lover!

Have a great day and weekend! I’m off to get ready for the beach!

Good health!

The post Easy Yet Delicious Blueberry Pancakes appeared first on The Gypsy Dietitian.

A few days ago, I was sitting in Biochemistry and some how the idea of eating oats raw came up. One of my friends in the class, a huge oatmeal lover to say the least, thought this idea sounded absolutely crazy.

Many mornings for breakfast, we eat raw oats, prepared correctly that is. No, I don’t just pour oatmeal in a bowl and eat it dry, instead I make “Overnight Oats” the night before. I tried to explain this to her, but I think she still thought I was nuts, so I decided a post on this would be a good idea. So Bri, from one oatmeal lover to another, here ya go, “Berry Nutty Overnight Oats…”

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c 1 minute (quick cooking) oats
• 1 cup vanilla unsweetened almond milk
• 1/4 cup berries (blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, rasberries)
• 1/2 cut up banana
• 1 tbsp flax meal
• 1 tsp chia seed
• 1 tbsp chopped walnuts

Mix everything together in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Add a dollop of Greek yogurt the next morning and breakfast is ready as you walk out the door!

One of my favorite places, Whole Foods, first introduced me to this incredible idea.

I hope you enjoy!

The post Berry Nutty Overnight Oats appeared first on The Gypsy Dietitian.

Good morning!

I have been on a cooking roll here lately!  Friday, I bought the newest edition (I’ve already made most from the older version!) of Cook This Not That…seriously, one of my favorite books ever.  Dustin and I were flipping through the pages that evening and he said, “This is where it all started.”

“This is where what all started?” I responded, however, I knew exactly what he was talking about.

This book, the first version, 2 years ago, is what really opened my eyes to health and nutrition.  If you have not seen these books before, they give the calorie/fat content of some delicious meal at your favorite restaurant, and then it gives you a MUCH healthier way to make it.

For example, a burrito.  You know those HUGE, larger than life burritos from Moe’s, Chipotle, Barbarittos, ect?  Have you ever thought about the calorie content or fat coming from one of those things?  Yeah, it’s a huge portion, but can it really be that bad?  I mean, it’s black beans, grilled chicken, rice, cheese, lettuce, salsa, etc; seems healthy right?  Well, one Chipotle Grilled Chicken Fajita Burrito with black beans, cheese, sour cream, and tomato salsa has 870 calories and 30 grams of fat.  Holy moly!  That’s not even including the “chips on the side.”

So, I decided to make my own Chicken Fajita Burritos with only 355 calories (that’s including cheese, which I obviously didn’t have) and 13 grams of fat (probably actually less because the tortillas I used were Ezekiel sprouted grain tortillas, not the traditional flour tortillas.)

I also made Dustin some breakfast pizzas yesterday morning, as well as a huge pot of Minestrone last night; like I said, I’ve been on a cooking roll!

With all of that being said, what do you know, I woke up this morning ready to go again!  However this morning, I used an online recipe and tweaked it a little.

So, here we go…

Over the holidays, after we had all gone to bed, Cameron (my youngest sister), left my mom a note beside the coffee maker that she, “would like cinnamon rolls for breakfast.”  This made me laugh for many reasons.

Just the thought of her writing this note and positioning it in a place that she knew my mom would see it is funny; what a smart kid.  I should start using this tactic on Dustin, leaving pictures of diamonds right beside the remote??  I don’t think it would work as well for me.

Once I realized what she had requested, “cinnamon rolls,” this kind of made me sad as I knew that processed, packaged cinnamon rolls wouldn’t deliver her any kind of nutritional benefits; and they certainly wouldn’t give her any energy to begin or sustain her day.  But, like most times, I kept my mouth shut, because I remember when I was 12 and requested ONLY Fruity Pebbles; there was nobody over my shoulder telling me not to eat the delicious treat (However now, I wish there had of been.)

While the cinnamon rolls were baking the aroma filled the kitchen and smelled amazing.  I immediately thought to myself, wow, that’s something I’ll probably never eat again.  Sad that something so tasty has to be sooo bad.

With an ingredient list like this….

Enriched Flour Bleached (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Water, Sugar, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and/or Cottonseed Oil, Dextrose, Wheat Starch, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Baking Powder (Baking Soda, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate), Whey, Salt, Corn Starch, Cinnamon, Vital Wheat Gluten, Mono and Diglycerides, Corn Syrup Solids, Datem, Sodium Alginate, Xanthan Gum, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Polysorbate 60, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Yellow 5, Red 40, Color Added.

