Merry Christmas y'all! So I've been missing in action via the blogosphere- you'll have to forgive me, my life has been IN-SANE lately. As most of you know my husband returned from deployment last month, I met him in Arkansas where we were stationed (I was in Florida with my mom for the duration of his deployment), we traveled to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with my husband's family, we then returned to Arkansas to pack up our belongings and move to Panama City, FL- our new home! We spent a week finding a home, moving our things in and then we drove to Jacksonville, FL to spend the holidays with my family. 2 months, 5 cities, 3 states, no big deal. The good news is I HAVE a home now, I'm just not there currently, hehe. We'll be back and on our way to getting settled after the new year. So that's where I've been...
In other news, this really cool company "Better Oats" sent me some samples of their instant oatmeal. I was super excited because I love oatmeal, it's such an easy breakfast and it actually keeps you FULL. There's nothing worse than eating and being hungry 30 minutes later. Better Oats are great because they're made with wholesome, honest ingredients- you can read every ingredient on their box and know exactly what you're consuming. Love that. Here's some of the fab flavors they sent me:
You can't really read the flavors in the picture but (from left to right) they are: blueberry muffin, apple cinnamon, pomegranate, bare, & oatmeal raisin cookie (MY FAVE!). They also have ground flax in the mix for some extra fiber & nutrition. The other uhh-mazing thing about Better Oats? No measuring cup needed: you measure the water right in the same package the oatmeal came out of.
You just pour the oatmeal into your microwave-safe bowl, measure the water in the pouch, stir into the oatmeal & zap away. How cool is that? I'm a huge fan of using the least amount of dishes as possible, sayonara measuring cup! So after the holidays I'm going to make up a little goodie bag of some of these Better Oats to give away to a reader (and maybe a super cute bowl & spoon combo?!) so be on a look-out for that! For more information on Better Oats and to find a location near you where you can purchase them visit: www.BetterOats.com & you can "Like" them on Facebook here (they have COUPONS on the FB page!): https://www.facebook.com/BetterOats
ON TO THE RECIPE: These muffins are so yummy! Low- carb, high protein, easy to throw together, perfect little breakfast treat. I knew I wanted to use some of these Better Oats for a muffin recipe, my hubby asked for the Apple Cinnamon flavor- he loves anything apple! I added the pumpkin for added moisture (they're super light & fluffy!). These are a must try. Maybe a perfect Christmas Eve breakfast?!
Ingredients:
1 Cup Almond Flour
1 Cup Pumpkin Puree (100% pumpkin, no added sugar!)
1/4 Cup Almond Butter (or your choice of nut butter)
1/4 Cup Honey
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 Packages "Better Oats" Cinnamon Apple Instant Oatmeal
Step 1: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, grease a muffin pan. Whisk together all of the ingredients except for the oats.
Step 2: Fold in oats, stir to combine.
Step 3: Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full with batter. Batter will be thick- that's okay!
Step 4: Bake 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
ENJOY!
“This sponsorship is brought to you by Better Oats's whom we have partnered with for this promotion.”
A couple of weeks again my husband and I were browsing the bulk section at Whole Foods when I picked myself up a little snack- Almonds dipped in peanut butter & dark chocolate. Holy moleyyy they were delicious. I'm embarrassed to tell you how many I ate and in how little time, so we won't go in to details. I'll just say that they were uh-mazing and I knew I was going to have to find a way to replicate that flavor so that I didn't have to drive the 45 minutes out to Whole Foods to get my fix. That's how this bark was born. It's a quick and easy little recipe that's super high in protein, gluten- free & dairy- free and UMMM there's chocolate. Need I say more? I made this the day before our road trip to Illinois and packed some pieces up in mason jars for the road. Perfect road trip food! Would also be a great Christmas treat to give out to friends, or to keep in the house for family! Just because it's Christmas doesn't mean you need to look like Santa ;)
Ingredients:
1 Cup Almond Butter (I used Justin's Maple Almond Butter)
1 Tbsp. Agave Nectar (You may not need this, I needed it to thin out the almond butter because mine was so thick it wouldn't melt enough)
1 Cup Unsalted Raw Almonds
1 Cup Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips
Step 1: Measure out 1 cup of almond butter into a glass measuring cup or a microwave safe dish. Microwave the almond butter for a minute and stir.
Step 2: Mine wasn't quite thin enough (you want it melty enough to coat the almonds thoroughly) so I added 1 Tbsp. of agave nectar to the almond butter and stirred until it was liquid-y enough to coat the nuts. This is all going to depend on the kind of nut butter you use- just experiment with microwaving and agave or honey until is thin enough.
Step 3: Put your almonds in to a glass bowl and pour the melted almond butter over top. Stir to coat the nuts thoroughly. Cover and freeze for an hour.
Step 4: Measure your chocolate chips into a microwave safe dish and microwave for 30 seconds at a time until melted completely, stirring between 30 second increments.
Step 5: Pour melted chocolate over almond- almond butter mixture and stir to combine thoroughly.
Step 6: Pour bark mixture onto a lined baking sheet and flatten with a spoon.
Step 7: Pop bark into the freezer and freeze for an hour until the bark has hardened completely. When your bark has hardened completely, pull it out of the freezer and break into pieces. Keep in air-tight containers and enjoy!
