5 Overnight Oats Recipes To Try This Week

Yesterday I posted a picture on my Instagram (follow here) of some Sunday prepartions I did for my busy work week. I am trying to get into the habit of preparing meals, setting out clothes, and planning activites each Sunday to make life much easier during the week. One of the things I always do is prepare breakfasts for the week. Last week I made the health muffins and this week I prepped Overnight Oats.

If you are a Tone It Up girl then you will be very familiar with this recipe. It is so easy to make and personalize with the ingredients you like. The base is 1/4-1/2 cup of quick oats and unsweetend almond milk (you can use any milk you like). To prepare you just add your ingredients to a mason jar or small container and then cover everything with your milk,sti, and leave it in the fridge while you sleep. I would add a generous amount of milk because the oats will soak it up overnight. Hence, Overnight Oats. Some people like to eat them cold straight out of the jar but I like to heat mine up in the morning. It's all up to you.

Here are 5 of my favorite Overnight Oats recipes:

Double Almond
1/4 cup of  oats
1 scoop protein powder
Dash of cinnamon
1 pkt of stevia
1 Tbsp of almond butter
Almond milk to cover oats

Chocolate Covered Coconut
1/4 cup of oats
1 scoop PB2 chocolate OR any chocolate nut butter
1 pkt stevia
Coconut flakes
Coconut milk to cover oats

Blueberry Muffin
1/4 cup oats
1 Tbsp protien powder
Dash of cinnamon
2 tsbp of agave nectar
Handful of blueberries
Almond milk to cover

Chia Strawberry
1/4 cup of oats
3 strawberries, sliced
1 tsp of chia seeds
1 pkt of stevia
Almond milk to cover

Banana Nut 
1/4 cup of oats
1 pkt of stevia
1/2 banana, sliced
1 handful of walnuts
Almond milk to cover


These are just 5 of my favorite recipes but the possibilites are endless! Let me know your favorite quick morning recipes.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!


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Quick Coffee Creamer Idea

Good Morning!

Ever since I got back from Brazil I have been craving one of those decadent cafe com leite (coffee with milk) drinks every cafe and restaurant serves in Brazil. I think the coffee shops I went to used whole or 2% milk for their drinks which is not what I usually stock in my fridge at home. I also noticed in Brazil that the milk had a richer, more chocolatey taste to it. So I grabbed what I had on hand and I think I found a pretty good substitute.

Oh, and another genius thing Brazilian coffee shops do is keep their milk/creamer for coffee hot. I always saw a stainless steel server with hot milk (leite quente) sitting next to the coffee dispenser. Or if someone else was doing the pouring they had the metal hot milk server behind the barista bar.    Here in the US we add cold milk/creamer to hot coffee and then your coffee tastes luke warm. Why?!!

So, I heated up my concoction  and you should to!

1/4 cup-1/2 cup  unsweet almond milk (Or skim, soy, cashew, hemp, etc) depending on what kind of coffee to milk ratio you like
1 pkt stevia
1 tsp of raw cocoa powder. I'm using the dark chocolate kind my Hersey's but according to the ingredients it's just raw cocoa powder. Of course you could add more cocoa if you'd like to get a full-on Mocha flavor.

Mix and heat for 20 seconds. Do not heat for more than 20 seconds at a time as it will overflow and cause a giant mess in your microwave. I speak from messy experience.

I hope you enjoy and let me know your favorite morning coffee concoctions!

Homemade Healthy Nutella

Oh, Nutella. Whoever decided to combine hazelnuts and chocolate into a creamy spread was a genius.  

I was in the experimental mood last night and noticed a small bag of hazelnuts in my cabinet that I bought in the bulk section of Whole Foods. So I decided to try to re-create that delicious hazelnut spread with a healthy twist.  Then, like I do with all my at-home experiments, I used my husband as a guinea pig. Consensus: he loved it.  My husband loves Nutella more than anyone else I know so I think we have a winner! 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of raw hazelnuts
• 1 Tbsp of chocolate protein powder. I'm using brown rice protein. 
• 2 Tbsp of raw cacao powder
• 2 Tbsp of chocolate almond milk*
• 5 Tbsp of coconut milk creamer*
• 1 1/2 packets of stevia
• 2 Tbsp of raw sugar. 

Steps:

1. Add just the hazelnuts to a food processor and blend until it turns into a meal/flour texture. 

2. In a separate bowl combine the remaining ingredients and mix together using a fork. 

3. Once the chocolate, milk, and sugar mixture is well blended add it to the food processor. 

4. Blend in the food processor in 1 minute increments, stirring the mixture well each time. You can stop blending once you have reached your desired thickness. If your mixture is too thick then add a little more milk and continue blending. 

5. Transfer your spread into a bowl and let it sit in the fridge overnight. 

6.Spread it on toast, mix into pancakes, or eat it by itself on a spoon for a little treat. ;) 

*You can substitute for any type of milk you like. 

I hope you enjoyed this post and get a chance to try this yummy recipe. Let me know how it works for you and I'd love to hear about any of your cooking experiments. You can leave a comment below or tweet me @imperfectperla. 