… these cinnamon rolls will DEFINITELY be something I will never eat again and will always encourage Cameron not to as well.  It’s so important to teach these children at a young age the importance of making healthy nutritional choices because these habits become much harder to break as adults.  Here’s a startling fact: according to research, this next generation may be the first in American history to die before their parents because of deadly diseases that can be avoided by proper nutrition.

With that being said, I decided that, no, I don’t have to NEVER, EVER, EVER (so dramatic ) eat a cinnamon roll EVER again, I can just make my own!  So maybe they’re not cinnamon rolls per se, but they’re the same general idea…

Recipe adapted from Eat, Live, Run.

Cinnamon Toast Muffins

Makes 20 mini muffins

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar (I used Sun Crystals which is twice as strong as sugar so I only used around 1/3 a cup)
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp flax seed meal
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 3/4 cup milk (I used vanilla Almond milk)
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/4 cup apple sauce
• 1 whole egg
• 1/4 cup walnuts (optional)
• 1/4 cup raisins (optional)
• For ending glaze
• 2 tbsp EVOO (or natural whipped butter if you prefer)
• 1 tsp cinnamin
• 1 tbsp sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix together all dry ingredients, excluding sugar, in a large bowl.  Mix together liquid ingredients, including sugar and egg, in a small bowl.  Add your liquid ingredients to your dry ingredients, as well as the walnuts and raisins (if you chose to add them).  Stir until evenly combined.

Evenly distribute the mix into a greased muffin pan and bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

(So maybe I should start using my actual digital camera for picture taking instead of my iPhone? Great quality, huh?)

While your muffins are baking mix the glaze ingredients together in a pan on low heat.  Once your muffins are ready take them out of the pan and dip each muffin into the glaze.  Sounds like cinnamon rolls right?  Or maybe I should just stick to Cinnamon Toast Muffins.

For breakfast, I decided to crumble a couple of these mini muffins into a bowl of plain Greek yogurt and top it with a few apple bits.  The perfect start of a wonderful Sunday!

God bless you all!

The post Cinnamon Rolls or Cinnamon Toast Muffins? You decide. appeared first on The Gypsy Dietitian.

Crunch Berry Pancakes

This morning for breakfast I wanted to mix things up a little and try something different. Since we hadn’t had pancakes in FOREVER I wanted to try a new recipe that I found and tweaked a little and made my own! It was too good not to share so I’ve listed it below. Let me tell you first, if you are a white bread, junk food lover, you will not like these… they are very nutty and ‘wheaty’ tasting. Some might say they are “too healthy” tasting, but they were right up our alley!

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups Total 0% Fage Greek Yogurt
• 1 egg
• 2 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 ¼ cup King Arthur 100% Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 ½ cup Ezekiel 4:9 Cinnamon Raisin Sprouted Whole Grain Cereal (recipe called for granola but I think most granolas have too much sugar and fat, another surprising factoid)
• 2 cups strawberries (any berry; raspberries, blueberries, or a mixture)
• ½ tablespoon EVOO or Canola Oil
• 1 tablespoon Chunky, All Natural Peanut Butter
• 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
• 1 cup water
• 1 packet Truvia
• Agave Nectar or Honey (for syrup)
• 1 banana (optional)

Directions

1. Heat large nonstick pan over medium heat.
2. Mix together yogurt, egg, egg whites, vanilla, and water until smooth.
3. Add in baking soda and salt.
4. Slowly mix in flour until just blended.
5. Stir in ½ cup of the cereal, berries, peanut butter, and EVOO.
6. Drop ¼ cupfuls of batter onto the pan and sprinkle about ½ tablespoon of cereal and a pinchful of Truvia on top of each pancake.
7. Cook until top of pancake starts to bubble, ab. 2 min, flip and cook for about 1 more minute on opposite side.
8. Serve w/ bananas sliced on top and a drizzle of agave nectar or honey.

After doing the math, the calorie count for each cake is about 95 calories with 5 grams of protein each, not to mention plenty of fiber because of the flax, cereal, whole wheat flour, and berries! Definitely a go-to, protein packed breakfast! Let me know if you try them!

The post Crunch Berry Pancakes appeared first on The Gypsy Dietitian.