what i ate wednesday & recipes

breakfast: the best meal of the day in my opinion! it is certainly my favorite meal and it should be yours too! if you eat breakfast, you are less likely to be overweight and less likely to overeat later in the day. eating a balanced breakfast, with a protein, carb and fruit/vegetable, is proven to lead to healthier choices later in the day and correct portion sizes. eat within an hour of waking up to get your metabolism up and running for the day!

i could eat breakfast foods for every meal of the day, which i actually did today. breakfast consisted of my favorite cereal from trader joe's, bran flakes, almond milk, cinnamon and banana and blueberries. it was perfect to to get me through my workout! for lunch i tried out a recipe i have seen multiple times floating around on pinterest and it was delicious and filling. try this for either breakfast or lunch and i promise you will stay full for hours (since i had it for lunch, i also had a sliced apple and some peanut butter)

egg white steel cut oats

3/4 cup liquid of choice (i used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)

1/3 cup williams-sonoma steel cut oats

1/4 cup egg whites

1 tbsp cinnamon 

1 tsp vanilla

1 banana, sliced

1 tbsp crushed pecans

1 tsp chia seeds

1. bring liquid to boil in small pot. add in steel cut oats and egg whites and reduce heat to medium low and allow to simmer for 3 minutes. 
2. remove from heat and allow to sit for 2 minutes. stir in remaining ingredients and serve warm! 

*this recipe can easily be modified for whatever oats you have on hand. just cook one serving size according to package directions and follow recipe above. 

for supper tonight, pancakes just sounded like music to my ears. nothing else i had in my pantry floated my boat so i decided to whip this single serving pancake recipe, serving with it sliced fruit and 2 slices of canadian turkey bacon for protein. i have been pinning many pancake recipes on my breakfast, lunch and dinner board and this one was calling my name since i had cored pineapple in my fridge! 

single-serving pineapple-upside-down pancakes

1/3 cup whole wheat pastry or whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp Splenda granulated sugar

1/3 cup milk of choice (i used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)

2 tsp vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

2 pineapple rings

1. in a mixing bowl, stir together all ingredients to form a batter. 
2. spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. 
3. when the skillet is hot, reduce heat to medium-low and drop 1/4 cup of batter onto skillet. spread lightly then place one pineapple round in the middle, pushing down just a little into the batter. repeat with remaining batter and pineapple.  
4. flip pancakes with edges become brown and are able to flip without breaking. continue cooking until desired done-ness is reached. (makes 2 thick pancakes) 
5. serve with blueberry syrup (make by heating frozen blueberries over meadium-high heat and mashing with wooden spoon) and greek yogurt cream cheese spread! 

(recipe courtesy of Chocolate Covered Katie)

even though i have only been in knoxville for a little over a week, i am heading back home tomorrow! since i don't have classes on fridays and monday is a holiday, i have a four day weekend ahead of me! i am looking forward to seeing my parents and brother, and even my cat, and just spending some time at home! 

xoxo,

clp