Have a lovely day! 

St. Patrick's Green Piña Colada Smoothie (No Alcohol)

Happy (almost) St. Patrick's Day!

I'm not really into corned beef and cabbage so I'll be mixing up a different St. Patty's treat. The weather has been so nice I thought I would put a summer spin on my smoothie and make it a piña colada minus the rum. 

Recipe:

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (as always you could use any kind of milk you like)
• 3/4 cup of water
• 2-4 handfuls of spinach. Spinach blends down very easily so you really can add as much as you want. 
• 4 pineapple slices
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1 tbsp of chia seeds
• About 1/4 cup of coconut flakes
• 1 packet of stevia
• A few drops of green food coloring for extra green color

Blend it all together and enjoy!

Are you making any other treats for St. Patrick's Day? Let me know in the comments!

Have a great day!

Courtney

Protein Brownie Bites

Nom, nom, nom....

Here is my recipe for some delicious little brownie bite treats.

What You Need:

•  3/4-1 cup of chocolate protein powder. Mix in 3/4 cup first and if the mixture is too water add in the rest.  I use the Nutribiotic Brown Rice Protein Powder. 
•  1/4- cup of stevia or 1/3 cup of regular sugar.
•  1/4 cup of  soy milk creamer.
•  1/2 teaspoon of baking soda.
•  1/4 teaspoon of salt.
• 1/2 cup of egg replacer or 1/2 cup of egg whites.
•  1/2 teaspoon of raw cacao powder.
• 1/4-1/2 cup of nut butter (I used almond but you can use whatever kind you like)  

To Prepare:

• Mix the egg/egg substitute, soy milk creamer, and protein powder together first. 
• Then add in the rest of the ingredients and mix until well blended. 
• Bake on 350 for 20-26 degrees, keeping an eye on them until a toothpick comes out clean.  

NOTE: You could substitute the soy milk creamer for any type you like (coconut milk, almond milk,etc)

I think these treats are best served warm. They are also delicious with a little nut butter spread on top.


Buen Provecho!

Courtney

Video: Holiday Health Travel Essentials

Hello again, 

I hope you are having a great week. Today I wanted to share with you a little something different: a video!

Today I am traveling back to my hometown for a 10-day trip to celebrate the holidays. I couldn’t be happier to spend time with loved ones but unfortunately my family and my husband’s family have all been sick. Last year I came down with a horrible flu on Christmas Eve so this year I am packing an artillery to protect myself against those nasty cold and flu viruses. I hope you enjoy this little video and please let me know if you would like to see more videos. 

 I would love to know your recommendations for vitamins or supplements. Let me know below or tweet me @imperfectperla

Happy Holidays and Safe Travels!

How To Tuesday: Make Your Own Healthy, Travel-Friendly Coffee Creamer

Happy December Lovelies!

Today we're talking about one my favorite things in this whole wide world: coffee. During the colder months I like to change up my morning coffee routine and add some creamer. There is just something so comforting about a hot, creamy cup of coffee on a chilly winter morning.  Usually I like to add almond, soy, or coconut milk as my creamer but I have been traveling a lot lately and it's not easy to constantly have one of those on hand.

 So, I did some experimenting and found a way to create my own healthy travel-friendly dry coffee creamer. I know many people will be traveling for the holidays so I thought I would share this quick little "How To" in case you want to try it for your next trip.

I actually made this specific batch last week when I was traveling to a tiny town in Mississippi and I knew my options would be limited. I packed it beside the baggie of stevia packets that permanently lives in my purse.

What You Need:
~1-2 Scoops protein powder. Mine is the Vanilla Nutribiotic
~1-2 Packets of Stevia
~ 1 tbsp. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (You can add more or less depending on what you prefer)

 

 

You just pour the ingredients into a travel size baggie and shake, shake, SHAKE! Make sure it's  closed all the way before shaking. I learned the hard way.

 

It should look something like this:

 

 

 

Tip: I have found the best way to mix this into coffee is to add the creamer to your cup first with a little bit of coffee. Then, with a fork mix in the creamer really well. Add the rest of your coffee to the cup and enjoy! If you are at a coffee shop you can also ask the barista to add a splash of soy milk, which will help the creamer more easily blend.

 

Essentially the protein powder and stevia are the base for your creamer but you can add in whatever flavorings your like.



 

Here are some other flavor combinations I want to try:

 

Peppermint Mocha: Chocolate protein powder, stevia, cocoa, crushed all-natural peppermint sticks.

Flavor Of Fall: Vanilla protein powder, stevia, nutmeg, and cinnamon

Chai: Vanilla protein powder, cinnamon, allspice, and clove.

White Chocolate Mocha: Protein powder, cocoa, stevia, natural white chocolate chips (I found some at Trader Joe's)

Peanut Butter Cup: Chocolate protein powder, cocoa,  stevia, and PB2

 

Let me know if you have any other flavor ideas in the comments below or tweet me @imperfectperla

 

 

Have a great day!